The Five Demon Slayers such as the Rengoku Brothers, Tanjiro Kamado, Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibara had all fallen asleep in seats, soundly. Kyojuro and Natsu sat in the same seat and Natsu leaned his head on Kyouro's shoulder. Tanjiro sat on a different seat with his brown rectangular boxes next to him. With Nezuko inside of it. Inosuke and Zenitsu sat in another seat together with Inosuke lying across a bandaged Zenitsu.
Meanwhile, a demonic amputated talking hand had incapacitated the Mugen Train's conductor with his Blood Demon Art. It had markings of Lower One on it and a single cerulean eye on it. This hand belonged to Enmu, one of the Twelve Kizuki and remaining Lower Moon demon.
"Pardon me." A girl in a green kimono called upon Enmu's left hand. "What would you like from us?"
Enmu's hand smiled at the four teenagers, then begun explaining what was happening.
Meanwhile as the Demon Slayers kept sleeping... Natsu Rengoku suddenly sneezed in his sleep.
Within Natsu's Dream
"Wake up, Natsu."
Natsu Rengoku's eyes had shot open when he heard a feminine voice. 'That voice...' As he had awakened, Natsu quickly got off the floor and spotted an older woman who stood before him within the dark realm. Natsu gasped when he spotted a woman he had recognized. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw his adoptive mother, Ruka Rengoku. She was currently dressed within the clothing that she had succumbed to her illness in. Ruka had worn light-yellow kimono with pink flowers on it with a red and yellow sash tied around her stomach. She also wore a pair long white socks and black sandals. A light and faint yellow aura appeared all around her body. "M-mom? Is that really... you?"
Natsu paused a bit and remembered seeing portraits of the deceased Ruka Rengoku within the Rengoku Residence while growing up. He wasn't old enough to remember Ruka when she died.
Ruka slowly nodded, then gave him a light smile. "It is I, Natsu. The woman who took you in when you were young."
"W-what's going on? Why is everything around us pitch black? Are we dead?" Natsu asked.
"No. You are not dead, my child. You are simply in a dream." Ruka said.
"A dream? Wait, if I'm dreaming, then... does that mean you and I are sharing the same dream? Are still alive, somewhere?" Natsu asked.
Ruka sadly shook her head no. "I'm afraid that I am no longer in the world of the living. My body is gone."
Natsu pouted and dropped his head a bit. Hoping that Ruka was still alive. "Oh..."
"But," Ruka slowly walked toward Natsu. "My spirit still continues to exist in here." Ruka pointed toward Natsu's heart.
A tear streamed down Natsu's left face. "I've wanted to get to know you... for a long time... mom. But dad said that you died because of an incurable illness."
Ruka sadly watched Natsu pout for a short moment. "I know. I've known that you wanted to grow up knowing me, before my death. But listen, Natsu." Ruka then embraced her adoptive son by hugging him. "As long as you keep me stored inside your heart, then I will always be with you." Ruka told Natsu.
"Thanks. I needed to hear that. Especially from you, mom." Natsu said.
"But listen. There is something that I also want to tell you..."
Natsu slowly looked at Ruka's face.
"Just like I once told your older brother... You have a gift. You have great power. And with great power... must also come with great responsibility. You must use your God-given gift to protect the weak and to never use it to hurt others or for personal gain. It is your duty not only as a Demon Slayer-but as a human being to protect those that are in need of protection."
Natsu's golden eyes shined when he heard Ruka's speech.
"Or else you will become bloodthirsty. Arrogant and egotistical." Ruka then looked upwards. Twelve O' Clock. "Or else you will end up like that man."
"Huh?" Natsu followed Ruka's nose, then looked in the same direction Ruka was looking.
Suddenly, a male-like figure covered in a dark silhouette appeared within Natsu's dream. His eyes and green were white and had a sinister bloodlust.
Natsu's eyes looked in shock to see a dark silhouette staring at him. The only thing Natsu could see was the dark silhouette's red hair.
"Remember, my child. You must never stray from the path of good." Ruka said, then disappeared from Natsu's dream.
"Huh? Mom?" Natsu noticed that Ruka had turned into light and disappeared. "Wait! There's still something that I-" Natsu stretched his arms out and tried to reach Ruka as she had turned into light.
"Hahahah!" The Dark Silhouette suddenly laughed, psychotically which caught Natsu's attention.
Natsu was alerted and tried to reach for his Nichirin Sword's hilt. But his Nichirin Sword had disappeared from his waist.
