Awake In a Sleeping World

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest edition of Breath of the Rifleman! Hope you've all had a good week and as before I'd like to give a quick shout out to LoneTaker, Noble Eight, and groche9655. Now then, with no guest review questions to answer this week let's dive on in!

Nighttime: Aboard the Mugen Train

He had mere moments to take everything in. A demon with short hair, yellow robes and multiple 'x'-shaped scars on his face had just crashed through the ceiling of the locomotive and was baring down on him. The Matagi had just enough time to hold his rug-covered rifle up to block his hands from tearing out his throat before rolling back and kicking the demon off of him. Both fighters leapt back up quickly as the demon again pressed the offensive with another angry charge.

But Subaru was ready this time as he tore off the rug and tossed it at the monster before hip-firing his rifle with three quick shots. They did indeed strike flesh as the Matagi saw a body falling behind the rug. Yet instead of ending the threat, three of the demon leapt out from behind the rug. One on each side and another jumping in the air. The Demon Slayer countered the three-pronged attack by leaping upwards himself and jamming the rifle's barrel into the stomach of the airborne threat before unloading his last two shots.

The demon cried in agony as he slammed against the train car's floor with Subaru using his weight to stick the rifle barrel even farther into his stomach. It was a somewhat risky move as he had to let go of his main weapon and quickly draw his Webley to fend off the next attack with one bullet each. Unfortunately, he only grazed the enemy on his right, which managed to force him back while he succeeded in nailing the one on his left in the chest only because he'd just gotten into arms reach and shoved the Matagi into a crate. It was a situation which didn't last long, fortunately, as the weighted end of Izayoi's chain wrapped around his attacker's neck and yanked him back.

The surprised assailant didn't have enough time to recover as Izayoi sliced his head off the moment he hit the floor. "Argh, you bastards!" Said the remaining, and likely, true demon as he retreated back to the next car.

"Guess that's our confirmation on one of their targets," said Subaru as he grabbed and quickly reloaded his rifle and revolver while also sliding his bayonet onto the Winchester, "come on, we need to make sure he doesn't reach the passenger cars!" Izayoi nodded silently as the two proceeded forward to the next car. It took them no time at all to find the demon again as he and three other copies of himself emerged from multiple hiding spots in an attempt to surround the two. And they were all wielding Tantos this time. "Izayoi duck!"

The Shinobi did as instructed while the Matagi twirled his rifle around his body. 'Breath of the Rifleman Form Three: Bayonet Dance!' He thought as the rotations of his rifle and footwork created a seeming circle of death that cut up the attacking demons and even sliced the arms off two of the clones. But the main demon and his other clone managed to avoid most of the hits by backing away and keeping their distance.

Another effect of the technique was numerous slashes to the floor, boxes, crates and even some on the wall. 'I gotta be careful wielding the rifle in such a cramped space,' Subaru realized as he ended the technique and faced down the four opponents with Izayoi standing at his back now. "Got any good tricks for this?" He asked his ally.

"A good Shinobi always has a few tricks," remarked Izayoi as he reached into some of the many pockets on his uniform. The demon and the clones didn't feel like giving either of them a chance to enact a plan as they charged again. Subaru swung his rifle around in response to this and fired from the hip, destroying the clone on his left before blocking his enemy's knife attack with his weapon. Izayoi, meanwhile, threw a couple of wisteria-laced pepper bombs into the eyes of his foes, causing them to recoil in agony before he used his Kusarigama to decapitate one and then dodge out of the wild flailing swings of the other.

"And they told me you were just a Mizunoto," remarked the demon, speaking for the first time, "to think you actually can put up a fight."

"I'm more surprised a lower moon is putting up such a weak fight!" Subaru shot back, noting the symbol for lower three in his left eye, as he managed to better plant his feet and kick the demon away before swiping at him with his bayonet. But his opponent had learned and rolled under the strike before moving to the side and catching the Slayer's attempted thrust.

