Working on the Railroad [IC]

[Carces]

Three demons had made it to past the dimensional barrier to earth. But only two had made it safely. The third covered its head with its hands as it landed on firm ground, but had no ability to escape the purely mental destruction, blowing it down to the ground. As soon as the final eye closed on its twisted form, it dissipated into a thick, black smoke.

The two horrors turned to each other before charging the heroic Kid Cthulhu - the current threat. They wailed an unearthly howl as they charged. The first leapt in the air directly at Kid Cthulhu in a dazzling display of monstrous might. However, at the last moment before landing, he flew over the hero's head - a distraction! The realization comes just in time as the demonic figure only barely touches Kid Cthulhu, unable to get a real strike in.

Despite this stroke of luck, three more demons crawl out of the three dimensional holes. Five now stand fully in this dimension - their mouths screaming and chattering.

"Kay-Cee!" Creature Feature turned as the demonic invaders rushed Kid Cthulhu. As the attack gambit failed, the flying demon flew back for another round of attacks. With little regard to defense, the Kchoolooian form jumped up, flapping its giant wings for extra lift, and slammed both of his hands on the demon, bringing him into swift contact with the floor.

Despite the cracks in the floor, the demonic creature underneath Creature Feature's scaled hands laughed, lifting the assailing appendages away with incredible strength and tossing him to the side.

"Wagh!" Creature Feature was easily thrown off balance and backed into a box car.

[trollthumper]

Nick rooted himself in the graveyard, both on this side and the other. He wasn't entirely sure if Jim's reach extended this far, or if the hobo's ghost had any power to lend. But this train yard had seen enough decay, enough rust, and enough poor men who died on cold winter's nights.

He could work with that.

"This ain't no place for demons, boys," he said, drawing the echoes of the dead. Hands crafted from raw ectoplasm soon began to draw up from the mist-covered earth, grasping at the legs of the hellkin. "I'd say kindly slink on back to Dis, but... I don't mean much kindly towards you."

[Carces]

The ectoplasmic grab at whatever enemies it can reach. Three of them get caught in the grasp, pulling at the grasps of the dead without any success. One of the horrors escapes the damning grasp by taking to the air. Another simply rips through the ectoplasm, shrieking wildly as it does.

"Urghh... that shrieking is horrid" Creature Feature shakes his head wildly as he attempts to get back on his feet. "I think you mighta got 'em though, Nick! But what're we gonna do about those holes?"

[Lone Star]

KC sent another raw blast of mental power. at the demon that escaped the ectoplasmic hand. "These guys may be tough, but there's no way they're smart. I'll try and knock some of 'em out." he said as the mental assault flew from his mind. KC felt his mind ache as the shrieking affected him on a psychic level. "And they are loud as hell, I'll admit that."

[Carces]

Another of the creatures is demolished by Kid Cthulhu's mental prowess. The creature shatters and dissipates into smoke.

All of the creatures, grabbed or not, stop moving in unison. In a combined effort, their various mouths open, shrieking in a horrific fashion with a maddening cry.

Creature Feature covered what presumably was his ears with his giant Kchoolian hands. Where in average people there could only be horror, the Creature's eyes reflected his anger at the undying screech.

"Shut... UP!" In unison, the uncontrolled tentacles flew up in unison, slamming down on a grappled demon. In such an onslaught, there was no doubt that the creature had been obliterated.

Creature Feature snarled. "I've watched PSA's scarier than you!"

Only two creatures crawled out of the holes this time as reality itself attempted to heal the tears in the dimension. The invasion was slowing down.

[trollthumper]

Nick buckled before the mental assault of the demons. Slowly, he began to doubt the safety of the railyard, wondered if its guardians were truly as powerful as they claimed. He wanted to run, back to safety, back to --

You've dealt with worse than this, he told himself. The depths of Nilfheim, the lost crypts of New Orleans... this is child's play. Steeling himself, he drew the hands of ghostly rage forth from the soil once more, but he could tell the assault had taken some toll. Their grasps were weaker this time...

[Lone Star]

KC shook his head against the fear effects. Nothing to it. He had seen worse than these guys. He touched down and fired off another psychic bolt. "We got these guys. We'll send 'em straight back to...wherever they came from."

[Carces]

Mental attacks on these demons are much akin to playing with bubble wrap. Another pop, and the extra-dimensional smoke once again rises into the air. There are now 4 demons on the floor - two of which are grappled.

The 2 grappled by the grasp of the dead continue to scream and howl with the unearthly sound. The effect is lessened, but still quite potent.

Creature Feature grimmaced again, shaking off the torturous voices. "Man, they just don't know when to quit."

He opened his eyes to see one of the free creatures leap towards Nick, readying its claws. Perhaps it sensed a brief moment of weakness, or perhaps it thought itself capable of halting Nick's powerful magics.

In both cases, the demon was in error. With a well-timed shift in weight, the demon tripped in its attack, landing hard and prone on the floor.

The other monster dug its claws deep into Creature Feature's chest. "Ack! Get off!" The powerful body was more squeamish at the demon's presence than actually damaged by the demonic talons.

In his panic, he grabbed the demon unshakably with a claw and hurled him towards a demon trapped by Nick's magic. They blow exploded in smoke upon collision.

"Yeah Ha! We're doin' it!" Creature Feature celebrated. A final demon fell out of the tears in reality, leaving only three demons on the field.

The other was charging at him.

[trollthumper]

Nick looked out over the battlefield. Whatever route they took to get here, looks like it's sealing fast, he thought. And a lot of 'em are strong enough to beat my grip. Might be the time to get a bit more direct.