It then rushed toward Natsu with such speed and threw a hard punch at his face. A second it could make contact with Natsu's face…
Back in Reality
Natsu briefly screamed when he had woken from his dream. He panted a bit and looked around and noticed that he was back on the Mugen Train. He looked next to him and saw that Kyojuro was still sleeping next to him and then got up and saw his friends, Tanjiro, Inosuke and a bandaged Zenitsu were still sleeping in the same seats they sat in. "Guys…" He then looked at Nezuko's box and noted that it was still closed. "Nezuko. She might be still asleep, too."
Suddenly, a door connected to the train car that Natsu and his fellow Demon Slayers were in had opened up.
Natsu turned his back around to see four teenagers—two boys and two girls at the train car door staring directly at him. 'Huh? What are they doing here?' Natsu stared each of the teens down one by one. He first stared at the sick boy with the dark red Haori-who was suffering from a disease called Tuberculosis. His name was Hiroyuki.
'That person looks really sick.' Natsu thought to himself as he stared at the sick boy. Then, he looked at the girl in the green kimono and braided long black pig tails. Her name was Midori. 'That girl looks kind of scary.' Natsu thought as he looked into her small gray pupils. He then looked at the other boy who's in a green kimono. His name was Wasabi. 'I can't tell anything about that guy—except he looks really tired, like the rest of the—' Natsu then heard a gasp coming from one of the teens. He looked far back behind the three teens to see a girl with long black hair with an accessory red ribbon tied to it. The girl hid behind one of the other teens out of shyness. She wore a yellow kimono with a purple dress attached to the bottom and a purple sash around her waist. Her name was Sakura. 'That girl must be shy…' He then looked at the rope in Hiroyuki's hands. 'Rope? What are they doing with that?'
"You're not supposed to be awake." Wasabi said.
Natsu looked at Wasabi. "What?"
"He said, you weren't supposed to wake up! You're all interfering!" Midori yelled as she pulled out an ice pick. So did also Wasabi and Hiroyuki.
Natsu became alerted that the teenagers were planning to attack him. 'What's going on? Are they being controlled?' Natsu thought of reaching for his Nichirin Sword for a second, then decided not to.
Sakura didn't think of pulling out an ice pick because she was too distracted with Natsu's handsome face.
"Now that you're all here… we won't get any happy dreams!" Midori yelled.
'Happy… dreams?' Natsu thought, then looked at the rings under their eyes. 'They all have rings under their eyes. Meaning, they hadn't slept in a while.' Natsu then looked around to see everyone including his fellow Demon Slayers sleep in the train car, except them. 'I just woke up and everyone else is still asleep. This must be the work of a demon.' Natsu then looked back at the teens. "Are you all being manipulated, somehow?"
Sakura covered her mouth and slowly nodded her head yes to Natsu.
"So, what if we are? After we kill you, then we'll have our precious dreams, again!" Midori yelled as she gripped her ice pick, tightly.
'Kill?' Natsu gave it some thought. 'Whatever demon that is doing this can't be a good one. Especially if they're going to manipulate people into doing their bidding.' Natsu silently sighed. "I understand that you're all trying to do what you think is right… but at the same time, I can't let you hurt my friends."
Midori growled at him.
Natsu said, feeling a bit of pity for them. "I'll try to make it painless as possible for you all." Natsu looked at the Enmu's four minions. 'I'll start with you.' Natsu locked his eyes on Hiroyuki, the sick boy and gentle delivered a chop to the back of his neck. Which caused Hiroyuki to collapse onto the floor and pass out.
"Haa-" Wasabi tried to strike at Natsu's head but missed. "Urgh." Midori then lost consciousness when Natsu struck her in the back of the neck. She fell to the floor as well. Natsu then knocked out Wasabi in the following. Leaving only Sakura left.
Sakura gasped when she saw her fellow friends get knocked out and realized she and Natsu were the only ones on the Mugen Train conscious.
Natsu walked toward Sakura and raised his folded left hand in the air.
"I'm sorry!" Sakura quickly apologized. Fearing to be knocked out by Natsu.
Natsu suddenly stopped before his hand could come down and make contact with Sakura's head. Then suddenly, Natsu's folded hand softly bopped Sakura on the head causing no damage at all.
Sakura lightly gasped and gently grasped her head after Natsu bopped it. "Why didn't you…"
"Because, I saw your body language. You were hesitant and you seemed to be kind of shy. And it told me that you had a good soul." Natsu said.
