When the train got to a decent speed, I decided to leave the luggage car and return the nervous man's Passport.
From the luggage cars that were connected to the engine, I passed through the sleeping cars for the staff and made my way to the Lounge car, a sitting area with a full bar and light snacks. A number of people who I had already encountered were sitting around and I noticed a few new people.
Seated at a table for four, I noticed the man that had asked me to locate his luggage with his passport. He was seated with a man that was slightly shorter and more round. And the pair were sitting across from a pair of beautiful ladies, one blond haired and one wit auburn hair.
The tall man noticed me and brought my attention to his companions.
"Hello there!" the man called out to me "again, thanks so much Mr...I'm sorry, but I don't think you divulged your name"
"Oh...well my name is Luigi" He spoke as he extended his hand "And this man here is my brother Mario" The aforementioned brother extended his hand and I shook his as well. The brothers wore similar apparel except that Luigi wore a dark green newsboy cap while Mario wore a dark red one.
"Nice to meet you two, and who are these two lovely ladies?" I asked.
Mario spoke next "These two girls are our girlfriends. We each plan on marrying each other when we make our way to America"
"Mussolini not too appealing I see"
"You and me both! anyway. The woman with the blond hair is my girlfriend Peach, and the one lady is my brother's girlfriend, named Daisy"
"Hi, I'm Daisy!" The woman spoke as she extended her hand. I shook it and then extended my hand towards Peach. She however did not even bat an eye at me and turned away in disgust.
"Peach...what's a-wrong?" Mario sincerely asked.
"It's disgusting that they let a man of HIS position to travel on this train" Peach rudely spoke.
"On the contrary" said the conductor, who had come up from behind "Ralph here is one of the reasons this train gets high marks for it's service. Loading and boarding is often a lengthy and tiresome task, especially when you have to deal with porters who are of a standard strength. Ralph here is almost superhuman and is a valuable asset. You miss, however, are just an ass"
I smiled at this verbal jab and Peach developed a severe pout.
"And besides, our employees will not tolerate abuse of any kind and if you do have a complaint please speak to me"
When he finished, the four all stared at Link with great amazement. He then walked off and I followed him.
"Amazing that you were able to berate her for me" I complemented.
"It's easy to pick up when you know it"
"Like your knowledge of this trains operations?" I asked "You've only been here for two weeks and know this train like the back of your hand"
"I know less about the back of my hand than I do about this train" Link replied as he walked off to attend to other duties. He seemed off put, but I had no qualm to make with a fellow co-worker. So I brushed off the situation and made my way to the bar in the Lounge car.
"Just a seltzer please" I ordered.
The bartender got straight to work and as my drink was being prepared, a woman in a opened brown trench coat and an orange turtleneck came to the bar and approached the seat next me. Her blond ponytail and partially ended up on my shoulder as sat.
"I'll have a Scotch, please" she ordered.
I brushed her hair off of my shoulder, and she gave me a rather unpleasant look.
"Sorry Miss...it's just that..."
"Don't talk to me mister" she automatically replied and turned her head back around.
"But lady, your hair was..."
"I SAID...don't talk to me" the woman sternly spoke.
I stopped for a second and sipped my drink "Did you accidentally leave anything in your luggage?"
She turned towards me in confusion "Why do you ask?"
"Because I work for this train, and one of the things that I am allowed to do is go into the luggage car and retrieve belongings. What I'm not allowed to do is try to be intimate with a passenger. I could get reprimanded"
She sighed "Sorry for my cold demeanor. I've had people treat me like I'm worthless or just some object many times before"
"I understand. I used to be treated as this huge lummox who only understood simple words and actions" I explained with a heavy breath "Now I work for the Renaissance Express"
She let out a smile "I used to do clerical and nursing duties back during The Great War, but when the base was attacked, I gathered my guts and fought alongside men"
I just stared incredulously after hearing the woman's tale "That makes me feel insignificant then"
"We all have our own ideas of achievement" she spoke as she finished her Scotch "I may need some help locating one of my effects later. The name's Samus"
She then left, and I proceeded my way to the dining car. Bass was still nowhere to be seen, but I did locate Sonic and the two pilots sitting with a fourth person, and the "intellectual" talking with someone else who was wearing a top hat.
