Chapter Two

Dan Heng stared out the window, frozen in shock. There, hovering menacingly in space towards the front of the train, was a large spaceship. It was terrifyingly familiar.

"March, we need to get out of here," Dan Heng said in a hushed voice.

She joined him at the window. "Why, what's going on?" She gazed at the other ship in astonishment. "Whose ship is that?!"

"Ah, there you are." A languid, sultry voice spoke from behind them, and they whirled around. Dan Heng's book crashed unheeded to the ground as he shoved March behind him and brandished his spear.

"Get off our train, Stellaron Hunter," Dan Heng snapped. March materialized her bow and quickly nocked an arrow.

The woman sauntering slowly towards them didn't seem bothered by her cold reception. Her lips curved up. "Oh, I will. The Astral Express is…not my cup of coffee, one might say. But first, I have to collect something for a friend of mine." Her light, iridescent eyes laughed at him as she added in a deceptively friendly tone, "Someone, actually."

Dan Heng's grip tightened on his spear. March spoke up from behind him, blazing with outrage. "You can't just waltz in here and steal someone off our train!"

The woman let out a low chuckle. "I can't? Mm, seems to me that's exactly what I'm doing." She tapped her wrist, activating a comm link, and spoke into it lazily. "Kafka here. I've found our little runaway."

Dan Heng's blood chilled at the careless response from the comm link. "Excellent. Bring him in. We've still got the front half of the Express locked down. Himeko and the old grandpa aren't going anywhere."

Over March's furious yelp, Dan Heng said, "March. You need to get out of here."

"What? I can't leave you!"

He threw her a glance over his shoulder. "As a senior Trailblazer, I am giving you an order! Fall back to Welt's room, it'll let you in since it's an emergency. Do not open the door unless you verify that it's Himeko or Welt."

Her eyes filled with panic. "What if it's you?"

He looked back at Kafka's indulgent smile. The woman merely said, "Your old friend is waiting, Dan Heng."

Shuddering, he told March flatly, "Only open it for Himeko or Welt."

She bit her lip uncertainly. Then, as if she had come to a decision, fire filled her eyes and she raised her bow defiantly. "I'm not letting them take you without a fight!"

Dan Heng opened his mouth to shout at her, but Kafka beat him to it, her lazy tone indicating her complete disinterest in the situation. "Oh well then, I'll just have to take you both." Lightning-quick, she bolted forward, a gun materializing in each slim hand. Bullets rained down on the hapless duo, but Dan Heng's spear wasn't just for show. He blocked the incoming projectiles deftly, tracing the way Kafka's eyes betrayed where her next shot would be. March let loose arrow after arrow, hastily refreshing her shield around Dan Heng in between shots. But Kafka was too quick, too experienced in the art of battle. Every arrow fell three steps behind her, and her bullets hammered the shield relentlessly.

"Shield yourself, March! I need you to defend yourself!" Dan Heng shouted.

"But I—"

"Do it now!"

March closed her mouth and dropped her next shield over herself. Dan Heng risked a swift glance to verify that she was amply defended. His lips thinned as he faced Kafka. Time to stop holding back.

He flew forward as if time stood still.

Each of his attacks was masterfully dodged by the Stellaron Hunter, but Kafka still couldn't land a hit on him despite multiple attempts. Her eyes glinted with renewed interested. "Hm, I can see why you caught Blade's attention, young one."

Dan Heng flinched violently, but managed to keep his cool, burying his reaction. His spear flew just a little faster, though, making Kafka laugh. "Ah, that name hits home, doesn't it?" She fired another round at him.

Their duel was brought to an unceremonious halt by March's squeak of terror. Dan Heng whirled around, his spear at the ready.

A girl about March's height stood behind the young photographer. She held a gleaming knife comprised of digital pixels at his friend's throat. Rolling her eyes, she addressed Kafka. "Can you seriously handle anything without me around?"

Kafka rose elegantly from a crouch, twirling her guns idly. "Mm, I had it under control, Silver Wolf, but your way is certainly faster."

Dan Heng met March's fearful eyes, tensing. Silver Wolf eyed him. "Hey, pretty boy, drop your spear, or your little friend won't last much longer." To drive home her point, she pressed the knife closer to March's neck, creating a thin line of red. March gasped.

The spear clattered to the floor. Dan Heng never took his eyes off of March as Kafka sauntered over to him and yanked his wrists up. "Are you all right, March?"

She was trying so hard not to cry. "I'm sorry, Dan Heng! I didn't even know she was there until she caught me off guard!"

He shook his head placatingly as Kafka bound his hands behind his back. "It's okay, March. Just stay calm. It's not your fault."

Silver Wolf flicked her digital knife along her fingertips, huffing. "It actually is, when you think about it." She dismissed the weapon and snagged one of March's arms, producing a rope from her pocket dimension.

Another chill ran down Dan Heng's spine when Kafka leaned close to his ear and whispered, "We're doing this as a favor to a friend. He'll be very pleased to see you."

He kept his face stoic, refusing to be goaded by her low laugh. Blade… they're taking me to Blade. He'll kill me the second we're in the same room together. I have to get March out of this mess before we reach Blade.

By the time the two Stellaron Hunters and their prisoners reached the entrance to their own ship, Dan Heng had come up with a plan… of sorts. I have a Curio in my inventory that will allow a single person to travel to the nearest major point of interest. We're near the Lufou, I'm fairly certain I can transfer March there if I can get my hands free for ten seconds. I can't come with her, though. Even if the Curio allowed for it, the Cloud Knights would also kill me on sight. It was supposed to be his last-ditch escape route, but he refused to leave his friend in the clutches of the Stellaron Hunters. His eyes darted over the doorway leading to the other ship.

Kafka threw him a laughing glance. "I know this isn't quite what you had planned for your day, but oh, it will certainly be more exciting than whatever book you were reading, don't you think?" She tapped the mechanism near the door, and they boarded the enemy ship.

March seemed to shrink slightly as they left the safety of the Express and boarded the other vessel. Dan Heng shifted closer to her, offering his presence as a reassurance, and she nudged his shoulder gratefully with her own. He looked down at her and murmured gently, "It's all right. Don't worry." Her huge eyes lost a little bit of their panic, but she kept close to his side as they walked.

After a few corridors, Kafka paused next to a closed door. "Well… all right. I may have overexaggerated the excitement part." She gave them a lazy look as she tapped the sequence to unlock the door. "But don't worry, we'll be back with Blade and Elios soon." As Dan Heng blinked at her in surprised relief at the unexpected stay of execution, she set a hand on the small of his back and shoved.

He fell through the now-open door, losing his balance. Unable to catch himself, he landed hard on his side. He glanced up in time to watch March trip over the narrow doorsill. Deftly he skewed sideways as quick as he could, so her head and shoulders landed on his stomach and not the ground. As March yelped in pain and Dan Heng's breath was knocked out of him, Kafka laughed again and closed the door, imprisoning the two Trailblazers.

They were trapped.