'Ah.' Train said in a very satisfied way as he walked out of the diner with Sven and Eve, 'there is nothing more enjoyable than a cool bottle of milk after dinner.'
'Even after four years,' Sven said looking at his old partner, 'you haven't changed one bit, Train.'
'I'll say.' Eve said with a smirk.
'Yeah and it's a good thing too, you know.' Train said in a matter-of-factly way, 'if I had changed princess,' he said looking at the teenager, 'who would have finished off Tamashi for you?'
'You didn't do anything,' Eve said simply, 'I was the one who knocked him out.'
'But I was the one who shot the sword out of his hand.' Train replied with a cat-like grin playing across his face.
'I could have done that too,' Eve replied crossing her arms and looking the other way.
They were walking in the commercial area of the city right now, and even though it was almost twelve at night, the place was still full of life.
'So where are you planning to stay?" Sven asked as they walked on.
'I haven't really thou…' Train stopped in mid-sentence as he heard sounds of screaming a little way ahead. He turned to look at his friends quizzically.
'Wonder what's happening?' Sven said as he threw the cigarette, he had been smoking, away.
'I'm going to check it out.' Eve said as she ran towards the place of commotion.
'Oye princess!' Train called out as he ran after her, 'wait up.'
'Hey Train. Eve.' Sven shouted as he adjusted his hat and followed the duo.
"Ohhh…. those two" he thought angrily as he ran but smiled as he remembered that they always did that. "Just like old times."
They turned a corner and reached the square, people were running around trying to escape something. They soon enough found out what that something was. Men wearing strange black clothes with a bat-like symbol on their chests were attacking the shoppers and other teenagers who hung out late at night. The weapons they carried were also strange like their appearances. Train in all his years of working as an assassin and later on as a sweeper had never seen anything like them. If he didn't know better he would have thought that these men were from another world.
'Nonsense.' Train said as this thought crossed his mind.
'Hey kid watch out.' He heard Sven shout, turning around he saw young girl, all scared and crying and she was heading straight for one of those attackers. He grabbed the girl seconds before the black attacker swung his strange claw like weapon, it hit the place where the little girl had been moments before and the ground was cratered at that spot. Sven kicked the attacker out of his way as Train carried the girl to safety. After he had handed the little girl to her anxious mother he hurried back to the square where his partners were still busy fighting the strangers.
Sven was busy knocking down those bat-guys while Eve helped escort the people to safety. Quickly grabbing his Hades Train joined Sven. Even though Train shot them, the strange men just kept getting up to fight again.
'What the hell?' Train yelled in frustration as he shot yet another man.
'It's like they just can't feel the pain.' Sven exclaimed as he blocked the claw lie thing from hitting him with his brief case. (Sven's preferred weapon as it had a lot of storage capacity for almost any weapon or gadget.)
Eve was busy fighting a boy, also dressed like the rest of the men, although he wielded a sword rather than the claw-like thing. He dodged her each and every attack as she hit him with her transformed hair (mallets). Finally she was forced to transform her hands into long blades which enabled her to fight more efficiently. All this happened in a very short span of time but while he had been observing Eve and the boy fight, Train had let his own guard down.
He swore as a claw narrowly missed him but soon his cocky grin was back in place as he fought, trying to figure out a weakness. Finally he figured that injuring the bastards was no good.
'I think we have to kill them if we want to stop them.' Sven shouted as he pushed a small button his case and a gun nozzle popped out of its side.
'Yeah.' Train nodded as he took aim and fired. And sure enough as soon as his bullet hit its target, he fell to the ground in a heap. 'Guess I have no choice left.' Train thought grimly as his stomach panged with guilt at the breaking of his vow.
Within minutes train and Sven managed to slay all the attackers. Only two people were still engaged in a fierce battle. Eve and that brown haired boy with his flaming sword. Eve screamed as the sword pierced her side. Train started towards her but suddenly he could not move. Looking towards Sven he noticed that he was frozen in a mid-run too.