"Trouble is certainly brewing in Europe" said an unfamiliar voice, but I could detect the air of nervousness.
"Worse than after the olympics?" Sonic asked.
"Yes indeed" the deep voice spoke again "Germany has been supposedly making plans for full attacks against Europe"
One of the pilots, the one who sat next to the deep voiced man, spoke next "This thing isn't going to start with 'some assassination and alliances' is it?"
"No, Fox" The man continued "There's going to be a full attack by The Nazis and I'd bet it's going to happen soon"
"I'd also bet that the United States are going to lag on their entry into the war"
"That's a sucker's bet" I quipped as I stopped at the table "The Americans have always been known to be isolationists"
"Good point" Sonic spoke, he was then acted as he was trying to remember something "...I met you earlier in the back, I forgot to catch your name"
"Oh, I'm sorry, My name is Ralph. What are the names of your companions?"
"Well this is Tails" Sonic spoke pointing at the young pilot who sat next to him "I told you about him earlier. Across from me is another pilot known as Fox McCloud. Fox flew for the Allies in The Great War while Tails is aspiring to be a fighter pilot"
The deep voiced man spoke next "I've been trying to convince Tails to here to not fight in the next conflict for it's going to only be more brutal"
"I would happen to agree with you Mr..." I spoke, hoping to get the man's name.
"Sorry Ralph, my name is Peppy O'Hare. It's a pleasure to meet you"
"The pleasure is all mine, how do you know Fox?" I asked.
"I used to be a pilot as well" Peppy explained "Now I only fly for pleasure, but if war is the case I will probably help command air traffic"
"Well good luck for your endeavors then" I answered with the tip of my bowler and I continued down the train car and approached the "intellectual" and the man in the Top Hat. I was about to enter the next car when I heard the man in the Top Hat spit out his drink.
"You can't be serious Anthony! An indiscriminate weapon to end all wars?"
"Why not? Why kill with weapons that kill by the tens and instead kill enemies by the thousands? No need for soldiers to attack, just use the weapon and the problem is taken care of"
"But what about the magnitude of this weapon? What if it takes out civilians?"
"Civilian casualty is part of the price people play in war, Professor"
"What kind of weapon?" I asked, as the discussion began to absorb me.
The intellectual and the professor both turned towards me.
"Who are you?" The Professor in the Top Hat asked.
"I work on the train as a porter. My name's Ralph" I extended my hand and the Professor shook it.
"Nice to meet you Ralph, I am Professor Layton. My acquaintance is Anthony Danvers"
Anthony extended his hand as well and I shook it. I was able to get a better look at their features as I moved myself to be perpendicular to the pair. The Professor wore a orange shirt and a brown jacket, his hat was the same color of his jacket but a red band was on his chapeau. Anthony however was modestly attired, he wore a white shirt and a red tie with suspenders. Attached to his tie however was a distinct tie clip with what appeared to be some sort of red mushroom on it.
"So, what about this weapon?" I asked.
"A distinct kind of weapon that can remove enemies at an instant. No need for armies, just this one weapon and used only once"
"I keep telling him it's impractical" The professor worriedly spoke "A weapon like this is impossible to manufacture!"
"Not only that," I began "But if one country develops this end-all weapon, who's to say that someone else couldn't get the plans and make their own and improve on the concept? Then you'll have multiple people in a stalemate with a trump card to play"
Anthony just shrugged "Some new weapon would be developed. That way the old super weapon would be obsolete"
"Then there would be another, and another. By that point there would be no one to use the weapon against because there would be no one at all"
"You may be right Ralph, but leave the thinking to the intellectuals. You are just a simple porter"
"I MAY NOT BE BRIGHT BUT I'M NOT A FOOL!" I shouted as I banged on the table.
Silence filled the train car as stares were directed towards me. My less than pleasant temper had gotten the better of me yet again. I was never wild enough to cause any damage but that's because people realized the damage that I could do in such a small space.
