CHAPTER 6
At last the doors closed and the train began to speed out of the station. Rebecca took the opportunity to try and learn precisely where it was they were going. Not finding any maps posted on the facing wall, she turned in the hope that there might be one behind her. What she saw very nearly caused her heart to leap out of her chest. Eyes wide and adrenaline surging, she turned back and tried to pretend as if nothing had happened.
Jack observed his fangirl's sudden unease and twisted around so that he might discover the cause. He came face to face with his own image: a wanted poster. His reaction was the same as Rebecca's. Nothing could be said. The car was so quiet, even a whisper would be audible to anyone sitting nearby. At least no one seemed to have made the connection so far. Perhaps he would be fortunate and no one would recognize him without his hat.
A couple of minutes passed without event. Then a short, turquoise alien possessing a somewhat cylindrical figure rose from her seat and moved toward Jack. She was an Acuwaereas. She had been comparing the pale, half-naked, heavily bandaged man before her with the printed sketch of the infamous Samurai Jack ever since the moment they left the station. Although the man in the poster was more slender and bore a countenance like a scowling Kabuki actor, she felt certain that it was the same man.
Timidly standing before the Samurai she asked: "Sir? I'm sorry to bother you, but... are you who I think you are?"
Jack looked the little alien over. She seemed so sweet and innocent. The creature's large eyes peered up at him hopefully. It was that same look Rebecca had worn during their first meeting. The Samurai could not help but smile; he said nothing.
"It is you. Isn't it?"
Another, less friendly looking being sitting within earshot was now staring at Jack even more intensely than before. Rebecca could see what was happening and tried to come up with some way of detracting the little alien's attentions. She laughed.
"Ha ha ha! Oh, he gets that all the time. It's really amazing."
The little alien's expression changed to confusion. "You mean it's not him?"
"No, it is not 'him.' If it were, he'd be busy trying to fight off bounty hunters right now."
The alien wasn't terribly sharp, and didn't catch what Rebecca had been trying to imply. "So..." she asked, still a bit confused, "Then what's with the sword?"
Rebecca and Jack both frowned and glanced down at the sword hanging from his heavily blood-stained fundoshi. Now just about everyone in the car was staring at them.
She paused, trying to come up with a good explanation. "We're not used to taking public transportation."
"Oh, I understand," the alien responded sympathetically. "I remember the first time I took a subway. I was so afraid I was going to get mugged - Oh, it was ridiculous, I tell you!"
Rebecca laughed. At least she seemed to have gotten the creature off the subject. "I know. It's so silly, I'll admit it."
The turquoise alien began to chatter about the safety of the local subway cars. Jack paid no attention, focusing instead on a conversation occurring about thirteen feet away.
"... Samurai Jack. She's saying... ... ... ... but I think ... ..."
"Should we ... ... ... ... right now? The cars are so small."
"He won't be able to escape though. We won't ... ... advantage..."
Jack couldn't understand every word they said, but those which he could distinguish gave him cause for concern. He reached for his sword and stood up, not drawing the weapon just yet.
"Forgive me," he said to Rebecca. "But I think I would prefer another seat. Feel free to remain where you are."
Rebecca took a moment to let his meaning sink in. "Oh. Of course."
Jack drifted over to the most unpopulated area of the car. If he was going to be forced to fight, he didn't want to worry about any mishaps involving innocent bystanders.
"Was it something I said?" asked the little turquoise alien.
"No, but I would suggest you leave him alone for now."
"Let me guess," the alien whispered politely. "He gets motion sickness when he's near the back?"
Meanwhile, as Jack had expected, three aliens came sauntering toward him. The largest was an avocado-hued reptilian creature called an Uktuf. Following a few inches behind him was a smaller species, an Ovurnyat. The third slab of beef was a carnation colored, ever-scowling creature of the Rikyg race.
The Uktuf stood in front of him. "So. You're just some guy who looks exactly like Samurai Jack and carries a sword?"
"I cannot deny that," answered Jack.
"Looks like you got some pretty nasty injuries," said the Rikyg. "How did that happen?"
"An unfortunate encounter with some men who wanted money."
"Really? That's very interesting." The Uktuf was now speaking again. "See, we want money also. And the word going around is that last night, Samurai Jack was rather badly injured in a little misadventure. I went downtown this morning; you can still see the blood on the concrete."
"I am aware of these events."
