Chapter Thirteen
"Reira gains a guardian angel while Serena cleans up her brother's messes"
Near New Oxford, Pennsylvania
Thursday 31st December 1931
03:00
Allen really needed to get better help. It was true that the only people he'd been able to recruit into the Lemures for this mission, besides the girls, were a bunch of disloyal traitors; but all those fools needed to do was secure a train whilst he made ransom negotiations. He wasn't exactly asking them to conquer Troy.
So, how come all of his men had apparently deserted him in first-class besides Spencer? Not only that, but they weren't even picking up the radio.
"Sir?" finally a voice crackled out from the radio on the dresser "Mr Allen, are you there?"
Allen glanced at Spencer and silently told him to watch the Dragos as he headed over to put the headphones on. No need to have the hostages overhearing everything.
"There you are" he told them gruffly "How many of you are there?"
"Just the three of us" the voice on the other end replied; Allen for the life of his couldn't remember who it belonged to "And we found Noro."
Allen's eyebrows nearly climbed up into his hair. Noro had been supposed to be manning the radio in the freight car, but he hadn't heard a wink from him for hours.
"Tell him I'm disappointed in his work ethic" Allen instructed them.
"We can't, sir" the voice replied "He's missing his legs."
Allen pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't care how legless he's feeling, he-"
"No, sir, he's literally missing his legs" the voice cut him off "Dead in the freight car, his legs torn off. And we can't find the others that were with him."
Allen couldn't process what he was hearing. That level of brutality? Allen was an assassin, but he was clean. Why would a human being ever have to resort to that amount of violence for a kill? A shot to the head would be just as effective and nowhere near as exhausting or dangerous.
Allen already had a low opinion of this guy.
"It must be Polyma" he recalled "That level of violence I can't imagine it could be anyone else."
"Which one, sir?" the voice asked.
Allen was taken aback. "They're both on this train?"
"Yes, sir" the voice could practically be seen nodding "We have confirmed sightings of both of them."
Allen swore. "Both of them are equally bad news. Not to mention a match for Ruri."
He took of his headphones and ran a hand through his hair. His simple ransom mission was going up in smoke faster than sausages on a barbeque manned by Shun.
He finally made up his mind.
"Well they both need to go, along with Ruri" he confirmed "Take them all out on sight."
"Will do so, sir" the voice agreed with him one last time before the radio at the other end was turned off.
Allen sighed with aggravation. At least he still had the Dragos, there was that. And whoever Sayaka had tied up in the next suite.
You know what, interrogating some hapless prisoners sounded pretty damn therapeutic right now.
With Spencer watching the prisoners, he crossed the hallway to Sayaka's suite. In there she was sat with her rifle, using the butt of it to interrogate two women tied together in the middle of the floor.
"Get real" Sayaka scoffed "You're telling me you saw a red monster and that's what's killing my friends? Give me break!"
"I'm telling the truth, you asshat!" the ginger with curly hair all but snarled up at Sayaka "There really is a red monster on board this train killing people!"
Allen sighed again. So much for therapeutic.
"Will do so, sir" the Lemure that had been talking to Allen on the radio turned the device off and turned to his two companions in the freight car "We have our orders. Kill the Polymas and Ruri."
"Are we really doing this?" the youngest of the Lemures questioned "Are we really killing one of our own?"
"I was wondering that too!"
The three didn't even have time to look up at the roof before a figure in white jumped down, a knife slashing through the throat of the Lemure Allen had been talking to, killing him outright. The youngest Lemure tried to flee, but the knife turned against his throat before he could get to the door.
"Uh, uh" Serena Polyma wagged his finger at him "Don't get cute with me."
The last guy didn't stay to try and help his friend. Instead he fled for his life into the next carriage.
"Aw, your friend didn't stay for the party" Serena seemed disappointed "That's a shame. But I only really need you anyway."
She pressed the knife a little deeper against the terrified Lemure's throat, leaving a little red line.
"Some bitch in black just tossed my brother halfway down the train and dislocated his shoulder" she told him "And know he's whining like a bitch about it. I figured she was one of yours, so I came looking for to find out about her. But here I come to find you want her dead too. So-"
She backed the young Lemure into a stack of creates.
"A beautiful killing machine like that" Serena smiled curiously "Why do you want to lose her?"
Along the train in third-class, Reira Akaba was sitting on a bench in a viewing room, feeling like the single worst human being on the planet.
He'd failed to convince the white suits to protect his sister. And now not only did they want him dead for some reason, but they would now probably target Ray and her husband simply to get back at him.
