[SPOOKY TRAIN HONK]

[maskormods]

There is a mysterious quality to the air tonight...perhaps due in part to the reprieve from the zombies and strange monsters rampaging about? Indeed, the space you've wandered into seems to exude a kind of serenity that's been lacking of late...it's as soothing as it is suspicious, and it only gets stranger from there.

Whatever you were up to, wherever you were going...it doesn't really seem to matter much the moment you spot them — someone you never expected to see here, even in this weird world. Maybe they're a long-lost family member, lover, or cherished friend...someone you cared for deeply, someone who made you who you are today, someone whose absence leaves a hole in your heart to this day. There they are...and there they go.

No matter how fast you give chase (yes, even you most speedy of speedsters), they seem to be just barely out of reach, even though they seem to be walking a natural pace! And soon, they'll lead you to the platform of a train...



ARRIVAL
It might not sink in right away, but this quaintly-crafted locomotive is very unlike the subways and trains of the city you've been living in. Neither are its passengers — all of them somewhat transparent, somewhat glowing...and all of them quite content to be there, eager to greet and welcome you along for the ride.

While you search for the specter of your loved one, you will definitely encounter others who were charmed into climbing aboard as well; perhaps that'll be enough to shake you out of the stupor? Or maybe it'll take a bit more time to realize something's really amiss. No worries — there's nothing but time here; you'll find clocks have stopped, even if the Network is still accessible. Who knows how long it's been since you boarded, and when?

The train passes along to each of the cities in its own time at its own pace — even phasing through other vehicles in its path. As it collects its new passengers, there's a chance to finally, finally sit down and speak to that special lost loved one again! How many people can say they have that chance?!

ASCENT
When all the cities have been touched, finishing with that spooky city of Jeopardy (where more than a few spectral passengers are picked up, as well!), the train closes its doors and begins to accelerate. Faster, faster...then up...and up...to the stars! You have a plain view from any window to see the colors of the sky shift, the atmosphere part, and the blanket of stars overtake the view, leaving the Earth behind. It's quite beautiful...but also, perhaps, bad? You live down there, after all! Maybe it's time to call for help, or find a way off this mystery train...

ADIEU
Whether you've found a way into the escape pods or gotten the passenger cars decoupled from the engine, it means farewell to this ghostly train on its destination to the unknown. Or, maybe...you've just had enough of that life down below, and just want to stay with the one you've missed so much. It's not your place to decide, however, but at least...at least you'll finally be able to give a goodbye (or another one).

Those who don't escape will find their eyes fluttering open, as if waking from deep sleep, standing before the platform they'd boarded. And in their heart? The last few parting words with the ghosts of loved ones from another realm...

What a strange gift.

Details and questions here!

Comments

closed to Noah

[darkov]

[honestly, Martin was pretty sure he'd learned his lesson thanks to the undead dog with Haru and was keen on keeping himself indoors after dark for a while. he had no wish to repeat the adventure -- it hurt, it was scary, and worse...it exposed a side of him to Haru he didn't like her knowing about. things he was made to do that he...really shouldn't have to do here. ever. the whole prospect of going out on his own, finding something new? probably a bad idea outright. better to stay inside, doors and windows shut, and not be a bother.

that was the plan before he saw the lanky, unmistakable shape of Peter Darkov walking outside.

before he could question himself much, Martin had already slipped on his shoes and headed out the door, foregoing a jacket. he couldn't tell; his blood was already ice-cold with dread. his stomach was flipping in anxious cartwheels and his throat was a razorwire knot as he trotted after him, unable to find a voice with which to call.

why should he? what was he going to do if that shape turned to face him and it was the very one he's convinced it is? there's really no thought or reason into this chase beyond the desperate need to know for sure, and yet...no matter how he chases, he can't catch up! and were it truly him, wouldn't his father stop at the sound of such noisy running to see it was him? would he recognize him? he's changed so much...

wait--

after some twists and turns and nearly losing sight of him, Martin catches glimpse of the figure slowing to a stop before a train platform. the scenery doesn't matter, as his eyes are ever-fixed on the back of that ghost as he hops back into motion to follow, hopeful that now, at last, he can catch up--]

[deadthing]

[Noah isn't lured to the platform by any familiar spirit — it's his own death which separates him from those he loves most, after all. He just happens to be passing by. He sees the ghosts gathering, boarding, and they see him. Though he's wearing his human body, they beckon him to join them as if they know he belongs. There's a pull there... Something in him that wants to follow...

