Out of the Fire and Into the Frying Pan

The forest didn't last long but led to the strangest of sights, a plane of poppies. Like a field of blood, the plane had a crimson hue under the scorching sun. The field reeked of death and most alarmingly to Silk he recognized it.

The inhabitants here were weak until the demons came. The conflict made them rise in strength and their knowledge in magic was the pinnacle of its time. Even the stupidest of the species were geniuses to a human's eye.

This was also the birthplace of Oak. This is the battlefield where they first met, not as friends but enemies.

Filum had control over the demonic army and Oak as a normal soldier was the lone survivor after the plan was enacted. The blood of a species was on the hands that Silk used right now.

The poppies bloomed in memory of the fallen, never letting the colour of the blood fade.

If you looked closely bones and weapons were jotted over the field. The weapons ranged from daggers to weird ass sniper rifles.

The previous inhabitants were excellent craftsmen and while Silk was contemplating his own misdeeds, he was also scanning the field for a replacement weapon. The only problem was that all three of them were tired, hurt and famished.

Putting aside a new weapon Silk noticed a small factory reasonably close.

"That looks promising," Silk pointed to the factory. Smoke was bellowing from its chimneys so it was in use.

Crusher was still on edge and not in the best of conditions, "Lets hope that they are better hosts than where we just were." He then turned to face Silk, "Do you do that often, the whole travelling through worlds thing?"

"Yes, I think. I feel like I've been here before but at a less happy time." He turned with a smile, "No use dwelling on it."

Silk did remember, there was no doubt about it. The atrocities that he had committed under that name was numerous but that wasn't him, not really.

"If you say so," Phoenix mumbled weakly.

"I never did ask," Silk said trying to fill in conversation. "Why are you called Crusher?"

That caused Crusher to snort. "That's an insult from my people. I'm big and powerful but slow, so very slow. In mind and body. That's why I'm called Crusher, it's all I do well."

"I doubt that," Silk consoled. "I've seen that your leadership and strategy are decent. Your leadership is far and away beyond what I've seen elsewhere, from the glimpses I've seen anyway."

"That's nice to say but my strategies all come from one of my friends. I'm just recycling his ideas."

"New ideas are overrated. Whatever works is fine," Silk responded cheerfully but a bit winded.

Phoenix did pick up on this change. Silk was obviously growing tired from the extra labour of having her on his back but was trying to mask it.

"Let me down, I can walk from here," Phoenix said in a commanding voice.

Silk obliged happily. "Here you are my lady," he mocked.

"Bugger off," she snorted. "I hope you two aren't going to whine about your problems anymore."

"Are you problem free?" Crusher chipped in.

"No, but I know that neither of you two are any better." She muttered staggering

Silk grunted in approval. "Your right about that one."

Crusher grabbed Phoenix and started supporting her. They then started hobbling on together in silence.

"Do you have marching songs in your worlds?" Silk asked curiously to break the awkward silence.

"Of course," Phoenix responded immediately.

Crusher on the other hand looked confused at the concept. "Why would you need one of those? Marching is a sombre time used to prepare for the fight."

"Where I come from there is a history of the highland charge. Work yourself up and then charge shouting wildly at the foe hoping they run scared." Silk explained.

"It was used to keep pace in the empire I'm familiar with," Phoenix noted.

"The Roman Empire I read about in history did the same," Silk continued.

"In my world we just sort of do our own thing in war. Each to their own and if you died you had no one to blame. That was until everything changed with the demonic army's invasion."

"A lot of things change with the demonic invasion." Silk stated. "Look at this world for example. It used to be world of innovation in science and magic. Now it is a wasteland of poppies."

There was a respectful silence until Crusher pointed at the factory in the distance. "But there's a weird factory and it looks like it is being used."

"That's the big question." Silk grinned. He seemed to have a bad habit of looking forward to these sorts of things.

Phoenix rolled her eyes, "It's a trap isn't it."

"Most likely but we need food and water. Demons like to carry those provisions around so we should target it and maybe it will be some nice people if we are lucky." Silk elaborated.

"Luck has always abandoned me," Crusher said.

"Luck's a bitch," Phoenix spat.

"Nah, luck be a lady and she does like to look at me fondly from time to time." Silk retorted.

"It must be nice to be favoured by a goddess." Crusher speculated.

Silk spat out in surprise and laughter. "Lady Luck isn't real by my knowledge. Just a myth or legend. Someone to blame your woes on and forget about when your luck changes for the better. A scapegoat."

Phoenix sniggered back, "Lady Luck is real alright, but only a minor goddess."

"Luck can change the tides at any point," Silk countered defensively.

"And those words are why Lady Luck favours you, devoted to the end." Crusher said admiringly.

"Whatever," Silk said conceding defeat.

"I hated Lady Luck when I met her, but she gave me something you might like." Phoenix muttered tossing a box at Silk.

"What's this?" Silk asked.

"Don't know, don't care," Phoenix answered annoyed.

Analysing the box, it was lined with scorch marks but it was recognizable. It was a deck of playing cards. While opening the box he noticed four distinct suits.

The first noticeable was Spades which held a clockwork design. It elegantly kept with the design of spades but incorporated movement of time within it. When getting to the Jack he noticed a stylised figure which resembled Strocker. A darkness was around the card making Silk shiver. The King was the guardian of time who enjoyed the name Rumpelstiltskin too much. The Queen was not a familiar face.

The Diamond showed a pictorial representation of an atom and further on molecules. The Jack was an unfamiliar face of an old man. The Queen was very familiar though. The face was burnt and scarred and showed a lot of hardship. It was the face of Atom before her death in the workshop. The King was of Oak which caused Silk some surprise.

The Clubs showed a flowing energy. The Jack in this case was also an unrecognizable teenager surrounded in shadow with a scythe lurking at his side. The Queen portrayed Phoenix in her cloak but wings of flame outstretched on her back. The king showed a man sitting on a rotting old chair with a malicious image throughout him. That was the Demonic Emperor. He wore simple clothing on a simple background but pure terror radiated from that card.

The heart was clever showing an anatomically correct heart within the elegant picture of the traditional love heart. The King showed Crusher holding a hammer. The Queen was an elegant figure holding a sword at her side but the sword changed constantly from thin to large. The Jack showed another with a sword but at his left side not right, he was also listening to music on earphones.

The last two cards were jokers. The penultimate card was filled with writing of words and sentences, showing a young adult in an elegant dress but only showed her back. It was a cheerful dress which allowed movement and was only as restricting as a suit. She held an umbrella which matched the white and pink dress perfectly.

The last card made Silk shudder. It was filled with scientific equations and diagrams but that was not the terrifying part. The terrifying part was the man on the card who held a pocket watch by the chain at his side. It looked awfully like Silk. He was sure even when only seeing the back. He was wearing more formal attire than now with a full suit. It seemed to have a more Eastern inspiration from the tight fitting and slim design but kept a western overall design. The coat was slightly longer than expected though.

He carefully inserted the cards back into the box and looked at the case. Inscribed in Gold writing were the words: 'Death, by death sleep…' Looking more closely the scorch marks had been removed showing the shining black case[s1] .

"What are you looking at?" Crusher called from further ahead.

Silk grinned and slipped the cards into an inside pocket of his coat. He shouted back, "Nothing to worry about." He ran to catch up.