"I'll show you what a lower moon can do!" Exclaimed the demon as he pulled the bayonet off of the Matagi's rifle and sent it into the far wall. The sound of two frightened voices responded to the noise as both the demon and Matagi noted that a pair of children had been hiding under the blankets of one of the crates. Whether they were stowaways or just playing hide and seek, none of them knew. But what was known was that the situation had just gotten a bit more complicated.

Case in point, the demon yelling happily as a grey mass quickly emerged from his neck and spawned three more clones, two of which went for Izayoi as he'd just finished off the other clone while the third headed straight for the children. Reacting on instinct, Subaru rushed forward and smacked his enemy out of the way with his elbow, having to let go of his rifle before drawing his revolver and firing a couple of shots that landed in the clone's back and head which made it topple over and disintegrate. This left an opening for the main demon, however, as he discarded Subaru's rifle and rushed him with his Tanto before the Matagi could get a shot off. Subaru grunted in pain as the back of his hand was slashed, causing him to drop the revolver as he leapt back and drew his hunting knife.

"I'm surprised a guy with an eye patch even cares about a couple of brats," said the demon as he took a couple of unsuccessful swipes at the demon slayer before leaping back to avoid a counter slash. "I guess your old man didn't give that scar to ya?!"

"It was one of your master's puppets!" Subaru answered as he ducked a strike at his head and attempted a thrust towards the demon's throat, only for him to leap back just enough to dodge it, "the same one that took most of my family!"

"At least you had one," snarled Lower Three as he slashed and stabbed at the Matagi, narrowly missing his right side, "my gambling addict of a father carved up my face for every loss!" Subaru's response to this was to move to the side and kick the demon's leg before slashing at his throat. The demon rolled back and away before charging again. The two caught each other's knife arms as a struggle began between hunter and demon to see who was stronger or had more leverage. "And to top it all off, he slaughtered a Buddhist monk when I tried to run away. Now I'm gonna show you just what I did to him!"

Subaru stepped back to brace himself as he used all of his strength to hold the demon's Tanto at bay and then some. It was a difficult deadlock, but with just a little more effort the slayer figured he might be able to-. "GAAAAAAAHHH!" Lower Three yelled suddenly as he lost his grip on both Subaru's arm and weapon before stumbling over to rest against one of the crates. The Matagi quickly saw the source of the demon's distress as his bayonet had been shoved halfway up his asshole.

'unbe-fucking-lievable,' thought Wakuraba as he felt behind him, noting that the wisteria poison the slayer had become known for was already coursing through his veins. 'Don't tell me I'm gonna die like, this?' It was already getting hard to breathe, or even think coherently as he noted purple coloration spreading all over his skin. 'I spent all that time trying to enjoy my life and forget about what that bastard of a father did to me, and now here I am about to die by the hands of children just like he did?!'

Flashback: Several Years Ago

He remembered it all too well, even after all these decades. He'd run away from home several days ago after his face had been scarred with another complete 'x' on it. Things had been like that for years. His Mother had passed away when he was young, at least that's what he'd been told, leaving his Father alone to raise him.

It was a responsibility he'd failed at spectacularly as the years wore on and he developed an addiction to gambling. He'd lose more often than not and come home in a rage, destroying what little furniture they had save for the table where they ate their meals. So when he ran out of inanimate objects to smash, his dear Father had turned to him as a way to vent his anger. It started off with striking which turned into full-on beating and then finally, he got the genius idea to take the one remaining knife in the house and start using it on his face.

He chose 'x'-shaped scars to represent a wasted day, though he was certain his old man was just too dumb to think of anything else. Whatever the reason, that became his new nightmare, a scar on his face for every loss at gambling his old man suffered. It didn't take long before he'd had enough and ran as fast and as far as he could from the bastard the moment he saw an opening. That's how he found himself at the modest shrine of a Buddhist Monk, who accepted him into his home and treated him like a human being for what was likely the first time in his entire life.

