Night Battle On the Passenger Cars
Hello everybody and welcome to the latest installment of 'Breath of the Rifleman'! As is tradition, usually, I'd like to give a shout out to LoneTaker, groche9655 and Noble Eight for their and everyone else's contributions to the story. Now then, with no guest review questions this week the only thing left to do is dive on in!
Several Minutes Ago: Aboard the Mugen Train
"Rokuro," said Mukago as she and the other lower Kizuki looked at the body of their now former comrade, "what kind of person are we dealing with here?"
"Hard to say," replied Rokuro as he stroked his beard, "I've lived for several decades beyond any human and have seen some nasty things. But never in my two lifetimes have I ever seen a Demon Slayer kill a demon like that." And it was a nauseating sight to behold. Lower Moon Three, Wakuraba, was laying face down with a bayonet sticking straight out of his stink hole. It was buried to the hilt and the apparent poison on the blade had done the job of finishing him off while leaving his body to slow decompose. It was a sorry sight to behold.
"Do you think the guy's actually a pervert or something?" Questioned Lower Moon Six, Kamanue, who was standing on the other side of lower Moon Four.
"Definitely a pervert," said both Mukago and Rokuro before Lower Moon Two continued.
"But we still need to find him and kill him as per the master's orders," said Rokuro, "or else."
"Then I'm definitely getting there first!" Exclaimed Kamanue as he leapt up through the hole in the train car and began to run towards the front of the train.
"Idiot," remarked Mukago, "that's exactly why Wakuraba's dead and violated, he went rushing in."
"He's right on one account, though," said Rokuro, "we need to hurry up and make sure he or Enmu don't get to our target first. I've no doubt that after seeing this you want to violate that rifle-toting slayer yourself."
"Hmphf," said Mukago with a flip of her hair, "I'll decide if he's good enough to receive that myself, thank you. Just worry about holding up your end of the bargain."
"Right," said Rokuro with a grin, "we kill Subaru Genjirou and hopefully the boy with Hanafuda earrings first, and we might both be spared death by proving our usefulness."
"Then there's no more point in wasting time," said Mukago as she leapt up and out the hole in the ceiling, "let's end those slayers!"
Present: Further Up the Train
'Something is definitely off here,' thought Subaru as he, Tanjiro and Genya raced through one car after another. They'd left Nezuko and Izayoi to guard their sleeping comrades in case the other demons attacked them while they pushed on ahead in search of the one responsible for casting a spell of sleep on everyone. As they advanced, the Matagi had begun to notice strange patches of flesh sticking like moss to some of the shadowed corners of each car. But they seemed to disappear after a moment, leaving him to wonder just whether or not such a thing was normal on a train.
It was a question which would have to wait as Tanjiro opened up another door to the outside and quickly stopped as he covered his nose with his sleeve. "The scent is definitely getting stronger," said Tanjiro, "I can't believe I never noticed it before."
"Are we even sure it's inside if you're smelling that thing out here?" Questioned Genya.
"It's coming from upwind," said Tanjiro as a thought occurred to him, "and now that you mention it, we'll be able to move faster outside the train!" The Swordsman demonstrated by grabbing onto the side of the car's roof and flipping upwards onto it with little trouble. Subaru slung his rifle over his shoulder and repeated the maneuver, albeit much less gracefully as he landed on his knees due to the weight of his extra gear. Genya was last and simply settled for jumping up to grab onto the roof and clambering on top of it.
"Damn, that smoke is gonna irritate my eyes something awful," commented Subaru as the trio proceeded forward, jumping the small gaps from one car to the next. It turned out that traversing the rooftops was far faster than trying to move inside the cramped confines of the passenger cars themselves, but even outside the train Subaru was catching glimpses of the meaty moss he'd seen inside the train. He was about to bring it up to Tanjiro when the shape of a person became visible in front of them. With his eyes he was able to make out a rather eccentric-looking demon wearing a buttoned-up waist coat with shoulder-length hair that ended in red highlights. Adding on to that were the veins on his grey face and block marks underneath his eyes.
