Twisted Land Twists & Terrors
Chapter 3: The Tumbleweed & Cowskull
Date: March 8th, 1885
Doomer, Dieo, and Snarky now found themselves surprised as the tumbleweed suddenly takes off and starts as ending as of its a roller coaster. "This gives so much meaning to my life! I'm feeling like my life has never been so meaningful!" "Doomer, this is wacky! Even I'm excited! The physics this thing is breaking.. It's so immense.." "Woohoo! Now you're really having fun! Oh right! Hell yeah! Let's get ready for some fun! I like how it is turning to avoid going into the Mount Warp Alpinist Village! What a nice place! We have to go there sometime!" "Don't forget, we have to help the miners." "I know I know! Don't worry!" "I once thought everything was meaningless as I said before. But now, we're about to go down and I'm ready to forget my worries! Wait, how are we supposed to get off this thing?" Dieo couldn't answer Doomer as they found themselves going down and turning several times doing so. But as they quickly go down, Dieo exclaims: "I guess we'll find out how to get off!" Snarky yells as they end up by the train station: "Train!" Doomer yells right after as they spend a few seconds in a small tunnel: "Tunnel! There's no meaninglessness here! Only fun! This tumbleweed is so mysterious!" They speed through a small room while going up with barrels in it before making a small slow dip. They go up another big hill. Dieo exclaims: "This is so fascinating! It's really like we're riding a roller coaster powered by power rails! Our new friend's going to jealous! This makes me want to become a scientist!" Doomer says as they briefly slow down: "We're slowing! Now we aren't! Wee!" They turn as they go up a couple more times before dipping without much warning after another speed boost. They all scream excitedly as they descend downward and turn 3 times before making a splash in a puddle of sorts that's on top of a small walking bridge by the saloon. Doomer says: "My inner child is growing! And it's making me go weeeeeee! Splash!" "Interesting that we're having a splashdown!" "Hell yeah! It's truly just like a roller coaster!"
They don't have much time to say anything else as they turn and quickly ascend again in the direction of the aforementioned village. Doomer is able to just point and say: "It's the village again!" Dieo nods: "This tumbleweed must love that area!" They descend again with much speed and just enjoy themselves. Along their way until the next incline, the tumbleweed flies flat and turns some times. Snarky says: "I guess it doesn't want to touch the hill at all!" They then go up again. Doomer says: "Look, it's the train station!" "How interesting! We get to go over the train then! It's stationary after all!" Once they finish going up, they go down again and widen their eyes as part of the tumbleweed breaks off to smash some windows of a inaccessible room above the lobby for the train station which is mostly made out of wood. A couple seconds after that, they go up into where the windows were and scream as they weave in and out of the room up and down for a few seconds. "Aaaaa! This is wild! The tumbleweed is breaking windows! I'm so glad it's not breaking me instead!" "I thought you were over that stuff, Doomer!" "Old habits die hard, Snarky!" "How intriguing! I can barely take note of what's in this room! And we're just about to leave it!" They dip slightly and go over the stage in the train station before starting to go up again. "Hell yeah! The stage! I wish they had something going on there right now! Oh well!" As they go up again, it takes more time than expected to go up. As they went up and through turns, they kept conversing. "The view is quite stunning! This really is a mysterious tumbleweed!" "Even if I still felt worthless before this, I sure wouldn't at this point! I get the feeling we're about to go down again! Get ready!" As they had quite the long period of going down, Snarky yells: "This is so awesome! Best day ever! So dangerous and so full of action!"