Suddenly a slit appeared in the air before them which widened to expose a pitch black space, a bespectacled man stepped out of the void, at the same time the boy raised his hand and shining blue runes appeared from it. With a lazy flick of his hand they hit Eve (also frozen in a defensive stance). Her eyes grew wide with shock as she hit the ground.
'EVE!!!' they yelled in unison.
'WHY DON'T YOU PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE?' Train shouted as he struggled to make his body move. "Please just let my arm move." He prayed as he struggled to lift Hades.
'LET HER GO YOU BASTARDS…' Sven yelled angrily. 'DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER.' As the bespectacled man put an arm below Eve's neck and the other below her knees, effortlessly lifting her off the ground. he walked back towards the gaping black hole in the air. The brown haired boy followed him silently.
'GET BACK HERE.' Sven hollered. The boy turned and surveyed the two struggling men before him with a blank expression just as the other man carrying eve was swallowed by the darkness. Train noticed that apart from the cold yet vacant expression the boy had another strange characteristic. One of his eyes was ember but the other one was blue like those strange runes. A second later he turned back and then, he too, was gone.
As soon as the void disappeared Train realized that he could move again. Sven ran towards the spot where the three had vanished but nothing he did made any difference.
Train fell to his knees as the feeling of hopelessness slowly crept into his mind. She was gone. Taken from them before their very eyes. Just as they stood there helplessly and watched. They couldn't do anything to stop it. He couldn't do anything to stop it. It was like Saya all over again. He couldn't save her.
'NO. NO. NO. NO!!!' Sven said, his voice getting louder every time he said it. 'Eve.'
'I failed.' Train said, his voice barely audible, but Sven heard him anyways because he turned around to look at him with his wide eye, the other his green one was once again hidden behind his black eye-patch.
'Shut up Train.' He growled.
'But I couldn't do anything.' Train said, 'they took her away.'
'I said SHUT UP' Sven said grabbing his collar and lifting him off his knees. 'We are not giving up like that.' He said in a dangerous voice, 'you are not giving up this way.' He growled, 'if we saved her from Eden four years ago, we can save her from those bastards now.'
"Maybe we can still save her." A small voice said in Train's head. Not looking at Sven train gave a mall nod.
'That's much better.' Sven said letting go of Train. 'Alright lets get back to Annette's place and get some info on this.' He said waving his hand towards the dead men now littering the square.
'Hmmm... So this is where Yuuko-san lives, Han?' Fay said as he looked at the tall buildings of the world they had landed in.
'Yes but not in this city, Fay.' Mokona replied.
'Is there a feather in this world Mokona?' Syaoran asked ignoring the looks that they were getting from anyone who saw them. Once again they were dressed in their travelling clothes which were not worn in this world.
'no.' Mokona replied sadly, 'but Yuuko said that there was something else that Fei Wong Reed wants. That something is in this world.'
'Alright then,' Kurogane said with a grin, 'let's make sure he doesn't get it.'
They kept on walking for a short while.
'You know Kuro-tan.' Fay said as he looked at his clothes and then at his companions' clothes, 'we really need to get some clothes of this world. We stick out a bit too much.'
'But Fay-san,' Syaoran said quickly looking at Kurogane nervously, 'to buy clothes we need money. We don't have any of that.'
'How about we just get some from the witch?' Kurogane suggested.
'Good idea Kuro-pipi.' Fay said with a wide grin.
'But we can't talk to Yuuko in this sort of crowded place.' Mokona said.
'Let's talk there.' Kurogane said pointing towards an alley and then walking off towards it without waiting for a response.
The others followed.
'I can't give you money.' Yuuko said simply, 'you will have to earn it. But,' she continued, 'I can help find a way to earn it.'
'you three are right now in a city called Lawor.' She said, 'try getting jobs as sweepers.'