"Oh, so you're all awake, good morning," said the Demon with a smile as he ran his hands over his face, "and to think I gave the swordsman an especially nice dream too. Perhaps I should've shown you one where your family was slaughtered or your dead father coming back from the grav-BAM!" His little rant was cut off by a bullet from Subaru's rifle which lodged itself in his leg.
"I'd shut up now if I were you," said the Matagi as he worked the action on his rifle and ejected the spent cartridge. He could've shot him in the head at this range, but one look at his friend and he knew that it'd be better to let him have this fight. Even Genya seemed a bit intimidated by Tanjiro's current presence.
"I won't forgive you," said Tanjiro as he drew his sword while his face was set in a tone of anger that even Subaru wasn't familiar with, to the point that veins were standing out on his forehead, "for so casually trampling your way into other people's dreams!" He took his stance then and shot forward. "Breath of Water Tenth Form: Constant Flux!" The rotating attack began as the swordsman picked up speed and force while swiftly approaching his foe.
"Blood Demon Art," said the Demon as he held up his hand and produced a few mouths and kanji on it, "Compelling Hypnotic Whisper." All of a sudden, Subaru felt himself grow extremely tired as he collapsed to one knee with a voice that kept saying 'sleep' in his head. Genya wasn't far behind and as for Tanjiro himself, he seemed to fall asleep on his feet. 'The Bastard can put us to sleep with something besides the tickets,' the Matagi realized as he thought quickly.
It was then he remembered that he'd just fired his rifle and haphazardly leaned forward, grasping the barrel. The sudden heat burnt his hand and he was suddenly wide awake and aiming his rifle at the demon once again. But Tanjiro was already ahead of him as he awoke and continued his technique from earlier. The Dream Demon also attempted to continue his technique, but this time it was interrupted as the moment Tanjiro leapt high to clear the gap between two of the cars, Subaru fired his rifle and hit the mouth on his hand, causing the demon's eyes to widen even further in disbelief.
"This is for insulting the memory of my family!" Exclaimed Tanjiro as he came within striking distance and swung his blade. The tremendous force that had built up from his advance was more than enough to sever the head from the body and send it careening away. Under any ordinary circumstances, this would've meant the end of the battle. But this demon was just getting started with his bag of tricks.
"I can see why my lord told me to kill you along with the other Hashiras, 'earring boy'," said the demon as his neck grew and attached to the roof of the train car before extending and holding his head at eye level in a manner very similar to that of a snake. "Somehow your very existence makes me twitch in ang-BOOOM!" His head was suddenly shredded by several powerful pellets from above as Genya landed next to Tanjiro.
"The feeling's mutual," said Genya as he loaded another shell into his trench shotgun. Subaru slashed the head the rest of the way off with his bayonet for good measure as he too took up a position next to the other two slayers.
"You're quite vicious if nothing else," said the demon as his head somehow regrew out of the stalk they'd just torn to shreds, "but it won't do you any good to keep blowing up this head of mine. Why, you might ask, well since I'm feeling surprisingly good right now, I suppose I'll tell you all. To put it in terms so simple even a baby can understand, that corpse back there along with this head, are not my actual body anymore. You see while you were busy sleeping away, I was fusing with the train."
It all clicked then, the meaty moss that Subaru had been seeing on the way up hadn't been leftovers from demon skin or some sort of simple detection organ. "My entire body, my blood, flesh and bones, is now this train." Everyone grit their teeth in frustration as the reality of the situation dawned on them. "Oh I just love the looks on your faces, it means you understand the situation. As of now, all two hundred passengers aboard this train are my captives and will also become my food to strengthen my body! So, can you three save everyone on this train, can you even delay me from making a meal out of them I wonder?"
He didn't get the chance to say anymore as Tanjiro swiped at his head with his sword. But the demon's form retreated into the roof of the car with a malevolent smile on his face. "Shit, we need to move!" Said Subaru as the three of them rushed back along the roof of the cars towards where the others were still sleeping, save for Nezuko and Izayoi.
"NEZUKO!" Yelled Tanjiro over the roar of the train, "PROTECT THE OTHERS WHO ARE ASLEEP!" The sound of muffled yelling told them that she'd heard them. "AND EVERYONE ELSE, PLEASE WAKE UP!"