"Good. Now, it has occurred to us that, if we were to run into Samurai Jack today, considering how badly injured he is, he might want to just come along with us peacefully, since the odds are not in his favor."
"I imagine he would find that idea rather foolish, since upon being delivered to Aku he would surely be killed anyway."
The Uktuf smiled and nodded slightly. "Have it your way."
In an instant all three aliens had their weapons drawn. The Uktuf had managed to conceal a rather large gun, while the Ovurnyat bore a small pistol. The Rikyg, meanwhile, produced a handful of sharp objects ranging from large bowie knives to ice picks.
Jack was on the ceiling before the creatures even had time to take aim. Startled, they looked up only to have their faces become intimately acquainted with his wooden sandals.
At the start of the commotion Rebecca and the Acuwaereas retreated to the very back of the car. Observing her hero's plight, Rebecca began to count the number of creatures that seemed intent on attacking him. Besides the three that he was already dealing with, five more were menacing their way toward him. Rebecca felt that things were about to get ugly.
As Jack noticed the other five creatures coming toward him, he began to wish that he had listened to Gabriel's advice and stayed in; he was really in no shape for this.
Trying to forget how weak and pained he felt, he drew his sword and affected a threatening posture. A few of the creatures seemed to react; he could see them begin to slow and hesitate. Perhaps they had been hoping that he would come along peacefully. No such luck. In situations like this, the Samurai was always prepared to fight to the death.
In three gestures he exterminated one robotic creature, its Japan-made pieces clanging loudly to the floor. He narrowly ducked away from a crack aimed at his head by the Rikyg at the same instant as something came sweeping across the floor, trying to knock his legs out from under him. That too was dodged. However, the third attack in under a second was a bit much for him; a large fist came crashing into his already injured side. The impact tore open healing skin and sent him toppling to the ground. He got to his feet again quickly, though not effortlessly. The damage inflicted could easily be seen by everyone in the subway car as blood began soaking into his bandages.
Trying not to show weakness, Jack violently swung his sword the direction of the creature that had hit him. It was a bizarre thing with a spider-like head. Impact was made, and the blade sliced neatly though the monster's corpulent torso. White blood stained Jack's sword: Six more to go.
Now the Uktuf took action, suddenly firing his gun madly. The upholstery on the seats tattered, window shattered, and two of the other bounty hunters ended up dead. Jack had little time to appreciate the unintentional favor, since the Ovurnyat then took the chance to use its own gun, pressing it into the Samurai's back.
"One more move and I blow out your spine," it said.
Jack sighed. As per the request, he did not move. The other three surviving bounty hunters began to close in on him. One of them, a huge purple beast, wrenched the sword from his hands. The other creatures began to close in on him, striking and tearing at him like some kind of nightmare. The Ovurnyat remained still, never moving its gun from his vertebra.
Across the car, Rebecca watched in horror as her hero was trapped by the writhing mass of aliens. She had to help him somehow. A distraction was needed.
Instantly, with such speed and ease that one would think occult means had somehow been involved, Rebecca managed to remove her bra without misplacing her dress in the slightest. She then tossed the garment at the awestruck aliens.
To her disappointment, Jack was also gaping right along with them. And she only had one more garment she could do this with. Hoping that the Samurai would be able to snap himself out of it, Rebecca echoed the trick using her panties. She stopped herself from cursing aloud as Jack's battered face remained fixated on her. If only he had reacted so well when she was trying to have sex with him.
Lost for any other ideas, she took a bow. At that, all the bounty hunters, including the Ovurnyat, began to applaud.
As soon as Jack felt the cold metal of the gun removed from his back, he realized his chance. Not wasting another second, he took action, and kicked away the Ovurnyat. He scrambled for a more open space.
The Rikyg got an idea in his head to take a hostage, hoping that it might subdue the Samurai. Seeing Rebecca standing nearby, he went for her.
Finding herself grabbed by the alien, Rebecca reacted by raking her nails across his face. The Rikyg screamed in agony as blood and aqueous humor poured down his face. Blinded thus, he no longer made a nuisance of himself.
Jack looked around for the big purple alien, a Siuol, who had taken his sword. He spotted the creature, who had wisely placed himself behind the much larger and more heavily armed Uktuf.
And then there was that damned Ovurnyat, still clutching its pistol, trying to aim right for the Samurai's head. Thinking that it had a clear shot, it fired. The bullet snapped Jack's hairstick in two, sending his dark hair cascading down around his shoulders. The window behind him shattered.