He released his fists, and the ectoplasmic arms collapsed back into mist. But the mist quickly pooled and flowed towards him, rising up and coating his hands in darkness. By the time it had settled, the hands had turned to black, barbarous talons.

"Y'know, I dealt with lots of things most men'd consider horrors -- Cerberus, Ereshkigal, Hela, the IRS. Most of 'em just do their job -- ain't got much malice for 'em." Nick flexed his talons. "You guys, though? The way you treat lost souls? Ain't got nothing but bile for you."

He rushed towards the nearest demon, and felt something like relief as the claws tore through the thing's chitinous hide. The demon let out one last roar, and collapsed into black smoke before his eyes.

[Lone Star]

KC stood his ground, and opened his fearsome wings, and let loose a horrible shriek, the tentacles on his face undulating. "Woah. That totally was not me. But yeah. These guys need to go straight back into the deepest pits of hell. Let's make their journey quick." He closed his eyes and let loose another mental maelstrom.

[Carces]

Even alone, the monster was driven to attack in an insane, blood-thirsty rage. With Nick and KC firmly ready to finish off the menace, the creature turned to the distracted Creature Feature, who had let his guard down from his last attack. With all of its might, the creature leap up, bringing both of its clawed appendages to bear while it wailed an intolerable battle-shriek.

At the last possible second one of Creature Feature's tentacles lashed out, catching the demon squarely in the chest with an incredible destructive force. The demon was cleaved in two, disappearing as the others did into the night.

Creature Feature breathed heavily. "Is that the last of them?"

[Lone Star]

KC coughed and caught his breath. "I think so. Uh...next time, let's not frig around with the infinite, okay? Leave that to me. But wow...looks like we don't make a bad team, if a very odd one." KC patted his chest, and smiled at the giant monster. He rubbed some dirt off of his costume, revealing a slightly tarnished Elder Sign underneath. "Ah, damn. This costs a fortune to get dry-cleaned."

[trollthumper]

"Yeah, we did a pretty good job there," Nick said. He looked at where the rift had once stood in the middle of the railyard. "Wonder what all this was about, though..."

He stepped forward, stopping a few feet from where the gap had been. He opened his mouth, and let the pulse of the ages speak through him, looking for some pertinent wisdom.

[Carces]

The creaking and groaning sounds of a railway graveyard quiet themselves in anticipation. The stars themselves seemed to dim, if only a little, as the deep voice beyond the grave spoke.

"When the powers elder gather beneath the sign, it will herald his return. The denizens of the dark had come, for the first Seal is broken."

Creature Feature scratched his scaly head. "Uh, Nick? You okay?"

[trollthumper]

Nick broke off from his little meditation. "Yeah, sorry, I know that's a bit creepy to witness," he said. "Atropos isn't exactly known for pleasing tones. But it looks like this one was just the start. Something big's going on behind the scenes..."

[Carces]

"Creepy is an understatement. That was as crazy as the mouth-eye guy... uh... 'Just the start?'"

Creature Feature looked about, trying to find other signs of the dimensional invaders, but with little success. Even so, he cautiously backed up to where his wriggling tentacles told him a box car was, covering any unforeseen attacks from behind.

"So... Team, then? I really don't like the idea of facing more of those guys alone."

[trollthumper]

"A team, huh?" Nick thought on it -- he'd been a solo operator most of his crimefighting career. He'd been on the front line with Kid Cthulhu before, but this was his first time meeting Creature Feature, and while the guy had a lot of power, he didn't exactly know him all that well. Still, CF was right -- these guys were likely just the first wave, and it wouldn't be a good idea to go it alone.

"Yeah. I could go for that."

[Lone Star]

"Hell, we'd be a far cry from anything usual. We'd need a name to reflect that. How about...the Odd Men Out? No...that's stupid. Any of you guys got any ideas?

[Carces]

Despite the recent struggle with horrors from beyond and a disconcerting, cryptic message regarding an unknown and dangerous future, Vance shook with excitement. He had spent more time trying to come up with a Superhero name than he had actually testing and practicing with his powers. Helping to come up with a super-team with actual superheroes was a dream come true.

He hopped back and forth between his feet, pounding the ground underneath him as he spoke excitedly.

"How about Oddities? Since we're so far from the norm... Ooo! We could go with 'The Night Watchmen'! 'Cause it's night, right? And we're... uh... watchin'... stuff.

We could be 'Guardian Elite'! I'll betcha even rock bands would love that name!

Oh! How about 'Exemplar Extraordinaire? It sounds classy, and-and-and you can shorten it! to 'Exemplordinaire!'

Oo! Oo! I got it! 'Strangers!' 'Cause not only are we a new team and are 'Strangers", but we're Strange-er.

Get it? It's a pun, see? It's Funny."

Creature Feature trailed off, becoming more self-conscious as he babbled.

[trollthumper]

Nick paused. His lips pursed and his brow knotted, like he was deep in concentration. "Actually," he said, "I kind of like the Strangers. It's got a good ring to it." He let the idea sit. "Of course, if that doesn't work, I suppose we could do the Young Midnighters..."

[Lone Star]

KC nodded. "Strangers. I like it. It's simple, and easy to remember. You know what, Creature Feature? I think this could be the start of something." KC looked at the two of them, and then thrust his fist between the two of them. "Strangers, assemble!"

[Carces]

"Yes!" Creature Feature grinned from ear to ear as he shoved in his large, misshapen fist to join Kid Cthulhu's improvised salute.

"We've definitely got this! Strangers, Assemble! Yeah!"

After the salute, Creature Feature scratched his head. "Uh, now that we have the name out of the way, how do we contact each other? Y'know - in case of more monsters or stuff? I don't have a cellphone..."