"I think we might have another problem," noted Subaru as he saw three forms approaching them. One looked like an older man with a beard and grey robes, the next looked like a boy with his hair tied in four places wearing a white robe with yellow sleeves and the final one was a shorter girl in a red kimono with a furred neck warmer. "More demons, and they all have numbers in their left eyes."
"We'll just barrel through 'em then!" Exclaimed Genya as he slowed down, pointed his shotgun and fired before pumping the action and firing again. The demons quickly veered out of the way in multiple directions before resuming their charge towards them. The female demon then pulled something from her sleeve which seemed to unflatten itself into, a revolver carbine!
"Are you serious right now," Subaru asked as he, Genya and Tanjiro dove to the sides to avoid the oncoming bullets. The Matagi returning fire with a few shots from his rifle, slowing the demons advance as the trio was forced to dodge once again.
"We can't afford to get caught up here," said Tanjiro as he rolled out of the way of one of the bullets before slashing at the yellow-robed demon and forcing it away.
"Leave this to me and Genya," said Subaru as he dodged out of the way of an ax kick before the bearded demon was driven back by a few blasts from said shotgun-wielding slayer. The Rifleman quickly rummaged around in his pouches and pulled out a few smoke bomb-like explosives. "Take these. You and Izayoi can use them to spread a wisteria laced smoke through at least a couple of the cars. But under no circumstances are you to use them in the same car as Nezuko."
"I just pull the pin and throw them, right?" Said Tanjiro, more to remind himself than anything.
"You can also hold onto them and run with the smoke behind you," added Subaru as he fired another couple of shots before reloading, "Just remember to use them where the highest concentration of demon flesh is."
"On it," said Tanjiro as he darted towards the next car.
"Oh no you don't," said the yellow-robed demon as he attempted to intercept Tanjiro. But that's when the slightly unexpected happened.
"PIG ASSAULT!" Yelled Inosuke as his form suddenly burst through the roof, knocking the advancing demon back, "follow me my minions!"
"The pig guy is awake," said Genya with a hint of disbelief in his voice before rolling to the side to avoid another attack.
"Inosuke!" Yelled Tanjiro, somehow managing to keep his composure, "the train isn't safe anymore! Protect everyone who's sleeping, the entire train is a demon now!"
"I knew it!" said Inosuke, "this train is a monster after all! So I'm gonna slay it and become the boss!" He then rushed towards a part of the next car's roof that had become covered in the fleshy moss that they now knew was part of the dream demon. "Breath of the Beast Fifth Fang: Mad Cleave!" The Boar fighter began swinging his twin swords in all directions, slicing through the roof and into the car before tearing through the fleshy hands that had begun forming and attempting to drag the still sleeping passengers away.
Tanjiro dropped through the hole as well and proceeded to the next car, cutting through every fleshy appendage that emerged and threatened to take the passengers away. As for Genya and Subaru, they continued their bout with the three demons on the roof of the cars as they both unloaded their respective weapons at them. "Not so fast!" exclaimed the demon in the yellow robe as his body suddenly turned into smoke, enshrouding the other two demons and hiding their bodies from view.
It became impossible to tell whether or not they hit their targets, but in the next instant, another shout rang out from the revolver carbine and destroyed part of the roof next to their feet. "That doesn't usually happen," noted Genya as the slayers both dove to the side to avoid another shot, feeling the wind pressure despite being almost a foot away from it.
"That bearded bastard can manipulate the wind," surmised Subaru as he fired back a couple of times, "he's using it to increase the velocity of those shots!" And the only consolation seemed to be that they couldn't see as clearly as they wished given how the next shot put a hole in Subaru's traveling cloak but not his shoulder.
"Gah, I liked it better when they couldn't shoot back so easily," growled Genya has he fired a few shots into the smoke demon. The sound of pained grunts and even quicker shots from the other side told them that he'd at least nicked one of them. Subaru eyed the openings created by Genya's shots and fired where he saw any exposed limbs or body parts, managing to land a hit on one of them. He was forced to roll out of the way as three more shots came at him, practically blasting a whole where he'd just been.
"We need to keep making openings in that smoke cloud," said Subaru as he and Genya quickly reloaded their weapons while backing up a bit to avoid more gunfire coming their way, "If I can get in just a couple of decisive shots on the one with the carbine, their whole strategy will fall apart."
