A New Platform [Intro Post November]

[voidtreckermods]

On the Train

The morning after the Halloween party passengers are once again woken by a familiar voice.

"Good morning passengers, it is day one of the month of Imagination. Points have been updated on the system and new stock is available."

They have indeed and everyone can spend the morning shopping. Those who have been on the train a while will be expecting the second announcement that comes a few hours later.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." A lurch and a jolt and they are soon surrounded by the fog that means they are at a platform. But through the fog comes sunshine, causing patches where the light shines down to warm the concrete. Looking up passengers will not be able to see the sun through the fog, or much of the sky at all.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers. Bryn Pendragon, Bucky Barnes, Colden Rollins, Elena, Fai D Flourite, Jiang Yanli, Juliette d'Aubigniy, Misa, Peter Parker, Samata Mahto, Satou Kuroneko, The Doctor, Tohru Mutou, Zuko, 10 Vigilant Gaze Purges The Horizon. They all walk silently and do not look back as they disappear through the barriers and into the fog beyond.

But on the platform itself there are new faces. Wearing hoodies in all four colours in various states of confusion.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is steam. Billowing around them as they come to their senses. The second thing they will notice is the thick fog, penetrated by beams of light. As their eyes adjust they will see they are on a platform, behind them are a set of barriers and in front of them is a single track.

They are standing, in clothes that are not their own, styles they might not even recognise. They are carrying a rucksack on their back. For a moment it seems to just be them, alone in the white haze but then the steam begins to fade and they realise they aren’t alone.

The platform is not large and it holds five figures all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. Both left and right the tracks disappear into the mist. Then there is a roaring sound and out of the fog arrives a train. Jet black with gold writing on the side. The Voidtrecker Express. There is a hiss as the doors slide open and out into the gloom step a selection of people. Some are human, some are less so. Most are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple though some are sporting different clothes in a variety of styles.

The Train

The doors hiss open. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there is anywhere else to go and even if there was, you feel a pull. A need to board, a feeling that staying on the platform would not be a good thing. If that is not enough, there are plenty of people on the platform now, to encourage them onto the train.

Each ICP shows the same message and next to the screens there are stacks of leaflets written by those on the train, with further information. The store rooms have been restocked and Honey is the newest ingredient, jars of honey stock the shelves and the ICP's in the kitchen have recipe ideas for the month.

A new carriage has been added, those that go to investigate will find a small but function-able spa, complete with a small hot tub and even a steam room. It is a relaxing room with sun lamps and relaxing music or nature sounds available through the ICP. There are a couple of massage tables, with a course for how to give massages for those eager to learn.

New passengers will find their tickets allow them into their cabins. They may need to negotiate for beds, especially if they want a top bunk!

Room is tight but there are storage cubbies at the head of each bed, beds fold up and the bottom bunks double as benches for the small table. There is storage under those benches and you will hopefully find a pillow for your bed if it has not been nabbed by a roommate, there are also spare blankets for if it gets cold.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers braving the snow and the doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view as it picks up speed.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express." A female-coded artificial sounding voice echoes throughout the train. "Please take the time to read the passenger information displayed on the Information and Communication points and familiarise yourself with the layout and emergency exits."

The train begins to tilt, leaving the ground and rising up into the fog filled sky.

"Entrance into Voidspace imminent. New passengers are advised to remain seated. Entry into Voidspace in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

A shudder, a jolt, a lurch to the left. A flash of light, colourful and blinding. As quick as it happens it is done. The train seems to steady. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever changing colours.

Welcome to the Void!

Comments

/slowpoke noises

[mtsilver_conquor]

"Broken masks?" She's mostly just blinking at all of this now. It's starting to sound a lot like some fantasy niche web-comic from the depths of the internet.

Which is kind of disconcerting in some ways, given everything else she's encountered so far. Never mind the fact she's having a very hard time placing Ichigo as anything but a nice, friendly doctor.

Ironic, given some of her pokemon. "I assume this guy also earned whatever happened to him?"

/psyduck noises

[kingcat]

"Yeah, so you can actually see my face," he replied, and laughed at the question. "Yeah, he earned it. Tried to wipe out a whole town, just to make a key," he rolled his eyes. "Ichigo's a total pushover, right up 'til you threaten somebody he cares about. S'why I ain't eaten anybody here."

[mtsilver_conquor]

"And it was the town Kurosaki-kun lived in, mm?" It sounds like it at least.

If he expected her to be freaked out or scared by the fact he eats people or that he could very well turn around and eat someone from the train, the only reaction's a blink then a shrug; not even a hint of fear or disgust. He's not the first cannibal she's known. There's worse things to eat than a human, and honestly, she just plain comes from a pokemon world.

"But you can eat non-trainpeople? Or is it providing food for you?"

[kingcat]

Grimmjow nodded. "Karakura," he agreed, stretching his legs out again with a happy sigh. This spa thing was great. "It changed my body. I can live on the crap humans eat now," and despite his choice of words, he was kind of enjoying it a lot. Food was so good he didn't even miss eating souls.

[mtsilver_conquor]

Karakura....? Eva mentally shrugs. Anything with a name like that could easily slot into the rural areas of the Pewter sub-region. Probably.

That said, the fact he calls the food humans eats crap earns him a half-grin. She doesn't know him well enough to know if he means it, but at the same time... She shrugs. "Yeah, some of it's crap, but have you had chocolate yet?"

