Chapter 10: Train Wreck

The pirates had finally caught up only to witness a suspenseful scene. Link and Niko's eyes were chained to the suspenseful sight of the two figures about to Brawl. Alfonzo's eyes darkened, looking as sharp as daggers. "So it's you, the sad little pirate who tried to invade castle town for your own selfish desires. Now you take your anger out on these poor strangers?"

"SHUT UP!" snapped Andre. "If it weren't for your kind, we would have conquered this tarnished land! But no, the 'amazing' spirits chose you pathetic slugs over us! This land was meant to belong to the demon race until you wretched beings started roaming the place!" Niko and Link's feet froze in place, their eyes effectively engaged in the situation. Even the miniblin's attentions were hooked onto the scene. "And since then I've been all alone trying to achieve what my king never accomplished, reign over 'New Hyrule' as your puny race calls it."

"Look, it's not our fault we rein over this land! The Spirits saw love and harmony between us humans; you demons tried to rule over the land with hatred!" Andre drew out his sword at an instant.

"We were looked down upon and hated because our leader and the Spirits had a huge dispute and he threatened to take over the land. He attempted to do so and got us banished for good!" He began stepping towards Alfonzo with hatred in his eyes. "Before that, humans feared him and never gave him a chance! That is why we tried to rule over this horrible land after our banishment!"

"Then maybe Malladus and you demons should have TRIED to accept those humans and treat them with respect instead of expecting them to deal with Malladus's dark and harsh ways!" Alfonzo pulled out his sword and blocked the incoming blade.

"Why would demons respect mortal life forms like yourself?!" Andre viciously sliced his sword at Alfonzo multiple times trying to kill him vigorously. However, Alfonzo swiftly dodge every attack and used his sword to knock Andre off guard. Link and Niko's jaws dropped in awe as they admired Alfonzo's skills. "DANG YOU!" Andre screamed as he lunged towards his above worthy opponent. Both their swords clashed together at high speed as they battled mercilessly. Their blades rapidly flung into each other as both warriors tried to find a weak spot to attack. Suddenly, Andre's sword was launched out of his hands and into a bush. Andre's team of moblins trembled with fear as they witnessed their captain's shocking defeat.

Link was impressed beyond belief! Never had he seen someone as tough as this great fighter. "Who is he?" whispered the astonished youth.

"That's Gonzo's grandson, laddy." replied Niko, who was just as impressed.

"Pirates, attack!" yelled Andre. Much to his frustration, the Miniblins had disobeyed his direct order. They were frightened and intimidated due to Alfonzo's remarkable skills. "I SAID ATTACK YE PACK OF SEA DOGS BEFORE I KEELHAUL YA!" Hesitantly, his relunctant amy charged towards their new target (and possibly, their grave).

"Link, quickly get in the train!" urged Niko. They rushed into the train and hid themselves from the scene.

"I never knew the first time I get to ride in a train would be this intense!" cried Link. Abruptly, a large thud was heard outside. "What was that?!" panicked the shocked youth.

"I'm not sure but it can't be a good thing!" Another thud was heard, this time a lot louder and threatening. Suddenly, a bunch of miniblins was sent through the train. Both Link and Niko hawked in fear as they witnessed the moblins crash STRAIGHT through the train. An irritated Andre's yells were heard from the train.

"CURSES!" screamed Andre. "My aim was off!" He had attempted to strike Alfonzo with his recovered sword and ended up hitting a bunch of his minions. Wait! Maybe he could use this to his advantage. A horrifying smile bestowed upon his face. "Pirates, destroy that train and kidnap those low-life land lubbers!" The Moblins automatically set their sights on tearing down the train. Fear had finally hit Alfonzo as he saw the moblins about to attack the vulnerable passengers, but at same time he had to fight this demon!

How could he fight Andre and protect the helpless strangers all at once?!

Immediately, Andre's sword came at rocket speed. Alfonzo dodged every attack launched at him and fiercely fought back. On the other hand, Link and Niko were up against a deadly stream of moblins. "Link quickly, to the front of the train! I'll hold them off!"

"But Niko, there's too much of them!" cried Link!

"I may be an old geezer, but I still have my fighting spirit! Move boy!" A miniblin lunged at Niko but he quickly swatted him away with his cane. Link had no choice but to follow his old man's instructions. Instantly, he dashed towards the front of the train. Niko quickly battered the loose moblins out the train and slammed the door shut. Darn it Alfonzo what is taking you so long? All of a sudden, Niko heard large footsteps coming his way. This could only mean one thing… the larger pirates are approaching the train!

SMASH!

The WHOLE pirate army was trying to smash the train open! "SERIOUSLY ALFONZO! WE NEED YOUR HELP MORE THAN EVER! PLEASE HURRY UP!" Niko screamed at the top of his lungs.

CRASH!

A giant fist had made it through the wall frightening Niko! This cannot be happening! It just can't!