In the years before Leo Akaba adopted him, he'd dealt with numerous criminals and lowlifes. He thought this would just require tapping into that old feral spirit again. But these white guys were a breed of sicko too much for even Reira to comprehend.
As he wondered this, he heard a scuff behind him. He turned on the bench and his eyes nearly flew out of his head as he made eye contact with a man completely dripping with blood standing behind him.
"H-Hello mister" Reira stuttered nervously – it hadn't escaped his notice that this stranger was wearing white, but there was something weird about him compared to the other white suits on the train "My name is Benjamin. What's your name?"
"Come on little boy, there's no need to lie to me" the man covered in blood just smiled sinisterly "Right, Reira Akaba?"
Reira's blood ran cold. "You know my name?" He gasped and covered his mouth as it all hit him. "Are you the Rail Tracer?"
"That's right" the man nodded, sitting next to the terrified Reira on the bench "And I heard you want to kill the passengers on this train."
Reira could only just choke out the worlds. "I-I don't know what you're talking about, Mr Rail Tracer!"
The Rail Tracer smiled sinisterly at the young boy. "I know you're no kid, and you're not killing the passengers on this train."
His hand shot out and grabbed Reira by the throat.
"Because you're going to die, instead."
Near Green Springs, Pennsylvania
Thursday 31st December 1931
03:15
In the dining car, there was a distinct sight missing that had been there for several hours. The two black suits guarding it had taken a few steps towards the door, only to be mowed down by gunfire by two white suits with tommy guns.
"Well, the black suits have had their fun" Ted, one of the white suits declared "Time for us to have some too." He pointed his tommy gun at the passengers in the dining car, who seemed less afraid and more exasperated by yet another takeover. "Hey! Give us your money!"
"And flash us your tits too!" Ethan, the other white suits, also yelled.
The two looked at each other, then laughed.
Ethan's laughter was cut off though, as the door he'd just come through opened again, but this time with enough force to smash him in the head and knock him unconscious.
Ted startled and tried to turn around, but didn't even complete the full spin before a massive fist smashed him on the side of his head and also knocked him unconscious.
Noburu Gongenzaka pushed his way through the doorframe into the dining car. Two second later, Yuya Sakaki also walked in, picked up one of the white suits' tommy guns and pointed it at the still exasperated passengers.
"This train is now under our authority!" Yuya loudly announced.
"Think you might be pushing it a bit far" Noburu pointed out how Yuya was shaking like a leaf as he spoke.
Michio poked his head over the bar top, eyes wide with delight. "Yuya! There you are! Are the girls with you?"
Yuya's face fell. "They're not here? Where did they go?"
Michio took his finger and pointed it at first-class.
Reira didn't think he could be truly scared after everything that had happened in his childhood. He thought he'd been desensitised to everything by now.
Staring at the sleepers racing past inches from his face, Reira rapidly re-evaluated his conclusions about his mental state.
He outright wailed in terror, pushing back at the hand holding him by the back of his throat. The tops of his feet slid about on the rail of the balcony of the caboose, trying to get traction on something and failing. He just didn't stand a chance against someone so much bigger and more skilled than him.
He wasn't ashamed to say he was crying. He'd had aspirations about living longer than age twelve. He'd liked living with the Akabas. He'd liked his new sister, who was now probably dead thanks to him. He'd just liked living for his last few years – liked living for the first time ever.
And now, thanks to his weakness, he had to give that up.
Just as he was expecting death to rise up from the rails and grab him, he heard the Rail Tracer gasp in surprise and let go of his collar. But before Reira could plummet to his grisly death, a small hand grabbed his collar and pulled him up again, yanking him over the rail and onto the balcony again.
"Come on!" the voice belonging to his saviour yelled "Run!"
Reira ran, glancing back to see his saviour, who didn't look that many years older than him, climbing off the Rail Tracer where he'd leapt onto his back from the roof of the caboose. The young man seized Reira's hand and began to run for the door at the end of the caboose, but before they could get there, the Rail Tracer backflipped into their path.
"That doesn't belong to you" the Rail Tracer pointed out, looking at Reira and then back to his saviour "It's not good to steal things."
"Leave him alone!" Reira's saviour yelled back in the monster's face, stepping between it and its prey "I won't allow you to defile this train any longer!"
The Rail Tracer seemed taken aback by the strange use of words. "Defile? Who are you?"
The young man's face screwed up with hate. "My name is Sora Shuin'in and I love the rails as much as my father did! And I won't allow you to desecrate them with blood any longer!"