At the opposite end of the car, Rebecca watched intently, looking for any way that she might be able to assist Jack in surviving until the next station. The turquoise alien watched in confusion.
"What's going on?" it asked.
"He's in trouble," Rebecca said automatically. "There's got to be some way to help him..."
"And you said that it's not Samurai Jack?"
"I lied."
The turquoise alien's jaw dropped. "Well good heavens! They can't do that to Samurai Jack!"
The sweet little alien who didn't look capable of harming a fly suddenly leapt into the air and went sailing across the car, its mouth opened wide enough to consume a skyscraper. She landed like an executioner's mask on the Siuol's head and closed her teeth around his thick neck. Rebecca watched half stunned, half annoyed that the little alien hadn't chosen to take out the far more dangerous Uktuf or even the Ovurnyat. That job, it seemed, would be left to her. Trying to put on a brave face, she charged full speed at the Uktuf, who had paused to reload his machine gun. She crashed into him at a whopping 6 mph, achieving nothing. The Uktuf glared at her. Rebecca then did the next thing that her adrenaline-altered brain told her was sensible; she grabbed the Uktuf's gun.
Elsewhere, Jack was doing much the same thing with the Ovurnyat. As he tried to wrench the gun from the creatures slimy hands, the agitated Ovurnyat began fighting back, refusing to let go. They soon found themselves flailing about on the filthy orange linoleum floor, each with one hand on the pistol. Jack tried to push his opponent away by its large, corrugated face. The Ovurnyat was going for a more Machiavellian approach, punching Jack in the stomach which it already knew to be a weak spot. Jack tried not to let it get to him.
It is written that there is a fine line between bravery and stupidity. Rebecca DuMont felt as if she were balancing herself like a tightrope walker right on top of it. She had both hands on the Uktuf's gun; it was just a matter of getting him to release his grip.
The aggravated Uktuf tried to push her away, but she clung to the weapon as if it were epoxy glued to her skin. With her legs she began stomping the recumbent body of the Ovurnyat.
Being repeatedly booted in the ribs was not something that the Ovurnyat enjoyed. In truth, the Samurai was doing less to annoy it. It jerked the gun so that it was aimed at Rebecca then cursed in its native tongue upon discovering that Jack was in control of the trigger.
Rebecca witnessed the commotion and employed one of the few martial arts moves she learned in her beginning Ninjitsu class. Keeping her leg straight she kicked the mismatched pair of hands grasping the gun. Jack and the Ovurnyat each felt a sharp pain across their hand and instinctively loosened their grips. The gun went sailing into the air, finally bouncing off of a wall and landing on one of the seats.
Now with both hands free, the fight between him and the Ovurnyat really began to heat up. The creature gripped Jack's neck within its own oversized hands and began to squeeze.
The Samurai could recall being told that if ever someone tried to choke him, the thing to do was turn his head. Unfortunately, the position of the Ovurnyat's hands did not allow for it. Jack briefly considered faking it and pretending to pass out in hopes that the Ovurnyat wouldn't realize the unlikelihood of strangling someone to death in under a minute. But he decided against it, going instead for what was in his opinion the far better plan of striking the creature a merciless hand-chop right on its neck. The move usually startled an opponent thoroughly enough to make them back off.
As soon as the edge of Jack's hand slammed into the Ovurnyat's throat, the creature began to gag and cough. It released its grip on the Samurai's neck.
Jack scrambled to his feet, lacking his usual grace due to injury. If nothing else, he was glad to be off of that disgusting floor, covered in broken glass, motor oil and alien blood.
With the Ovurnyat gasping for air on the ground, and both the Uktuf and the Siuol distracted, Jack thought it seemed like a good opportunity to retrieve his sword. The Siuol still held it, trying to use it to pry the little Acuwaereas off of its neck. The Samurai retrieved his weapon with no difficulty.
Just as he turned, planning to save Rebecca from the Uktuf who seemed to have gained the upper hand, a shot was fired. The bullet came so close that the Samurai could feel it rustle his hair. He looked at the Ovurnyat, who had managed to retrieve its pistol and knock off a shot in the mere two seconds since he had turned his back.