No. He remembers his last (first?) words to Gansey: Don't throw it away. The impulse fades, replaced by a creeping wrongness.

He shudders. Turns to hurry away, far, far away and- that's when he spots Martin. Clearly alive. Clearly headed toward the train.

Noah pivots into his path instead and waves his arms.]

—Hey! Stop!

Bean - OTA

[justlittle]

oo1. all aboard

He's in Heropa when he sees her. A tall woman in her sixties with nut-brown hair, the thick black scarf she wears as a head band the only hint of her nun's habit. Bean immediate feels as though he's been stabbed in the heart. She should be dead. But then... the Porter brings plenty of people back from the moment of their deaths, doesn't it?

He follows her, being sure to keep out of sight as he trails her down several blocks and around corner after corner. On the way, he pulls out his phone and brings up the ImPort directory. Scrolling through the C's, he confirms his doubts— the names go straight from Carl Grimes to Carol Danvers. No Carlotta on the list.

But she's here, his heart argues against his brain. She's right in front of him. By the time he looks up from his phone, she's standing a half dozen feet away, waiting for him patiently by the platform of a train that definitely wasn't there yesterday.

"Took you long enough. I was beginning to wonder if you would ever catch up to me, or if you were avoiding me on purpose."

Her voice is fond, teasing. Just as Bean remembered.

"Seems like I couldn't be rid of you if I tried," is Bean's only answer.

Despite his better judgement, he listens to his heart and boards the train.

oo2. stop the train, I want to get off

It doesn't take long for Bean to regret his rash decision to follow Carlotta's spectre onto the train. Bean has left Earth's atmosphere before. And granted, he didn't have a window seat that time four years ago, but he knows what Earth looks like from space. He shoots Sister Carlotta a betrayed look, and immediately leaves her side. He got his reunion, he has closure now. He doesn't need her to trick him into joining her in whatever afterlife is waiting for her here.

He stalks down the corridor of the train cars, looking as determined as a ten year old can look. The first person he comes across who he recognizes as an ImPort gets stopped, their sleeve tugged on as he issues a grave warning.

"We need to get off this train."

2

[kid_flash_found]

Bart has been trying to get the attention of his fellow ImPorts as soon as he realized they were leaving Earth. But the kid tugging on his sleeve and saying that has him grimacing.

"Yeah, but it's like they're all too involved to realize. And if we just separate the engine..." he doesn't know exactly what their acceleration or trajectory look like, but he doesn't think burning to cinders on reentry is a better alternative.

oo1;

[kryptomight]

Lips press tight together as he boards the train himself and doesn't--seem too unnerved by it, at least. Confused, because this truly isn't how he anticipated spending his time. But most the passengers glow, they're see-through, which is--what makes people who don't quite glow stand out just that much more. And what leads Jon to reach a hand out for the other kid's shoulder, whispering quietly.

"Hey, uh--have you seen an orange tabby cat?"

[hellosirs]

Angus swallows heavily, glancing down at Bean for a moment before he goes back to staring out the windows. He's only been to space once before, during one of the swear-ins, but there had always been the guarantee that the swear-ins were a return trip. This... this is looking a lot more precarious.

"Y-yeah, I think... I think we may have goofed up. Quite a bit, actually."

1

[a_good]

Bean and Carlotta are greeted by the passengers who came on ahead of them - Norman, whose growth spurt has taken him near five and a half feet at this point, and a six-year-old girl with blonde pigtails, clutching a stuffed bunny close to her white uniform.

The girl smiles up at them. "Hi! Are you Norman's friends?"