"I have so much meaning now! Let's keep having fun, my friends!" They go down again and then up and down again. After that, they went up and down again a couple of more times before any of them could manage to speak. Dieo observes: "It's clear now that this tumbleweed just wants us to have fun! Why else would we be experiencing this?!" They held on tight and screamed as they went down again and then went through 2 small hill like motions before another splashdown. "Splashy splash!" "Awesome! The water's cold!" They then get launched forward through a tunnel. "Woah! Was this tumbleweed enchanted by a roller coaster designer?! It feels like it! So interesting!" They just enjoy themselves as they go up again, have little time to process going through another splashdown, and descend quickly right after the splashdown. All they could do was scream excitedly. After they drop ended, they immediately went into another hill and drop. "We've never had this much fun! So much meaning can be found in this experience!" "Hell yeah! We're going up again!" They soon level out. "I predict we're heading for the small hill again!" "Is this the end? I don't want it to be!" "No way! Hell no! It can't be over this quickly!" They end up above the small hill and go through a dizzying set of ups, downs, and turns that leave them making noises instead of yelling like: "Uh uh uh uh pppppppp! Oof!" And before they knew it, they were going up again with a greater increase in height and a brief slowdown. They didn't say anything as they were feeling quite winded. And just like that, they drop, level out for a couple of seconds, drop again, go up again, and go down again briefly. Finally recovering, Dieo says: "This is truly extraordinary!" They go through several ups and downs again before any of them say anything else as the excitement has really caught up to them now. They just scream that entire time. And then, they briefly enter a tunnel where Doomer yells once again: "Tunnel!"
Dieo replies: "It feels like this is the end of our experience! Well, almost! This adventure really does inspire me to become a scientist someday!" They go up again and then level out and turn several times. This gives them a few seconds to catch their breaths before they go down again and briefly go up one last time. They come to a stop and before any of them knew it, they were off the tumbleweed. They were suddenly flung off by an invisible force and returned to normal size. Dieo says: "That was simultaneously the weirdest and most exciting thing I have ever been on." The tumbleweed shines as if telling them a "you're welcome". Doomer replies: "It's so true, I couldn't agree more. That was incredible. *picks up the tumbleweed* It looks like this tumbleweed wants to stay with us. I felt a calling to it. *puts in inventory* You were right about it, Dieo." "Hell yeah! You really were right about it, Dieo!" "Thank you so much for your words, you two. We will take the tumbleweed wherever the adventures take us. This has been a truly special day. We will never forget it for the rest of our lives." "Or whatever existence awaits us after death! Now that I know life isn't meaningless, I see that there might be more for us once we pass!" "You're right! Hell yeah!" "Well, whatever awaits us will surely be not boring." *The story of Cactus Calamity begins* Doomer sees something, turns, and points over where the building they hid in earlier is: "Do you two see that?! That's wild! There's cactus! Cactus everywhere, more so than usual over there!" Snarky smirks: "It looks like we're the only ones who can take care of whatever is going on there! I always thought it was suspicious that there were a lot of cacti in that area specifically! Let's go investigate!"
Dieo shouts after spotting something else: "Wait! There's a strange separate set of stairs leading high up! There could be something at their highest points! Let's check our guns before we do anything!" They do so and give thumbs ups to one another and nod. They run over to the previously mentioned area where cactus is literally falling as item blocks from the sky and there's a lot of cactus just growing out of control. "What the hell is this?! Our inventories will fall up quickly at this rate!" "That's why we're going up the nearest random staircase with black supports. And don't you mean fill?" "Oops!" "Let's just stop this pointless mayhem! No, it's not the same pointlessness I thought existence had!" A mysterious voice says: "Why don't you try your luck? I dare you to oppose my power! Once you're out of my way, I will take control of this town for myself and begin my revival from there!" That mysterious voice is the aforementioned Despair fragment. They've gotten stronger since the sheriff was shot and died. That increase is from that sheriff's soul naturally. Doomer yells: "Who goes there?" "Hahaha! Foolish mortals! I will put you in your place! You will make perfect sacrifices to speed up the process of my revival! After the quick death of that sheriff, my plans have changed after sensing the powerful life energy you and your fellow residents of this Quickdraw Canyon harbor! I merged myself with a naturally occurring excess of cactus growth to become the Cactus Calamity! And until I get what I want, that will be my name!" The Cactus Calamity incarnation of Despair would end up awakening as a separate being than Despair many years later. Dieo replies: "You will not outwit or outsmart us! You will be brought down!"