And for a short while, he was happy. Even with chores to do and a garden to tend too, he was still fed and properly clothed and was even learning a bit about reading and writing. But like so many things in his life, that happiness wasn't to last. The bastard found him again one day and, using the same knife he'd scarred up his face with so many times before, stabbed the monk to death while yammering on about him trying to take away a possible moneymaker.

Wakuraba didn't remember much after that, only that something snapped in him that day. He remembered seeing red, one of the sharpened gardening tools in his hand, and yelling, so much yelling. How much of it was his and how much of it belonged to the bastard that dared call himself his father he didn't know. The next thing he did remember, was that the son of a bitch was on the floor choking on his own blood while trying to get a broken piece of metal out of his throat.

It was an exhilarating sight watching his tormentor's final moments as the life finally left his eyes and his body grew stiff. But then, he felt nothing. He didn't know what to do or where to go and he hadn't cared. So he just walked, not even bothering to wipe the blood off of him. How long he walked was a mystery to him but eventually, he ran into that man.

"Such a dead look on your face there," the man known as Muzan Kibutsuji had said, "you don't even seem to notice the blood. But I have, and if you want, I can grant you the power to shed even more blood." He'd just nodded absent-mindedly at the time, too tired of everything to even care, until he felt the man's blood rushing through his veins. His new life as a demon began that day as he killed and killed, finally able to vent his anger on the world.

And when he was promoted to the rank of Lower Moon three, he was ecstatic. It made it even easier to kill people and he welcomed the challenge by those little Mizunoto demon slayers. One of his favorite past times became watching the hope drain from the newbie Slayer's eyes.

End Flashback

But now here he was, after suffering Muzan's displeasure at his lack of willingness to face those far stronger than him, dying not at the hands of a Mizunoto but by the hands of a couple of frightened children! The story of Lower Rank Three was going to end almost exactly like that of his late bastard Father's, pathetically. And it was only in his final moments that he realized too late, how little better he was than his old man. As for his current target, Subaru Genjirou, he was apparently still figuring out what happened.

Glancing to his side, the slayer noted the two kids close by who'd apparently been responsible for the deed. "Kids," said Subaru as an idea formed in his head, "close your eyes." The two did as instructed before the Rifleman rushed forward and finished the job by kicking the bayonet up the rest of the way until it reached the hilt. Lower Three's resounding howl of anguish lasted for a few moments before he fell over, the wisteria poison on the blade having done its work.

"Excellent work," said Izayoi, now unoccupied thanks to the other two clones disappearing, "though it's not the most tasteful way I've ever seen a demon dispatched."

"It wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't decided to test some of Shinobu's poison on my bayonet," added Subaru, "that body is gonna stay there rotting for a good little while. You wouldn't happen to have an extra bayonet by chance, would you?"

"Worry not Master Subaru," said Izayoi as he rummaged around in between some of the crates for a moment before pulling out an identical bayonet to the one currently lodged up a dead demon's stink hole, "as mentioned before I came prepared."

"In that case, we'd best get moving," said Subaru as he picked up his rifle and slid the new bayonet on it, "and you two kids, go and hide somewhere safe for a while. The ride's about to get a lot noisier." The two children nodded quickly and headed off through the door they'd apparently come in from as the Matagi and Shinobi made to head back towards Tanjiro and the others. They didn't get too far as another figure dropped, or rather fell, through the hole in the ceiling.

"Blast it Wakuraba," said the newcomer, a demon girl in a red kimono with white hair and two horns, "we had a plan and you ruined it by jumping the gun!"

"You got that right," said Subaru as he aimed his rifle at the now wide-eyed demon, "next time get a tick-." The rifleman couldn't finish the quip, however, as another figure dropped through the hole and forced him to divert his shot at the last second.