Bart - OTA

[kid_flash_found]

1: Arrival

"Max?" Bart called, startled by the figure he saw out of the corner of his eye. He had to follow, had to, because the last time...well, it had been in the middle of that fight with Professor Zoom and the negative Speed Force, but when it was over...his mentor had vanished again. Dead? Maybe, but with their history, there was a chance. All one needed to return was the right lightning rod.

It was why he followed the aged figure outpacing him, wanting one more chance, one more conversation, anything. "Max! Please, wait, I need you!"

He's pushing towards the train, struggling to catch another glimpse of the figure he's following, and he turns to the person next to him, desperation clear in the teen's eyes.

"The old man, about this tall, fit, moves like he's got all the time in the world, did you see which way he went?"

[ooc: Bart is chasing his mentor, Max Mercury in his civilian guise.]

2. Trapped

He felt it the instant the movement shifted, and the train took off, and ran for the nearest window. Bart couldn't help a few indecipherable curses in Interlac as he saw the dwindling city as Jeopardy faded into the surrounding desert. They were airborne, on a train, and nobody seemed to care. He'd found Max, or what had seemed to be Max, but their conversation had felt wrong. It wasn't the man who'd trained him, taught him to be the hero he'd finally grown into, and never lived to see it.

And it hurt. As much as watching things shrink away. Then he remembered. The nanites, the very things that made their lives possible here on some level. They didn't work past the moon, which meant if they went into space...

"Oh, gods. We have to stop the train."

He reaches for the first person who seems more than one of the insubstantial phantoms he'd been chasing, and tries to get their attention. "We're leaving Earth, the train is flying somewhere, and if it goes too far, we're all dead."

3. Wildcard

[Want to rescue Bart specifically, have another scenario in mind? Hit me up on PM or Bugly42 to plan]

[drivesadesk]

"Yeah, yeah, I noticed!"

And now it seems more urgent than it had before. Oh, he'd been concerned when he saw the train taking off, and had generally wanted to figure out a way to stop the train, but he'd been able to tell himself that no matter what happened, getting a chance to talk to Ozzie again would make it all worth it. Seeing the kid, though...that changed everything. He could resign himself to whatever fate befell him, but he couldn't accept that fate for a kid.

"Maybe we could find the conductor. I mean, someone's got to be driving this thing, right?"

Sure, it could be a ghastly spectre of death, but they might be able to negotiate with a bony wraith, right?

no one left to blame; Klaus and Derek

[gigue]

She keeps catching sight of him from the corner of her eye after she's released from Aegis. At first, she worries that she's losing it again, that she should turn right back around and tell Aegis they need to keep her indefinitely. But it keeps happening, and finally she doesn't ignore it.

Violin case on her back, she pushes her way through the crowd - in and of itself probably a sign that she's had just about enough, thanks - following the glimpses she manages to catch. The back of his head, his profile, his smile. A sweater. Is that a knife? Of course no one in Maurtia Falls sees him, but she's already learned, in her few months living here, that they're experts in not seeing what they don't want to. It's part of what she likes them.

Right now, though, she wants them to get the fuck out of the way so she can see if Leonard Peabody is really here or if she should check herself into a psych hospital ASAP.

Just as she's about to give up, turn around and head back to the corner where she was going to set up some street music, she spots him in full, there on the edge of the sidewalk, smiling at her. He doesn't say anything, but he tips his head, nods for her to follow.

And though part of her thinks about throwing a truck into him, she stands rooted to the spot for almost a full minute as he crosses the street, dodging congested traffic easily. When he's almost out of sight, she shakes herself free and follows, hurrying over cross walks, pushing past people. She can feel - hear her heartbeat pounding, hear a high ringing in her right ear. It won't go away, so she ignores it, or tries her best to.

He leads her to a local train station, and if the train looks weird - it does - she barely notices it. She feels like she's about to break into a run to catch him, like he's purposefully using his longer legs to keep eternally ahead of her. And when he gets on the train, she does run, afraid it will leave before she can reach him and - she doesn't know what she'll do when she finds him. Everything is too twisted up in her chest to think that through right now. She'll worry about it once she's on the train.

