The next morning, the group met up to leave into Paris, the city of lights. Vlad was getting travel papers for them together as the other parts of the group were together and getting prepared for Anya's coronation. Mike, Lu, and Og were preparing and giggling at the little interactions between Anya and Dmitri.
It was amusingly adorable. Dmitri was giving Anya some proper manners and the education to be a grand duchess while Anya just slouched and was being like the urchin she believed she was.
"You think you're ready for this?" Mike asked Anya.
Anya shrugged. "I guess I have no real choice. Dmitri, how is it that you know what a Grand Duchess does or doesn't do?"
Dmitri glanced at her. "I make it my business to know."
Anya rolled her eyes and looked away from him.
Dmitri sighed as he came to the three kids and woman. "Look, Anya, I'm just trying to help, alright?"
Mike, Lu, and Og looked at them, then looked over to see Vlad coming toward them.
"Dmitri," Anya spoke up, trying to sound innocent. "Do you really think I'm royalty?"
"You know I do," Dmitri smiled. "Your friends believe in you too."
"Well, then for you, STOP BOSSING ME AROUND!" Anya nearly snarled at this man she just met today.
"Just like an old married couple..." Mike observed Anya and Dmitri's interactions.
Og yawned and found himself falling asleep during their tide. Mike's eyes felt heavy and she fell asleep too. Lu kept talking about herself and random events, but then she found herself falling asleep. Anya and Dmitri kept their voices low as they kept talking and allowed the three kids to sleep until they would get into Paris.
The kids woke up a little earlier than they expected. When they woke up, Anya was reading a book and Dmitri sat quietly acoss from her. He looked very lost. Mike, Lu, and Og then made gestures for him to talk to her.
Dmitri looked at them, then decided to speak up to the woman. "Look... I think we got off on the wrong foot."
Anya looked back. "Well... I think we did too."
Mike, Lu, and Og then smiled. Dmitri nodded.
"But, I appreciate your apology." Anya gave a shrug.
"Apology!?" Dmitri stood up which made Mike, Lu, and Og look worried for a moment. "Who said anything about an apology? I was just saying-"
Anya got mad and interrupted him. "Don't talk to me anymore, okay?! It's only going to upset me!"
The three kids looked very worried that Anastasia and Dmitri were fighting. Mike just hoped this wouldn't affect their timeline and it would be a threat to her being born. When Vlad came to see things, Anya yelled that she wanted Dmitri out of her sight.
"What have you done to her?" Vlad glared at Dmitri.
"Me!?" Dmitri glared back. "It's her!"
Anya growled and stormed off, going to the cabin inside the train and slammed the door. The three kids blinked and were very worried. Would this be a bad sign for their future as well? Vlad and Dmitri went off.
"You guys think everything will be okay in the end?" Mike asked her friends.
"They should be..." Og replied gently. "They usually do..."
"Yeah, Mike, everything will be just fine." Lu assured, actually being a good friend to the New York girl. "Hm, that's weird..."
"What's up?" Mike looked to the island girl.
"There's weird green stuff out the window." Lu gestured with her thumb outside.
Mike and Og went with Lu to take a look. It looked like there were glowing green parasites of some type. They appeared to be going on top.
"This cannot be good..." Og murmured, a bit nervous.
Vlad had already went off. The three kids looked at him.
"We should tell someone..." Lu said a little on the edge.
"Yeah, but how?" Mike asked. "No one listens to kids!"
Pooka barked wildly out the window. He seemed to notice it too and he wanted the parasites to be gone. Dmitri went to wake Anya up, but she had accidentally punched him right in the nose, making him groan and grunt.
"Oh, sorry, I thought you were someone el-" Anya sounded sorry, then she stopped once she saw Dmitri in pain. "Oh, it's you. Well, that's okay then."
"Come on, we gotta go." Dmitri held Anya's hand, pulling her into a standing position.
"You think he saw those green things?" Og asked his girl friends.
"Where are we going?" Anya asked as Mike, Lu, and Og followed Dmitri, Vlad, and Pooka to a new part of the train.
"I think you broke my nose..." Dmitri groaned.
"She is related to you." Lu whispered to Mike with a giggle.
Anya sighed as she went, getting on her coat and scoffed to Dmitri. "Men are such babies..."
Pooka still yipped as they went off.
"Ah, yes," Dmitri smiled as they came into the baggage cart. "Yes, this will do nicely."
"The baggage cart!?" Mike nearly snapped. "Ya gotta be kiddin'!"
"She'll freeze in here..." Vlad whispered, rubbing his arms for warmth.
"She can thaw in Paris." Dmitri retorted.
Anya scoffed when they came into this part of the train. "There wouldn't be anything wrong with our papers, now would there, Maestro?"
"Of course not, your grace," Dmitri attempted to sound proper. "It's just that I hate to see you forced to mingle with all those commoners and your strange friends..." He was about to put his arm around her.
Og knelt down next to Pooka and saw the glowing green stuff. "Guys, it's still coming!"
"What's coming?" Dmitri asked, then suddenly, they were all pushed back and he grunted slightly. "What was that?"
"I don't know," Vlad looked and saw that the train had split in half somehow, probably from those gremlins. "But there goes the dining car."