Jack ducked just in time to miss the second bullet. A quick mathematical calculation was performed in his head, and he aimed his blade forward, the tip of his sword just puncturing the Ovurnyat's stomach. Black blood splattered the floor. Jack leaned in, skewering the bounty hunter like a shish kabob against the wall. Still clinging to life and the hopes of two googolplex, the Ovurnyat began firing his gun wildly in front of him.
Rebecca knew she was about to die; the Uktuf had managed to wrench the gun away from her by dislocating a few of the bones in her hand. She was literally staring down the barrel. She closed her eyes, hoping that she would at least die quickly. It was as if she heard the shot in slow motion, for it seemed to radiate far too long. The Uktuf released his grip on her. After that, the sound of an automatic machine gun. No pain. No white light.
She opened her eyes and discovered the truth of the situation: The Ovurnyat had missed its mark and hit the Uktuf. In retaliation, the Uktuf had abandoned her in favor of pumping the Ovurnyat full of lead.
The corpse still stood upright, pinned to the wall by Jack's sword which, in the clamor, he had been forced to abandon. He leapt and tackled Rebecca, pushing her down to the filthy car floor.
"What are you doing?" she asked in confusion.
"You must stay away from that creature," said Jack.
"What are you talking about?"
Before Jack could answer, the Uktuf grabbed him from atop Rebecca, wrapping his thick fingers around the Samurai's throat. The gun's barrel was pushed into Jack's cheek. The alien held him with his feet dangling above the floor.
"I got you now," spoke the Uktuf, "Won't be much longer before we get to Pantin. I'll be making a phone call to Aku's people as soon as we're there."
Rebecca, still on the floor, wracked her brain for a solution. She happened to glance to her left. Amongst the mangled corpses she saw the blind Rikyg curled up against the seats, looking miserable. He still held in his hand the knife he had been pointing at Rebecca's neck just before she clawed his corneas off. She decided that he wouldn't mind if she borrowed it and grabbed the blade from his miserable hands.
Slowly, almost pensively, she crawled across the floor, sleek and subtle as a cat. Once she was in reach, she violently slashed the Uktuf across his leg. To her surprise, when she looked at the knife again she found the blade to be corroded, the metal eaten away like some ancient artifact. She didn't have much time to contemplate this, for soon her desire was granted; the Uktuf thoughtlessly released Jack and spun around towards her.
"Bitch! You got some kinda death wish?"
Behind the Uktuf's back, Jack yanked his sword out of the stagnant Ovurnyat's corpse. Raising the weapon over his head, he yelled: "Rebecca! Move away now!"
Her mind gone blank, she pushed herself backward a couple of feet. The Uktuf tried to turn around and see what Jack was doing, but the instant he did so, something that felt like a helicopter rotor passed through his neck. He remained conscious as his head separated from the rest of his body and went flying across the car. He even had it in him to wince as he struck one of the few remaining windows and bounced to the floor.
The last thought he had before it all went dark: That bastard!
A few drops of the Uktuf's blood splashed Rebecca's dress. She gasped in horror as the fluid began to eat away the fabric.
"It's acid!" she cried thoughtlessly. So that was why Jack kept telling her to get away from the creature. "How did you know?" she asked, looking up at him.
Jack did not answer her question, though by looking at the splatter-pattern of necrosis on his right arm, it appeared that he had gotten sprayed with the stuff at some point during their fight.
"I think there are more urgent matters to concern ourselves with," he said, pointing to the hole that was forming in the floor. A body as large as the Uktuf's held a lot of blood, and all of it seemed to be highly acidic. They could already see the half-rotted tracks flashing beneath the car. Before anything else could be said, Jack felt something seize him by the shoulders and pull him backward. It was the Siuol, having finally pried the Acuwaereas from his head. The poor little turquoise creature lay in the corner, dazed after being tossed there. Thoroughly startled by the attack, the Samurai dropped his sword. Right into the hole.
The sound of the weapon clattering beneath the train seemed almost deafening to the horrified Samurai. Immediately he attempted to dive through the opening and go after it, but the Siuol was insisting upon a fight and held him back.
"Not so tough without your sword, eh, Samurai?"
Jack responded by punching the Siuol in the face.
Rebecca was as concerned over the sword as Jack. She approached the hole a bit apprehensively, trying to make sure that she didn't touch the acid-blood by mistake or slip and be dragged to death underneath the speeding train. Cautiously she lay on her stomach, gripped the ledge as tightly as possible, and peered in.