"Talk is cheap as they say in the future. Come, show what you can do and prepare for your doom at the top of that first staircase!" The trio stare intensely at the staircase before beginning to ascend it. "Be careful, there are no railings for this staircase. One wrong move and you'll fall to your death if you fall far enough. Let's take this nice and slow." "That means more annoying cacti to pick up for us! That's so frustrating!" "Collecting cacti isn't meaningless you know! Now I remember! We can use it to defend our town and make green dye! We can also extract water from the cacti or eat it after cooking it real well!" "Indeed. Cacti have adapted to the harshness of deserts such as the one this town is in to preserve as much water as possible. Their thorns keep animals away from them by protecting them from threats to their integrity. If we were to cook it into food, we'd need to be careful of the thorns. Remember when we used to play with cacti. We would get so many thorns stuck on us that we wasted a lot of healing potions on treating preventable injuries like getting those thorns stuck in us." "Oh come on! I just want to reach the top already!" "That would be nice to do but we don't have elytras." "I want to go to the End someday. There, I can really test how far I have come when it comes to finding meaning in life! And we could finally get elytras while we're there too!" "Hell yeah! That would be awesome!" "Can we get back on topic, you two? Get your guns ready. Whatever we're facing is powerful and unlike anyone we have ever met before." A silence falls on the trio. That's when the tumbleweed gives them a speed boost. "What is this? I feel so fast! Jumping up these stairs is so easy!" "Interesting. I think that's the tumbleweed's doing. I feel it too. We'll be at the top soon. Be ready for anything. This is going to be something else entirely. It also looks like we won't have to worry about fall damage thanks to the tumbleweed."
And so, they ended up making their way to the top where a malevolent cactus creature awaited them. They greeted Cactus Calamity by shooting them with their guns. The villain laughs: "You think those visible guns will work on me? Don't you know that invisible guns are much more effective? Just kidding. No weapon can hurt me. I'm just enjoying myself, knowing that all of you are going to perish here. I will take your souls and absorb your energy! All of you will be mine! And with your souls a part of me, I will have enough power to destroy this town, exposing its people to my cacti! It's the perfect plan! And those buffs affecting you are nothing to my power! Now, begone!" With a wave of their hand, the being is able to push the three down the stairs. They are unable to say or shout anything as they roll down the stairs one by one. Well, they aren't actually stairs but they are green terracotta blocks so the process of going down was slow and painful for them. When they finished rolling, Cactus Calamity floated above them and looked down menacingly: "So this is where Doomer, Dieo, and Snarky meet their ends! Their souls belong to- *bang* Ow! How did you get me? How are any of you still alive?! Impossible!" Water leaks out of Cactus Calamity. Snarky smirks: "You really think some steps are going to kill us? No way, partner! You gotta do much more than that to kill us!" "Snarky's right. I foresaw the strange possibility of being rolled down stairs by force years ago. Since then, I have been figuring out how to survive such a fate. 2 years ago, I figured out a rolling technique that saved our lives. You were too busy enjoying our yelps to notice our rolling." "I always thought that rolling training was pointless but now I see that it wasn't! We're going to get you!"
"We'll see about that! To get to the other staircase, you will have to go up and down several hills that are forming right before your eyes! And each will contain the excessive cacti that's already there! You're all going to die and I will take your souls to increase my power! There's nothing you can do to stop my plans! Nothing!" And so, Cactus Calamity waits for them at the top of the second hill. They begin the slow and painful process of going up and down those hills. One of them towers far above the others and was a particular challenge to get through. As they went along, they discussed things like how to defeat their foe and how to best avoid the cacti in their way. "I'm going to try something! I'm sick of all this cacti!" Snarky shot a cactus to see what would happen. It breaks and the thorns fly like splinters. "Get back!" Dieo's warning came in time. They managed to avoid getting hurt from that. Dieo sighs: "Let's never shoot anymore of these cacti. Doing so would be highly dangerous and slow our progress." "Aww! That was very disappointing, as satisfying as it was to shoot a cactus! At least Cactus Calamity isn't invincible! We did get him once. And we got here as fast as we could so let's keep going so we can shoot that bastard!" "Shooting the cactus wasn't pointless. We learned something. That gave meaning to the mistake of shooting it." The trio keep moving forward until they finally reached the second staircase. Once there, they went up it with the blessings from the tumbleweed in Doomer's inventory in silence. They were mentally preparing themselves for confronting their foe again. Upon reaching the top, they fired a lot of bullets without hesitation. Cactus Calamity chuckles: "You really think I'm done tormenting you? You really think those bullets will change anything. Begone! See you on the first staircase again! I'll allow you to live to keep me entertained until then!"