The Rail Tracer blinked, apparently stunned. "Shuin'in? As in-?"
"Don't you speak his name!" Sora screamed at him "You don't get to speak his name, you monster that taints the rails and dares dress up like a conductor!"
Reira suddenly realised why something had seemed off about this man's white suit. It wasn't a suit at all, but a conductor's uniform, just missing the signature hat.
The Rail Tracer pondered this. "Yes, yes I'm a conductor, aren't I? Which means I have to protect the train…"
There was a long pause where the only sounds were that of the train racing through the night air and…the sound of a woman yelling from somewhere?
"Thank you, young Shuin'in" the Rail Tracer reached down to the floor and picked up a conductor's hat stained with blood around the edges. He hung to up on a hook on the wall and smile at it. "You've just reminded me why I'm here. I'm of no use to anyone tormenting little kids who already failed." He smiled at Sora, stepping very close to him and causing Reira to take a step back. "Pity you aren't a girl, or I would've asked you to marry me."
Sora made some sort of throaty noise between shock and disgust.
Reira didn't stick around for any longer than that. He raced past his distracted guardian angel and would-be killer and fled the caboose.
Sora just glared up at the Rail Tracer. "Get the hell out of my face, monster."
The Rail Tracer just backed off with a shrug. "Suit yourself. But I'm no monster. I've only killed the white and black suits – those that deserve it."
"Don't lie to me!" Sora spat "What could a kid have done to deserve being killed?!"
The Rail Tracer consisted this and shrugged, stepping out of Sora's path to the door. "Not my place to tell. You should catch up to him and ask him yourself."
Sora considered this, then took the opening offered to him. He walked out of the caboose, then proceeded to scurry along the side of the freight cars like a champion of spiders.
Dennis sighed and checked his watch. It was over an hour before he had to give the all-clear signal to the drivers. Those fools probably thought everything was all hunky-dory up there. Well, with Dennis around they had nothing to worry about.
He was grateful to that young man. He'd been so distracted playing with Reira he'd neglected his duty to the passengers aboard this train. Reira was no longer a threat to them, but the black and white suits were. He had to get back to them and assure his passengers didn't come to harm.
Just before he moved though, he was startled by the feeling of something pinching his ear.
He knew better than to scream, but did step away from the pinch and feel up at his ear. He could feel a clear knick through the top of the pinna.
Sure enough, there was a large knife lodged in the wall of the caboose from the outside, not stained with a little of Dennis' blood.
The knife then was yanked out, and reappeared a few feet up the wall, pushing through the wood and sending splinters flying everywhere.
Dennis' jaw might have been on the floor. "What the hell?"
Ruri had made her way along the train like a cat, trying to spy any sign of Yuri. But he appeared to have simply vanished. Had he fallen from the train? It seemed unlikely for someone so agile.
"Oh Ruuuuriiii!"
Ruri, who had made it to the leading edge of the caboose roof, turned to see a young lady in a white dress clambering to the roof of the carriage behind her. The only thing she had with her was a small knife. The same knife Yuri had taken from her.
A member of the white suits then. Someone Yuri trusted.
"Well isn't it nice to meet you" the young lady shot her a little salute and smirked, still only appearing head and shoulders over the edge of the carriage roof "My name's Serena Polyma. And I've got mighty respect for anyone who can throw my brother hard enough to dislocate a shoulder."
So this was Yuri's sister then. And Yuri had dislocated his shoulder? Good – even if it wasn't a complete break then he may be reluctant to throw himself into the fight again.
"But, you see, you hurt my brother" Serena continued "And only I'm allowed to make him squeal, which means I have to hate you. So I respect you, but hate you too. You see my problem?" She used the butt of the knife to scratch the side of her head. "I don't know, thinking's not my strong suit, really. At least not compared to Yuri. But unlike him, I know how to interrogate." She lifted up something she was holding in her left hand. It turned out to be the head of a young Lemure, clearly dead in Serena's grip. "My little friend here sang all about you, didn't you?" She moved the corpse's head up and down, giving it the impression of nodding, as she lifted her voice into a mocking impression of the dead man. "Oh yes, Miss Serena! I told you everything! We had so much fun together!"
Ruri scowled with disgust. Clearly this whole family was a bad seed that needed to be plucked from the earth before it could poison the whole orchard.
"He talked and he talked and he talked, heck, I could barely get him to shut up!" Serena laughed, throwing the corpse off the side of the train "He told me all about you, Ruri Kurosaki. How you're unparalleled in skill with a knife. How your black suits friends want you dead, and the feeling is mutual. How you lost your fiancé recently – sorry about that by the way. Oh, and how you're the prized possession of one Shun Kurosaki."
