As James, Susamaru, Nezuko, and Zenitsu ran to catch up with Patrick Cleburne and his men, a foreign visitor who happened to be on the train was going around, collecting blood samples from the chunks of decaying flesh from Enmu as it slowly burned away. He possessed identification from the United States Army, and as he collected a sample, he said to himself, "So this is what put us into a dream, huh?" As he walked away from collecting his sixth and final sample, he dropped his identification card on the ground and picked it up, his card reading 'Maj. Stephen Miles Sr.'
Meanwhile, Patrick told the leader of the second group, "We need to prepare! They're coming to launch a counterattack!"
"But there ain't that many of 'em," he replied.
"I've fought against Colby before," he told him. "He's a one-man army, and if he's with other warriors, we'll be fucked harder than George Pickett after his charge at Gettysburg if we aren't careful!"
"You really think it'll be as bad as Pickett's Charge?"
"Absolutely," he nodded. "I don't want anyone here to underestimate him or his comrades. We've never gone up against Oriental Breath users as a group before, and with Colby havin' trainin' in it, I'm deeply concerned."
"You're takin' this very seriously," the other man replied. "How many times have you fought James Colby?"
"I've either personally fought him or have had my men fight him a total of five times in the past few decades he's been at war with us, and every time, he's come out on top or at the very least manages to escape our grasp. I hope he doesn't do it a sixth time."
"Hey, General Cleburne!"
Immediately, he and the 17 men he commanded that were left all turned and looked at James and his group. They all aimed their guns at him as Patrick approached them. "Good evening, Musician James Colby."
Nezuko, Zenitsu, and Susamaru all raised their swords, but James told them in Japanese, "Not yet." He then turned back to Patrick and told him, "I'll tell ya what. Of all of the Knights of the Moon, y'all are the most tolerable, and I actually kinda like ya. How 'bout this? You and your men can drop your weapons and surrender to us, and we won't bring harm to any of 'em. I'll make sure the Demon Slayer Corps won't attack ya as y'all travel back to America." He then turned around and informed his group in Japanese, "I'm givin' 'em the chance to surrender. If they take it, we won't attack."
Nezuko asked, "Are you sure?"
"That's fine with me," Zenitsu replied.
"I'll have to decline," Patrick then told James. "I… I simply cannot." He thought to himself, "Muzan won't let us surrender. If he finds out, he'll send Akaza over and kill us. What kind of man do George and Thaddeus have us working for anyway? Muzan may have been their master and creator, but I still can't shake the feeling he's not entirely right up in his head."
"Very well," James replied as he pulled his shotgun out. "Let's fight."
"Well… Here we go." Patrick then drew his revolver and blew a whistle around his neck before he shouted, "CHARGE!"
As his men ran towards the group, James fired off two shells from his shotgun as Susamaru charged forward, evading bullets fired by the soldiers. "Breath of Flames, Seventh Form: Fiery Spirits!" She jumped into the air and swung downwards, striking two soldiers and decapitating one. She then kicked the other soldier in the gut before decapitating him with her right-hand sword.
Zenitsu meanwhile took cover behind a large rock before he drew a revolver he had been given for the trip as part of the continued corps experiment with firearms and fired off several shots from a distance. He then stood up and fired the last three shots he had before he holstered his revolver and drew his sword. As he took a deep breath to calm himself down, he told himself, "You can do this, you can do this, you can do this… Breath of Thunder, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!" He then charged forward at a fast pace just as two soldiers were about to reach him, decapitating both and then slicing a third in half. As he came to a stop, he took several deep breaths as he said to himself in joy, "I… I did it! I actually did it!" He turned around and quickly deflected a bayonet from a fourth soldier before he kicked him and decapitated him. "I actually fucking did it!"
Nezuko meanwhile attacked the soldier Zenitsu had cut in half as he regrew his legs at a slow pace, declaring, "Breath of Water, Second Form Improved: Lateral Water Wheel!" As she decapitated him, she got stabbed by a bayonet in the abdomen by another soldier. After wincing and screaming from the pain, she raised her free fist and declared, "Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood!" In an instant, the blood she had shed from the bayonet injury exploded in a sheet of flames, severely burning the soldier who had attacked her and allowing James to shoot him twice with the shotgun, including a direct point-blank shot to the head that killed him. "Fuck, that was too close!"