Just like before, they rolled to the bottom and had to traverse the hills full of cacti. Once that was done, they conversed about their day and what they were going to do as they went up the first staircase again. Once they reached the top, they had just reloaded their guns. Due to this, they begin firing their guns more strategically while remaining quiet. As bullets rang out, Cactus Calamity laughed: "My my! You sure don't know how to give up, do you?! That will just make your souls more appetizing for me! Shoot all you want but there's no way you're going to kill me! I'm already dead! And you won't be able to destroy my body either! You're doomed!" Snarky smirks: "You sure about that?" "What does that mean? You're all nothing! You don't stand a chance against me! You're done! Over!" "OH REALLY?! DOOMER, YOU'RE UP!" Doomer pulls out a cactus sword. "What the?! When did you get that?!" "Dieo made it as we made our way back here! You just didn't bother watching us as we made our way back up these stairs! That's when it was crafted and now, I'm going to use it!" Doomer engages in a close quarters fight with Cactus Calamity who has chosen to stand on one of the blocks extending out from the staircase up. But their foe just laughs and doesn't even put in much effort fighting. When the sword ended up breaking, Doomer yells right as Cactus Calamity prepares to attack with a barrage of cactus thorns: "Dieo! Finish it! Show this enemy what living truly means! As far as enemies go, they aren't that smart!" "Why you?!" Dieo without hesitation fires some bullets before throwing some dynamite at Cactus Calamity. The villain did not see that coming and was hit by the explosions of the dynamite, breaking the blocks beneath them and sending them plummeting.
As they screamed, Dieo shouts very quickly: "We have to blow up the remaining cacti! Take some dynamite from me and throw it all the way down where those hills are! Doesn't make where they land, they will hit! I'm sure of it!" The other 2 nod and take the given dynamite as soon as possible. With the dynamite in hand, they start throwing each piece with unexpected speed. Because Cactus Calamity's power is slowing their fall, all of the dynamite manages to break all that excess cacti before their slow falling stopped and they began falling at a normal speed. Once they hit the ground, they were greeting by a secretly thrown additional piece of dynamite. Their body was subsequently destroyed. *The story of the Cowskull roller coaster begins* The spirit of their foe turns up in the sky while fading away: "This isn't over! I'll raise the ancient hill of this desert and all of Quickdraw Canyon will be buried under it! And with that done, I will awaken the spirit residing in your town's precious cow skull! Not only that but the infamous gunslinger, Cowskull will be resurrected and merged with that spirit! Even if you somehow kill them, I will still win in the end! You won't stop my true revival! I will show that good for nothing predecessor who ruled before me what for! When I'm revived, I will destroy his pyramid and him along with it! Rise from the mines where you were found, cow skull!" It's worth mentioning that Despair became one again before 1921 and was prematurely awakened. This meant that he was weakened when those people went into the home he rested in before the Kanoka volcano erupted and destroyed everything. Back to the story. Before the trio, hills began appearing out of thin air.
And in the midst of that, a giant cow skull began appearing from out of the ground before coming into place on top of a ancient small hill. The Despair fragment laughs: "I will offer myself up for the merging! In ancient times, long before my reign, a race of giant cows lived in Minecraftia! But when Herobrine was born, he killed all of them! Over time, the skull of the one who resided in this region became buried by more and more rock. You see, when the cow lived, the hills were much higher than they are now! When the cow was killed, it's death destroyed all of those hills and more below them! I can only imagine the hatred of the spirit within the cow skull! Cowskull will live again! If Cowskull dies, that will just mean I will absorb the essence of the giant cow spirit as well as the gunslinger Cowskull! Hahahaha! There's no way you'll survive this time! I suggest you get moving to the cow skull itself if you don't want to be buried by the sand!" Snarky yells: "Damn that Cactus Calamity!" "There's no time to complain! We must increase our steps to maximum velocity! We must make haste!" "This adventure just gets full of more meaning the longer this goes on!" The trio run to where the cow skull is resting on top of the small hill. All around them, the entirety of Quickdraw Canyon gets buried in the sand. Even the canyon gets buried. Dieo makes a face: "Damn it! This is not a good sign. We have to try to stop this resurrection and merging before it's too late." Their adversary laughs: "It's already too late! You took too long to get here! So say hello to your true doom!"