Sakura blushed a bit after hearing that compliment.
"Um, if you don't mind, can you tell me what's happening?" Natsu politely asked.
"Um… sure." Sakura sat down in a chair. Then she had taken a breather.
One Minute and Thirty Seconds Later…
"So, that's what's going on. One of the Twelve Kizuki is controlling this train." Natsu said after listening to Sakura' story.
Sakura sadly nodded. "Mm-hmm."
"And our tickets being punched…" Natsu thought back a bit when his ticket was punched by the conductor of the Mugen Train. "They must be what made everyone on this train fall asleep, am I right?"
Sakura sadly nodded, again. "Mm-hmm."
"And one of the Twelve Kizuki knew that we were coming, so they must've ordered you to kill us…" Natsu said.
Sakura sadly nodded to Natsu, again. "Mm-hmm." Sakura then pointed at the rope and one of the ice picks. "And we were supposed to tie you all with demonic rope and kill you all in your sleep with these." Sakura pulled out an ice pick. "We were supposed to enter your dreams and destroy your spiritual cores. The demon promised us that if we did his bidding, then he would make us have wonderful dreams, again." Sakura sadly admitted.
'I see…' Natsu said after listening to Sakura.
"I'm really, really sorry for all this…" Sakura placed her hands in her lap. "I wish that I can change what I was about to do…" Sakura teared up in front of Natsu.
Natsu paused as he watched Sakura teared up, until a fear tears land on her purple dress. Natsu saw and made a decision. He placed his hands on Sakura's shoulders and smiled in front of her. "Don't worry about it. You and your friends did what you all thought was right. As soon as my brother and my friends wake up from their dreams, we're gonna take care of the demon altogether." Natsu said in an optimistic tone.
"W-what?" Sakura felt a bit confused of what Natsu was saying.
"We're gonna kill the demon for you. And for everyone on this train." Natsu said as he looked around in the training car to see all the passengers and Demon Slayers were still asleep.
"R… really?" Sakura asked.
"That's right. You can rest easy, now." Natsu gave Sakura a brighter smile.
Sakura openly blushed in front of Natsu while he smiled at her. 'He's so… cool!' She imagined a shining golden background and noticed his strong white teeth. Her heart begun to beat faster and faster, until she passed out with a smile on her face.
Natsu sat Sakura up straightly in the chair she had sat in. 'You can rest easy, now.' Natsu then, sat the other three of Enmu's minions in chairs. Making them look like they are sleeping side-by-side peacefully. You can all rest well now." Natsu smiled.
Suddenly, the brown rectangular box that Nezuko had slept and lived in had opened up. Nezuko who shrunk to fit in the box Tanjiro made had exited her box. She looked around until she saw Natsu.
"Mmph." Nezuko grunted which caught Natsu's attention.
"Nezuko! You're awake!"
Nezuko then grew back into her regular size and approached Natsu. She then took his hand and led him to her sleeping brother, Tanjiro Kamadao.
"Yes, but Tanjiro still asleep. I don't know how we can wake him." Natsu told Nezuko. 'Bro's asleep, too. And so is both Inosuke and Zenitsu.' Natsu looked at both Inosuke and Zenitsu. 'I don't know how we can wake them or anyone else up, either.'
Nezuko tried her best to wake Tanjiro up from his dream. She tried shoving Tanjiro. Then she placed his masculine hand on her forehead. Hoping that Taniro would wake from his dream. When none of her attempts work, Nezuko then headbutted Tanjiro on the forehead.
"Ah—" Natsu gasped when she saw Nezuko headbutt Tanjiro. "Nezuko?"
Nezuko slowly looked at Natsu. And in the next two seconds, Nezuko's head started bleeding. Her skull wasn't as thick as Tanjiro's.
Natsu gasped in shock. "N-Nezuko! You're bleeding!"
Tears then streamed down Nezuko's face, then turned back to Tanjiro. She looked very upset as she tried to wake Tanjiro again.
"Nezuko, wait!" Natsu begged.
"Mmph!" Nezuko then headbutted Tanjiro a second time. Which caused pink-like flames to appear around her and Tanjirou.
Natsu gasped when he saw flames burst around Nezuko and Tanjiro. 'These flames!' Natsu worried about the Kamado siblings. "Nezuko! Tanjiro!"
After ten seconds, the flames dispersed and Nezuko begun to cry after her failed attempts in waking Tanjiro.
