Thanatos was waiting in a dark tunnel, smoking another cigarette as he watched the seconds tick by on his pocket watch. Everything was running on schedule, as a perfectly-managed train station should. Satisfied, he closed his watch and slipped it back into his waistcoat. He sighed, inspecting the cherry on his cigarette. He took one last long drag, sucking in his cheeks as he did. He stood and tossed the cigarette to the ground, grinding it into the damp concrete with the toe of his white boot.
He peered into the pit of the tunnel. There was such a wonderfully intricate network of these sewers under New Bedlam. It was about time he put them to good use. With time, he would clean them up. Renovate them somehow, and then run out all of the feral children, and rats, and demons, and vampires nesting down here. No more packs of stray humans and demon shadow-markets. No more portals and blood distilleries. No more waste from Alec's bloodbars. Once Thanatos had cleaned these sewers up, there would be nigh a crumb for the rats to nibble.
He cleared his throat then folded his hands behind his back and waited, but it didn't take long at all before the sewer lid above his head made a noise. He squinted as light poured down on him, and he took a small step back as Alec and his men descended the ladder. The three of them reached the ground and oriented themselves, and their lanterns' light landed on Death's tall, pale figure in the shadows.
When they jumped like they had seen a ghost, he said, "Good evening, gentlemen. Don't reach for that gun, Alec." He held out his hand and stayed the young jumpy Vampire King. "Forgive me... your Highness." Death bowed dramatically low and sweeping.
Alec's cronies chortled nervously, but Alec did not. His eyes were glued to Death, unblinking, and his hand was twitching around the flap of his coat, prepared to draw it back to brandish his killing machine. But, the bow and the respect, as hollow as it may have been from Thanatos himself, made him think twice. "Thanatos." Alec nodded.
Thanatos masked his condescension with politesse. "Since you gentlemen came all this way, and went through all the trouble of breaking into my station to assassinate me, I thought I'd get ahead of you and give you the grand tour." Death gestured with long fingers into the dark. "Shall we?"
Alec tried very hard to compose himself. He was feeling like a boy getting spanked by the nanny for stealing from the cookie jar, and this indignation was ripping him apart inside. But, he nodded. "Very well."
"Have your men wait here."
Alec didn't like it, but he gave them the order to stay behind. The new Vampire King walked alongside Death. He would absolutely not follow behind like a doleful child.
"I'm very proud of this portal I've designed," Death said as he strolled, "and I'm pleased to be sharing it with you. There's nothing wrong with a little friendly competition, afterall." Their footsteps echoed off the rounded ceilings. "How are you faring with the transition of power?" Death continued, "It's quite exhilarating- the high of the first few days. The power. The respect. But, after the high wears off, as it inevitably will, the real work begins. Being king. Alec, you must always have your game face on. Because, if you don't," Death stopped and moved along the wall to a service door, "...the competition will devour you." He opened the door to the platform of his train station.
Alec stepped in from the dark sewer into the light. The glass domed ceilings showed the vastness of the purple sky, dripping with fallen stars. The polished white bullet train glistened on the track.
"This is my portal," Death said. "My few selected clients can board the train. The train can hold some thirteen-hundred people, but for now, just the chosen few. Then, when the train hits speeds of, I believe it was three-hundred-million meters per second, I'll have to check with my engineers, it slices a hole through space and comes to a stop in a similar train station in New York City, the Mortalworld. The entire trip takes a sum of three minutes."
Alec's jaw was clenched.
Thanatos continued, "And of course anyone who wishes to use my lovely portal will have to sign a contract which states they will only ever use my portal, no one else's, to travel over-veils. Right now, it is just New York, but I was also considering Tokyo, London, Paris, Narnia, Avalon, etc. Yes, it is very exciting, indeed." Death took a deep, deep breath in. "Nothing wrong with friendly competition, wouldn't you say, your Highness?"
***
Loki sort of wished he could stay with Thor as his lightning and his hammer smashed down on the skulls of vampires rioting in the street. But, now that Death's clients were safe inside, it was time to close the door. A gap-toothed vampire with a nose ring made a run at him, but as soon as the vampire hit the protection barrier, they charred like a mosquito in a bug zapper. They turned to dust before hitting the ground.
Loki-Death made a face and went to close the door, but a big hand landed on the door, pushing against it as Odin came in.
Odin said, narrowing his one good eye as he entered, "I thought these protection barriers were down?"