"You alright?!"
"Yeah," she replied as James helped her up. "How many have we killed?!"
"Eight I think."
Then, a soldier managed to aim at James, with Susamaru seeing him do so. She quickly yelled out as she ran to him, "Oh shit! Look out!" She then dove out and acted as a shield for James as a bullet lodged in her chest, knocking her to the ground. "Agh, shit! I got hit"
"Susamaru!" James quickly dropped his shotgun and pulled his sword out before charging at the soldier in anger. "Breath of Flames, First Form: Unknowin' Fire!" Before he had the chance to reload, he got decapitated by James, bringing the score to nine kills. "Take that, ya son of a bitch!"
"Susamaru-san," Nezuko asked her. "Are you okay?!"
"It hurts like a bitch," she replied as Nezuko helped her up. "And I'll need a new uniform now thanks to that fucker, but I should be fi-" She then suddenly puked, indicating that the bullet was poisoned just as Nezuko pulled her revolver and shot at another soldier four times before Zenitsu decapitated him as well, bringing the score up to ten kills. "Oh fuck, it's poiso-!" She then puked again.
"Colby-san, your fiancée got poisoned!"
"Shit!" James quickly ran over to her as Nezuko picked up her sword again to continue the battle. "Susamaru, just hold on!" As he took off and then reached into his backpack, he rummaged through it desperately for an antidote he carried. When he found it, he opened the top of a small metal flask and told her, "Drink this, please!"
"Ok," she weakly replied as she took small sips of the antidote. "This… What…"
"It works against small doses of the poisons in America," James explained. "Japanese demons like yourself must not be used to some of the shit we got. How do ya feel?"
"A bit better," she replied as she staggered to her feet. "Agh… Hang on… Fuck, I don't feel good at all."
Meanwhile, Zenitsu asked Nezuko as they slashed at several soldiers directly in front of them, "What's wrong back there?!"
"Susamaru-san got poisoned," Nezuko told him. "She may be out of the fight!"
"Shit," he muttered as he readied himself for another attack. "Cover me, Nezuko-chan! I'm gonna attack again!"
"You're unusually brave tonight," Nezuko remarked.
"When I'm with you," he replied. "Anything is possible. Now, Breath of Thunder, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash, Six Fold!" Suddenly, the ground below him cracked as he charged at most of the remaining soldiers, bouncing off several trees as he sliced through and decapitated all of them in one fell swoop at a speed that was so fast that the others could only barely make his figure out.
Nezuko said in disbelief, "No way… He… He's so fast!"
The last soldier shouted out just before he was decapitated, "What the fuck?!"
Patrick yelled in horror, "By the Grace of God, what's this young man capable of?!"
"Like I said… With you, anything is possible, Nezuko-chan…"
Now, Patrick was down to himself and just two other soldiers. He muttered to himself as he looked on at the destruction wrought upon his group, "I… I truly have lost…"
James then barreled towards Patrick as the latter quickly drew his officers' scabbard. "Breath of Flames, Fifth Form: Flame Tiger!" At a blindingly fast speed, he decapitated both of the soldiers standing next to Patrick with several powerful sword slashes that moved and roared like the eponymous animal, but missed Patrick himself. As he came to a stop, the two clashed with their swords, with James telling him, "It's over, sir! Your men are gone! It's just you and me! You won't win!"
"I can't surrender," Patrick yelled back at him as the two clashed swords. "I'm not allowed to!"
"You need to!" James barely dodged a hit to his stomach before his left arm got slashed. "Agh, shit! Look, y'all can change, okay?!"
"You don't get it," Patrick spat back at him. "I can't just change sides and fight my own kind like you can! They won't let me!"
"Who?!"
"Muzan won't," Patrick yelled as he dodged a slash at his head. "He'll kill me if I try!"
"You ain't under his curse!"