Natsu ran to Nezuko. "I'll help you out, Nezuko. Try and hold still." Natsu then pulled out a white handkerchief from his right pocket. He then used the white handkerchief to wipe away Nezuko's tears, then wiped away her blood. After fifteen seconds of wiping, the blood and tears were all gone. "There. That should do it."
Nezuko looked at Natsu for a moment, then hugged him.
"Oh… okay." Natsu was nearly speechless when Nezuko hugged him. He then took a moment to gently pat Nezuko on the head.
"Mmph." Nezuko muffled, feeling comfortable as she hugged Natsu.
'I guess we have to wait, until everyone wakes up on their own. But the question is, how long will it take for them to wake up?' Natsu thought.
A Few Moments Later...
"Aaaaaaaah!" Tanjiro Kamado sat up and screamed as loud as he could when had suddenly woken up from his dream. He panted a bit afterwards. He looked at his left hand. "It's alright. I'm still alive."
"Tanjiro!" Natsu called.
"Eh?" Tanjiro heard his name called and quickly turned around to see both Natsu and Nezuko standing next to each other. "Natsu!" Tanjiro then turned his attention to Nezuko Kamado. "Nezuko! Are you okay?"
Nezuko slowly approached Tanjiro, then moaned and grabbed her forehead.
Tanjiro happily teared up. "I'm so glad you're okay."
"Nezuko was really worried about you. She thought you wouldn't wake up after she tried to wake you." Natsu said.
"Really?" Tanjiro sniffed a bit and could smell Nezuko's blood. "I see now." Tanjiro said. 'No wonder I caught her scent in my dreams.' Tanjiro the looked to Natsu. "Do you know what's happening, Natsu?"
"Yeah. I'll tell you everything I know."
A Few Minutes Later...
"So, one of the Twelve Kizuki is controlling this train… and that these tickets are what made us all fall asleep." Tanjiro said as he held his punched ticket.
"That's right. I woke up after I met my mom, then was killed by a mysterious person in my dream. He was covered in black and all I could depict was that the mysterious figure had short hair." Natsu stated.
"Really? I had to leave behind my family and cut my own neck in the snowy forest." Tanjiro stated.
"That's rough, buddy." Natsu said.
"Yeah." Tanjiro nodded.
"So now, what do we do? Do we wait until bro and everyone else wakes up, or do we go after one of the Kizuki?" Natsu asked.
"Hm… let me think." Tanjiro placed a hand on his chin. He gave it some thought, until a glowing firefly appeared over his head. "I know what to do now!" Tanjiro snapped his fingers. "Follow me!" Tanjiro then ran toward the closest train car that is close to the engine. Nezuko and Natsu then followed behind Tanjiro. It had taken a few minutes to reach the closest train car. "Here we are!" Tanjiro then jumped on top of the closest train car that would lead him to the engine.
Natsu cleared his voice by coughing. "I'LL WATCH AFTER NEZUKO AND MAKE SURE EVERYONE IS SAFE!" Natsu yelled loud so that Tanjiro could hear him.
"Thanks!" Tanjiro replied before running and following Enmu's scent with his nose.
"Good luck, Tanjiro!" Natsu yelled, then he and Nezuko ran back toward their allies.
It took them a minute and a half to meet their fellow Demon Slayers. But when they arrived, Inosuke Hashibira was missing, but Zenitsu and Kyojuro were still sleeping.
"Uh? Where did Inosuke go?" Natsu questioned as he blinked a few times. He then looked to the ceiling of the train car and noticed a huge hole in it. "He's awake, isn't he?"
"Mmph." Nezuko nodded and muffled.
For the next three minutes, Natsu and Nezuko had stood guard and protected both the sleeping Kyojuro Rengoku and Zenitsu Agatsuma. That is until Lower Demon Moon One, Enmu had merged with the Mugen Train and created large purplish red tentacles to threaten to devour the sleeping passengers.
Natsu and Nezuko worked together, side-by-side fighting and slashing multiple demonic tentacles to protect as many sleeping passengers as they could.
'What are these things? Is this happening, because of the one of the Twelve Kizuki?' Natsu thought as he slashed and cut multiple demonic tentacles with his black Nichirin Sword, while Nezuko also slashed multiple to pieces with her sharp demonic claws. "Are you alright, Nezuko?" Natsu asked Nezuko. Checking on how she's doing.
Nezuko muffled as she continued slashing multiple tentacles.