"What the fuck!" Said a familiar voice as the figure whirled around to reveal himself as none other than Genya, "are you trying to shoot at-Genjirou?"

"Oh wonderful," said Subaru, "we manage to avoid running into each other despite being in close proximity for going on two months and now, first assignment, we're stepping on each other's toes."

"You just let me worry about this," said Genya with his usual scowl, "I'll hunt down all the demons on this train!"

"Then you'd best get to it," Subaru said as he motioned a finger towards one of said demons who was heading to the window, and flattening her body in the process.

"NO YOU DON'T!" Exclaimed Genya as he pulled his double barrel shotgun out and fired at the now paper-thin demon flying out of the window. He managed to nick her a bit but it clearly didn't hit her head as the rest of the demon flew off into the unknown. "Damn it, I nearly had her!"

"Well at present we can't very well go after her," said Subaru as he glanced out the window at the quickly retreating form, "if she floated away on the breeze then she'll be a good distance in a matter of minutes."

"Gah, whatever," grumbled Genya as he turned to Subaru and Izayoi, "the ninja there told me there were slayers on board who might need backup. I take it that's you and your annoying friends?"

"And a Hashira," Subaru pointed out, "one we'd do well to join up with as I believe there are still a few demons on this train."

"A Hashira," said Genya in mild surprise, "which one? Is it the one with white hair and scars all over his body?"

"Thankfully no," remarked Subaru, "it's the flame pillar, Rengoku. He'll want to hear about some of this." For some reason, Genya grumbled in what might have been disappointment at this remark.

"Master Genya," said Izayoi as he fetched another hidden bundle from among the cargo, "if it helps, I have brought the requested item as promised." Genya simply shrugged and accepted the bundle, unwrapping it to reveal a pump action shotgun with several holes near the end of the barrel for a bit of flash suppression. "It is a Winchester Model 1897 shotgun, though it's become more commonly known as a trench shotgun or trench gun in recent years. This particular one, as you've noticed, is a 12-gauge pump action which holds five shells in its tubular magazine."

The scarred Slayer examined the gun while Izayoi explained, getting a feel for it as he worked the action a bit and checked the rounds within it. "Did you make sure to pack the specified shells of nichirin pellets," asked Genya as he holstered his double barrel and tried some of his own shells in the gun to see if they were compatible.

"It was something I triple-checked to insure was with me," assured Izayoi as Genya pulled out a bandolier of shotshells from the bundle and slung it over his shoulder.

"Just try not to hit any of the passengers with the spread on that thing," commented Subaru, "at close range there won't be much left of anything you shoot."

"Will you relax, I'm not that volatile," growled Genya, "if I have too I'll just resort to slugs." For some reason, Izayoi backed away at this comment. "You did remember to bring slug shells, right?"

"With it being such short notice, I was only able to grab the buckshot," said Izayoi as he rubbed the back of his head, "but we have another problem we need to solve anyway."

"And that would be?" Questioned Subaru, his impatience mounting as they continued to waste more time than he liked.

"We need an explanation for why we're carrying guns around on the train," Izayoi pointed out, "the small number of police and train officials might get in the way if they misunderstand our intentions."

"Do you happen to have something to put over our faces?" Questioned Genya.

"I have some spare towels, why do you ask?" Questioned Izayoi.

"Clean towels?" Pressed Genya, "I don't want to smell your sweat while I'm doing this."

"A good Shinobi is always in a clean state," Izayoi pointed out as he produced a couple of said towels, "to be found due to smelling terrible would be a mark of shame on our record should it ever occur."

"Please tell me you're not actually suggesting what I think you're suggesting," said Subaru as he put the pieces together while accepting one of the towels.

A Couple Minutes Later: Passenger Car

"EVERYONE PUT YOUR HEADS DOWN!" Yelled Genya, whose head and face was now covered by a black towel with Subaru and Izayoi right behind him. "We're taking over this train so all of you just stay out of our way and-, what the heck's going on here?" For some reason, every single passenger was fast asleep, not even flinching from all of the noise the shotgun slayer had just made.

