The Mii Fighter Chronicles

Chapter Ten: The Train

"Hrmm . . . Uh . . . Excuse me . . . Do you have a second?"

"Huh?" Villager asked.

Villager sat up in his seat on the train car he was riding in. A blue-furred cat in a sweater stood in the aisle beside him. "Could you help me out?" the cat said. "Is it . . . Let's see now . . . 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 18th, 2015?"

"What?" Villager rubbed his head. For some reason, what the cat said sounded familiar. He shook his head, trying to clear the fog from his brain. "That-that's right. I think."

"Say, thanks!" the cat said. "You're too kind!"

"Y-you're welcome," Villager replied.

"Really, you're a big help . . . Mya ha ha ha ha howr!"

Villager stared at the cat. "R-Rover?"

The cat gave him a funny look. "Sorry, have we met?"

Villager blinked several times. "Um, no, no, I don't think so."

The cat stared at him for a couple more seconds. "So, anyway, you mind if I sit here? I promise I won't fall asleep, tumble onto you, and start drooling on your shirt!"

Villager shook his head again. "Please," he said, gesturing to the seat across from him.

The cat nodded and hopped up onto the green cushioned seat. He glanced out the open window at the lush forest speeding past the train. After a few moments, he turned back to Villager. "Thanks again!" he said. "It sure is nice meeting friendly folk on the train . . . You aren't a psycho, right? Just kidding!"

Villager forced a smile. "Right," he said. He glanced out the window too. For some reason, the image of a talking fox with metal eyes and a splatter of red popped into his mind. He shook his head again, wondering where in the heck that came from. This image triggered another image of a girl with pale skin standing over him and telling him to breathe. Villager rubbed his temples, trying to figure out where these images were coming from and why his brain felt so fuzzy.

The cat didn't seem to notice Villager's frustration. "Say, by the way," he said, "what's your name?"

Villager glanced up. "Oh, um, Villager," he said.

The cat looked surprised. "Hrmm . . . Well . . . Hrmm . . . Villager . . . Now THAT is an odd name. Mya ha ha ha ha howr."

Villager rolled his eyes. He'd never heard that one before.

"Not that my opinion matters much," the cat said. "What matters is, do YOU like the name Villager."

Villager glanced out the window and back. "Isn't it cool?" The words felt odd in his mouth as if it were something he had felt compelled to say and not actually meant it.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the cat said, realizing his mistake. "Did I say it was odd? It's not odd! It's a great name for a boy! Really. It's, uh . . . It's a really great name. Mya ha ha ha ha howr."

"Y-you know it," Villager said. Again, his mouth felt like it was saying things on its own.

"By the way," the cat said, changing the subject, "if you don't mind me asking . . . Where are you headed?"

"Animal Crossing," Villager said. He felt a moment of relief. Maybe he'd imagined it before. Now he felt like he was speaking of his own fruition again.

"Animal Crossing?" the cat asked.

"That's right," Villager said.

"Hey! I know that place! Animal Crossing is one of my favorite vacation spots! So, what are you going to Animal Crossing for?"

"I'm moving," Villager said. He had to look down for a second. Was that right? He remembered waving goodbye to his mom and his sister Lassy before boarding the train, but that felt so long ago. Certainly not earlier that day.

"Hrmm . . . Moving huh?" the cat said. "I hate moving. Pack boxes, unpack boxes. It never ends. Say! Where's your new place?"

"Um, I'm not sure yet." Villager hopped off his seat and started to walk away.

"You're not sure-Hey, where you going?"

"Sorry," Villager said. "I've got to make a phone call. I'll be right back."

"Oh," the cat said. "Okay. Hurry back."

Villager hurried to the phone booth at the front of the train car only to find it occupied. Villager waited impatiently. A few seconds later, the person inside the booth hung up the phone and opened the door. Finally, he thought. Villager squeezed his way past the person, looking up at her as he passed.

He froze.

Standing before him was a tall woman with pale white skin and dark gray hair. She wore a blue tank top and workout pants and her eyes were almost as pale as her face. She was the same girl from the image that had flashed in Villager's head just a few minutes ago.

The woman stared back at him with a look of equal surprise. "V-Villager?" she said.

Villager stared at her, unsure what to say. "D-do we know each other?" A name rolled around in his head, but Villager couldn't quite pin it down.

"I-," the woman's mouth moved, as if trying to find the words. "I don't know," she said. "I . . . don't think so."

The two continued to stare at each other. Eventually, Villager shook his head. "I-I should make my phone call."

"Right," she said, stepping out of the way. "It's all yours." She walked away quickly, rubbing her head.

Villager stepped into the booth and closed the door. He picked up the phone and dialed in his mother's home number, all the while thinking about the encounter he just had. The phone rang five times and then went to the answering machine. Villager hung up the receiver and tried again. Still, no answer. The image of the girl's face floated through his mind as he hung up once more.

"Jazz," he said, finally pinning the name down in his mind. Somehow, he felt absolutely certain that that was her name. He opened the door and spotted the girl sitting alone in the far corner of the train compartment reading a book. He stepped out of the booth and started to make his way toward her.

Halfway across the train car, something slammed into the side of the train, throwing Villager into the seat beside him. Jazz slammed up against her window, her book flying out of her hand. Rover the cat fell off of his seat and into the aisle.

"What happened?" the cat asked.

Villager sat up, shaking his head. "I don't know," he said.

Something slammed into the train once again, this time knocking it off of its tracks and sending it tumbling down the hill. Villager, Jazz, and the other passengers of the train car fell with the train as it spun end over end. After rolling three times, the train car came to a stop on its side.

Villager sat up, rubbing a sore spot on his shoulder where he had collided with the corner of a seat. Jazz lay on her back a few feet away, holding her hand over a goose egg.

"Are you alright?" Villager asked.

Jazz raised her hand and looked over at him. "Yeah," she said. She sat up with a groan. "You?"

Villager nodded. "What-"

Something slammed into the side of the car above them, large green animated claws piercing the wall. Through the windows, Villager could see a massive cartoon dragon flapping its wings and breathing fire into the sky. The dragon's claws clenched and the wall splintered and tore away from the rest of the train. Two figures appeared standing on the edge of the train. One jumped down and landed on the window between Villager and Jazz.

The figure looked around, his animated eyes sweeping over the dazed passengers scattered throughout the car. He pulled his cartoon sword from its hilt and pointed it at Villager's throat. "You check the next car, Daphne," the knight shouted up to his partner. "I've got this one."