"But he has one of his own servants here! He'll just send him to kill me!" He then tried to punch James in the upper chest, but he deflected the punch and then pushed Patrick away from him. "I need to continue fighting!"
James sighed as he stabbed Patrick in the chest, stopping him dead in his tracks and going all the way through him. "Don't ya get it… This… This is why we fight against him…"
Patrick coughed up blood as he felt poison rush through his body. "You… You put poison in your sword…"
"I like to keep my options open," James replied as he pulled the sword out from his chest and let him fall to the ground. "Anyway, look… Muzan is a bully… He's an insecure and paranoid little bully who only gives a fuck about himself, and the Jackson brothers ain't that much better. Why did ya fight for them anyway?"
"Because… Because…"
"Why?"
"The same reason I became a Confederate," Patrick told him as he slowly began to die. "Because I loved the South. After I moved from my home in Ireland, the South took me in as one of their own." He then wiped his mouth of blood. "Do you really think I gave two fucks about negro slavery, James?"
"You never struck me as someone who did."
"Of course I didn't," he confirmed. "Hell, I wanted to have free negroes fight for us once. I would have freed any amount of them from plantations if it meant we could have won. That bastard Walker thought I was a traitor, but fuck him. He's the reason I never got promoted. I joined the Jacksons because they gave me a new life, a new start, and they promised to restore the South and bring it back to before the War Between The States." As he spit up more blood, he continued with, "Now I know that was a lie. A big fucking lie, James. Nothing me or anyone else can do could achieve that dream. It's a bit late for that realization, huh?"
"I guess so, sir," he replied as Patrick began to fade away.
"I just hope I can see my beloved Sue after I die," he told James. "I'm tired of just seeing her in my dreams, son."
"I know you ya feel." James easily sympathized with Patrick, the two having lost the loves of their life in the past.
"Tell me," Patrick asked. "When are we going to stop doing this to each other?"
As Patrick finally turned into dust and died, James replied to him as he shook his head, "I don't know… I don't think I'll ever know, Patrick."
Zenitsu ran up to him and asked, "Is he dead?! What happened?!"
"I killed him," James replied solemnly. "Everythin's taken care of here. We need to head back."
Susamaru walked over and told him, "I'll be fine to go back, but I'm not sure how much longer I can fight. I still feel sick to my stomach."
"Patrick mentioned that there could be more of Muzan's servants 'round here," James told them. "We need to be on the lookout for a Lower or Upper Moon."
…
As the group of four finally reached the wreckage of the train once more, they caught up to Tanjiro and Inosuke, the former of whom asked them, "Did you guys get that Knight of the Moon?"
"Yeah," James replied as they ran past him. "We need to hurry up and find Rengoku-san! There's another Demon Moon around here!"
"It's an Upper Moon," Tanjiro shouted as he and Inosuke joined the group. "Rengoku-san's fighting him alone."
"Wait, what?!" All of them stopped dead in their track as James asked Tanjiro in disbelief, "He's fightin' an Upper Moon alone?! Why?!"
"He insisted," Inosuke explained. "He wanted us to guard the train."
"Fuck the fuckin' train," James replied. "We need to help him! Come on!"
As the six of them rushed to Kyojuro, they saw an explosion in the distance from his fight with Akaza, with Tanjiro shouting at the top of his lungs, "RENGOKU-SAN! THAT'S RENGOKU-SAN!"
They could hear Kyojuro shout at Akaza, "I won't let you win!"
Akaza shouted back, "I don't want you to die, Kyojuro!"
James yelled out as a second explosion shook the ground beneath their feet and they were forced to stop dead in their tracks, "RENGOKU! RENGOKU!" Smoke and dust quickly clouded their vision, rendering them unable to see what exactly had happened to him. "Please, God," he thought to himself. "Let him live! Let him be the victor!"
Susamaru shouted out as the smoke began to clear, "What happened?! Where is he?!"
Then, Inosuke gasped and pointed him out from the smoke with his sword. "There! He's right there! I see him!"
As all six of them looked on, James realized what had happened to him as his eyes widened with shock. "No… No! He couldn't have just-... No!"
