[S-016] In the Mirror, In the Soul

[Sentinel]

The drive from Rio Rancho to Valley Forge took a few days...days filled with abundant tension. Thanks to the call from the Dead Men's president, Shawn Crowe, Talon spent much of her time on the inaugural trip in the new bus in a constant state of stress. She considered it a massive blessing that she wasn't questioned on her quiet state during the bulk of the drive. And true to their word, a few days after arriving home, Sentinel and Talon packed back up with the youngest member of their family along for the ride this time. The four, including Alex, then set off for New Orleans on their way back west, intending to roll into Colorado Springs with days to spare before suiting up for Cataclysm.

But why New Orleans?

That question is answered as, against a black screen, we hear the sound of the bus coming to a stop, the brakes giving the trademark hiss. Just after the images kick into view, the door of the bus opens up and a familiar pair enter, each with a bag over their shoulder. Though they haven't been seen in several months, Lady Rayne and Zachariah Blood are hard to mistake for anyone else. Blood, tattoos and piercings and all else, has his standard cold expression on while Rayne seems a little more genial even if her eyes are enough to make most folks back up a step. As they come to the top of the steps, they take a brief look around with Rayne whistling low and Zachariah giving a nod of what appears to be appreciation. They're met quickly by Alex, who rises from the driver's seat and moves to embrace the former.

Rayne hugs her brother in return, kissing his cheek before stepping back and offering him a rare, pleasant smile. Alex turns to Zachariah and the two shake hands before Talon and Sentinel come up. The four exchange greetings briefly before Blood and Rayne are led further into the bus. Alex gets back in the driver's seat and pulls off while the rest chat.

Talon: "Glad you two could take time off for a few days and join us. The way you spoke of it, work is giving you both a hell of a time."

Rayne: "His more than mine. Some days he barely leaves his studio except to eat and exercise."

Talon looks at Zachariah over her sister, who inclines his chin in a gesture of affirmation.

Zachariah Blood: "The book took off and they decided they wanted to expand. We're looking for a second artist but until then I can handle whatever they throw at me."

Typical Zachariah confidence from Sentinel's former Unforgiven partner. The two men exchange a glance as they come to the sitting area near the middle of the bus. The women take a seat on one side, the men on the other. Zachariah really hasn't taken his attention off Sentinel, though, fixing a firm stare on him. To his credit, Sentinel gazes right back.

Zachariah Blood: "As for the next week or two, I've got a buffer set up. You think I'd miss seeing this big bastard turn that McBride asshole into a puddle of blood and beard?"

Rayne smiles at Blood while Talon chuckles quietly, shaking her head. Sharp ears will detect some tension in her tone but otherwise her reaction is standard. Sentinel cracks a half smile, nodding toward Zachariah with his eyes averting toward his former partner's head before meeting his stare again. Zachariah pauses briefly, then gets the silent question.

Zachariah Blood: "It's fine. No lingering effects."

The matter in question stems from the Mayhem two weeks after that in which Sentinel was given a most unceremonious exit from the UWA thanks to the Children of Nephilim. Zachariah came out, weapon in hand, to acquire vengeance for his former partner but took a hellish beating himself, the brawl leaving him with injuries including a concussion. Talon looks to Rayne, who nods in agreement with Blood.

Rayne: "He's just fine. Doctor's gave him a clean bill of health a month ago. If it weren't for the comic, I expect he'd be trying to get back in the ring."

Talon: "I'm sure I could put in a good word for him..."

Zachariah holds up a hand, shaking his head, cutting his sister-in-law off.

Zachariah Blood: "Appreciate the offer but both Rayne and I have full plates right now. No matter how much I'd love to be back in there tearing faces off and making some of those assholes cry like the bitches they are..."

Rayne: "...we're in the process of putting together a new future for ourselves."

Zachariah Blood: "Let's leave it at that."

Talon looks between the two, then shrugs and nods. Sentinel gets up for a moment and moves out of sight. Rayne, seeing this, leans in a little closer to her sister and whispers to her.

Rayne: "How is he?"

Talon: "He's..."

Zachariah is watching the two, interested but not interjecting.

Talon: "...well enough for now."

Rayne: "For now?"

Zachariah Blood: "'Well enough' means shit, Talon. Don't tell us that he's..."

