CHAP 15: THE LAST TRAIN
Gray's blades cut through the last of the vegetation as he emerged, heavily breathing in exhaustion. He froze upon seeing the large dragon.
Aegis spoke through its still body, maintaining its pose while the voice came from the shadows. "And how are you coping with the influx of energy? The hatter there can't even stand up." The currently draconic A.I. motioned to Blood Dupre with its tail.
"Hatter?" Gray asked, turning and seeing the Hatter lying on the floor and clutching his body, apparently conscious but currently laying on the floor and trying to not explode from the extra energy entering his being. Gray headed over towards the large dragon trying to see if Aria was around or under it.
"You finally arrived." A new secondary head came out from the dragon to speak with the assassin while the other head kept vomiting mana to the air. "My user is not here anymore as you can see and probably sense?"
"Where is she?" Gray asked, alarmed.
"At a safe place." The dragon's head answered. "The holder designed to look like her real partner took her away to safety."
Gray twitched, immediately knowing who had taken her away from the mansion. "Thank you." Gray curtly thanked before turning to leave.
"And where are you going, lizard?" Blood called out, having trouble even breathing without panting. "The lady already abandoned you. Miss Aria was just about planning to leave this world before this happened."
Gray twitched in response to Blood's explanation but he was not surprised. Aria's main goal was to return to her world and perish along with it. His teeth clicked together, frustrated. He needed to get to the train station quickly, but the damn hatter surely knew something else and that was why he was stalling Gray.
"The lady seems to have been quite professional. And as soon as your deal was close to being over she considered you a liability, so maybe she will hate to be importunated." Blood added with a small smirk.
Aegis, both the head of the big dragon and the small lizard, nodded. "I concur with the hatter. More so now that she has remembered everything."
"She cannot leave because she has my connector on her. So I need to go and speak with her." Gray explained, not in the mood for games and taunts.
"When she doesn't even know she has it?" Blood laughed as he could while remaining face up on the ground. "Should you be reminded that it's against the rules to force a connector on a foreigner?"
"I did no such thing. She placed it on her own finger." Gray snapped back at him, tempted to slit the hatter's throat but he needed to conserve energy.
"She doesn't even know she has it, nor does she have any intention to remain in this world. Therefore it's unwanted. Technicalities don't matter to the rules." Blood grinned, entertained.
"Oh? I will have to ask about those rules." Aegis said as a sort of reminder to himself. "She won't bother taking the time to discover them any more."
Gray heavily sighed, thoroughly annoyed but he stopped, suddenly feeling his real tattoo get super excited and moving around in great distress somewhere. He could feel that his tattoo had changed. It had merged with his connector, and Aria was trying to remove it. "Then I have no time to waste." He turned to look at the massive amounts of vegetation and trying to calculate where to run to toget out of here and reach the Museum.
"And how long do you think it's going to take you to even get out of my rose bushes? Wouldn't it be faster to take the elevator?" Blood snapped his fingers and an elevator door opened in front of gray. "So hurry up and find her ... and remember you owe me. You must be fast. After all, she knows about every single possible way to get out of wonderland, the train being the closest and fastest choice at the moment." Of course, he didn't mention that he had been the one that traded her such information.
"The train!" Gray turned sharp to look at Blood. "Send the elevator to the train station!"
Some of the big dragon's shadows crawled down to reach the smaller lizard that was accompanying Gray and then becoming a new gabardine. "The train station? Why? Have you given up? My user is at the museum."
"If she tries to use her potion, it probably won't work due to my connector. So her only other option is to take the train." Gray calmly explained while his heart raced. "I'm sure she knows that. And if she knows about the train she will not waste time with other options when there is one so readily available."
Blood snapped his fingers again. "The location is your choice and your bet. You only get one chance to guess, lizard."
Gray hurried to the elevator, having no choice but to believe Blood and trust his own gut. He waited inside as the doors closed oh so slowly, seeing the hatter wave his shaky hand and the bigger dragon wave its tail before the elevator began moving.
Part of the aegis that was posing as gabardine on him to ride for free became a little lizard perched on his shoulder.
"What is your plan?" The AI wiggled in place.