[duelo]

Derek is willing to take what he can get. Laura's not corporeal and he can't hug her or, conversely, smack her for insisting on leaving him in Brooklyn for a "quick" trip to solve the mystery of the fire in Beacon Hills from which she would end up never coming back, but she's there and he can talk to her again and beggars cannot be choosers.

Yesterday, he'd been on his way to work when he'd seen a flash of red in the eyes of a woman he thought had looked like her, but until the flash, he'd written it off; he sees women who he thinks look like his sister Laura all the time, mostly because he never stops missing her and it never really gets easier, even after all these years. The red eyes called to him. The fact that Stiles had been from well before Derek had been meant that it was entirely possible that Laura could be here, alive, too. So he'd given chase and he'd followed her onto the train against his better judgment because she kept herself just out of reach. It hadn't been until they'd both gotten on that she'd finally turned to face him, reaching both of her hands up to touch his face reassuringly and apologetically. He couldn't feel it, so when he leaned into the touch, he got nothing from it and yet, he stayed.

Easily, it felt like the best decision he'd made in years. They talked for hours until Derek had passed out with his head leaned back against the window of the train. When he'd woken with a start, a crick in his neck and a panicked feeling in his chest, Laura had been there to reassure him that she's not going anywhere.

Derek is so busy talking to her that he almost misses it when Vanya passes by the windows toward the door. He only just catches sight of her profile outside the train and does a double-take before getting to his feet to get a better look.

"What is it, Der?"

"Vanya?" he asks himself more than responds to his sister.

"Oh, cute! Flag her down, I want to meet her. It's not every day your baby brother makes a new best frieeeend," Laura teases him in a sing-song voice and Derek waves her off dismissively.

"Shut up," he says, rolling his eyes, moving away from Laura and toward the door to see if Vanya is, in fact, about to board. When did she get out of Aegis? How long has he been here, anyway...? He's sort of lost track of time.

Jonathan Walsh | OTA

[drivesadesk]

"Ozzie?"

He can't believe it. He often hoped Ozzie would show up here, but he never really thought he would. And now there he was. Jonathan ran to catch up to him.

"Ozzie!"

"Hey, Jonathan! What's up?" Ozzie turns toward him and smiles.

"Ozzie I--"

He doesn't know what to say. 'I'm sorry'? 'I should have kept you safe'? 'I missed you'? His mind races through all the things he could say, but his mouth is dry and he can't bring himself to say any of it.

"Look, I'd really love to catch up, but I don't want to miss my train. Unless you're going the same way?"

He hadn't been planning on it, but what's ending up a few miles out of his way if it means he gets a chance to talk to Ozzie again.

"Yeah, I...I'm coming, too."

He hurries on board after Ozzie, taking his seat.

He spends the next few minutes eagerly trying to catch up with him, though Ozzie doesn't really seem to give any straight answers about when he got to this universe or what he's been doing. Still, Ozzie seems cheerful enough, and there certainly doesn't seem to be anything wrong. It isn't until the train takes off that he realizes something is a bit off. He doesn't panic, though. Not yet.

Instead he just peers out the window before asking, "So, uh...where exactly is this train going?"

Re: Jonathan Walsh | OTA

[hailgiovanni]

Looking out another nearby window was Archer. He was frowning, and quite honestly looked a little tetchy. "I would assume the afterlife, based on all these spectres around us." One could easily mistake the word 'spectres' for a curse in its own right.

He stood up from his leaned over position and turned to look at the man, ignoring Ozzie as he did. "Are you a local or an import?" He was the only one who didn't look, well, semi-transparent.

Anders | OTA

[rebelhealer]

Arrival
Anders knows that he should have known better. That little voice in the back of his head was telling him that this was a bad idea.

But the second Anders saw Karl, he had to follow him. He had to tell the man all about what he's been up to, share the adventures he's had since coming to Earth, and even before then, of the adventures he's gone through since he met the Warden and Hawke.

"Karl, where are you going?"

When Anders reaches the train, Karl finally looks back and smiles at Anders. There's a surge of relief when there's not a trace of the sunburst burnt into his forehead.

"Hello, Anders."

"Karl, there's so much I want to tell you."