Silence falls upon the three as heavy steps indicate that the Silent Destroyer is on his way back. He passes a bottle of mineral water to Zachariah while the ladies are given bottles of tea, which Talon accepts with a smile given her Destroyer before she spins off the cap to take a sip. Sentinel retakes his seat, twisting off the cap of his glass bottle and taking a long pull of the I.B.C. within. If he has any inkling that the conversation in his absence was about him, it doesn't show. In fact, he looks considerably content when one recalls the fury he was in last time he and Talon took to the airwaves. So does Talon for that matter, though the tension seems a permanent part of her.

Speaking of conversation, a new one starts up...yet it goes from intelligible to garbled and back again, the image distorting a bit, shifting as well from color to black and white. The only person immune to the odd distortions is Sentinel though that may be cause he's the only one experiencing them. He's still sitting, still holding the condensating bottle...but he's no longer surrounded by family. Instead, he's sitting near the backstage exit to the parking lot within the Oregon Fairgrounds Pavilion in Salem, Oregon, seven months ago. Confusion and a little discomfort is etched on his face as he watches...himself...walk toward the doors only to find, um, his path blocked my Maiko and a half-dozen Children of Nephilim.

There's no real need to hear what happens, the thinly-veiled and soon-to-be-acted-upon threats from Maiko and her followers. As far as the Silent Destroyer is concerned, there's no need to see, hear or remember any of this. And yet, he has little choice in the matter. As he 'steps aside' for the Children, they surround him and a brawl is quick to ensue. One of the Children goes head-first into the wall but soon rejoins his companions in stomping the unholy hell out of the Silent Destroyer. Fists and boots from every direction leave him barely standing, his right arm looking a little out of place as he's sent careening toward Maiko who brings a steel baton across his temple ferociously.

The scene distorts again with voices cutting in. Sentinel blinks suddenly, a hand going to his head as the garbled voices become clear gradually. Talon and Rayne are the only ones speaking. Zachariah is staring at Sentinel as though he's aware that something isn't right.

Talon: "...needs the shit kicked out of him."

Rayne: "When has it ever been otherwise?"

Sentinel lowers the hand from his head, blinking as though he'd forgotten where he was. He feels Blood's stare and turns his way. The women continue their conversation as Zachariah puts a hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly.

Zachariah Blood: "Hell's the matter with you?"

Shaking his head again, the Silent Destroyer gestures as if to say he's fine, but when he turns to look at Zachariah directly, he's not seeing his former partner sitting next to him on the bus, but instead with a microphone and a steel pipe in hand. Redmond, Oregon...the Hooker Creek Events Center...two weeks beyond Sentinel's being viciously attacked by the Children. The Zachariah of seven months ago points the pipe in his hand at the stage, but instead of getting what he demanded he instead gets several Children jumping the barricade to surround the ring. For a minute or two he holds his own, whacking the prison-uniformed Children with stiff pipe shots. But, much as it had been for Sentinel, the numbers catch up fast and do a nasty dance all over the at-the-time already-injured Blood.

In black and white, a colored Sentinel watches as they load his former partner onto a stretcher while Maiko, present again, delivers her typical message. He had had to watch this like everyone else all those months ago and as we watch, the vision freezes as the stretcher is being wheeled through the backstage area. Sentinel is visibly shaking in fury again, his hands clenching and his expression starting to contort with rage.

Then comes the crack. To the sound of glass breaking, the vision falls away as though it were upon an actual television screen visisted insistently by the business end of a sledgehammer. As well, the force of the effect the remembrance had on him had caused Sentinel to squeeze the bottle of root beer in his left hand so tightly that he actually broke it. Back in reality, Zachariah leans back a bit (after all, Sentinel was still looking at him during this trip to Memory Land), as sudsy brown liquid spills onto the bus floor and chunks of brown glass topple into the growing puddle. Drops of red soon follow as the broken vessel has cut into Sentinel's palm.

Rayne almost drops her bottle of juice as she stands, moving off to find something to clean up the mess while Talon is at Sentinel's side in a moment, checking his hand. Zachariah...simply stares at the scene, scrutinizing it moment to moment as Rayne returns. Sentinel is (obviously) silent but also very still as Talon cleans his hand off, showing that the wounds are mostly superficial, even though she has to pull a shard or two out of his flesh. Accepting the towel now, Sentinel cleans up the spilled beverage and broken glass, then leaves the other three alone, seeming as if he's in a daze. They exchange glances, first with each other and then at him, not speaking until he's out of sight.

Rayne: "...what was that about, Ren?"

Talon: "I wish I knew..."

Rayne: "That's not like him at all."

Zachariah Blood: "Whatever it is, I don't fucking like it. If this is that McBride motherfucker getting in his head, he's headed for more pain than he can handle."