"They've been put to sleep somehow," said Subaru as he tapped the butt of his Webley against a bald man's head, "this might explain how the demon's been taking it's victims."

"But that raises the question of why we have not succumbed to this sleep ourselves," said Izayoi.

"Gah, and when I came up with a good idea too!" Grumbled Genya as he and Subaru pulled the towels off their faces. The Matagi thought that was debatable but kept it to himself, instead choosing to voice another thought on his mind.

"Ordinarily I'd assume we were out of the demon's range at the time," said Subaru, "but if that were the case we should be falling asleep right now too. Either way we need to get to the car with Tanjiro and the others now!" The urgency in his voice wasn't hard to miss as the trio made their way through the different cars one after the other and finding more or less the same story. The only ones who seemed to be awake were the train staff, who they had to knock out in order to keep from alerting the rest of the staff before proceeding onward.

After another few minutes journey they arrived at their destination. But as Subaru slid open the door, the sight that greeted him was beyond confusing. As expected everyone was asleep, including Tanjiro and the others. But for some reason, Rengoku was up and had his hand around the throat of a human girl who hadn't been on the car before Subaru had left. Three other unknown passengers were also in the car with ropes connecting their wrists to those of the other slayers.

But all of that took a backseat to the fact that Tanjiro himself was on fire! "Tanijro!" Exclaimed Subaru as he rushed forward, only to be stopped at the last second by the sudden appearance of his bamboo muzzle wearing love. "Nezuko, what in the world is-?"

"GET BACK!" Exclaimed Genya as he tried to push past Subaru and aim his new shotgun at Nezuko. A big mistake, obviously, as Subaru shoved the barrel of the gun upwards where it discharged into the ceiling while drawing his Webley and aiming it at Genya's heart.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you in all the excitement," apologized Subaru before digging the barrel into his fellow slayer's abdomen a bit, "but Nezuko here is on our side. You so much as ruffle a hair on her head and being torn apart by a demon on this train will be the most 'merciful' thing that can happen to you tonight." He put enough menace in his voice to let his comrade know that he meant it, and Izayoi behind him with his sickle to his throat certainly helped.

"So what they were saying back at the Butterfly Mansion was true," grunted Genya, "you two are traveling with a demon."

"Her name is Nezuko," said Subaru as said demon girl crept up behind him and whispered a few things in his ear. "You were trying to wake him up?" The girl nodded in affirmation before saying a couple more words. "Well yes the uniform is fireproof but he isn-."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Screamed Tanjiro suddenly as he awoke with more than a bit of a start, causing everyone to back up a bit as the swordsman felt his throat. "It's alright," said Tanjiro, feeling his neck as if he'd cut himself, "I'm alive." It was then that the Slayer noted the presence of the other passengers and newcomers. "What, Nezuko, Subaru, everyone, what's going on here?!"

"Just another misunderstanding," assured Subaru as he and Izayoi pulled their weapons away from Genya, "the main questions right now, though, is why is everyone asleep and how did you wake up?"

"Well I," Tanjiro started to say before he noticed the burned up rope on his wrist, "did you set this on fire Nezuko?"

"She tried lighting a fire under your ass and it spread to the rest of you," said Subaru, figuring he'd get the actual explanation later.

"Well aside from the burning smell, I'm getting the faint scent of demons on it," said Tanjiro before realization crossed his features, "wait a minute, the ticket!" He pulled out the stamped train ticket from his pocket and gave it a whiff. "It's as I thought, this has the faint scent of demons on it too."

"That explains why we didn't fall asleep," said Subaru with a hand to his chin, "I left just before the conductor showed up and Genya was busy chasing a demon, so neither of our tickets got punched. And Izayoi doesn't even have a ticket to punch, so that means he can't fall asleep period."