"You realize I'm going to have to get closer to keep blowing holes in that thing, right," Genya pointed out as he took a potshot at his target and observed the smoke wasn't dispersing so easily at their current distance.
"Then I'll cover you and draw their fire my way," said Subaru as he fired a couple of rounds into the smoke, "you just worry about getting clo-OOOOOOOOAAAAHHHH!" Their little strategy meeting was ended by a sudden and very violent shifting of the rail car's front end going upwards and catapulting them both in the air. "Are you fuckin' kidding me!" The Matagi yelled as he pulled a grenade from his pouch, pulled the pin with his thumb and threw it all in the same motion.
The explosive released its blast in midair, dispersing the smoke cloud and raining a bit of shrapnel down on the surprised demons while both Subaru and Genya landed, rather ungracefully, on the roof of the car behind them. As if to add insult to injury, Subaru nearly slid off the car and only managed to save himself by jamming his hunting knife into the roof. While it got the result he was hoping for, the Rifleman still felt a bit of pain and embarrassment as his body and face slammed against the window of the rail car. 'And they say people are able to relax on trains,' he thought sarcastically.
"Ah, look who it is!" Said a rather loud voice as the frame of Rengoku, the one whose technique was likely responsible for his current predicament, suddenly appeared on the other side of the window, "apologies for taking a nap on the job, but I'm awake now and so are the rest of your friends! Tanjiro and Boar Head are already heading up front to see if they can deal with the demon while Nezuko and the yellow boy are protecting the front three cars. I'm protecting the back five, so as soon as you finish dealing with those other demons, head up front and help your friends take out the main one. Now then, I'm off!"
And in a burst of flaming speed, he was gone. "You could at least help me up ya dick," commented Subaru as he slung his rifle over his shoulder and increased his total concentration breathing to kick off the window and flip forward, yanking his knife out in the process as he landed back on the roof of the car. And he was just in time as Genya was busy fending of strikes from both demons, while the female demon had somehow disappeared. The Matagi wasted no time in joining in the fray as he rushed in and slashed his bayonetted rifle at the bearded demon, forcing him to back away with each successive strike.
'Now then, Breath of the Rifleman First Form: Soaring Thrusts!' Thought Subaru as he assaulted his opponent with a multitude of jabs, a few of which managed to land by nicking his opponent's arms. "Those skills," said the bearded demon whose left eye read 'Lower 2', "I was expecting a well-rounded Mizunoto at best. But you're much more advanced than a simple rookie."
"To be honest," said Subaru as he steadied his aim, "I never bothered learning how promotion even works in the Corps. But I gotta ask one question, are you guys really the lower moons? Because we killed a couple of false ones a few months back and so far, you guys ain't looking so hot."
"That's because after Rui's death, we were punished," said Lower 2, "if we all had our full strength, it would've taken two of us at most to crush all of you save for the Hashira. Our last chance now, is killing you, Subaru Genjirou."
"If we're really giving that bastard Muzan some frustration, well, it's a start at least," said Subaru before firing his rifle. The Kizuki leapt over the shot before attempting a dive kick, which he called Shrike Beak, which cratered part of the roof like a falling meteor. The Matagi just managed to avoid it with a well-timed jump and struck back with a spinning strike of his bayonet, which the demon evaded by using a downward kick and his wind in a maneuver called 'Crane Wingbeat' to backflip over the strike. Subaru attempted to swing back at the demon, but he used his close proximity to grab onto his rifle and twist it, manipulating the wind to increase the force behind it and cause the Matagi to spin around in midair before landing on the roof with his rifle embedding itself a few feet away from him, just out of his grasp.
Fortunately, it wasn't his only defense as the demon attempted to smash his head with a powerful claw strike he called 'Razor Talon', Subaru spun and used his leg to sweep the demon's foot out from under him, resulting in his foe stumbling back a bit as he drew his revolver and fired a couple of shots. The bullets didn't go deep, but they still managed to penetrate Lower 2's skin, which meant the poison was now in his body. Taking the initiative, Subaru fired his three remaining shots, but was rewarded with nothing but hits on empty air due to the demon using his wind abilities to jump back even further. It would prove a short reprieve as the Matagi rolled back and up, switching his revolver to his left hand and holding it backwards like a club, he was just in time to draw his hunting knife as well before Lower 2 charged forward again with a wind-assisted stride.