Kyojuro Rengoku had been fatally wounded by a punch through his abdomen via Akaza. As he held his sword firmly in one hand and coughed up blood, he muttered to himself, "Fuck, that hurts…"
Nezuko cried out, "Rengoku-san, no!"
"I'm begging you," Akaza told him as he kept his arm firmly planted inside Kyojuro's body, his fist coming out the other side. "Become a demon, or else this wound will kill you! Your strength makes you too special to die! You could reach even greater heights if you just joined me and my master, Kyojuro! Damn it, don't be stupid! You're smarter than this!"
James fell to his knees as tears fell down Susamaru's face and onto the ground, both of them realizing their mentor was as good as dead. The latter choked up as she said to herself, "Oh my God… Rengoku-san…"
Suddenly, Kyojuro swung down on his sword and attempted to decapitate Akaza despite his injury, using all of his might and remaining strength. "I'LL NEVER BETRAY MY COMRADES! NEVER! NOT NOW, NOT TOMORROW, NOT IN A MILLION YEARS, NEVER!" As he stopped a fist from punching him in the eye, he realized the sun was about to come up. "Just a little longer," he begged in his mind. "Please, God, just a little while longer!" As Akaza struggled to escape, Kyojuro yelled at him, "I won't let you escape!"
James then charged at Akaza with his own sword, rage in his eyes as the veins in his face popped out, indicating he had reverted back into a primal demonic state, something he had done only a few times before while under great stress. He shouted at the top of his lungs as he readied his sword, "I'LL FUCKIN' KILL YOU, YOU HEAR ME?!"
Akaza then managed to sever both of his arms to break free of Kyojuro, and as they grew back, he jumped up into the air, only to find that James had done so as well. As he looked at him, he thought to himself, "The bloodlust in his eyes! This foreign man… This is no ordinary demon! He has a similar fighting spirit to Kyojuro, but it's amplified by his abilities as a demon like me! I have to escape now, or I'll be killed by either him or the sun!" He then managed to punch James, knocking him to the ground as he landed and ran to the forest for cover from the sunlight. "Damn it, get the fuck away from me! The sun is coming!"
James quickly followed him into the forest, shouting, "GET THE FUCK BACK HERE!" As the two finally caught up to each other under a thick cover of trees, the two clashed, with Akaza blocking all of James' strikes. "You son of a bitch! You piece of shit! You motherfucker, I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'LL KILL YOU!"
Once Akaza pushed him far enough away, he crouched down quickly and declared, "Technique Development: Air Type!" He then punched the air in front of him, blasting James through several trees at full force and causing a massive explosion. "I need to blow him away," he thought to himself. "Or else he'll catch up to me and kill me!"
"Fuck you, you hear me?! Fuck you!" James charged at him after he got up, declaring, "Breath of Flames, Fifth Form: Flamin' Tiger!"
"Technique Development: Eight-Layered Demon Core!" Akaza punched the air in front of him eight times, creating eight powerful blasts that pushed James so far it sent him flying out of the forest entirely, stopping his attack from ever reaching Akaza in the first place. Once the dust settled, Akaza took several deep breaths as he looked around. "Fuck, that was too close… I need to get the Hell outta here!" He then high-tailed it and ran as far away from the scene as possible, making his escape.
As James landed on the ground, having been knocked out by the blast, the others ran to him as Tanjiro ran to the edge of the forest to shout a message to Akaza. "Hey, Upper Moon Three! Do you hear me, huh?! No matter what you say, we won! We are the champions today, not you! We saved everyone on that fucking train, and we have Rengoku-san to thank for it! You may have gotten away this time, you bastard, but mark my words! We will come for you, and when we do, we'll make sure you pay! We might not have the same advantages as you, but we aren't slaves, and we actually have free will! As long as one of us, human or demon, stands up to you and Kibutsuji Muzan, you will NEVER win! Rengoku-san will always be stronger and braver than you'll ever be, and that's a God damn fact!"