"I think it's coming closer..." Lu sounded worried.
"This is not good." Mike added.
Dmitri was on top of Anya and they struggled to get up. Mike, Lu, and Og looked with Vlad and saw the train engine had caught on fire. This couldn't be a normal occuerance, it looked like a bad sign for everything to go all downhill from here.
"Mike, is that supposed to happen on a train?" Lu asked nervously.
"Not on the one to my granny's house." Mike looked to her, just as nervous.
"Too bad my tool shack isn't here..." Og muttered.
"Something's not right," Dmitri said, he threw his coat to Anya and the others, then he leaped onto the car to see if he could do anything. "Wait here, I'll check it out!"
"Dmitri, be careful!" Lu sounded the most worried for him.
Anya looked around as they were on the crazy train. "We're going way too fast!"
Dmitri jumped back in front of them. "Nobody's driving this train. We're gonna have to jump!"
"Did he say JUMP!?" Lu's eyes popped out of her head.
"Come on, Princess!" Mike took her hand and ran with her.
Og blinked, he picked up Pooka in his arms and he ran with the group.
Vlad and Dmitri got the door open and they looked down to see the railroad tracks and the foggy drop. They would probably die if they stayed on the train and would die if they jumped. Vlad and Dmitri left to disable the car so they could jump properly. Anya looked to Pooka and smiled.
"Guys," Anya said to the three kids. "I have an idea..."
"Uh-oh..." Mike, Lu, and Og said together.
Anya got a stick of lit dynamite out for Dmitri and handed it to him. He put it in the chain and everyone joined together and held each other before it would go off.
"What do they teach you in those orphanages?" Dmitri glanced to Anya, wondering how she knew that would work.
The cars exploded and separated, but still went down the tracks.
"The brakes are out!" Vlad cried.
"Turn harder!" Dmitri yelled as he tried to get the fire out with his coat.
Vlad tried to turn hard, but it ended up breaking the brakes.
"Don't worry," Dmitri shrugged. "We've got plenty of track, we'll just coast to a stop."
However, as he said that, the glowing green monsters formed together and broke the tracks. Everyone got scared and glanced at Dmitri.
"You were saying, pretty boy?" Mike glanced at him.
"I got an idea!" Dmitri ran to the chains, grabbing them. "Vlad, give me a hand with this!"
Vlad fell over, so Mike decided to get the chain once she was told to hand it over.
"Not you!" Dmitri glanced at the young tomboy.
"Vlad's busy at the moment," Mike told him as she handed the chain.
Dmitri let it slide, then grabbed the chain and tried to hook it under the car. It almost disabled and stray parts came for him. Anya then decided to help Dmitri up, and the two caught a glimpse of each other in the eye as Mike stepped back and Anya was able to hold him up. A tree snapped and broke instantly.
"And to think that could've been you." Anya looked to Dmitri.
Dmitri glanced at her and patted himself down. "If we live through this, remind me to thank you."
The chain was put down, but it caught on one of the tracks. The tracks then ripped apart as they were following the disembled train cars. The chains rolled up. Anya made sure everyone was together as they had no other choice.
"Well, this is our stop," Anya said to them.
And with that, everyone jumped off the train and landed into the snow. The train cars caught up with the end of the tracks, fell off the hill and exploded instantly.
"I hate trains," Dmitri growled. "Remind me to never get on the train again."
"Og, if I ever ask you to build a dream, remind me what just happened." Mike added as she panted.
Meanwhile, Rasputin had been watching the whole thing. He growled and blabbered in serious disappointment. He even grabbed his neck and nearly strangled himself.
Bartok got nervous for him. "Take it easy there. You know, sir, really, you should watch your blood pressure. My nephew Izzy just keeled over one day, mid mango," he smiled, grabbing onto one of Rasputin's hands. "Stress... It's a killer, sir and he's a fruit bat, no meat, no blood, even."
"How could they let them escape!" Rasputin snarled and smashed the skull in his other hand.
"Ah, you're right, it's very upsetting, sir," Bartok said softly. "I guess this reliquery's broken." He picked the trinket it up and decided to fling it.
Rasputin chased after it to keep it from falling and breaking. "You idiot!" He fell to the floor and extended his hand to capture the requilery and held it back, sighing in relief.
"All right now, sir, take it easy there," Bartok attempted to soothe again. "Just remember what I just said to you about stress."
Rasputin grinned, then grabbed the bat in his free hand. "I sold my soul for this... My life... My very existence depends on it... And you, almost destroyed it..." He made the bat face it, growling aggressively.
"I get it, I get it!" Bartok nearly squeaked. "'You break it, you bought it'!"
"See that you remember, you miserable rodent," the man threw him over his shoulder as he held his trinket close.
"Oh, sure, blame the bat," Bartok shrugged as he slid on the ground behind Rasputin. "Blame the bat, what the heck? We're easy targets..."
"What are you muttering about?"
"Anastasia and those modern day kids, sir, just wishing I could do the job for you, sir!" Bartok answered as he did little karate moves.
"Oh, I have something else in mind..." Rasputin grinned darkly. "Something more enticing... Something really cruel..." He let his long claw-like fingernail screech against the requilery as his evil mind cooked up something even more sick and diabolical.