"I'm sure there is. Come, tell me all about it." Karl gestures with a hand and Anders joins him on the train.

Ascent
Anders looks out the window, and the sky above. It starts out rather lovely, but then it registers that they're going up into space. "Okay, that's not good."

Looking up and down the corridors, he says, to nobody in particular, "Tell me there's a way off this train."

Cayde-6 | OTA

[lootsnshoots]

001.

It's not the first time he's done a double-take when he thinks he sees a familiar cloak in the corner of his vision. It's been decades, but part of him still expects Andal to come ambling around just like the old days. But this time when he looks up, he actually sees a retreating figure wearing his outfit—minus all the symbols he's added to it since Andal died. Cayde drops what he's doing, and dashes across the street.

"Andal?! Buddy! Wait up!"

The (little g) ghost of Andal Brask rounds a corner, just out of reach.

002.

His eyes are on Andal and not the shrinking horizon below as the train pitches its way up and up and up and up and up and up and up and out of the stratosphere. Cayde pulls out a deck of cards and starts shuffling. He vibrating in his chassis with so much to say and no idea where or how to start. So he doesn't, he just shuffles harder and faster and flashier.

"Wanna play a hand? Get the feelin' we're gonna be here a while."

Andal closes his eyes and upon opening them again, gives him a slow, lopsided grin.

"Alright. Let's make it interesting. If I win, you gotta promise me you'll find yourself a way off this train. You don't belong here. Not yet."

"Like hell I'm leavin' Andal, I—"

"—You're not chickening out on me are ya, Spades?"

"It's a bet," he capitulates, and begins dealing the cards. A dare's a dare.

003. WILDCARD, BABEY

2

[cannotrest]

There's laughter and chatter as thirty men and women pile into the carriage, all mildly transparent and glowing, all in space armor without their helmets, men in charcoal, women in white with pink highlights, one hijabi woman. The cheer dies abruptly as they catch sight of Cayde and pause to look at him warily.

Bringing up the rear, Ashley doesn't see what the problem is just yet. "Hey, guys, what's going on? What's the..."

She trails off as she comes forward through her old unit who were killed by geth, spots her robot boyfriend, and puts two and two together.

"It's okay," she says, stepping protectively in front of Cayde just as much to show them she trusts him enough to put her back to him. "He's not a geth, see? No flashlight head. This is my boyfriend."

Busy defending his honor, she fails to notice the man in identical clothing.

Ben Hargreeves | ota

[the_horror]

He had chased Klaus up onto the strange train, feeling weird about it. Like he belonged there or something. He felt safe and warm here on the train. Felt a sluggishness he hadn’t felt since he was dead himself. A cold seeping into his skin and into his bones and… and …

He hated it.

He felt like he belonged here and that feeling is terrible. He wanted to LIVE, not feel like this again. “Klaus, come on, we need to leave.” He begged, but Klaus had found someone to take his mind off things.

Fighting with Klaus was impossible, and when he snapped at Ben one last time, Ben wandered off, down the train, looking to see if he could figure it all out. Are you on the train as well? He might stop and talk to people, ghost or not, but he was confused about this whole situation. There had to be a way off.

When the train stops to pick up someone else he notices he could step off it again. Klaus. He had to get Klaus, and others. Anyone who shouldn’t be on here. To the person just stepping on he shoves. “Get off! You don’t want to be on here!” And the train leaves without them.

[hellogoodhigh]

He had sworn it was a trick of the light. Another face in the crowd that just happened to look like his lost love. After all, he had checked the records, he knew that Dave Katz had never lived in this universe. He had never lived, never breathed, never loved, and never died.

And yet, when he had drawn closer, he was able to see those defining features. The short, curly blonde-brown hair hidden under his helmet, those piercing blue eyes he'd fallen in love with, the shot through his chest a bleeding, brutal reminder of the last time they had seen each other.

His heart had about fallen out of his chest, his hands grasping to Ben's jacket, wordlessly gesturing to the spirit before he had taken off. Around a corner, down a street, into a subway station and onto the rail car.

Just as before, Klaus had followed him.