She could see it: the sword had gotten caught on some kind of electrical wiring under the car. It was being dragged blade down across the tracks, creating some magnificent sparks. She reached in, trying to grab it, but the angle was too extreme and her arm too short. She sighed.
"You're insane, Rebecca. You know this." The hole was just big enough at this point for her petite frame to squeeze through. It looked like there were enough pipes and wires for her to creep along and grab onto, and the sword wasn't too far off. She just had to pray that her muscles would hold out that long.
In the meantime, Jack and the Siuol struggled around the interior, tripping over dead bodies and slipping in blood and cutting themselves on broken glass, all the while trying to avoid the still expanding hole in the floor. Jack's stamina was failing, and being without his sword in addition, he was starting to worry. He would hold off the Siuol for as long as he could, but he had been half-dead all day, and it was becoming plain that he might not make it to the next station.
The Siuol grabbed him by the hair and bashed his head into an iron pole. Jack felt as if someone had poured black ink over his eyes. He felt around for a shard of broken glass, locating one and gouging his own hand in the process, and used it to slash the Siuol across the chest. The creature only grunted slightly. The glass fragment flew across the Siuol's skin once more; this time blood came running down his face into his eyes. Jack booted the creature violently, causing it to plunge to the floor with such great force that the car actually shook.
The sudden jolt caused Rebecca's hand to slip. Though her fingers barely touched the ground for a fraction of a second, that was all it took. A terrible pain shot through her arm and suddenly her hand was covered in blood. It was only by some miracle that her fingers remained attached.
With one hand terribly bruised and the other now practically ripped open, only an irrationally loyal fangirl such as herself would continue on a task so problematic and dangerous.
Jack noticed an ice pick laying on the ground near the mangled Rikyg. He grabbed it and, using the Russian technique that had taken him a full year to master, threw it at the Siuol, hitting him in the left shoulder with such force that it dug into the creature's bone.
Understandably upset, the Siuol leapt at Jack like a flying squirrel, tackling him to the floor. One of the Samurai's ribs cracked on impact.
"You're worth as much dead as you are alive," said the Siuol, "As long as I have your body I still get the two googolplex."
Jack simply lay there for a moment, trying to gather his strength. Even the prospect of being captured and delivered to Aku wasn't motivating him as well as it should have. His whole body felt numb from overexertion and multiple injuries. It took three tries at moving his arm before he managed to do so successfully.
The Siuol screamed as Jack grabbed hold of the ice pick's handle protruding from his skin and began to pull it in a downward motion like he was putting a car from park into first gear. The bones in the Siuol's shoulder began to splinter. The Samurai finally managed not only to pull out the ice pick, but to pull it out sideways. Blood poured in abundance.
Directly beneath them, Rebecca crept along like a sloth. She wasn't even halfway to her destination, and her muscles were already burning and aching at a level she had never imagined possible. She was not a strong woman, and groping around injured through the dark upside down had her traveling at a rate of about six inches per minute. She wanted so badly to let go, to rest for just one moment before continuing. But that would be suicide, and she knew it. Besides; Samurai Jack needed his sword.
Jack felt nauseated from blood loss, stomach injury, the shaking of the car, the stench of blood, the odor of gasoline, head trauma and nerves. He was growing more exhausted by the second. To top it all off, he and Rebecca seemed to have hopped the slowest train in the entire Paris Metro. It had only been five minutes but it felt like five hours, and they were still only halfway to their destination.
The Siuol spotted an abandoned firearm on the floor and swooped it up like a hawk, firing it almost immediately, not even bothering to take aim. Bullets erupted all around the Samurai.
Jack, who was still lying on the ground, grabbed the base of the nearest seat and with all the force he could launched himself across the slippery floor. He skid out of the range of fire and crashed into the corpse of some blue and orange creature who's torso had earlier been inadvertently ventilated by the Uktuf. As the Siuol spun himself around to catch site of the Samurai once again, Jack picked up the ruined knife that Rebecca had used earlier. Holding it by the blade, he leapt to his feet and whacked the Siuol in the face with the hard plastic handle. More blood.
The surprised creature had dropped the gun, quite startled by Jack's renewed energy. The truth was that Jack's body had become so numb that it was almost as if he had gotten a second wind. He could have his stomach cut open and stuffed with fire ants while drain cleaner was being poured into his eyes and he probably wouldn't be able to feel any of it.
