Nightside 09 - Just Another Judgement Day

just using it would go against everything they were trying to achieve. And damn all their souls in the process.
    “Maybe we should have asked Chandra Singh to find something,” said Annie Abattoir.
    “No,” Chandra said simply. “I have tested myself against this Walking Man and failed. John Taylor is your only hope.”
    “Then we are in deep trouble,” said Count Video.
    “You have got to be kidding!” said Larry Oblivion, striding forward on his silent feet so he could glare right into my face with his dead blue eyes. “We can’t risk using the Speaking Gun! It’s . . . evil! More dangerous than the Walking Man himself!”
    “Yes,” said King of Skin, giggling suddenly. “It is. And that’s why it will work.”
    “Oh, it’ll work all right!” said Count Video, shifting uneasily from foot to foot. “It’ll kill him, then kill everyone else! That’s what it does!”
    “I remember the Speaking Gun,” said Jessica Sorrow, and everyone stopped to listen. She knew more about the unseen world than we ever would. “I can hear it, drawing closer. It moans and sings and hates. It is a hunger that can never be satisfied, a rage that can never be eased. Because that is how it was made. It has murdered angels and delighted in the destruction of God’s work.”
    “But can it stop the Walking Man?” said Annie Abattoir, and we all waited to hear what Jessica would say.
    “The Walking Man is both more and less than an angel,” she said finally. “He was designed to perform a function, just like the Speaking Gun. Who can say what will happen when the divine and the infernal come face-to-face?”
    “Well, that was about as helpful as we had any right to expect,” said Count Video.
    “No-one’s ever killed a Walking Man,” said King of Skin. “But they can be broken. It seems to me that a gun constructed to kill God’s messengers should be just what we need to do the job.” He sniggered suddenly, his sleazy glamour beating on the air like musty wings. “I can’t wait to see . . .”
    “You disgust me,” said Larry Oblivion.
    King of Skin smiled. “It’s what I do best.”
    “Going head to head with the Walking Man is our last resort,” Julien Advent said firmly. “I don’t want any killing unless it’s absolutely necessary. There’s still a chance we can reason with the man, make him understand that we’re not what he thinks we are. Make him understand what it is we’re trying to achieve.”
    “I think he already knows,” I said. “And I don’t think he gives a damn.”
    “We can’t allow ourselves to be destroyed,” said Larry. “We are the last hope of the Nightside.”
    “Whether we want to be or not,” said Count Video.
    “I knew your father,” said Julien. “This is what he wanted for you. He would be so proud of what you’re doing.”
    “You always did know how to fight dirty, Julien,” said Count Video. But he smiled a little as he said it.
    “I just want to see a Walking Man go down,” said Annie. “To do what no-one else has ever done.”
    “It doesn’t have to come to that,” Julien insisted. “I refuse to believe that God would allow His servant to wage war against the Good once its nature had been made clear to the Walking Man.”
    “I’ve met the man,” I said. “And I think the God he serves is strictly Old Testament. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, and to hell with repentance. Mercy and compassion, and just possibly reason, too, are not in him any more. He gave all that up long ago, for a chance to punish the guilty.”
    “We have to make a stand,” said Julien. “We’re all of us powerful people, in our own way. Perhaps together we can do what no-one else has . . .”
    “Right,” said Larry. “And hey, I’m dead. What else can he do to me, after all?”
    “You really don’t want to know,” said Annie.
    “We have to make a stand,” Julien said doggedly. “To prove we are worthy to be the new Authorities.”
    “And all those adventurers and rogues gathered down below?” I said. “Are you ready to let them fight and die, sacrificing themselves to defend you?”
    “No-one asked them to do this,” said Julien. “They are volunteers, every last one of them. It’s about faith, John.”
    “Right,” said Larry. “They wanted to do this. You couldn’t drive them out of here with sticks.”
    “Of course,” said Chandra. “We are adventurers. Heroes and warriors and defenders of the Light. It is what we are here