He had ignored Ben's warnings, hadn't cared about the fact that each and every passenger on the train felt and looked like one of them- his eyes were only on Dave, the love of his life, and the fact that his spirit was finally here.
He didn't care that they were in public. He didn't care that he was crying so much his mascara and eyeliner were probably running. He only cared about cupping his face in both his hands and kissing him, right then and there.

It had been incorporeal at first, like pressing his lips into a cold fog, but slowly he had manifested him. Ethereal blue glowing around his hands as Dave became solid under his skin, as his hands came up to grab at his wrists and nervously look around the train.

When Ben had approached, Dave thought they were in trouble. And Klaus hadn't been kind to Ben, telling him to leave him alone, snapping at him to let him be, just for a minute longer.

The only thing that mattered right now was the fact that, after all these months, after so much time here in this strange dimension, Dave was finally right where he should be.

{ you'd like to stay in heaven but the rules are too tough

[numberthree]

It's a giggle. The sound that captures Allison.

Familiar as breathing, and warmer than the sun could ever be.

Allison nearly drops her communicator in the sudden need to locate where it came from. The giggle which sounds again and matches the face of Claire, as she spots her. Bright eyes, and soft dimpled cheeks. Who gives a little wave and then smiling broader dashes away, like they are playing hide and seek, like she's been spotted, but she's not caught if she's not caught — a logic alone for small children.

Even as Allison knows it can't be right, she's already chasing after the specter of her daughter. Whoever. Whatever is doing this. Too small to be seen in the crowd. Always far enough away, she catches a glimpse of her hair, another of her giggles, or a glance back over her shoulder. And yet the people won't move enough to get there. Everything too right, too painfully perfect. Those wobbly, fast little steps, and her mischievous, playful little grin.

Even as she was climbing up on the back of a train, the crowd was headed toward.

Allison tried to call out, forgetting, again, idiotically. But there was no sound to go with her warning. That name she could never say again and seldom even wrote. Except when she had to. She kept pushing through the people, even as she had to get into the train itself. Trying to find her daughter.

~~there was no hope of peace, but you were the proof of it...

[iminthebook]

Harry is chasing a balloon. Well, not just the balloon, but the girl laughing and holding it and running with it. Harry has been chasing them for something that feels like hours, feels like forever. Its the heart of him, and it has been pulling away, so as to keep him from ever stopping. She is the heart of him, even past Wanda, and it pulls at him with a cry.

"No! No, no, no! You're supposed to be happy with the carpenters, happy far away from my fucked up life." He had let her happy, and smiling and barely knowing he existed, happy in her new life, the only one she had really known for years.

How? How could this be?

His daughter, looking so pale, in a color and look that was familiar, as if she was... and he shooo away the thought as he chased her, chased the balloon, and could not stop.

He came barreling through the crowd, and spotted his daughter with someone else, another girl. The narrow confines of the train seemed to funnel them together and the kids seemed... happy. "Maggie? Who is that? Stop for justa minute, please"

But beyond the girls, for a second, movement caught his eyes, and with a parent's vision for possible threats, he looked up, only to spot Allison. Allison. Wait, what?

"Allison? The train jolted into motion as he pushed forward, sight split between the two girls, and Allison.

Open to All { Unforgettable, in every way

[heartofthedream]

Jean walked down the center aisle of train car after train car, fingertips drifting over the edges of seats and tables. So many voices were tugging, tugging, tugging, at her ears — whispers of billions. Whispers of worlds and galaxies, civilizations and creations, all burned away and started anew.

The whole of time was fingerprinted with the ghostly pallor of the longest specter, and every inch of her soul was made of it, as well. Every death lingered like an echo, each new one, and every one to come. Hers, and hers-but-not-hers. Her thoughts were muddled, cottoned, spangled out of focus, and yet she could not keep from looking around, gaze lingering everywhere they were her fingers did as she walked.

"You shouldn't be here," she whispered softly to the air. To the car. To the voices.

To the people, and the not-people with them, that filled al the cars and seats she passed.