Claw, knife, and gun butt met in a ferocious display as Subaru took a scratch on his check before cutting his opponent's arm, then took another slash on his side as he dove and slammed the butt of his revolver like a club against Lower 2's leg, causing him to nearly fall to his knees before attempting another slash. The demon caught his arm and kicked him away before swiping at him again with a low roundhouse called 'Crow Snatch', which Subaru managed to repel with a kick to his chest while taking some scratches to his leg in the process. It was only a temporary solution, however, as Lower 2 charged again with wind swirling around both claws. "Now take this," roared Rokuro, "Twin Whirlwind Talons!"
Having no time to dodge Subaru instead focused more of his breathing to his legs and shot forward, aiming his body in-between the demon's arms. He felt the swirling air cut into his back and right shoulder but managed to ignore it long enough to jam his hunting knife into the surprised demon's heart. "B-Blast damn," coughed the demon as he stumbled back a little ways, "if I'd had my full strength, you'd be….torn to shreds…right now." Lower 2 fell onto his back then as the poison in his heart began to circulate throughout the rest of his body.
"ROKURO!" said the other demon, whose eye read 'lower 6', in a panicked tone as he suddenly returned to a solid state, "don't leave me here to fight by myself-GAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Unfortunately for him, his slight panic attack was exactly the opening Genya had been looking for as he chomped down on the back of the demon's neck and tore out a good bit of flesh. Lower Six let out a pained yell before he was kicked down onto the train car roof. By this point, Subaru had reloaded his revolver and had it pointed at the demon while Genya picked his shotgun back up and did likewise.
"Oh why did this have to happen," coughed the Kizuki, "why are we getting punished for Rui's screw-BAAAAAMM!" His head was blasted off then by a combination of Nichirin buckshot and wisteria coated revolver bullets.
"Damn I hate it when they start whining," complained Genya as he rested his shotgun on his shoulder, grinding his teeth a bit as he took on a few demonic features from the flesh he devoured. "After all they've done, do they really expect us to feel sorry for them?"
"Guess it depends on who you ask," said Subaru as he bent down and collected some blood from Lower Six's dissolving corpse, "I don't feel particularly sorry for them, but my upbringing as a Matagi demands I give thanks when the prey provides something, so: 'May you hear pleasant sounds in the next life, demon.'"
"Why the heck are you collecting demon blood anyway?" Asked Genya.
"Do you honestly care what it's for," Subaru asked back as he pocketed the special blood-collecting knife, "it won't get in your way of becoming a Hashira if that's what you're wondering."
"Heh, if this is how easy it is to kill a Kizuki, I'll be a Hashira in no time," said Genya as they started walking forward on the train car. The sound of a pained cough drew their attention towards the body of Lower 2, bringing them both to a halt as they looked at the dying demon curiously. It wouldn't do if a threat was still alive.
"We are Kizuki," he said, "but this was not our true strength that you faced. The last of our number, Lower Moon 1 Enmu, is at full strength and more. But even he pales in comparison to the threat that is coming your way."
"Oh, and just what are you yammering on about," spat Genya as he aimed his shotgun at the demon's neck.
"Upper Moon 3…..Akaza…..shall be here….soon," said Rokuro, "none of you will survive his wrath." Genya simply scoffed as he blew his head off with the shotgun before resting it on his shoulder.
"Bring him on," said the Shotgun wielding slayer, "I'll kill him too."
"One thing at a time," said Subaru as he managed to pull his rifle out of the roof of the train car, "everyone else is protecting the passengers right now, so we need to head up front and help Tanjiro take out this Enmu guy."
"Try to keep up then," said Genya as he rushed off with Subaru close behind. While the night wasn't necessarily young, it would still prove to be far longer than any of them wanted it to be as the battle wore on.
And that makes four Lower Moons down and two to go. But it seems they're on a time limit now with yet another approaching threat. In the meantime, what'd you all think of the latest chapter? Feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as our heroes run into a slight derailing issue against Enmu. 'Til then.