Ruri clenched her jaw. That idiot had talked about Shun? What had he said?
"I never met Kurosaki" Serena admitted, clambering onto the roof to stand opposite Ruri "But Yuto – I was the only one he would ever meet with. I think he was afraid to go up against Yuri and loose a negotiation. But he used to talk about Kurosaki all the time to me. What a great leader he was, how strong he was, how the only thing that compared to that strength was his love for the good of humanity." Serena scoffed. "If I had to sit through any more of that sugary crap then I would've barfed. If he didn't talk about you just as much I'd think he was in love with Kurosaki or something."
Ruri's grip on her knives tightened as she glared at Serena. Nobody got to talk bad of her Yuto; certainly not this cretin.
"But you, he would only talk about you in vague terms" Serena admitted "Even used a fake name. Bet he thought he was protecting you or some crap like that. But you don't need protecting, do you?" A particularly evil grin spread across her face. "After all, you're Shun Kurosaki's favourite bulldog, aren't you?"
Ruri's eyes might've taken on a manic gleam at her words. Serena didn't let up, crossing to the caboose to stand right in Ruri's face.
"Because that's all you are, a useful pet" Serena grinned "How useful is it that you're on this train, weeding out the disloyal traitors for him whilst he kicks back in a prison he could escape from whenever he wanted. You're just a tool to use whenever he likes it."
Ruri gritted her teeth, refusing to break. Had she had the same thoughts before? Yes, of course. Shun wasn't exactly an easy person to love, nor to accept love from. But more importantly, she wasn't about to let this freak know that.
"Don't worry, I know what it's like to have a complicated family" Serena smiled, running a hand over the immobile Ruri's cheek uncomfortably "I thought about killing you, but that would be like killing myself, so that's silly. Unlike your Lemure friends, you have something besides yourself to fear for. So once I get off this train, I'm going to kill Shun Kurosaki."
Ruri's eyes widened with alarm and she reached up to put her knife right through Serena's throat; but Serena raised a knee and kicked her in the face, right back across the caboose onto her back.
"I mean, look at you, you're so weak you can't even hit me" Serena laughed as Ruri picked herself up "According to that weakling back there, you didn't even want to go through with this whole ransom plan in the first place! In fact, neither did your beloved Shun!" Serena stepped back to avoid another knife swipe and grabbed Ruri's arm, blocking her from attacking again. "See, with Yuri, it's all about how much fight you have. He figures, the more you want to fight, you more certain you are that you can't die, just like him. But with me, it's all about strength. Real strength. And you – you don't have any strength, inside or out. Just like your brother, hiding in the shadows and letting his baby sister do the work for him. So I'm going to make sure to kill him right in front of you. Maybe then you'll be strong enough to face me."
Ruri wasn't going to stand for that talk. She whirled around with her other arm and tried to stab at Serena's unguarded side. But Serena was prepared for that and now kneed Ruri in the back. It was with a little more force than she intended though, and knocked Ruri right off the side of the train.
Serena's face turned from outright delighted to disappointed.
"Aww, that's it?" she frowned "I wanted more."
She put her hands in her pockets (well, imaginary pockets. Her dress didn't have pockets, but she could pretend) and began to trek towards the end of the caboose to descend to ground level.
SHUNK!
Serena paused at the unexpected noise.
SHUNK!
Again, that noise.
She turned fully and began making her way towards the spot where Ruri had fallen from the train.
SHUNK!
This time the noise was punctuated by a sight. The sight in question: a knife puncturing the roof of the caboose.
A moment later, Ruri Kurosaki, with murder in her eyes, pulled herself back up to the roof, knives a little scuffed from their climb up the side of the caboose.
"Now that's why I'm talking about!" Serena laughed with delight "You're getting the hang of it now!"
Ruri stood tall, knives raised. One appeared to be dripping with a little blood, which just made her look more dangerous even without the menacing look on her face.
"So come on!" Serena cheered, spreading her arms out wide "Come at me you-!"
She cut herself off, face falling with shock.
Ruri didn't let herself consider why. She raised her hand and prepared to surge forward towards the prey that had dared insult her boys.
But she couldn't move.
She tried to run forward, but she couldn't move her right arm. Something was gripping on the handle of her knife along with her, brushing her fingers ever so slightly, and refusing to let her move.
She turned with some trepidation, to come face-to-face with a man drenched in blood.