Before their eyes, a coffin rises out of the ground and out comes the infamous gunslinger Cowskull whose body has been turned into that of a zombie. The cow skull suddenly grows rotted flesh and ends up transforming into an undead version of the long dead giant cow. But then, the fragment of Despair enters Cowskull and laughs: "Now let the merge commence! All of you are doomed! Once your souls are mine, I will easily take the souls of your fellow residents of this town! After all, the energies of Cowskull and the giant cow will soon be a part of my own energy! You may have broken my fusion with the natural excess growth of cacti that was occurring but that won't stop me!" Without anymore warning, 3 beings become one. When the fusion is complete, the new Cowskull appears with a wicked grin on their face. Their skin is a grotesque merge of cow skin, darkness, and villager skin. They have no hair and come with a corrupted hat. They wear a tainted standard sheriff outfit of all things. "I am complete! I am Cowskull now! And you won't escape my Despair magic, my Cowskull marksmanship, or my giant cow speed and strength!" Dieo yells: "Run! We need a plan!" The trio run off by going down the small hill. However, Cowskull is determined to get them. He shoots at them with magic powered bullets, precise aim, and insane speed. The trio are forced to jump up and down several times before running up a hill briefly. They went on flat ground and ended up on the top of that small hill and it's odd shape, causing them to go up and down multiple times in a few seconds. The tumbleweed is giving the, a speed boost like never before. It's why Cowskull hasn't gotten them yet. "Get back here, mortals! I'm not finished with you!" "Aaaaaaaaa! Maybe life is meaningless if it means dealing with this foe!" "Don't you say that! Hell no! That's not cool! Be stronger than that! You're strong! You're awesome!"
"Okay! Okay! I forgot! Force of habit!" In an attempt to evade Cowskull's precise, powerful, and magically infused bullets, they run up the adjacent hill in a series of twists and turns. But Dieo gets shot in the arm: "Owww! This pain! It hurts so much! But don't worry about me! We have to keep going! I know some magic! I trained in secret! I cast Regeneration! This will heal my wounds in a few seconds!" "I won't let any of you escape me! The original Cowskull didn't last long! He died within days of his infamy beginning! How do I know this? Fragments of me sleep all throughout this Twisted Land! Or at least, they did last I checked decades ago! I don't know what has happened to any of them!" "Hell no! You won't get us! We won't let you!" They reach the top of the hill and almost touch a cloud in the process. Their foe starts catching up to them. "My friends, there's only one thing to do! If we don't roll down this hill, we're going to die in a few seconds! This will be the most risky roll yet!" "Dieo! That's a plan! I like it!" "My despair about meaning is over with again! Im in! Let's go!" The trio start rolling down the hill and manage to even turn as they roll, avoiding bullets and magical blasts as a result. "Stay still! Allow me to feast on your souls already! You must let me! You must!" In seconds, they get close to the bottom of the hill. They manage to go up and down another small hill of sorts very quickly. Cowskull catches up to them and starts firing: "You think you can outrun me?! Think again! I will get you 3 and have your souls forever!" They move straight and turn every couple of seconds to avoid gunfire. You'd think moving straight would be a bad idea but Cowskull has one weakness, straight level movement by their targets isn't something they can use to kill or hurt the trio.
Without saying anything, they fire back quickly, catching Cowskull off guard. This gave them a chance to run up another hill that isn't as high but is still helpful. They reach the top in a few seconds and roll down it as well to avoid more gunfire from their now recovered foe. Once they finish rolling, they run up and down a series of 5 smaller hills, turning frequently to make Cowskull miss their shots. "You mortals! How could you evade me for this long?! All of you should be dead!" As they kept running, briefly going straight on flat ground before going up again, a voice spoke: "That's because I am here." "What?! Who are you?! Where are you?!" The conversation continued as the trio went down briefly again before going up, turning, going straight, making a big turn, and running up a giant hill which was also home to a humble sawmill where something horrifying would happen years later as they wouldn't saw wood any longer. It's spot would later be replaced in the 21st century by the Coasterplex Hotel which would then close 7 years after that before being gutted, expanded, and renovated with a second wing(also replacing 2 restaurants) and more. It would be renamed to the Distorted Hotel. Back to the main story going on. "I am the guardian of Quickdraw Canyon Town. I am known simply as The Tumbleweed. Young Doomer, it is true that I have been in your inventory for some time now. Your ride on me was no accident. I was testing you all. You three are very ambitious souls. Adventurers, I was born from the hopes and dreams of the people of this town as well as traces of ancient magic that were unearthed unintentionally by the mines below as well as the magic contained within the water at the bottom of Quickdraw Canyon. I will make sure you 3 are able to vanquish this evil force from this town forever. This area had no name before the town was founded so it's name is most interesting to me."