Despite his newly acquired desensitization, his gestures still reflected his weariness; as he tackled the Siuol to the floor, it looked more as if he had fainted onto the creature and knocked him down. They landed on top of the Ovurnyat's body.
Just then the Acuwaereas, having recovered at last, jumped into the brawl.
"Samurai Jack! Don't worry - I'm here!" the little creature said just before chomping down on the Siuol's leg. The Siuol cried out in a mixture of English and his native tongue. Then he found his large purple head being smashed into the floor. For an instant everything went dark. As the world came back into focus, he saw the Samurai leaning over him.
Thoughtlessly, the Siuol reached up with his good arm, grabbed Jack by the hair and flipped him over onto his back. Jack ended up lying on a piece of broken glass, but he couldn't feel it. The Siuol began to punch him in the face, trying at the same time to ignore the Acuwaereas gnawing at his leg like a rabid pitbull.
Jack attempted to roll himself out from under the creature. Unfortunately, the Siuol just rolled along with him, and the two of them went tumbling across the floor of the car. When they stopped, they were right at the edge of the huge hole left by the Uktuf, whose corpse had apparently fallen through, leaving the final size at about four feet in diameter. Plenty of room to fall in.
Still on his back, and now with his head dangling over the darkened tracks, Jack wished that he hadn't done anything, since it appeared he would have been better off. He stopped struggling. He decided that his next move would have to be planned very carefully in order to avoid worsening the situation further. As he lay thinking, the Siuol began to punch him again.
After five minutes of groping through the dark under a moving subway train, Rebecca at last had the sword in her reach. All she had to do was untangle it from the wires in which it had been caught, and that would require the use of at least one of her hands. Her bloodied and mangled fingers released the pipe that they had been wrapped around, leaving her life hanging by the strength of one arm and her ankles.
She began to untangle the weapon with great care, as if she were unraveling a silkworm's cocoon. The blade was dragging across the tracks, causing sparks to fly in her face. If she got to sleep with Jack after this, it would all be worth it.
Jack continued in his recumbent posture, gusts of wind occasionally billowing up from the hole and blowing long strands of dark hair into his face. He was planning out more scenari than the Gelosi troupe. The Siuol drew back his fist, preparing to pound it into the Samurai's already bloodied skin once more, and was quite startled to find it caught by something. Before he could glance down to learn the cause, his wrist was broken.
Jack was up again like lightning. He was gasping for air so fervently that it was almost comical. Just as he was about to chare himself in order to kick the Siuol inside the gaping hole, he suddenly found that he was standing in the dark. The lights had gone out.
Beneath the floor of the car, Rebecca had ultimately gotten the sword released from its entanglement, but had also accidentally severed the wires. The train had gone over a large bump in the tracks, jarring her and nearly causing her to lose her grip. In that moment of panic she had yanked the sword free.
Funny, she thought upon noticing the faint glow from inside the car disappear. You'd think the wires for that would be at the top.
She threaded the 29-inch blade through her dress, freeing her hands so that she could better navigate her way through the complete darkness while lessening the chances of killing herself.
As any good Italian actor will tell you, the scenario must always leave room for improvisation. Jack now realized the fault with his plan. It must have been that third crack over the head - he was never this sloppy. Immersed in total darkness he was not even able see where the Siuol was, much less push him into the hole without risking his own safety.
When he realized that the Siuol wore night-vision goggles, Jack very nearly began to weep.
The first rule of the Budoshoshinshu was to always think of death. Jack was not finding it the least bit difficult under the circumstances. Another rule of the Budoshoshinshu: Loyalty includes longevity. He intended to keep going for as long as he was able. Standing in the dark, injured and swordless, would not make it an easy task, but then again, it never was.
Rebecca decided to crawl ahead to the coupler rather than attempt to turn herself around so she could re-enter the car via the hole in the floor. It was a shorter distance to the coupler anyway. Then she could get back in through the emergency exit. No problem, assuming she survived.
Fighting could be heard above. Something big was happening.
It took a lot of getting used to, but after a while Jack was able to get a sense of where the Siuol was and of the movements it performed, even though he couldn't see it. Meanwhile the Siuol could see him in perfect green-hued clarity, like gazing through a polished emerald. He could also see the well-stocked arsenal of weapons lying on the floor. A moment was spent choosing one, and finally he decided on the Uktuf's old machine gun. He picked it up and aimed it.