"He's right," Nezuko said to the others as she began to cry. "This… We did win…"
As James woke up, having returned to his normal state, he quickly jumped up to his feet and ran to Kyojuro. "No! No no no no no no! Sir, you can't go like this! I have to save you!" Susamaru also ran to him in tears, begging the gods in her head to let her mentor live.
He simply smiled at his Tsuguko before he told them, "It's a bit late for me, I'm afraid." He then turned to a crying Tanjiro, telling him, "Thank you for that rousing speech, young Kamado. Come here for a second. I have something to tell you about your Dance of the Fire God."
Both Tanjiro and Nezuko rushed to his side, with the former asking, "What is it, Rengoku-san?"
"There is a book about the history of the Breath of Flames," Kyojuro told them through the pain of his injuries. "My father would read them often before he lost his way after my mother passed away. Perhaps you will find the answers about the Dance of the Fire God there."
"I translated that," James told Tanjiro through his tears. "I got an English copy of my own."
"Before I die," he then told them. "James, Susamaru, tell my brother to follow his heart, wherever it may go. Please, watch over him and my father. Though… Though our time as Pillar and Tsuguko was short, I truly cherished it. You two helped open my eyes to the possibility of peace between humans and demons, and an end to this destructive war." He then turned to James specifically. "James Colby, effective today, as far as I'm concerned, you are now the Flame Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps. You have my full support, no matter what anyone else says." Finally, he turned to a crying Nezuko. "Kamado Nezuko, you truly have earned your position as a demon slayer. It was an honor to have fought alongside you."
"Thank you," she told him. "It was… It was an honor to fight alongside you as we- well…"
"And remember, all of you," he concluded. "If you ever feel disheartened… Set your heart ablaze. Always look to the path ahead, and always plan for a brighter future. I may die here, but as a Pillar, I know that it was a risk I took, and that it was my duty to look out for the slayers under me. Any other Pillar would have done the same in my shoes. You all must continue to grow, because I believe in each and every one of you. You know, when Kocho Kanae died…" He then spit up blood from his mouth. "Himejima-san told me this: 'It's foolish to eternally mourn the warriors who died. Rather, we should thank the gods that these warriors lived.' I've lived by that mantra every day since then, and I implore you all to do the same." He then smiled. "Thank you for being here for me, all of you. Though I may die here, I will never truly be gone."
Kyojuro then looked up at something behind the gang and saw something that shocked him. "Kyojuro, my son…"
"Mother," he thought to himself, also communicating with Ruka's spirit. "Did… Did I do well? Did I use my strength to help others like you asked?"
"You were incredible," she assured him with a warm smile. "I'm so proud of you."
In response, Kyojuro thought, "I love you, mother… I'm so glad to hear those words…" He then closed his eyes and knelt down, finally dying of his wounds in front of everyone.
James looked at his body and said, "He's gone… He's actually gone…"
As the others got up, Tanjiro said to himself, "Why…"
James then followed it with, "Why do I keep losing people I love on September 19th? Is this date fuckin' cursed? First my platoon, then Alice and Zeke, then my parents and my siblin's, then Julia and Henry, and now… And now…" He then slammed both of his fists on the ground in anger and sorrow. "And now I've lost Rengoku-san! God, what else do you have to take away from me?! You've taken almost everythin' from me, damn it! What more do y'all want?! Why do I have to keep sufferin' like this?! I've fought my own kind for fifty fuckin' years, hopin' I'd get forgiveness for becomin' a monster, and yet NOTHIN' seems to work! Do you want me to give up, God, because I'm this fuckin' close to doin' it!"
Everyone was stunned from James' outburst. After a brief lull, Inosuke retorted back with, "Enough of the self-pity bullshit, you hear me?!" Even though he was crying underneath his mask, he denied it to himself. "I don't wanna fucking hear this talk about giving up from you of all people! You were his Tsukiho, right?! He told you he believed in you, right?! He wants you to be the next Flame Whatever, right?!"
"Tsuguko and Flame Pillar," Zenitsu corrected him as he wiped his tears away.