"How dare you stand in my way! I'll kill you!" "I'm afraid that that won't be as easy as you would hope. I have given Doomer, Dieo, and Snarky access to my full powers. You will be defeated. And I foresee the failure of your revival in the future. There is a force far greater than you or I in play. Kanoka, the ancient volcano. It rests now but it will erupt one day." Cowskull screams as the trio roll down the giant hill as it suddenly dematerializes into smaller hills: "Curse you all! What's happening to the hill?! No! This can't be! It's shrinking into smaller ones! No! I won't let the fall damage stop me! Cursed Healing!" The trio finish going down the hill and go up a smaller one, turn, move flat, drop down, and turn with Cowskull just mere meters from them now. Gunfire rings out as their foe gets increasingly desperate to win. As they run on flat ground, they exchange words with Cowskull. "Hell yeah! We're going to beat you! You're going down!" "Your pursuit of us will prove meaningless! You say you win even if Cowskull dies but that's not as true as you think!" "Young Doomer, you are correct!" "I concur. Cowskull, you have made many reckless judgments and it has costed you a lot." "Why you! I'll get you eventually! You'll all run out of energy and when you do, you're mine!" They quickly go up and down another hill while firing at the villain unexpectedly again. Caught off guard, Cowskull slows down, allowing for the trio to make it up and down some bunny hills that don't do much but impede their progress. Once they clear them, they clear a pretty big hill as The Tumbleweed explains something: "Listen, all 3 of you. I have used some of my power to mess up the giant hill that was once here. I can change the terrain as long as the spirits of the common people of Quickdraw Canyon stay high. I will use this power to make sure our foe cannot eliminate any of us."
"You fool! You should be helping me, not them! I deserve the assistance! Not them!" They move on a flat surface of sand and keep running as they go through some hills of various sizes. While doing so, the conversation continues. "I know not when you will be defeated but that time will come soon. You will be forced to sleep far underground soon. I have remotely begun the sealing ritual for you." "You can run all you want but it is I whose plan will win! I won't let you carry out what you are plotting against me! All of you will fail! And when you do, you will all die and I will take all of your energies! That includes yours, The Tumbleweed! My revival will be so much closer to completion when I do win!" They briefly go up before going down a greater distance. As they quickly went up to a straight point above where the currently buried bridge over the canyon is, Dieo says: "We may be running out of energy and will need a rest for our muscles but it's over for you. We will fight you head on and take you down for good." They drop, turn, and move around 2 more times before stopping. The Tumbleweed speaks: "Excellent! You so happened to pick the perfect place to stop and showed off impressive dexterity in dealing with those bullets coming you way! This happens to be where the skull was raised from the ground. It is also where I have set the ritual circle. But to seal our foe away, we must fight together and win."
Cowskull laughs as they come to a stop too: "Oh, you still think you can defeat me?! Think again! None of you stand a chance against me! You got me good with the hill changing but now, that doesn't matter for you have run into my trap! You see, this area is also where my power is strongest due to what I just did here so I could gain this new form!" The Tumbleweed comes out of Doomer's inventory and easily protects the trio from the clutches of Cowskull. This fused version of Cowskull would not be the one to be revived in the 2020s in the same way Despair was. The gunslinger and giant cow would however be revived. And now, The Tumbleweed transforms into a humanoid form: "The revolutionary spirit of the townspeople has allowed me to transform. They are winning in the mines. Dieo, Doomer, and Snarky, they still need your help and I will provide help to them as well. However, now's the time to defeat this foe. This foe is a fragment of an evil ruler who died long ago. King Despair. The spirit of the king was split when the dirt and rocks shook on the day that forced the ancient Nar people underground for a long time." "How could you know such things?!" "The ancient magic within me is older than even the spirit of the giant cow you merged with."
