Long Black Train - Chapter 1

His horse nickered as they reached the top of the hill. In the near distance, the black mouth of a tunnel opened from the mountain with train tracks like a long iron and wood tongue. In the distance, a shrill whistle signaled the coming of a train.

The man rubbed the side of the horse’s head to calm her dancing.

“There now girl, this is the one we’ve been waiting for.”

An indefinite amount of time passed before the whistle sounded again. He tightened his grip on the bridle. His horse danced again, eager to gallop forward.

“Easy girl.”

A fog had now gathered along the ground, building a white wall at the mouth of the tunnel. The whistle echoed from the mouth of the tunnel, it was close now. The fog was quickly sucked into the tunnel as a black train burst forth from the tunnel.

The train was black as deep night during a new moon. Sunlight couldn’t escape the gravity of the train, like a black hole; there was no reflection or glint of the engine or the seven cars to follow. The clack of the wheels against the tracks was deafening. The whistle sounded like death itself as it blew this time. The man clicked his tongue and gently kicked his heels into the horse’s side.

“Yah!”

The horse started forward and down the hill. The train moved unnaturally fast, the wind was the only thing that blunted the sound the train made. The horse picked up speed, four legs became six, and then eight as the horse hit her stride. The train, which first seemed to be speeding away, now inched closer and closer.

“Go girl!” He urged.

Slowly, the horse gained on the train. Several minutes later, the horses muzzle was in line with the end of the last car.

“You can do it girl, yah!”

The horse urged forward , foam started creeping out from the corners of her mouth. She gained further on the last car to the point the man leapt up onto the saddle and steadied himself. Several tense seconds later, he leapt from the saddle to the gangway of the last car. Immediately, he felt a sense a dread slowly build in his stomach. He checked his holsters six shooters and then turned to the horse still running alongside the train.

“Thank you Sleipnir, you can go home now. I have a feeling this is a one way trip for me.” He shouted.

The horse whinnied and in a flash of light disappeared leaving behind fiery hoof prints. The man turned his attention to the door of the car. He drew one of his guns and tested the door. It was locked. He took a short step back and lunged forward, putting his foot into the door next to the handle. The door shuddered and slid open. The man stepped inside, gun at the low ready. The car was deceptively bigger on the inside, countless people milled about like zombies. The man took several careful steps forward, wending his way around the people in his path. He bumped into one person halfway across the car. The woman turned to look at him with fear filled eyes and grabbed his shirt.

“Where am I?” She pleaded.

The man gently pried her hands from his shirt and placed a hand on her head. She crumpled to the ground with a sigh.

“I’m sorry, that’s the best I can do for you.” He said.

He continued to wind his way around the passengers of the last car, careful not to bump into another one of them. As he neared the fore of the car, he noticed a conductor standing next to the door. The conductor looked up to meet eyes with him as he approached.

“You.” He said with a smile.

“Me.” The man replied.

In a lightning fast motion, he raised the gun and fired. The conductor fell back against the door and slid to the ground.

“I mean to have a word with the Engineer.” The man said in afterthought.

He fished the ring of keys from the conductor’s belt and unlocked the door. He stepped onto the gangway connection and locked the door behind him. He steadied himself as he stepped over the hitch onto the gangway of the next car. The door opened as he approached. He stopped for a brief moment before entering.

A fierce wind buffeted the man as he stepped into the car. All around him, people hung in the air at the mercy of the winds blowing through the car. He slid back several inches, but put his weight forward as he walked step after labored step to the front of the car.

“Please! It was only one time.” One woman shouted over the gusts.

“Why?” One man said repeatedly.

The man ignored the pleading and screaming and made his way to the front of car. What seemed like an eternity later, the next conductor looked up and smiled. Instead of wearing a conductor outfit, this one wore leather and latex. She held a riding crop in one hand and a cat o nine tails in the other.

“Have you come to play with me?” She purred.

“Hardly, I have words for the Engineer.” The man responded.

The conductor pouted, but stepped forward to meet the man.

“You’ll have to get by me first.” She said with a smirk.

In response, the man drew both guns and let the lead rain. The woman deftly moved toward the man, dodging his bullets as if they were hanging in the air. She rose to her feet face to face with the man, riding crop raised.

“You’ll have to do better than that.” She whispered.