"That's great that we figured out why everyone's asleep," said Genya, "but why isn't anyone else, including the sleepwalking Hashira here, able to wake up?" And it was a good question. For some reason, Rengoku wasn't actually conscious but his body seemed to have reacted to a threat of sorts and moved on its own, hence him currently grasping the unknown girl by the throat but making no move to kill her.

"Perhaps we should start by cutting these ropes," said Izayoi as he examined the ones tied to the others.

"That might not be the best idea," said Tanjiro, "Nezuko burned mine off, so it might be better if we just stuck with that method." Subaru nodded in agreement to that while Genya simply grunted out a quick 'whatever'. Nezuko then proceeded to spread some of her blood on the ropes before grasping her hand and causing them to ignite with dark red flames that quickly burned away the remaining ropes.

"Zenitsu, Inosuke!" Exclaimed Tanjiro as he tried shaking each one in an attempt to wake them up before Nezuko grumpily beat on his arm. "Right, I'm sorry Nezuko, there there." The Swordsman patted her head, "thank you for the help." The demon girl nodded in appreciation while Subaru decided to pistol whip Zenitsu and Inosuke both in the head. "Subaru! We're trying to wake them up!"

"Well Nezuko set you on fire before you woke up," said Subaru with a shrug, "maybe a similar physical trauma can wake these bozos up."

"Would it not be a better idea to wake up the Hashira-," Izayoi started to say before a sudden groaning noise caught their attention. One of the strangers, a girl with twin braids, was waking up. And the first thing she did upon catching sight of them, was to slash at Tanjiro with an ice pick. Thankfully, the swordsman avoided it but it was only through sheer force of will that Subaru didn't immediately pull the trigger on her as he remembered at the last second that she was human.

"B-Because of you," she said breathlessly as sweat rolled down her forehead, "if you all hadn't shown up, we'd be having sweet dreams right now!" The look on her face was one of pure hatred for all of them. And she wasn't the only one.

The other three were also waking up. One a boy with short hair and another was a girl with long hair and a flowery kimono. The final one was a boy in night clothes who looked sickly and had tears in his eyes. "What are you doing?! Back us up here!" Ordered the twin braid girl with a glare in his direction.

"I'd advise against that," said Subaru as he and Genya had their weapons leveled at two of them while Izayoi had his Kusarigama at the ready for the third. But this didn't deter the girl as she continued.

"I don't know how bad your tuberculosis is," she said, "but if you don't do your job then I'll tell that man and he won't let you dream anymore!" Subaru glanced at Tanjiro, easily deciphering the conflicted feeling on his face. He was pretty conflicted himself, and a bit pissed. 'A demon taking advantage of people's hearts to use them as tools to commit his crimes for him,' he thought as he felt his grip on his revolver tighten ever so slightly, 'a bastard like that needs to die.'

"Subaru," said Tanjiro suddenly as his face set in a determined line, "just let them keep dreaming for now. We have a real fight we need to get too."

"Hmm," grunted the Matagi as he holstered his revolver, "works for me I guess." He, Tanjiro and Izayoi all launched forward then, far faster than any of there would be assailants could react as they all landed a quick chop to the side of their necks, rendering them unconscious in quick succession.

"I do understand your feelings," said Tanjiro with a sullen look on his face, "I wanted to keep dreaming a happy dream too." He turned to the sickly boy then, "are you alright?"

"Thank you," said the diseased boy with a smile, "and be careful."

"We will!" Said Tanjiro after a moment of hesitation as determination returned to his features. He, Subaru and the others sprung into action then to bring down the dream demon and the other demons waiting aboard the train.

And the Mugen Train Arc is now fully underway! And one thing I will say, so far so good at using the manga as a source. Guess that's why they say it's always good to try new things. But what do you all think? Feel free to let me know in the comments and reviews as well as what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as the remaining lower moons make their move against our heroes! 'Til then.