[iminthebook]

The train was full of shadows, and of faces. He had followed his mother onto it, and his father. And he had felt his heart pounding, sure this must be a trick, and yet... there was no mistaking his father's rich laugh, or his mother's gentle warm smile. Shots of memory from his childhood, losses he had never reconciled with.

His eyes burned with tears as he followed them, as helpless to stop as if he was tied to them. He had thought he had seen his daughter, too, but now he had lost her, only to see them. And so many others.

Karrin's dad, and Rodriguez. And the red King, and Susan. And so very many red court vampires.

he felt his heart full of fear and pain and worry as he pushed farther into the train. Because he knew. He had had this nightmare before. His ghosts all coming due.

When he spotted another person who seemed to be looking, who seemed to be different, he stumbled to a stop.

"Are you a ghost too?"

Angus McDonald - ota!

[hellosirs]

Arrival!

[ The thing is, Grandpa McDonald suddenly existing in this world isn't completely nuts. After all, this is basically an interdimensional nexus that pays no attention to the space-time continuum, and people who have long since passed away in their own personal timelines show up pretty frequently. Grandpa could genuinely be here, and the minute Angus sees him, he drops his bag of groceries in the middle of the street and gives chase.

Angus doesn't think about why he can't catch up to his Grandpa, doesn't hesitate to board the train, only pauses for a moment once he realizes how eerily transparent some of the other passengers are. He's usually pretty sharp and logical when it comes to seeing through stuff like this, but logic isn't driving him right now, logic has been abandoned entirely in favour of emotion. Right now, finding his Grandpa comes first, and everything else can wait.

That said, Angus is still unfailingly polite, so he'll at least apologize if he crashes into you while running through the train ]

Excuse me, I'm very sorry, I need to--!


Ascent

[ ... And suddenly, even after he's found his Grandpa and had a wonderful, heartfelt reunion, Angus's stomach drops as the train pulls away from Jeopardy, then North America entirely, and then the entire planet.

It's a trap. Of course it's a trap, which means that the bait wasn't real, and everyone on board here is in serious trouble. Angus gently lets his forehead rest against the glass of the windows, and mutters an elvish swear word so potent that it could peel paint from the walls.

Then, because he's Angus and multilingual cursing is an important skill, he follows it up with something a bit gentler (but no less meaningful) in english. ]

... Oh. Oh boy. Aw, beans.

Ascent

[harvesthoney]

[Lacey's enjoyed a lovely visit with her Aunt Ruby, sharing stories and recipes as they did when her aunt was alive.  She sits back with a smile on her face until she hears a young voice.  What could be wrong with everyone having such wonderful reunions?   She looks around and quickly spots the problem.  The train is a spaceship?  This won't do at all.  She jumps up out of her seat.]  

Um, I missed my stop!  Hello?  Can we turn around?

[She calls out as she walks through the train aisles.]   

Has anyone seen a way off this train?

Arrival

[bodilesswarrior]

Barbara only left her room - her computers, everything she could rebuild of her network so far - to grab more supplies, maybe a bite to eat. She's still wearing the earbuds that will pick up communication; she's still wearing her transceiver headset, and there's a laptop in her lap. (It's the one she brought from home, slimmer than the standard model here.)

Then she saw Sarah walking through the city, dressed in her favourite black trench coat, lieutenant badge gleaming against her shirt. Yearning and regret overcame ingrained caution and urgent responsibility, and she was chasing frantically, hands almost slamming on the wheels of her chair.

She should have stopped when she approached the platform, but professional curiosity mingles with everything else; who boarded the train already? Who's driving it, and for what purpose?

It's just enough justification for her to board.

Once she's in, though, Sarah has vanished in the crowd. It's hard to manoeuvre, but Barbara manages to start searching, to ask the question that isn't, objectively, the most important. "Have you seen a blonde woman with a police badge? Her name is Sarah."

Re: Arrival

[kid_flash_found]

Bart almost didn't notice the woman in a wheelchair until she addressed him, his whole being focused on the glimpse of a gray-haired old man he knew he'd seen. He had to find Max, get him to come back with him this time...

But then, he realized there was more going on, and he finally tuned to look at Barbara.