He planted his foot into her chest sending her sprawling to the floor. The man stepped toward her, loading the cylinders of his guns. She spun and got to her feet. She lashed out with the cat o nine tails and caught him on the left arm. Fresh blood welled on his bicep; the cat o nine tails had hooks on the ends. She cackled pulled her arm back to strike out again. The man dashed forward and grabbed the woman by the throat.

He turned on the balls of his feet and threw her behind him. He drew a gun and fired three times. The woman fell to the floor, blood trickling from her chest and head. The man holstered his gun and rubbed his bicep.

“You’re good, but not that good Lust.” He said.

He found the keys on a table by the door and unlocked it. With a single look back, he stepped out onto the next gangway. He locked the door behind him and crossed over the hitch to the next car. He opened the door and stepped into a deluge of rain. He stepped into mud and saw bodies littered all about him. They hung their heads, not seeing anything but their own desires. He stepped over a few in his way and moved to the head of the car.

An unseen force struck him and sent him careening into a denizen. He tumbled end over end and landed face first in the mud. He jumped to his feet and wiped the mud from his face. He turned to what struck and found a large black three headed dog.

“Cerberus.” The man said.

The center head of the dog huffed and all three growled. The man spread his legs slightly and squared off with the beast. The dog crouched and sprung forward. The man dived to the side and drew both guns. He left the roll and took a knee. His guns boomed several times and all three heads yelped in pain. Cerberus turned, limping on a leg and bared three sets of teeth.

“Come beast, let us dance.” The man said.

Man and beast charged headlong at one another. A light blazed to life in the man’s hand setting his gun on fire. He dropped to his side and slid under the beast, firing three more shots of blazing fire. He jumped to his feet and spun to see the beast collapse in a heap of smoldering fur. The front door slid open. The man holstered his guns and stepped out to gangway connection.

He touched his bicep and winced. It didn’t surprise him that Lust would taint her weapons. The door to the next car slid open, beckoning the man step inside. He did so and was greeted by a pale bearded bald man.

“You’ve done well to come so far, stranger.” He said to the man.

“Pluto.” The man said back.

“Come, I have such sights to show you.” Pluto said with a smile.

Reluctantly, the man walked forward with the God of the Underworld. Around them people were pit against each other. Some swung kettle bells at one another, others just fought hand to hand.

“Glorious isn’t it?” Pluto asked rhetorically.

The man said nothing as he was led across the length of the car, watching the souls batter each other, aware of nothing else but the desire to be the winner of their own fight. Pluto stopped three quarters of the way to the forward door and faced the man.

“I know who you are.” Pluto said.

The man did not flinch but held Pluto’s gaze.

“I am slightly irritated that you killed my dog, but you have your mission. Far be it from me to stand in your way.” Pluto said.

“Meaning?” The man asked.

“I have no desire to make war with you. I have my own interests to look out for after all.”

“So you will let me pass?”

“Of course. But remember the kindness I showed you, should our paths cross again.”

With that Pluto pointed at the forward door and it slid open. The man looked at the God and nodded. He turned his back on Pluto and exited the car. I wonder what would happen should our paths cross again, Pluto he thought to himself. The next car gave off an aura that made the man feel uncomfortable. He could feel rage begin to boil underneath.

He opened the door and stepped inside. The interior of the car was a river raging from the rear of the car to the front. On the surface of the river, people fought each other tooth and nail with looks of pure, unbridled rage on their faces. Beneath the surface, there were countless others floating, undying with looks of sullen self hatred on their faces. The man looked up to see a boat approaching. The oar man was a hulking flaming giant. He gazed upon the man as the boat reached the shore.

“So my Uncle let you pass.” The oar man said.

“Phlegyas .” The man said with a nod.

“I’m sure he had his reasons, the coward.” Phlegyas spat.

“Coward or not, your Uncle is a shrewd God that is still alive to this day.” The man replied.

Phlegyas nodded and they looked at one another. The Demigod nodded to the man’s guns.

“Shall we do this the honorable way?” He asked.

“As you see fit Phlygyas.” The man replied.

“Come, let’s see what your anger is made of.”

The man boarded the boat and it debarked toward the front of the car. The man unbuckled his belt and let it fall to the deck. They squared off and began circling each other. The man could feel rage building inside him as they got a feel for each other. Phlegyas opened with a haymaker, connecting with the man’s jaw. He stumbled back and touched his jaw.

“Not bad.” The man said with a smile.