"Impossible! All of you will die!" The ensuing fight was intense. However, The Tumbleweed's wisdom, Doomer's self acceptance, Dieo's brilliance, and Snarky's spirit would prove to be a formidable match to the overwhelming power of Cowskull. Just when it seemed like they were all going to lose as all of them began to die of serious injuries, Gifben showed up and fired a bullet. That one bullet was enough to create an opening. Snarky smirked: "We may be all dying but this ain't over yet! Gifben, you better explain why you aren't with our comrades after this but thank you for that! Let's finish this!" Dieo nods: "Say no more! Cover us, Gifben!" "Y'all really did need help again after all! Alright! I will cover you! But I'm helping with the final blows!" "Your help is so meaningful! How could we refuse?!" "Wise choice, young adventurers. You may be outlaws but your hearts define who you truly are. I will grant all the aid you need." Gifben bombards Cowskull with a lot of bullets. In reply, Cowskull fires back and is dead set on victory: "Your soul will be delicious too! I welcome your- *bang* Owww! How dare you all defy me?! Under my rule, your lives will be so much better! Don't escape your fate! I don't know how you escaped the sand, newcomer but that just makes me want your soul even more! *bang* Oww! Not again!" The Tumbleweed unleashes a lot of different magic attacks in perfect sequence and combination. Meanwhile, Gifben continues stealing Cowskull's attention. Meanwhile, Dieo prepares to throw a lot more dynamite while Doomer and Snarky keep firing shot after shot at their foe. And then, Cowskull falters for a second due to all of the attacks coming their way.
Dieo shouts: "Now!" The gun users concentrate their gunfire at vital points of Cowskull's body and begin fire rapidly at point blank which isn't an easy feat but they did it. Meanwhile, Dieo throws dynamite after dynamite at Cowskull while The Tumbleweed's magic leaves Cowskull frozen and unable to do anything. And then.. Kaboom. The dynamite explode. In the midst of everything, Cowskull is torn to pieces and the spirits of the fragment, the original Cowskull, and the giant cow are suspended in the air. Cowskull nods approvingly at all of them: "Great work, all of you. Thank you for freeing me from that. I can finally rest peacefully. But first, let me help you out with that fancy ritual ya got going on there." He channels some kind of energy into the ritual circle while The Tumbleweed activates it, drawing in the fragment's spirit. However, they would end up not succeeding at sealing the fragment away. That's because sleigh bells were heard from up above in the sky. The giant cow passes on, leaving the 6 of them to look up at the sky. This distraction paused the ritual, leaving the fragment to scream in pain. A bright red sleigh is visible far up above the town. As the ancient hills of ancient Twisted Land vanish from the sands of Quickdraw Canyon, the sleigh lands with seemingly innocent reindeer pulling it. Santa gets out of it and stretches out his right hand as the reindeer transform into nightmares. He proclaims: "Suffer Slaughtermas! Die die die!" "What the hell?! That's not the Santa the people of Mount Warp Alpinist Village look up to!" "No, it is not. Something is wrong." "What is he doing?" "That's not Santa anymore." "I can confirm that. Santa's spirit has been reaching out to mine for years. We've communicated as we've been stuck here with unfinished business." Gifben sighs: "Just our luck.."
Santa breaks the ritual circle. "Damn it! Hell no! We have to stop him!" Santa ignores everyone, absorbs the Despair fragment, and gets back in his sleigh before flying back to his workshop in the Mount Warp Alpinist Village before anyone could confront or stop him." *The story of Torment Train begins* Cowskull says: "I wish I could help with that situation but we have another problem and I can't pass on yet. It seems like there's a different evil force now at play in this town." The Tumbleweed sighs: "You're right. The abandoned front train car that crashed into the sandstone wall that exists behind the train station.. It's teeming with a dark aura. We have to take care of this before helping the revolution in the mines." Gifben speaks up: "I'm going to need to step out. Something tells me I'm needed back in the mines. Good luck to all of you. I know you can do it. We can pursue evil Santa or at least tell the villagers in Mount Warp about the truth of their beloved Santa later when our town really is our town collectively." "Stay safe! Don't do anything too risky unless you must!" "Bring more meaning to our cause!" "Be awesome!" "I like your spirit. Once you pass on, I'll be waiting for you as well as your friends if they hadn't passed yet by then." "Your courage helps fuel my magical power. Keep it up." Gifben nods and says a goodbye before sprinting back to the mines. A shovel that gets dropped along the way ends up indicating how the revolutionary managed to get the trio and The Tumbleweed in time. The Tumbleweed then heals the trio and speaks: "There, none of you are dying anymore. That was very close. Your endurance is incredible. Now come, let us take care of the dark force that we must confront. We will do this together. Even you will be needed, Cowskull."