Seeing the vacant expressions on their faces she said, 'as bounty hunters. Ask someone to direct you to Annette's bar. Tell her I sent you. She will help you out with everything else.' With that the hologram flickered and then vanished.
Once outside the alley they looked around. Fay flashed a dazzling smile at a girl in her late teens who giggled as she passed by.
'Erm excuse me,' Fay said. The girl stopped and walked back looking at the strangely dressed guys.
'Could you please guide us to Miss Annette's bar?' he said smiling once more.
'Sure,' the girl replied quickly, 'I can take you there myself because that is where I am going too.'
'Thank you very much.' Fay said still smiling. 'My name is Fay. This is Syaoran and this here is Kuro-sama.' He said introducing his companions.
'you're name is Kuro-sama too???' the girl asked with wide eyes.
'It's Kurogane.' Kurogane grunted angrily. 'I've told you not to call me that, stupid mage.' He said glaring at Fay. The girl looked at the three of them with interest but then her eyes fell on Kurogane's sword.
'Why do you keep a sword with you?' she asked but before they could respond she said brightly, 'oh I get it, you guys are sweepers too. My name is Kyoko.' She said bowing her head. 'Pleased to meet you Fay-san, Kurogane-san and Syaoran-kun.'
She started walking. 'Annette's bar is just around the next corner.' She said as they followed her.
'I hope Kuro-sama is there.' She said hopefully. 'He should be back by now.' She said more to herself than them.
'Kuro-sama?' Syaoran blinked in surprise. Did this mean there was a Kurogane double ion this world? But this girl certainly didn't act surprised at seeing this Kurogane.
'He is the best sweeper there is.' She told them happily,' he used to be a deadly assassin but he retired and took up sweeping.'
They turned a corner and found themselves outside the door of a very normal looking shop.
'Hello Annette-san, is Kuro-sama back yet?' Kyoko said cheerfully as they entered the shop. 'He hasn't even answered my calls. I wonder why he didn't. That's very unlike him, don't you think so?' she added without waiting for a reply.
'Hello Kyoko.' Replied a woman with a serious and worried tone. 'I see you have friends with you.' She said looking at the strangely dressed travelers with tired eyes.
'Hai.' Kyoko said brightly as they walked into the shop, 'these are Fay-san, Kurogane-san and Syaoran-kun.' She said introducing the three. 'They are also sweepers.'
'Sweepers, huh?' Annette said with a raised brow.
'Yuuko-san told us to come see you.' Syaoran said quickly.
'Oh. So you were the three she was talking about.' She said uninterestedly. 'Have a seat and I'll be there shortly to see what I can do.' The three of them did as they were told, feeling the eyes of the other sweepers follow them as they did. They took a table near the window that looked out into the street but they could hear the conversation going on between the Kyoko and Annette.
'Train and Sven came back early in the morning.' She said to Kyoko returning her gaze back to the strange white machine on the counter where she was working. Her hands were flying on top of a rectangular board with many buttons on it. Syaoran had seen similar machines in piffle world through his other self. They were called computers.
Kyoko was looking around hopefully.
'You won't find him here.' Annette said not looking up, 'they went out early in the morning. Eve has been kidnapped and they are both very worried. They are out there looking for the kidnappers.'
'Whaat???' Kyoko said going chibi. 'Eve-chan has been kidnapped? By who? Is it doctor-san again?'
'Train says a guy with glasses and a kid with mismatched eyes kidnapped her.' she said. This caught Syaoran's attention, who had been looking. He turned to see that his companions had noticed too.
'Do you think…?' Mokona started but Syaoran put a hand on its mouth. 'Not now.' He said as the others nodded. They had to meet this Train and Sven.
'They killed their accomplices,' Annette was saying, 'but then this gate opened up and the man stepped out. Train and Sven couldn't move after that and they took her away.'
'Excuse me, Annette-san.' Fay said as he got up and walked over to her.