"That's good!" Natsu said as he slashed a tentacle in half while it tried to touch a sleeping elderly man.
Nezuko saw a tentacle tried to reach a young woman and charged at it. But what did she not anticipate was that the tentacle was lying in wait for her. Nezuko's left arm had been caught. And then her right arm was trapped as well. She struggled to move a bit while her arms were in submission.
Natsu turned part of his body around and gasped when he saw Nezuko trapped in tentacle submission. "Hang on, Nezuko! I'm coming!" He gasped and tried to rush toward her. But before Natsu's Nichirin Sword could try and slash the tentacle in half and free Nezuko, Natsu's right leg got caught by another demonic tentacle. Keeping him at bay and preventing him from freeing Nezuko.
'Flame Breathing. Third Form...'Natsu's blade slowly coated itself in orange flames, once more. Then, he slashed downwards. Freeing his right leg from the grappling tentacle. 'Blazing Universe!' Natsu chanted when he freed himself. Afterwards, Natsu turned to Nezuko who was still trapped. "I'm coming, Nezu-uagh!" Natsu was attacked by multiple tentacles which grabbed him from all sides. His arms, legs and waists were trapped and wrapped by demonic tentacles. One of the tentacles made Natsu drop his Nichirin Sword. 'My blade!' Natsu thought as he watched his blade fall on the floor. He then gasped when he saw multiple tentacles slowly approach Nezuko while in submission. "Nezuko!" Natsu struggled to break free, but the tentacle's grip was too tight.
Nezuko groaned in worry.
Three Seconds Later...
Suddenly, Zenitsu Agatsuma... a boy who's as fast as lightning had appeared i the train car that Natsu Rengoku and Nezuko Kamado were currently fighting in and slashed all the tentacles that threatened Nezuko.
Nezuko gasped under her bamboo muzzle.
Natsu gasped as well when he spotted Zenitsu come out of nowhere at a fast speed paste. 'Zenitsu!'
Zenitsu Agatsuma had bandages wrapped around his face and was currently sleep-fighting. 'Thunder Breathing. First Form...' Zenitsu then slowly unsheathed his Nichirin Sword. 'Thunder Clap and Flash!' Zenitsu chanted, then dashed all around the train car with such speed. Using electricity to slash and destroy all the tentacles within the train car. 'Sixfold.' Zenitsu even freed Natsu from the threatening demonic tentacles, then resheathed his blade.
'He's fast! Really fast!' Natsu thought as he landed on his feet. Natsu was amazed of the kind of potential Zenitsu had. 'He's really amazing!' Natsu then picked up his Nichirin Sword off the floor.
"I will protect Nezuk with my life." Zenitsu chanted.
Nezuko looked at Zenitsu in awe.
"Urgh, I want my gramps." Zenitsu then groaned and passed out in a funny way. He started snoring while standing.
"Uh..."Natsu felt a bit weird as he watched Zenitsu fall asleep after saving them. He scratched part of his face and chuckled a bit.
Nezuko just blinked with her pair of dotted black eyes.
For the next ten minutes, the Demon Slayers worked hard to protect the passengers from the demonic tentacles, until Tanjiro had defeated Enmu by severing his head within the Mugen Train. But when Tanjiro severed Enmu, the Mugen Train begun to rock off course of the train tracks.
Natsu, Kyojuro and Nezuko could feel the train tipping off course and the demonic tentacles begun to evaporate.
"Tanjiro did it!" Natsu happily chanted.
"I knew that the young lad did it!" Kyojuro chanted.
"Mmph!" Nezuko muffled.
"ZZZ." Zenitsu snored.
Within the next twenty seconds, the train tipped over. Most passengers were still asleep when the train had tipped over. Natsu, Kyojuro, Nezuko and Zenitsu had to take cover within the Mugen Train while both Tanjiro and Inosuke flown outside the Mugen Train.
Shortly after the Mugen Train had crashed, a demon had watched from the dark green woods and noticed that the demonic train had crashed. The demon had pinkish-red hair, grayish skin, dark blue rectangular markings all over his body, his fingers and toes were dark blue and his golden eyes had the marking of Upper Rank Moon Three. He wore a revealing short redish-purple sleeveless Haori, white baggy pants and pinkish red pearls around his ankles.
"Well, well. It looks like someone had destroyed finally the Mugen Train. It must've been a Hashira's doing." Akaza chuckled. "I can't wait to see what type of Hashira it is and how strong they are." Akaza grinned while standing on top of a tree branch.
The Middle.