"Then listen to him, damn it! His body isn't even cold yet, and you're already talking about disregarding his wishes?! Don't you fucking realize you're insulting his memory by doing that?!" He then ripped his mask off and threw it to the ground. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm gonna train my ass off until my legs get ready to fall off! It's what Rinkaku would have wanted, so I'm gonna do it!"
Susamaru hugged James and told him, "Please, my love, don't give up… Don't say you have nothing left… You still have us. All of us… And you have me… We love you, James. I love you."
As the gang continued to sob and weep for Kyojuro's death, the same police officer from before ran over to them. "Are you guys okay?! I got help coming from all over! Everyone's alive thanks to yo-" He then stopped in his tracks when he saw Kyojuro's body and everyone else mourning him around it. "He… That man… He was killed?!"
Another passenger told him, "He died a hero. We owe our lives to these men and women."
A third passenger who knew what demons were before the incident in the Infinity Train told them both, "We owe our lives to the Demon Slayer Corps."
"And yet the same government I work for doesn't recognize them," the police officer said. "What a disgrace. Well, that changes today. Now they can't ignore them."
George, James' crow, flew down as it met up with Kyojuro's crow on the ground. "Hey, Goro-san, are you okay?" He and Goro had observed the battle from below after the train had crashed.
"I…" Goro took a deep breath before he flew off into the air, trying to hide the grief for his master. "I need to go tell the others, McCloud-san."
George looked over at the scene and muttered to himself, "What a damn shame. He was a good man."
…
Half an hour later, James made a phone call from a local police station as other officers collected evidence and testimony from the passengers, having draped Kyojuro's bloodstained haori on his shoulder. After giving the proper codes to the corps switchboard operators, he got connected directly to the Ubuyashiki Estate. Kagaya happened to answer the phone, telling him, "Hello?"
"Sir," James told him, barely holding it in. "This is James. It's about Rengoku-san."
"What happened, James?"
"He's passed away," he told him. "I wanted you to hear it from me personally. His crow is deliverin' the message to the others as we speak. He died a hero. Everyone else on the train is alive because of him."
Kagaya replied out of grief and empathy, "I'm so sorry, James. I… I'm truly at a loss for words." He then took a deep breath over the phone. "This… This one really hits hard. Listen, James, you and Susamaru can take all the time off you need."
"Thank you," he replied. "By the way… He recommended that I become the next Flame Pillar, but…"
"But what? I'll bring it up when I meet with the High Priests and the other Pillars. If he believes you are ready, then I won't object."
"Thank you… Again." James chuckled as he told him, "You know, I really do like you on a personal level, sir. I can see why everyone always talks so highly of you."
Kagaya smiled in response. "Thank you for the kind words. I'll see you soon." As he hung up, he told Amane, "It appears Kyojuro had died in the line of duty."
Amane gasped. "No… He did?!"
"I'm afraid so," he replied with a nod. "He died protecting everyone else, and he succeeded in saving them. He truly represented what the Demon Slayer Corps is all about."
Back at the police station, the officer who was aboard the train patted James on the back in comfort as he told him, "I was a veteran of the Russo-Japanese War, and I've seen a lot of bravery in my time both during my service in the army and as a police officer. Today… I saw a man display the most I've seen since the war. You should be proud to have worked with such a man, son."
"I am," James replied as he wiped tears away. "I'm tryin' to hold back the tears as best I can."
"It's okay," the officer replied. "A grown man should cry at a time like this."
…
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
And thus ends this story's version of the Mugen Train/Infinity Train Arc.
This chapter was emotionally grueling to write. I genuinely began to cry as I wrote it, something I have only done a few times before.
Thank you all for sticking to this story for so long. I am proud to have made it this far, and I look forward to writing more. After all, Season 2 of The Hunter From America is not done just yet. We still have another 40 chapters to go for that.
The plan after this is to include some HFA-exclusive storylines to fill in the four-month gap between this arc and the Red Light District arc that occurs in the original story for Demon Slayer, so expect to see a lot more of your favorite characters, canon and original characters, really soon. For the shamelessly devout shippers out there like myself, expect some more development for certain ships soon as well.
Stay tuned for Chapter 65, and as always, thank you for reading.