Talon turns to Blood.

Talon: "Who is?"

Zachariah Blood: "Both of them."

Every bit of her seems to want to get up and go after him, but Talon is stilled by her sister, who shakes her head slowly.

Rayne: "Let him be for a while. Tell me more about this interview that you've got set up for Thursday."

Staring for a few more seconds after Sentinel, Blood exhales stoically and opens his bag. As Rayne and Talon start chatting again, he plugs in a pair of ear buds and retrieves a heavy-duty art book from within the duffel along with a small leather case. Retrieving a charcoal pencil, he starts sketching, perhaps in an effort to distract himself, while the view turns toward the back of the bus. Sentinel stands in the bathroom of the vehicle, in front of the sink and the mirror above it, staring into his own reflection. Beneath him, the sink is speckled with drops of red from his still bleeding hand though the running water is slowly rinsing that away.

There's a war behind those gray eyes. That much is obvious.

When the lights begin to flicker inside the washroom it's hard to tell at first if it's another vision or reality. Sentinel's eyes shift suddenly as he sees the reflection of Joshua McBride in the mirror, whirling around and coming face to face with the Dark Messiah. As is standard for him, McBride is wearing a wide, evil smile. He spreads his arms wide as though daring the Silent Destroyer to take a shot. Happy to oblige, Sentinel swings at what's proven to be little more than an apparition. The momentum almost has him put his fist through the wall but he stops short of hitting it at all somehow. When he sees nothing there, he turns back to the mirror but instead of seeing his reflection he sees that of McBride.

There's certainly some kind of psychological reason for that, isn't there? Some kind of philosophical example that could illuminate why Sentinel is seeing another in place of himself, especially someone he's sworn to beat the ever-loving life out of in mere days? Perhaps, but the Silence Behind the Violence isn't in the mood to wonder or care. Rearing back with his right hand, he's prepared to put his fist through the reflective glass...yet it's as if his arm has seized up as he starts to swing and he drops it to his side, his left hand going to his shoulder as he flexes the fingers of his right hand for a moment, wincing. Sentinel dares to look up at the mirror again but there's no illusion, no false reflection...just him. Obviously unnerved, he rinses his left hand again, the bleeding having stopped for now. As he opens the door, he is surprised to find someone there waiting for him.

Cheyenne: "Is okay?"

Sentinel blinks, then gets down on one knee before his daughter and offers her his left hand. She takes it into her own, the child's hands tiny compared to his massive paw. Cheyenne pats it for a moment, then places a kiss on his palm. The innocence of the child and the honest warmth of the gesture brings something resembling a smile to Sentinel's face, causing her to do the same. Getting back to his feet, he moves into the room at the end of the hallway, shutting the door behind him. The little girl moves to follow him until a voice stops her.

Zachariah Blood: "Better to let him be for a little while, shorty."

Cheyenne turns and looks up at her uncle coming down the hallway. His eyes are on the door first, but soon he turns his attention upon her.

Zachariah Blood: "He'll be all right later."

Blood's a little ill at ease around the child, despite her being family. And, well, he doesn't look like the sort who'd want to be around kids at all if he could help it. Something about Cheyenne's questioning stare, though, has him lower down as Sentinel did a few moments ago. She walks up to him without any reservation and reaches out to touch the tattoo of the eye of Osiris on his face. Zachariah flinches slightly but allows the child to do as she will.

Cheyenne: "Pretty..."

Zachariah Blood: "Um...thanks."

Cheyenne enters the smaller of the two bedrooms then, closing the door behind her. Zachariah looks after her, half-confused and half-something else as Talon comes up.

Talon: "She likes you, hard as that is to believe."

Zachariah Blood: "You're a riot is what you are."

Talon laughs as Blood stands, shaking his head and heading back toward the sitting area. Still standing there, Talon looks from one door to the other, worry crossing her features as the scene fades to black. The scene returns to her voice, talking on the phone. It's a few hours later, night by the looks of the sky outside. Talon paces back and forth, speaking every so often.

Talon: "...so what happens now?"

Shawn Crowe: "We wait to hear back from Robert. He knows at this point that, eventually, we won't be able to keep our brother out of this. But he's being pretty stubborn about it."

Talon: "He has a right to be, but..."

Shawn Crowe: "No buts. How is he, by the way? You two looked a little...furious last time."

Talon glances to the bedroom door, then turns her back to it, walking down the hall a few paces.

Talon: "He freaked us out today a little. Crushed a bottle in his hand for seemingly no reason at all. Thankfully he didn't cut himself up too bad but it kind of put everyone on edge."