They traded blows, not surrendering any ground as the boat rocked forward. Several souls stopped their own fights to witness the power struggle of Phlegyas and the man. The Demi-god jabbed and the man blocked and countered with an uppercut, which Phlegyas side stepped and swung a hook into the man’s side. The man grunted and countered with a headbutt. The son of Aries stumbled back a step and wiped his eyes.

He looked at the man with blood dripping from his nose.

“That was a dirty ploy. I like it. All bets are off.” Phlegyas smiled.

He threw a roundhouse kick at the man. The man effortlessly scooped the demigod’s leg into his arm. He thrust a kick out into Phlegyas’ other knee and was rewarded with a snap. His adversary fell to the deck.

“That was a low blow stranger.” Phlegyas said through pained breaths.

The man drew a gun and leveled it at the demigod.

“All bets are off I think you said.” He replied.

Phlegyas spat blood on the deck.

“So what will you do now? Kill me?”

The man holstered his gun and held out a hand. Phlegyas tentatively took it and the man helped him to his feet.

“My only concern is the Engineer, I have no quarrel with you Son of Aries other than you bar my way.”

Phlegyas nodded and his shoulders drooped.

“So it’s true what my Uncle said about you. The anger didn’t take hold I see. Very well, I stand bested. You may pass.”

The prow of the boat hit the far shore. The man clapped Phlegyas on the shoulder and jumped to the ground. The door slid open and the man passed through. The door closed behind him and turned and put a fist into the front of the car leaving a fist sized dent. That was close, the man thought to himself. He turned to face the next to last car. The door opened as he reached for the handle and stepped inside.

The car was lit only by fire coming from pits in the floor. He looked into a nearby pit to see Epicurus engulfed in flames. The next pit held the women accused of witchcraft from Ipswich. He passed many more pits full of heretics of antiquity. From the shadows, a figure emerged to greet the man.

“Greetings stranger.” The figure said.

The man did a double take looking at the figure.

“Nicolaus Copernicus.” The man said.

“Yes, the fates are cruel. Leaving me to oversee the circle of heresy, but I will not shy away from it. You are here to speak to the Engineer aren’t you?” Copernicus asked.

“I am.” The man said.

“Let me not keep from your quest then, Godspeed stranger.”

The man nodded and walked to the forward door of the car. He pulled the door open and stepped onto the gangway. The door closed behind him and looked to the seventh car on the train. He could feel an ice cold breeze coming from the car. He steeled himself and opened the door. Mist poured out from the door as he stepped inside. The whole car was covered in ice. The man was startled by a man frozen in ice. He looked at the body closer.

“Caine.” The man said.

As he traversed further into the car he saw Benedict Arnold and George Plantagenet. Several steps further down he saw Guy Fawkes and Shousui Koutotku frozen next to each other. The man looked from the ice to a person approaching him.

“Judas Iscariot, I expected you to be frozen amongst these other greatest hits of treachery.” The man I said.

“For millennia, I was but now I curate our frozen golden hits.” Judas said.

The man felt revulsion like bile in the back of his throat. He drew a gun and aimed it at Judas’ head.

“That’s to be expected, I guess.” Judas lamented.

The man lowered his gun and pointed it at the floor.

“I suppose you had your reasons.” He capitulated.

“Of which I’ve had so much time to think about. I was a fool then, if I could take it back I would.”

The man thought for a moment and opened the cylinder of his gun. He emptied the cylinder into his and put a lone round back in. He spun the cylinder and slammed it closed.

“Come let us get your twenty denari worth.” The man said.

They stepped towards each other and stood face to face.

“Russian roulette? Seems fitting, ok let us play.” Judas said.

The man held the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger. The gun clicked and he passed it to Judas. Judas took the gun and held it to his head. They locked eyes and stood for several tense minutes. Judas cracked a smile. Simultaneously he leveled the gun at the man and the man drew his second gun and shoved it into Judas’ stomach.

“Care to join each other in death?” The man asked.

Judas laughed and lowered the gun, the man did not.

“Smart.” Judas said.

“Somehow I doubt you mean what you said Iscariot.” The man replied.

“So what will you do then?”

They stared at one another for several more long minutes. The man snatched the gun from Judas’ hand and holstered them both.

“I’ll have words with your boss.” He said.