Loki had to remember he was pretending to be Death, as Odin's gaze started pecking him apart like a hungry raptor. "It's a good thing you were misinformed." Loki-Death continued to close the door once Odin was inside. "All of my clients could be dead or injured if I did take the protection wards down. I would hate to receive that insurance claim."
Loki tried not to smile. He was doing such a good job being Death, but that smile could give him away. He continued, "Besides, anyone who meant me or my business harm would have been incinerated upon entrance." Loki-Death looked Odin up and down. "I wanted to see who among you I can trust. I am... pleasantly surprised. If you don't mind, I have my audience to attend to." Once he glided past Odin, his knees turned weak and wobbly, feeling his confidence wavering once away from Odin, but he composed himself and made it to the stage. Patrice was awaiting him with a glass of scotch. Loki's heart melted. He tried not to beam but it wasn't working. "Did I tell you to be waiting here for me with a drink?"
"Duh... You specifically told me you would need a scotch tonight," Patrice said.
Loki took the scotch and relished the first sip. "Good man." Loki-Death handed her back the scotch, and he strode into the burning lights of the stage. He had to remind himself to be Death rather than Loki as he stared out amongst the sea of people. Many of them were tattered and windswept, bruised and bitten. They all were still miffed about the attack of the ungrateful dead outside. Loki pictured himself tapping the microphone loudly and asking, "How many bites does it take to become a member of the undead, am I right? I mean, who's neck do you have to suck?"
But, he didn't say that and instead he took a breath, like he had seen Thanatos do a thousand times. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I apologize for the chaos outside. I suppose they were upset it was invitation-only."
That did get a small, polite chuckle from the upper-class crowd.
"Well, tonight, you have been invited to witness the opening of Grim Enterprises' cross-world teleportation system." Loki improvised off Thanatos's notes laying before him on the pedestal. "This teleportation system will allow for business transit back and forth to the Mortalworld. This will give our businesses ample opportunities for expansion and diversification. With this portal's ability to travel at the speed of light, you can go from here to Wall Street in a matter of fifteen minutes or less, and most of that time will be spent trying to catch a taxi in the Mortalworld."
There was another polite giggle.
"This is how the Netherworlds will grow. This is how we will continue to adapt. The times are changing at warp-speed, but we're catching up. Coming to you at three-hundred-thousand kilometers a second, I give you-" The white velvet curtains were pulled back, and the crowd was exposed to the grandeur of the station. "-White Horse Transit."
The media took pictures. The crowd stood. Some clapped, others raised their glasses, but all of them were in awe of the platform. The glass, the mirrors, stainless steel, the curving, flowing walls. It was the most futuristic design the Netherworlds had ever seen.
The Grim Enterprises' building itself had been quite a change when it was remodeled a few hundred years ago. Since then, the Netherworlds seemed to be stuck in time, but in different times too, depending on your location. So, this drastic change from the architectural norm was quite jaw-dropping to the demons and gods in the crowd, who all vividly remembered the day sundials were invented. Between the chit-chat and the champagne, they made their way onto the platform to admire the bullet train close up.
When people approached Loki-Death and began to talk him up about investment opportunities, he said, "Tonight is a night for celebration. Let's handle business another day. Patrice can book an appointment for you during regular business hours. Excuse me."
Eros skirted his way to Loki's side. "Okay, where's Death?"
"He's here, only I don't know where. He was going to intercept Alec from sneaking in the back way."
"The back way?"
"On the other side of the tracks."
Eros followed Loki-Death's eyes to the bullet train, which blocked the view to whatever was happening on the other side of the tracks some distance away. "So, he doesn't know about Damien, or the Fates, and that Alec has the Beastie-"
"Who told you about the Beastie?" Loki-Death scrunched his brow.
"Damien, sort of. So, Thanatos does know that Alec has the gun, yes?"
"Yes."
Eros said, "Look, Thanatos could be dead on the other side of the tracks."
They both goggled at the long train again. It stretched the entire length of the station, about fifty-five hundred feet.
Loki gulped and nodded. "Find a way over there. There are service tunnels, but for fuck's sake, be careful."
"I'd kiss you if you weren't him."
"Didn't stop you earlier... Don't think we aren't talking about that later- Ah! Shmeaglebobenzoar! How good to see you."
As Loki-Death went off to talk to the demon with the monocle, Eros shoved down all of his confusion and embarrassment to focus on the problem at hand. wandered off from the crowd. It would have been helpful for him to have the Shiny Thing right now, to see if it had been telling the truth, to see if it would have taken him to Thanatos, but it was at home, safe on the shelf.