Jack heard the click of the trigger, followed almost instantly by the percussionistic blasts. He threw himself to the floor immediately, landing on something dry but squishy.
"Oh, pardon me," said the Acuwaereas. "If I had known you were there I'd have moved."
Jack didn't have time to chat with the little alien; he knew that the Siuol could still see him and that he had to keep moving. As he ran, he tripped over a corpse and fell again. The Siuol began to laugh.
"Give it up, Samurai, there's nothing you can do."
Jack didn't listen. A much weightier thought had crossed his mind: There was no sign of Rebecca anywhere. He couldn't hear her moving around, he hadn't heard her scream in quite a while. Was it possible that in all the commotion she had been killed? Could the body he had just tripped on be hers? He touched it. No, this wasn't Rebecca. Too large. Was she alright? There was one way to check.
"Rebecca?" he called.
More gunfire was his only answer. A bullet hit him in the long head of the left triceps brachii major and exited through the lateral head. He barely felt it.
Rebecca yelped audibly as she reached for the next handhold and found that there wasn't anything there. Just smooth steel for the next three feet.
She sighed. There was no chance that she could jump it; not at the speed she was going. There was a chance that she could hang in place till they reached the next station, which surely wouldn't be much longer now. But she was so tired: her whole body ached like the throat of a novice mezzo-soprano who had just screeched out the Queen of the Night's Vengeance Aria for the first time. What she really wanted to do was let go. The she realized that was the answer.
Quickly she pulled the sword from her dress and pointed it forward, toward the coupler.
"God I hope this works," she said. Then she let go.
Jack hated this; he had more training, more discipline, more patience than the Siuol, but all it took was a stupid gun to render it all useless. By the moral code of the Samurai, it was considered very rude to fight with guns. It required virtually no skill and you didn't even have to get near your opponent; a downright vulgar choice of weapon. But as always, the morals of his world didn't necessarily apply to Aku's.
The Samurai's eyes had adjusted to the dark now and he could make out the vaguest shapes. The Siuol was moving toward him and aiming the gun, doubtless preparing to fire again. The giant hole in the ground lay between them. The Acuwaereas stood to Jack's right. Surely something here could be used to his advantage.
"Miss Small-Blue-Creature?" Jack called.
"Yes?"
The Siuol began to blast his gun at them, the miniature explosions visible in the darkness flickering like a silent movie. Jack and the little alien rushed to some ruined seats near the exit so they could hide.
"Madam, forgive my asking," Jack continued, "But might you be able to attach yourself to that gentleman's head once more?"
"Oh, certainly," she chirped. "With pleasure."
At that the Acuwaereas went flying through the air, opening her mouth like a Dutch oven and snapping down at last on the Siuol's neck, his entire capitas within the confines of her mouth once again.
Now that the Siuol had lost the advantage of sight, Jack began the next phase of his plan. He moved towards him, walking around the hole in the floor. The Siuol was spinning and flailing and thrashing and clawing at the little Acuwaereas, trying to pry her from his head.
Jack stopped in front of the unseeing creature and took away the gun, tossing it out through one of the windows. Then he spoke to the Acuwaereas.
"Thank you, Miss. You can release him now."
The Acuwaereas opened her jaws.
Through the night-vision goggles, the Siuol could see the interior of the little alien's mouth much more clearly than he particularly cared to. Then it began to open. The next thing he saw was a fist. Suddenly his lenses shattered. Next he felt himself tumbling backward from the force. He expected his body to make impact with the linoleum, but it did not occur. Then he realized why.
"Nom Weid," he thought. The Samurai had pushed him into that giant hole. In desperation, the Siuol tried to reach out and grab something before he hit the tracks.
In the car, Jack sank to his knees. The last bounty hunter was gone. He no longer had to force himself to keep fighting. All the pains of the past fifteen minutes hit him at once. The vile condition of the floor did not matter; he needed to lie down. He hoped that he might be able to get a few minutes of rest before they reached Pantin.
Something that sounded like a scream came from outside. At first he assumed it was just part of the machinery. He heard it again. He tried to sit up but discovered that he was unable to do so.
"What is that sound?" he asked, panting.
"Would you like me to go look?" asked the Acuwaereas.
Jack nodded, too exhausted to answer properly. The Acuwaereas was unable to discern this in the dark but she had assumed from the start that the answer would be yes. She walked towards the front of the car.