Judas hung his head and stepped aside. The man pushed his shoulders back and walked to the forward door. Without a look back, he slid the door open and stepped out. The door closed behind him and the man took a breath. He pulled his guns out and reloaded the cylinders. He holstered them again and stepped over the last hitch from the seventh car to the engine. He took a breath and opened the door. Once inside, the door closed with an ominous slam that echoed. Of all the cars on the train, the Engineers cabin was the most massive.

The man looked around the giant room and stepped forward.

“Fitting Father would send you.” A silky voice said in the darkness.

“He didn’t. I’ve come to talk to you Lucifer.” The man said.

“Oh Michael, the time for words is millennia past.”

The Archangel dropped his over coat and took his shirt off revealing a breastplate that shone in the darkness of the room. In the far corner, the Engineer of the Long Black Train, Lucifer stepped out of the shadows.

“You’ve done well to traverse the seven cars of my train.”

Lucifer stood in the light of Michael’s armor. He was a very attractive and pale man. His long black hair was tied back behind his head. He wore a black short sleeve shirt and his pale arms were covered in tattoos. Michael rubbed his bicep again.

“Lust left her mark on you. I can heal that if you want Brother.” Lucifer offered.

“Save it, I’ll have words with you Brother.” Michael said.
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In a blaze of white fire, Michael’s wings unfolded. He reached behind his head and drew forth his fiery sword. Lucifer scoffed, his own black wings spread out, tendrils of darkness wafted from the black feathers. Lucifer drew his own sword, a dark blade that glowed with dark purple light.

“It would seem it isn’t words you want Brother.” Lucifer said.

Michael leapt into the air. Lucifer leapt up meet him, their swords clashed and light exploded inside Engine. They landed several feet apart and dashed forward across the floor and their swords met again with another burst of light.

“We could do this for eternity, Brother.” Lucifer said.

They circled each other and then struck out again with a flash of light. Michael retreated back into the darkness.

“Where are you going Brother?” Lucifer said into the dark.

Several moments later, Michael strode back into view, sword held high over his head.

“Come, let us end this Morning Star.” Michael said.

Lucifer grinned and dashed forward to meet Michael’s sword. They traded strikes ruthlessly for several minutes. Lucifer parried one of Michael’s strikes and knocked his sword from his hand. Lucifer shoved his Brother to his knees and put his dark blade to Michael’s throat.

“Is this really what you wanted Brother? You survived the seven car of my train only to be bested by me at the end of your journey?” Lucifer asked.

Michael smiled.

“Your pride was always your downfall Brother.”

Lucifer pursed his lips for several seconds then looked up. In the darkness, a scene of what was in front of the train coalesced. The train was now going over Mach 3. The train was careening down the track now, ripping everything behind and carrying it along in the wake. Up ahead, was a turn.

“You fool, you’ll kill us all.” Lucifer shouted.

“We will join each other in death then Brother.” Michael said.

Lucifer dropped his sword and attempted to dash toward the controls. Michael grabbed him in a bear hug. They fell to the floor and watched as the train sped to the curve.

“You’ll die too you fool!” Lucifer shouted.

“It will be a good death Brother.” Michael said.

They lay together on the floor as they watched the train jump off the track and fall into the chasm.

“I hate you Michael.” Lucifer said.

Michael was silent as the train hit the bottom of the chasm and all the cars collapsed onto the engine in a fiery explosion that sent a mushroom cloud a mile into the air. As the dust settled, part of one of the cars shifted to the side. Pluto stepped out of the wreckage and brushed himself off. Dust and dirt billowed off of his clothes and he wiped dirt from his head.

“Cursed Angels and their incessant battling.” He huffed.

Pluto observed the path of the wreckage strewn across the canyon floor. The sun glared down on smashed and twisted cars, still no light reflected back.

Further down, a small pile of wreckage shifted and small black head popped out and looked around. Cerberus leapt from the rubble and bounded over to Pluto. The beast was a puppy now and sat at the God’s feet all three heads panting.

“Ah, there you are.” Pluto knelt down to scratch an ear. Cerberus began to kick a hind leg and wag his tail.

Pluto looked back up and sighed.

“Like you, my canine companion, these two angels will rise from the ashes as well. Soon, I imagine I will be called back to the Train again and this irritating farce will play out again as it always has.”

Cerberus barked excitedly and Pluto looked down to him.

“Yes well, I for one don’t look forward to it. Come boy, let’s go home.”

The God began walking length of the Train, Cerberus barked again and followed after him. They both disappeared in a shimmering haze leaving the wreckage of the Train behind.