Alfonzo quickly saw the train being torn apart before avoiding another attack from Andre. He then used all his strength to knock Andre of guard and send his sword flying into the woods. Quickly afterwards he ran straight towards the drastically damaged train which was practically flooded with red mutants. Alfonzo quickly sliced through the angry pack, dazing several large mutants and killing lots of smaller pirates which dared to step in his path. Eventually, the number of moblins attacking the train was reduced to nothing. Alfonzo hopped into the wrecked vehicle. "Are you alright sir?" he asked the breathless man lying on the floor.

"Yeah-huh." breathed Niko.

"Where's the kid that was with you?"

"At the front of the *gasp* train." Alfonzo gently placed Niko on one of withered up train seats and rushed to the front of the train to find the lost youth. There he found the poor child cowering underneath the control panel.

"Hey kid…" Link screamed in fear taking Alfonzo aback. "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you." Link looked up to see the great warrior who fought against Andre.

"Did you win?" asked the astonished child.

"For the moment yes. Now get from under the control panel, I have to drive this thing you know." Link scurried from the control panels as Alfonzo prepared to drive the train. "Lucky those moblins didn't damage this room let alone the control panel." Alfonzo muttered to himself.

"Who are you?" asked Link.

"The names Alfonzo, what's your's kid?"

"I'm Link and thanks for saving us Alfonzo." replied the adorable child. Alfonzo smiled kindly.

"No problem kid." With that, the powerful train conductor started the train and left the moblin infested island. Taking one last look at his former home through the huge hole in the door, Niko hung his head in grief.

Back at the island, Andre had reached the peak of his anger. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH YOU STUPID SWINES MESSING UP! YOU MORONIC MEDDLING MOBLINS! Working with you lice infested morons is like CARRYING 8 ANCHORS AROUND FOR ALL ETERNITY!" The pirate crew were stunned and stricken by their leaders choice of harsh words. Andre took a humongous breath to sooth his boiling temper. "Ok, you bunch of bilge dogs are going to man up and help me hunt down that train, got it? No matter HOW scared you are, we are going to follow that dreaded Alfonzo and kill them! He is the ONLY human threat preventing me from taking over this spirit forsaken land! Afterwards we conquer the spirit tower and that dreadful Cole will regret the decision of leaving me in the dust and will join us! Let us be off!" boomed Andre. He stepped on track and began following the brutalized train. However, he quickly noticed his crew was not following him. He turned around to see the mutants still standing in the same position, as if their legs were glued to the floor or if they were just plain deaf. "Did you hear my direct order or are you stupider then your looks imply?" The bitter creatures snarled and growled at the demon they actually allowed themselves to call 'captain'. The miniblins dropped their weapons and coldly turned their backs to the infuriating demons. "What are you doing? Pick up your weapons and come back NOW!" The Anger struck mutants slowly stalked away from the volatile pirate. Andre's impatient persona emerged from the ground as his former crew disappeared into the forest. "FINE! LEAVE ME! YOU SALTY SEA RATS CAN FRY FOR ALL I CARE! GOOD RIDDANCE!" thundered the enraged demon. He then spotted the fading figure of the damaged train. "Stupid creatures. If you want SOMETHING DONE RIGHT, *he glared at the distant train* you got to do it yourself."

"Great, now I got to buy myself a new stamp book. Hopefully I'd be able fill it up this time." Niko muttered to himself. He then saw a depressed looking Link sitting in front of him. "Hey Link, what's wrong?"

"Niko, I may never know who my parents are. I'm all alone without a family." Niko stood up and sat next to the distraught little child.

"Laddy, we may have failed to find your parents but you still have me. You think you're alone but you're not. Since day one, we've been two peas in a pot. We took care of each other, we protected each other, we stood by each other and we loved each other." He wrapped his arm around Link's shoulder and warmly smiled at him. "THAT, is family. We're family." Tears of happiness streamed down Link's face as he quickly embraced Niko. The old man willingly returned the embrace.

Thud

"What now?!" yelled the irritated old man. The two shocked passengers looked out the enormous hole made on the back of the train to see an Angry Demon climbing up the train. It was Andre! He was climbing on top of the train! "Yikes!" Niko shrieked in fear.

"It's Andre!" cried Link.

"Quick Laddy, we got to inform Alfonzo about this right away!" Niko yelled as they sprinted towards their courageous conductor. They reached the powerful figure driving the train. "Alfonzo *gasp* we're under attack! *Gasp* that crazy pirate demon is back!" Immediately, they had spotted Andre on top of the engine.

"That's right, earth worms!" bellowed the enraged demon. Alfonzo quickly drove the train past Papuchia Village towards a dead end. This caused Andre to lose his balance and land face first in front of Alfonzo. The demon lifted his head off the rock-hard surface to catch a glimpse of his infuriated opponent.

"That's the last straw, demon. I'm ending this meaningless pursuit right here, right now!" thundered Alfonzo. "Link, Niko, get inside the train!" The two passengers retreated back inside the train as Alfonzo and Andre continued their violent duel. The havoc-struck train dangled helplessly on the spirit tracks above the ocean, while Alfonzo and Andre brawled. This time, Andre had two swords, both in which he picked off the floor after his former crew had left. Alfonzo now had to work twice as hard to defeat his IRRITATING opponent. The blades were practically invisible as they attempted to strike at each other.