"A badge? Barbara, why are you here? Did you see Max?"

Tim; open

[notafraidofyou]

Tim feels like he should have known better than to follow his Dad onto this stupid train. He's not really sure what he expected here. Sure in a place like this, it's not totally unbelievable that he could turn up, considering ImPorts seem to be from all kinds of different times and places, but had Tim really expected that they might have an actual conversation?

How dumb can you get.

He hasn't seen his dad since they boarded the train, and he feels like he's been through every car at this point, so it's way past time to accept that he's not going to get any closure. Which is really what he should have expected in the first place. And now that they're really underway, he's not liking what he's seeing. He's not an expert on trains by any means, but he's pretty sure that 'up' isn't the right direction.

He looks around for other people who don't look thrilled to be here.

"Hey, you get the sense that maybe we shouldn't be going up?"

[kryptomight]

Should they be going up? Of course not. But they definitely are, and Jon's leaning out towards a nearby window to get a good look outside. Yep, definitely up. Definitely getting higher. That's totally safe.

Except for the whole you know, "I'm pretty sure if we get up too high it's going to get really, really hard to breathe. . do you think the driver knows that?"

Like he can just jump out and fly but most people can't? this definitely isn't safe.

OTA!

[made_up_names]

ARRIVAL

[ There's a lot going on here for Peter, honestly. He feels the pull of the train himself, deep down in the part of him that still wakes up late at night, gasping for breath because he's disintegrating, except this time it's next to Tony, scored by power it took to finish undoing this whole mess -

And as he remembers Tony, dying on the battlefield, he sees the man on the train. Sitting more quietly than he's ever known Tony to be, but still. It doesn't take much to convince him anyway, given his body is practically crying out to be on that train anyway. (Even if his senses are definitely not happy with the decision.) He's clambering onto the train, swinging over if he has to, but probably just scrambling on like a normal person. ]

Mr. Stark? Hey, Mr. Stark--

[ He can't quite seem to find the guy after he's on, but he's looking, oh he's looking. ]

LATER

[ Tony Stark isn't who he ends up sitting down with, though. In the end he finds himself seated next to a different figure. Not really any older than Tony, but maybe with a greater sense of responsibility to him. Similar in face and feature to Peter, his hair flecked with gray. Peter is hunched over next to him, listening to the man talk with a mixture of rapt attention and abject guilt. ]

But - Uncle Ben, listen. It was my fault. I should have - I could have stopped him. And there's so much else I've screwed up since then.

[ His uncle isn't here to scold him, though. His words are comforting ones, despite. Well. Everything else going on. The train is starting to leave ... maybe it's time to intervene and get him to leave. ]

Arrival

[hailgiovanni]

[ It had been foolish and he knew it, to think that his master had simply 'just missed him' and was on his way to a meeting or some such thing. Surely, Lord Giovanni would have communicated with him. He was not the sort to show a small part of himself and expect someone to simply follow.

It was nothing to do with loyalty, and everything to do with the fact that Giovanni was more sensible than that. There were a great many ways to get to meet someone in private without being seen, and this was a terrible way to go about it.

But, still, he followed. Through crowd and train car alike he followed the man who at a glance could have been his master all the way until he made it to where the man took a seat. He sat across from him, looked to the man, and his face fell.

This was not his master, though their similar features did make it easy to see how he made the mistake.

Archer stood, nodded to the man, and began to look for an exit, cursing under his breath as he went. ]

[Closed to Lester]

[topmeup]

[They had been out together, he and Apollo, when he saw them. Heard the sound of a train and turned and right there they were in the window. Ghostly and timeless. He wouldn't mistake either of them, but train was moving to the station and Max is frozen.]

Apo, did you just see that?

[And then he's moving right to where the train is stopping. Is Apollo coming with him? Hopefully, but he's having trouble focusing on anything else.]

[lesterzeppelin]

See who?

[ He squints, looking past the fog towards murky shadows. Maybe he's going blind in his old, mortal age, or someone's playing tricks on Max. Either is possible in this day or age -

and he runs after Max, already reaching out to grab his hand, ]

Babe, what's going on here?