"Get to her first." Gray stood in the elevator, frustrated the device was taking so long. Every second felt like a minute, making his clock race. Every second he wastes standing was another second Aria could have already left on the train. The tune of the elevator only further annoyed him as he impatiently tapped his foot.
"Without a plan he might not succeed. I can sense Aria is … angry. She just tried to remove the connector by means like almost cutting off her finger, skinning herself, electrocuting her back … and she would freeze over her skin or try other methods if she wasn't as angry as to just move on."
Gray deeply frowned, folding his arms in thought. He needed to think of a plan but his mind was consumed with worry about making sure she would be alright, but he knew she would not. She would rip herself away if that presented so much as a hope of success just as much as she would tear apart this world and anyone on her way.
"Even if you catch up to her, she might not be … on friendly terms anymore." Aegis melted into the cloak again.
Gray checked his own weapons; this was not going to be easy. "I understand. I am prepared to at the very least stop her and handle the consequences thereafter."
Aegis made the cloak move, accommodating like mist for a moment as if testing his form. "And if you can't stop her? Why would you even attempt to stop her? That is against the rules too, to interfere with a foreigner's decisions. And she has decided."
"She can't leave with my connector on. It … I am unsure if it's possible. Or at least there is no known possibility." He admitted, hesitant. He's never heard of a foreigner leaving after getting a connector, but she was far more than a simple foreigner by now. He frowned, refocusing himself. He needed to stop her from leaving by any means necessary.
"She might find a way." Aegis half warned and half boasted. "The foreigners that stayed with a connector did so because they wanted to remain in this dimension or because they died. And by the way, I remind you that I will not help you."
"What!?" Gray was surprised and taken aback from his own worries for a moment. "She is heading for her death if she is not stopped!"
"My main prerogative is to ensure the fulfillment of my user's objective. Her objective is not to remain in this world. As soon as we arrive at the train station I will go seek the younger incubus to aid into preventing the older one or the one who lies beyond the nightmares from interfering. If I accompanied you I would have to stop you as soon as my user orders it." Aegis sounded worried himself. "And once my bigger form is done with the mana conversion, then it is going to head towards Aria."
Gray understood. That was as best as the artificial creature could do. It had its own rules too.
Finally, the elevator doors opened to Nightmare's office with a loud ding. Gray quickly leapt out of them, finding the young Nightmare gone and figuring he must be cowering in the dream realm. The coat of the assassin melted away and became an abstract quadruped form that rushed away in its own while the assassin headed over to the terrace observing the platforms, spotting Aria getting into the train. He quickly leapt over the railing and rushed to climb down to stop her.
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As soon as Aria reached the train station she made her way to the last platform, the same one where she had taken a ride before, the one where Joker had left her at. Not even a minute later, a train came onto the tracks with a thunderous clang.
The door opened as Joker stood on the other side in a train conductor's uniform, warmly smiling. "Good day, my lady. Do you have your ticket?" Joker asked with a serene smile while his calculating gaze examined her entirely.
"As a foreigner I probably do, don't I?" She refrained from snarling and examined herself, finding a paper on her pocket and then handing it to Joker.
"How curious. It's completely blank." Joker took the ticket and examined it before clipping a hole into the ticket and handing it back to her. "Very well, my dear. May I ask if you remember?" He asked with a cool smile.
She closed her eyes for a second, her first shaking at her sides before she looked at him and then away. "That is irrelevant since I am heading back to my world."
"Unfortunately, that destination is not possible for you. Is there anywhere else you'd rather go?" He politely asked, seeing the ticket again. It remained as blank as the possibilities of her desired destination.
She narrows her eyes. "Then get me as close as possible. If there's a way down there is a way up, and I heard about some old staircase."
Joker seems mildly surprised for a moment before seemingly unsurprised at her knowledge. "Are you sure?"
She didn't hesitate in her response. "I'll go back to where I properly belong even if I have to crawl my damn way up."
"Then hop on board, dear." Joker moves aside to let her get in.
She climbed on the train, ready to head to her doom.
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With a loud whistle the train began to depart as Gray ran as fast as he could behind it, leaping onto the back of the train and quickly entered the wagon to find both Jokers standing in the hallway, staring at him with the same creepy smile.