Inside the train, all Link and Niko heard was the vile sound of swords colliding above them. A big piece of the train fell on top of Niko's head leaving a huge lump. "NIKO! Are you ok?" cried Link with mass concern in his voice.

"I'm ok Li… uh!" groaned the injured man. Unfortunately, the train began falling apart!

"This train is starting to collapse!" Frantically, Link dragged Niko towards the front to avoid another falling projectile.

"Link, what are you doing?" asked the near-unconscious Niko.

"Getting you to a safer place!" Misfortune was getting the best of them as Niko was knocked out by another piece of the roof. The train was an absolute mess thanks to the crossbar treatment the moblins had bestowed. Link managed to drag Niko outside after what seemed like an eternity. The old man laid motionless on the floor, oblivious to the haunting noise of swords colliding. Link's curiosity and concern got the best of him as he peered over the train to witness the dangerous duel. The battle was causing bits of the roof to fall down.

Andre's attacks began slowing down. The frightening sound of the duel began to fade. Andre was becoming visibly tired which Alfonzo took note and mustered all his strength to knock Andre drastically off guard once again. Both the swords were knocked out of Andre's grasp for the last time. Alfonzo placed his sword to Andre's neck, eliminating the rogue rivals chances to escape.

"You have largely overestimated yourself. And you wonder why the spirits had chosen us humans over you." Alfonzo darkly replied.

As Alfonzo was about to end the demons life, Andre quickly remembered the instability of the train. He immediately kicked both of his feet into Alfonzo's gut, knocking him over and sending him falling through the roof. Alfonzo screamed as he fell through the roof and landed harshly on the floor. His sword flew above Link's head and landed near the control panel. Link was petrified, he had to do something to help Alfonzo. But how? He then remembered the weakened roof of the train which Andre had used to trick Andre. Andre took a deep breath to recover his pleading energy and drew a dagger. "Overestimated huh? Worthless land lubber, did you honestly think you could walk away from this battle, alive?! No one can prevent the painful death you're about to suffer!"

Suddenly, before Andre could end his defenceless rival, he felt the train moving backwards causing him to lose his balance and fall straight through the roof face first. Alfonzo quickly picked himself of the ground and quickly turned around to see... a small child near the control panel? It was Link! "Alfonzo, Catch!" Link yelled as he tossed the sword towards Alfonzo. Swiftly, Alfonzo caught his blade. Was he just saved by a kid?

Andre glanced fiercely at Link with fire in his eyes. He forced himself of the floor and grabbed his dagger. "That wretched kid should know better not to play with toys!" snapped Andre as he lunged towards the helpless child. Alfonzo quickly blocked the demons path and fought back vigorously to keep this mutant pirate away from Link. Andre suddenly felt his energy begin to tank once again as he fought against Alfonzo. His luck had turned against him as Alfonzo managed to stab him through the chest. The severely injured demon eyes grew large as saucers. He was killed by a mortal human. A HUMAN! Andre's mind went blank as he slowly leaned back and fell through a large hole in wall and into the cold ocean. He had successfully invaded several villages without problem an yet one man tapped him out. A harsh memory took over as he grieved over his death.

"You pathetic excuse for a demon, thanks to your recklessness, we lost the majority of our army, let alone our leader Malladus!"snapped Cole. Andre had failed the demon race. He was no where strong enough to fight of the Lokomos who were new at the time. Anjean had bested him in every way. "Not only did you allow those elderly freaks to defeat us, not only did you lose your powers to the spirits, you got our great king sealed under the ground!" Those words hit him like a ton of bricks. He used to be one of the most powerful members of Malladus's army until the spirit's robbed away his demonic magic.

"Look I'm not the only one that failed to take over this land! Just because I'm one of your highest ranked demons does not mean you can scowled me for fail..."

"WERE! You WERE one of my highest ranked demons. Now your just a WEAK and USELESS moblin! Get lost!"

Slowly, he closed his eyes and sank to the bottom of the sea. Soon, the shrivelled up vehicle reached another dead end. Alfonzo rushed towards the child. "Kid... you saved me?"

"…yes. What happened to Andre?" asked Link.

"I defeated him thanks to you kid." replied Alfonzo as he smiled warmly. Then a thought hit him. What happened his elderly passenger? "Say kid, where's the old man?"

"He's in the corner. He got hit by a few pieces of the roof." Alfonzo quickly rushed towards Niko and checked his pulse. "Is Niko going to be alright?" asked the nervous child.

"Yes, he's going to be fine. I think it's best if we leave him to recover somewhere safe."

"Where should we take him?" asked the worried youth.

"Aboda Village."

This was the hardest chapter for me because I tried to keep the suspense and drama. Review me and give me feedback. Tune in for the next chapter.