[kingcat]

The sound he makes when she mentions chocolate answers the question before his words do. "Yeah. That stuff looks gross as hell, but it tastes real damn good. As long as you don't put it on anything green." He might've tried it. Once.

[mtsilver_conquor]

"Myth yeah. Making it edible was easily the best idea in history," Eva agrees before she cocks her head. "Green? What'd of that did you first have and how was it cooked?"

If at all.

[kingcat]

Grimmjow shrugs his shoulders almost lazily. "Broccoli, I think? An' hell if I know. Ichigo just stuck it in front of me an' made me eat it," he wrinkled his nose. "Stupid jerk." Ichigo had not forced him, exactly. But there had been some level of bribery involved, and he'd definitely tried putting a little chocolate on one of them. It had not been a great decision.

[mtsilver_conquor]

"Oh, that- Yeah. If it's not cooked right, it can easily taste gross and that's not even getting into how bland it can be when eaten raw," Eva says with a hmm. "It and zucchini, actually, though more zucchini and a lot of people find them gross. Dunno why though, they taste fine to me?"

Probably because Eva, 'miss will-eat-whole-ghost-peppers', has no tastebuds left. "Unless it's the texture, then not much can be done about that..."

[kingcat]

He hummed softly. "Everything has a weird texture, it's all... solid. And not smooth or soft. Pudding feels more like souls than anything else. But souls ain't sweet, they're more... meaty." He was too relaxed by the hot spring to realize how weird this conversation was getting, or to care enough to derail it.

I will literally backtag this thread *forever* just so you know.

[mtsilver_conquor]

It sounds a little weird, sure, but no more so than talking to a psychic linked to any pokemon who has a less than 'standard' diet. In many ways, it's like something that'd come up back at home.

"for the record, I'm going to put this to the test myself over the coming month; I can't say I've noticed it myself, but.." She shrugs. She's human and she's more interested in feeding herself than thinking about what the food is really like outside 'would have again'.

"Though, it makes sense they taste like that, right? You're predator - an aniivore. Soul eater, basically. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of meat do they taste like?"

Eva's Weirdo-metre is probably Very Broken by normal Earth standards.

You an' me both! I'm always surprised when Grimm hits it off with someone.

[kingcat]

"Well, I ain't exactly an expert in human food," Grimmjow replies reasonably, dragging his hand across the surface of the water, just to feel it ripple over his skin. "Yeah, I guess. Though I dunno if eat's really the right way t'put it. I mean, I do eat 'em, but it's not like... they stop existin'. They just get absorbed into me. An' when somebody slices my mask off someday, they'll go back into circulation," he gestured vaguely with a hand, before letting it slip under the surface again.

He almost missed her actual question, blinking slowly as his brain rewinds and catches it. "They taste like what they are," he decides. "Most hollows have an animal aspect. Like me, I'm a panther. An' Hal's a shark. Nel's like a... a goat or somethin'. Ram, maybe. Male ram, which is real fukkin' weird 'cause she's a girl..." his voice faded off as he rambled.

XD Hey, as far as Eva cares, he's normal (and interesting)

[mtsilver_conquor]

Eva cocks her head as she cycles through what she knows of ghost-types and their diets, which is a lot considering she's not a type specialist. She can't say she's ever heard of souls going back into circulation -more so given they're absorbed into him, but then again, everything ends up dying at some point and feeding the cycle of life. In the end, she nods in (limited) understanding, deciding that's probably what he meant.

"It's still a form of eating, even if it's not a standard one. Probably look creepy or not like anything at all, but that tends to be par the course with aniivores. Either we get to see it or not, so-"

She shrugs a little; while she wouldn't mind watching him eat, it's probably rude to ask someone she just met. "That said, Nel-san's not that weird if she's a goat as they all have horns, and about half of all sheep breeds are the same, but I'm guessing that might not be the case in your world?"

He appreciates that. Or he would, if he realized people didn't think he was normal.

[kingcat]

"Definitely creepy," he replies with that lazy grin again, shifting his weight in the spa and letting out a happy sigh. "Well, creepy if you can see ghosts. Most livin' people can't, so I guess for them it ain't creepy 'cause they don't even know it's happening."

He hummed at the explanation about the horns and shrug. "I dunno. I don't usually end up in places with sheep or goats or whatever. When I do go to the living world, it ain't often and I stick to the cities." Where there were more souls worth eating.

Sorry for the delay. Feel free to drop this if it's too old.

[mtsilver_conquor]

"How creepy is creepy on a scale of one to ten?"

That's probably not the response he was expecting, but Eva's own body language is relaxed and at ease. "I can see you." That it might be because of the train doesn't truly cross her mind. "Anyway, I've seen aniivores eat before back home, so chances are it wouldn't creep me out too much."

Just make her squirm a bit and remind her of her own mortality. But isn't that part for the course with all aniivores?

You're fine, I had a real rough January... and I like this one too much to abandon it. :D

[kingcat]

He hummed, considering the question. "To me it's like a three, but if you're not used to it, probably more like a seven or somethin'. It don't look much different from wild animals eating each other, except sometimes my pray looks human," he shrugged his shoulders.

"Everybody on the train can see me," he countered. "The train stuck me in a gigai or somethin', and I can't leave it. I'm even stuck eatin' human food." If it weren't for the fact that his powers and mask were intact, he would've thought he'd been turned human entirely. And boy, would that have come with a temper tantrum.