"Do you have your ticket?" Joker asked in unison, having a clever twinkle in their eyes.
"I'm here for the foreigner, Joker." Gray answered, pulling out his knives and arming himself.
"Unfortunately, that is against the rules. Even if I personally would like her to stay for her own happiness and wellbeing, she has made her decision and given her ticket. The destination is set and she is very stubborn." Joker smiled, waving his finger as the train began to move.
One of the Jokers turned and left as the other pulled out a riding whip and smiled at the polizon. "The destination is set, lizard." He spoke before swiping at Gray with the riding crop.
Gray fell back, dodging the whip before lunging forward with his knife and cutting Joker's hand. Joker dodged the next swipe and lithely leapt further down the hallway as Gray chased after him, swiping once again at him as Joker dodged and lashed Gray across the face. Gray's teeth clenched as he glared at Joker, flipping his blades before releasing a flurry of slashes which cut into Joker's uniform as he continued to dodge out of the way.
"She decided already, so why don't you get down from the train and go sulk at your loss?" Joker deflected the blows and managed to approach and hit him directly on the chest but Gray continued to press forward, managing to plunge a blade into Joker's side. His whip lashed out and cut into his waist, receiving a kick that pushed him back in return.
The assassin hissed and fell back, barely dodging the next of Joker's lashes before he ducked behind a seat, watching the whip cut through the fabric and send the headpiece flying. Gray leapt up, throwing his blades at Joker but his whip smacked them out of the air.
"Normally you're a better fighter than this, Gray." Joker smiled, looking completely at ease.
Gray angrily clenched his teeth, taking out more blades and throwing them at Joker to force him back. He was running out of blades.
"Will you not entertain me with some witty banter? Though you are bad at speaking in the midst of fighting. You're no fun." Joker sighed.
Gray dipped out of the way of the whip, grabbing the very tip of it before cutting his blade through the whip before throwing a blade into Joker's throat. Joker staggered back, gripping the handle of the blade before he fell back against the ground with his body spasming.
Once Joker had fallen out of his way, Gray leapt over his clock and rushed through the train cars before bursting into the middle train car to find Aria standing in the hallway, looking impatient and infuriated.
"Aria." Gray spoke, heavily breathing and staring at her with a whirl of emotions spinning in his head and no way to form words with them.
"You … what are you doing here?" Aria asked, locking her gaze on the assassin and taking a full combat stance, her eye lenses red in combat engagement mode.
"I climbed aboard the train." Gray explained, feeling that much was obvious and cursing himself for losing the chance to say something more appeasing.
"Why? What do you want?" The foreigner merc clearly was not considering this as a desired encounter. She began unsheathing her forearm blades as darkness began gathering over her armor.
"Aria, please listen to me." Gray began, tightly holding his aching chest wound. "Aria, I want to be with you. And if you want to die, then kill me as well. I don't want us to be apart, Aria."
"What about Joker?" The foreigner's eyes glitched in yellow and orange colors for a second, scanning the area. "Shouldn't he have stopped you?"
"I killed him, of course." Gray answered, seeming puzzled by her question.
"There's no need to worry, my dear. Joker will return shortly." Joker spoke with a polite smile, appearing behind her and standing at her side. She didn't react to him. "Why don't you go enjoy yourself at the front of the train? I'll take care of this polizon." He smiled, stepping before her.
Aria nodded and rushed to the front of the train, leaving the other Joker to entertain Gray.
"Get out of my way, Joker!" Gray tossed a blade that was easily deflected.
"What for?" He asked with a mocking chuckle.
As they fought, a large boom echoed down the corridors. Joker and Gray were both tossed around, startled before Gray threw a blade into Joker's neck, seeing him tumbling.
"It looks like my Aria wanted to be sure her trip won't be interrupted." Joker smiled as blood dripped from the corner of his lips. "She just cut the last wagons and it's derailing the train to ensure it can't be stopped. It's going to be a wreckage." He laughed before he turned into his clock form and smacked against the ground.
"Dammit, Aria!" Gray hissed under her breath as he surged forward. He needed to jump to the first carts!
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One more done