Shawn Crowe: "Just out of the blue? That's fucked up. You don't think he's, y'know, losing it, do you? I mean, considering what you told me..."

She cuts him off firmly. As the view swings around, the door at the end of the hall opens slightly.

Talon: "He's fine."

Shawn Crowe: "...all right, if you say so. I'll call in a couple of days. Hopefully by then we'll have Robert calmed down a little."

Sentinel exits the room as the call comes to an end, walking up behind Talon and causing her to nearly leap out of her skin when he places a hand, even gently, on her shoulder. Hand over her heart, she turns to look back and up at him with a slight smile.

Talon: "Feeling better?"

Sentinel shrugs slightly, gesturing with a nod toward the other end of the hall.

Talon: "Rayne's chatting with Alex while he drives. Zachariah is lost in his music and drawing. We were waiting on you to get up to have some dinner."

Nodding, Sentinel moves past her with a kiss placed to her cheek. She looks after him and to the phone again, then back. There is, perhaps, concern that he heard some of the call, but she brushes it off and follows after him. After a second fade-out, the feed returns to Talon alone, sitting comfortably on the same couch-like bench she and Rayne had populated prior. Neither Rayne nor Zachariah nor Sentinel are in sight as she stares at the camera coldly.

Talon: "The rest of the world gets nervous when you're silent, McBride. But a precious few know the truth behind your reticence."

A downplayed sneer curls Talon's lips briefly. She crosses one leg over the other, hands clasped around her knee.

Talon: "Notice, if you will, that my Destroyer isn't present right now. If you can't be bothered to come before us with your rebuttal or whatever else might spill out of you when your filthy maw opens, then he sees no need to be present while I deliver his message. He has a trust in me that goes well beyond that, something Maiko no longer possesses for you if, indeed, she ever did. For someone touted as a Messiah, it seemed to me that it was rather easy for her to excommunicate you the way she did. You're going to wish, very soon, that you still had her, the twins and the rest of the drones at your beck and call, McBride. The date of your execution looms and the axe is sharpened, eager to taste of your flesh and blood.

Sounds like something you'd say yourself, doesn't it?  Like I alluded to before, we're no strangers to getting a little fancy when we talk about the damage my Destroyer will do to someone.  I daresay having his partner back by his side for the time being will be a boon.  After all, together they were a force to be reckoned with.  Few, myself included, can tap into the violent potential of Sentinel like the Masochist.  That's not the only reason he's along for the ride, though..."

She speaks almost dispassionately, which isn't to say there's no meaning or thrust behind her words. On the contrary, she's doing her utmost to exert control over herself rather than lashing out like last time.

Talon: "We haven't, as surely as Zachariah himself hasn't, forgotten your former allies laying hands on him, nor the liberties taken in our absence.  Did he bring that on himself?  Yes.  But someone had to show your hodgepodge group of malcontents that your actions wouldn't be tolerated.  Had our presence lingered while you were attempting your hostile takeover, you would have found the task daunting at best. Perhaps, then, you should be commended for doing what you did. You picked your spot, took credit for the departure of my Destroyer when you didn't affect it one iota, and ran roughshod in our absence. Zachariah was foolish to challenge you alone but that's the kind of man he is when it comes to the few he allows in: he'll step and damn the odds. But those days are done. You're alone, Joshua, with your failures and all that you've lost in your life leading up to this point.

How does that feel, I wonder?  We who draw strength from those who live, laugh and fight alongside us have been where you are so it isn't as if we don't understand the concept.  But you're a different breed altogether.  You don't feel like a normal person does as has been proven many a time.  So I ask again: how does it feel to be on your own against an onrushing storm of blood and fury?"

Pausing for a moment, Talon now affects a small smirk.

Talon: "Actually, don't answer that. I find that I truly don't give a damn about your response. In fact, I'm quite sure that I'm done addressing you at all."

Talon rises to her feet, defiantly throwing her head back, sending her loose red locks over her shoulder.

Talon: "Time is running out, Joshua. There's nothing I can say to you here and now that you haven't already heard and the idea of rubbing more salt in wounds yet to be given just doesn't appeal. Perhaps you won't be hacked to come before us, to try and prove us wrong. That or you're expecting that you can play my Destroyer's game better than he can, thinking wrongfully that your best efforts in the ring can give voice to your silence.

Don't sell your soul on that happening. You'll need what's left of it when Sentinel is done with you."

She walks over and shuts off the camera, bringing the message to an abrupt close.