I retreated from the situation as I made my way to the next train car while the two began to resume their discussion. The next car contained the kitchen and a partially tight hallway, so I proceeded to the sitting car, which was much like the lounge except it didn't serve food or drinks, but had a small booth for travel necessities. And yet again, the man was elusive but I encountered the two musicians that I met earlier. I also saw the shy young girl sitting with Meta Knight.
The two musicians noticed me, and they waved me down.
"Ralph!" Said the bearded one "Could you come over hear real quick?"
I sat in a seat near the two and I noticed what laid on the table in front of them. A pair of hats, a Black Homburg with a White feather with orange coloring and a Black Trilby with an interesting brass insignia on the band. Also on the table was a small notebook with a pencil nearby, some scattered papers that appeared to be sheet music, and a matchbook.
The musician with beard held a pencil in his hand and often adjusted his purple tie. Holding the tie in place was an Amber tie pin and I noticed that his features were quite pointed. The beardless musician however, was more rounded in facial feature, and that was the major difference between the two and he also decorated himself with a silver ring set with an Amethyst.
"What's the situation?" I asked "Did you talk to Link?"
"He told us to talk to you, for you are the one who sleeps in the luggage cars" The bearded one continued.
"We don't want to disturb you in anyway while we play" The beardless one spoke in earnest.
"Well as long as you don't play while I am sleeping, everything should be okay. Link often practices the flute in the luggage cars while I take over his job for a while" I turned to the bearded one "And during the day, I usually relax and only work when Link or the engineer needs help. What are your names again, by the way?"
"My name is Ganondorf, Ganondorf Dragmire" The bearded man extended his hand and I shook it "My friend's name is Bowser Kamesheru"
Bowser extended his hand and I shook it too
"So, when could Ganon and I begin practicing?" Bowser asked.
"Uh, maybe not today," I replied "but certainly tomorrow during the day. I'm quite curious what's in those secondary cases you carry"
They smiled and then picked up their belongings, Bowser wearing the Homburg (which partially made him look like he had horns due to the shape) and Ganondorf picked up the notebook and the Trilby.
I then made my way trough the sleeping cars where I checked each one to see if Bass either was relaxing by himself or had gone to sleep but the only person I did encounter was Meta Knight's servant who was taking a nap. I finally made my way to the observation car where I finally saw Bass.
The observation car had a small balcony in the back for people to feel the breeze, but it had been raining for the past while and the door to the balcony was locked.
Bass had collapsed into one of the seats, his black hair was all muffed and his Fedora was in the seat next to him. His yellow tie was crooked because his tie clip, which looked like a Sapphire cross, had disconnected off of his dress shirt.
"Excuse me sir?" I asked as I tapped the man's chest.
The man's head lifted "Yes?"
I opened the Passport "Are you a Fo...F...?"
"Just call me Bass" the man spoke as he began to wake "Spelled like the fish, said like the bottom"
"Oh...Did you lose your Passport?" I asked as I handed the object to him. He opened it and looked at me in a startled amazement.
"Thanks" he answered as he put the document into his jacket. He then grabbed his hat and was about to leave when I stopped him.
"Hold on a second" I spoke, placing my hand on the left of his jacket. When my hand contacted the fabric, I felt an unusual lump. Curious and worried, I eventually reached into his jacket and found a revolver and stared at it worriedly. Bass quietly took it back from me and placed it back in it's storage.
"I've been through many crazy things in Europe, and it's a form of...defense" Bass explained "You understand, yes?"
I nodded as I cracked my knuckles right there in front of him.
"Alright then sir..." he began to walk away and he momentarily stopped "Your Bowler's crooked by the way" and he continued.
I starred at him with slight aggravation as he walked down the hall and I adjusted my hat in the process. Out of Bass's sight, I shook out my hands because my knuckles hurt due to it having been a while since I cracked my knuckles. I then checked my pocket watch and checked the time. It was ten to seven, almost time for dinner to be served.
The pocket watch was a gift from the train's management for my exceptional service. It was silver and had an Emerald set on the cover, and it was my prized possession.
I placed the watch into my pocket and traveled to the luggage cars to make myself somewhat presentable at dinner.