The 4 nod and together, the party of 5 move together to the location of the abandoned front train car. There's a ladder suspiciously placed to allow people to come on in. Cowskull gasps: "I thought I could help with that but the evil force.. As a spirit, I can't resist the ferocity of our foe's power. Because of that, I'm afraid I'm going to have to stay a safe distance away but I know that you 4 can handle it." "That is alright. That was my mistake. Please do hang back. Doomer, Dieo, and Snarky, we're about to go in." Dieo observes: "This ladder.. It's too conveniently placed.. It's definitely a trap.." "Where's your sense of adventure gone?! To the gallows of Slaughterville?!" "Yeah, don't be like that. If we back out now, coming here will have been pointless and Cowskull won't be able to pass on." "*sigh* Okay but we have to be very careful. The train car may be small but it will still be incredibly dangerous. I'll go up first. But before we go up, get your guns loaded. This is going to be terrifying. I'm going to get mine loaded. Didn't we run out of ammo for our guns before we ended up riding you, The Tumbleweed?" "I do not recall. So much has happened that even I have trouble recalling. If you did, I know I used my magic to give you more ammo for them. You should have enough rounds of ammo for what's to come." Snarky speaks: "How come you get to be leader, Dieo?!" "Oh, I wasn't even trying to be. If you have a better course of action in mind, all you have to do is say it." "Oh, alright." The trio load their guns with a round of ammo each. The Tumbleweed speaks: "Alright, when all of you are ready, prepare to climb up the ladder and see just what we're about to get ourselves into." They nod and begin climbing up one by one. Once they're all inside, a train conductor stands up after fueling the furnace at the very front of the car with what looked like coal but was suspiciously a little different from coal. They turn around and smile to greet all 4 of them.
They say: "Welcome aboard the Torment Train! Please enjoy your ride! Our destination is nowhere because this train has no stops! It can't even move! I'm not going to keep you for long with my talking. In terms of hospitality, we don't offer much. We can't exactly offer much since The Tumbleweed Saloon and that steakhouse are such popular places. However, there is one form of hospitality no one does better than us. It's of course: true fear! I hope you enjoy your stay on this train to nowhere. But surprise! We're actually departing now for our secret destination for newcomers like you: YOUR GRAVES." Doomer gulps and shakes: "Our g-graves? Why does it smell like burning and bodies in here?! I'm about to slump into my meaninglessness mindset again!" "Oh, so you know and fear true despair, huh?! And yes, we do use organically sourced fresh bodies to fuel the engines of this train! Waiters, SERVE THEM THEIR BEVERAGES!" A bunch of skeletons holding glass cups with living slime in them appear. The conductor starts singing: "Fresh slime! We have it! Yeah! We have it! Fresh! Fresh! Oh yeah, we have it! Fresh slime! It'll leave your taste buds wanting more and never having it again at the same time! Take a sip! Let us show you what happens when you indulge in your finest specialties in the theme of true fear! Stare at the eyeballs inside the glass cups full of fresh slime! Drink it up for its the first step of your experience of the true fear package! You'll be left in a mood that will make what awaits to die for for you!"
Dieo shoots all of the glass cups. The conductor smirks and keeps singing: "Oh so I see you came prepared. Then the fresh slime beverage just isn't for you. Time to serve you up something far more terrifying. It'll haunt your soul and leave you quacking in your leather boots. Quickdraw Canyon ain't seen a true package like ours before! We'll keep going until there's no more customers who want to board our train. It will be lots of fun!" Snarky says: "This is by far, far more sinister than that fragment of Despair.." "That's so true. That fragment was more like a villain rather than a outright horrific monster from our childhood nightmares.." To be continued..