The man grabbed a drink from the moving cart.
Taking the glass into his hand, he swirled the dark liquor, took a small sip, and placed it down on the table.
His throat was clear and his eyes never broke from Kane.
"You seem lost."
He pressed his hands together, slightly leaning closer to Kane.
"I recognize your emptiness."
Kane's eyes did not move.
His breath stiffened.
His hand presses his chest.
The hollow tightens.
Ash studied the subtle shift in Kane's breathing.
He smiles.
He stands.
His hat and drink present on the table.
"Come. The air inside is suffocating."
He walked towards the exit door.
Each step fell in rhythm with the ticking beneath them.
Kane rose.
Followed.
The man stepped outside on the service rails.
He turned towards the back of the train and began walking.
Kane turned.
Kept pace behind.
The night breeze blew over them.
Black smog drifted past them.
The cogs revolved beneath their feet.
The wasteland stretched around them.
Still.
...
Art and Elaina were standing in the connection hallway between the train cars.
Art raised her head towards the ceiling, her hand resting on her chin.
Elaina stood twirling small strings together between her fingertips.
"We need to be strategic." Art said.
She lowered her head and looked Elaina in the eyes.
Her index finger stretched towards her.
"You extract."
Elaina lightly shook her hands to untangle the strings.
She pointed back.
"And what are you going to do?"
Art's eyes twitched.
"We need a dis..."
The door slid open and Alde stood in the frame.
He swept the room with his eyes, stopping on Art.
He fixed the golden lash that ran across his shoulder's while examining her posture.
Alde put his arm behind his back and grabbed his wrist.
"Identification."
Art reached into the small purse that matched her disguise.
She held out her identification card and the man snatched it from her.
He raised it into the light and did the same for the other side.
"My apologies."
Alde shook it twice before handing it back to Art.
"It's quite alright." she replied.
Alde's hands returned behind his back.
His chin slightly raised and his posture straightened.
"I do have one question."
Art inched back.
She motioned with her eyes for Elaina to start.
Elaina hand rested on her chest.
The other hung down, with a slight bend at the elbow to hide her hand behind her back.
A faint string protruded from her index finger.
He noticed the slight movement of her eyes.
"Why enter this cabin," his voice was steady "and turn away when seating is available.?"
In her peripheral , Art saw Elaina's string was in place.
Art's gaze didn't avert from him.
" I was intrigued by your outfit."
Alde's face tightened.
"Intrigued?"
A subtle vibration passed through the floor.
The ticking faltered.
A slight drag beneath their feet
The gears slowed.
Steam dissipated.
Wrong.
Alde turned away.
Art stepped back without breaking eye contact.
Elaina shifted her weight subtly.
People stayed seated.
No screams.
No panic.
Calm.
Art entered the second cabin and walked to the booth Kane was in.
She stopped and turned.
The seat was empty.
The hat rested on the table.
The drink untouched.
Art paused.
She pressed her wrist, becoming uncloaked.
She tapped the communicator device in her ear.
"Elaina change of plans." Art turned to face the hallway entrance. "Call for backup."
...
The dry breeze flowed around them.
The metal sounds under their feet.
Ash stopped and turned towards Kane.
"Good."
Kane stopped.
His chest tightened.
His breath staggered.
Ash shifted his sleeve back to look at his watch.
The hands still ticking.
"When I was like you."
He pulled his sleeve pack over the watch.
"A hand reached out to me."
Kane's hand remained on his chest.
The hollow shifted.
Ash reached his hand towards Kane.
"And When I took it."
His fingers folded inwards.
"My emptiness became purpose."
Ash lowered his hands and met Kane's eyes.
"The Maker reached out."
Kane's finger twitched.
His pupils widened slightly.
The hollow condensed.
A thin crack formed.
Ash noticed.
A faint smile.
"He gave me a name."
His fist tightened.
"Ash."
A step forward.
"And another identity."
The word came softer.
"Malice."
He pushed his fist forward.
The air bent.
The roof bore the imprint of a fist.
No chaos.
No sound.
Kane was forced upward.
Ash stood opposite to him.
Calm.
Measured.
His fingers slightly cracked.
The metal coupling behind them warped in.
Not shattered.
Imprinted.
Detached.
Silence.
The last car drifted from the rest of the train.
Kane trembled.
Not from fear.
From pressure.
The void stirred.
The crack widened.
Ash lifted his arm.
He unfastened the buttons at his wrist.
The sleeve fell back.
Moonlight caught the brand burned into his skin---
03.
Kane's eyes fixed on the number.
Quiet.
Still.
The crack opened.
It flooded him.
Hunger.
Starvation.
Ash clenched his fist.
Malice gathered around it.
Red lines surfaced.
Hands ingrained within them.
He extended his arm—
Imprint.
Kane struck the rocks below.
Dust scattered across his suit.
He stood.
Cold wasteland beneath his feet.
He unholstered the magnums.
Ash moved, malice orbiting his frame.
One shot.
Ash shifted.
A crack opened.
The bullet entered.
Exited elsewhere.
Ash adjusted.
Closed distance.
Another shot.
Another crack.
The bullet emerged from within.
Ash avoided it.
No irritation.
Calculation.
He stepped forward.
Imprinted the space around Kane's hands.
The magnums twisted—
Displaced.
Dirt scraped along the barrels.
Kane's right arm lashed out.
Ash met it—
Imprint against slash.
Kane vanished from that point.
Reappeared meters away.
No explosion.
No sound.
Just relocation.
Red lines stretched outward.
Imprinting around him.
The space tightened.
Ash stepped forward again.
Another imprint.
Kane staggered.
He slashed.
Ash leaned.
Miss.
Counter.
Closer.
An upward slash—
Ash redirected.
Miss.
One final step forward.
Ash lowered his stance.
Kane's arm twitched.
He slashed.
Ash grinned.
Malice condensed into his fist.
His arm extended.
The imprint reached—
The arm was gone.
No blood.
No bone.
No flesh.
Vanished.
Ash steadied his stance.
Ready to imprint.
Precise.
Controlled.
A crack remained open.
The imprint folded inward.
The arm returned.
Ash's eyes narrowed.
Not anger.
Assessment.
His malice flickered.
He flexed his hand.
An imprint formed—
Weak.
Incomplete.
Kane stepped forward.
Chains rattled.
Ash moved—
Too slow.
Kane closed in.
The arm reached.