Right now, I’m at the very last train car, car 15 to be exact. I put some items in each car, just in case I get ambushed. Car 15 is sort of a storage area, with cabinets of various stuff like drinks, snakes, toilet paper, ect. I’m currently searching around the room for any potential weapons that I can use, like forks, spoons, and pencils. I just hope the Resonance will make the employees not notice everything that I’m taking, cause that will be a pain to explain. Just then, I look down the empty hallway, there are as many, if not less, passengers in car 14 as in car 7. There are no signs of the employees.

  I look to my shoulder and see the color-inverted ladybug that’s a summon from Tangeren. I gently put my finger on top of the small ladybug’s head and rub it. I then say, “Have any of you seen any workers on the train?”

  Its eyes slightly glow blue as a voice comes out from the Ladybug, acting like some strange speaker. The owner of the voice is Tangerine as he says, “Yes, we all did right before our scuffle.” Apparently, this ladybug is very vertical, as he can sense whatever the ladybug is sensing, as well as use it as a phone. It scared the hell out of me when I heard his voice coming from the ladybug, but this will make it very convenient if… when I get attacked. Unfortunately, when he shares senses, he can’t move his body, in addition to it being very weird according to him.

  Anyway, I replied, “Yes, but that was the last time we saw an employee. I already went back to the train and I don’t see anyone who works here. Hell, now that I think about it, I didn’t see one during our search for the killer. Did either of you see any?”

  The eyes stop glowing for a bit, before lighting up. I could tell he’s concerned by the tone of his voice. “This whole situation is getting weirder by the second.”

  I chuckle, “From my experience, things will only get weirder.”

  I could hear a chuckle, “Since you’re probably have way more experience in story resonance, I’ll take your word. We’ll keep a look out for any signs on what the hell is happening. Honestly, this might be a blessing in disguise.”

  I raise my eyebrow, “Why’s that?”

  He responds, “We might be able to hijack the train if shit hits the fan.”

  “Well, since I highly doubt either of you have any knowledge on how to steer a space train, let’s keep that as plan B.” The last thing I want is for us to steer the train straight into any asteroids.

  He replies, “Point is, if there aren't any employees here, we probably have more control over the train. Anyway, I just told my brother, and he says he’ll see if there is anyone driving. I’ll go with him cause I do not trust him not somehow fucking with the controles.”

  Limon does seem to be the more brash of the 2 brothers. I don’t like that we’re going to be on opposite sides of the train, but I shouldn’t tell him to stay put. No one likes to be ordered around, especially if they're part of law enforcement, sort of. That and since I’m already done here, I can just head closer to the center. “Ok, call me if you notice anything.”

  “Naturally.” The ladybug’s light dims and it conceals itself in my jacket.

  Just then, I hear Elise coming from my ear piece saying, “Be honest, do you trust them?”

  I say, “Why do you say that?” It’s quite odd for her to ask my opinion on something during a mission.

  She answers, “Because you are trusting them to save your life when some asshole tries to attack you.”

  She does have a point. “I believe that they just want to get out of here in one piece, and if they can, get the money. If they believe that keeping me alive will help them achieve either of their goals, then they will come to save me..”

  She finishes my train of thought, “But if they see you as a threat, see you somehow lose the case, or just think the risk of saving your ass isn’t worth taking, they’ll just stay put.”

  I hide the last hidden "weapon" and say, “Pretty much.”

  She collects her thoughts as she says, “So then why make yourself bait. You could have just declined to be bait.”

  I shrug, “It would make me more favorable towards the 2. And if I’m fated to die, no amount of outside intervention will ever stop my inevitable end. So what’s the point of playing it safe.”

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  I hear a massive sigh. I remember the first time I said something similar, she was very concerned about my mental health. But when she realized this was just my philosophy, she simply became annoyed with me telling her the truth. The automatic door opens and I start to head to the center of the train, but stop when I feel a tug from the arm holding the briefcase.

  I look back and see an 80-ish year old woman grabbing my briefcase. She is sitting down on one of the chairs alone, and is wearing a purple sweater with a floral pattern with black sweatpants. She says with a voice a sweet grandma would say to her grandchildren, “My, what a lovely suitcase you have there. I mean, there's such magnificent craftsmanship on the leather. They must use the highest grade to make this.”

  Despite seeming harmless, there's something off about her. So, with a pleasant smile, I say “W-why thank you, but it’s not mine. I’m just borrowing it for a friend.” I tried to respectfully pull back the case, but she just would not let go.

  She smiles back, “There's no need to be in such a hurry. The next top won't come for another 5 minutes. Or was it 10? The conductor’s automated announcement is just too hard to hear with his accent."

  What? Even if he had an extremely heavy accent, she should have automatically understood what he was saying. At least that’s how the other translation magic I know of works. The ominous feeling begins to intensify, but I smile and say, “Can you please let go? It’s not polite to randomly grab other people’s stuff.”

  The old lady thankfully lets go of the briefcase. “I’m so sorry, sweaty. I was so excited that I forgot my manners. Thank goodness no one can see us, or else there would have been people looking at me like I was some crazy lady.”

  I look about, and see a handful of people, so I am briefly confused as to why she said that. I say, “Yea, sure… Anyway, I should really get going. My friends are very impatient. Goodbye miss.” I turned and speed walked away. It is then I realize what she was implying when she said no one would notice.

  By the time I am close to the door, the old lady says, “Why, it’s not polite to leave a conversation. At least tell me your name.”

  I stop in fear and say, “It’s a bit-” I am interrupted when the old lady suddenly gets up, runs towards me, jumps up, and dropkick me in the chest. All of this happens in less than 1 second, leaving no time to react. I am sent flying through the doorway, thankfully I was close enough that the door automatically opened. If it wasn’t for my jacket, my bones would have probably been broken by the attack.

  As I slide to the ground hard and gently bump my head at a wall, she slowly gets up and says, “I’m afraid that I can’t tell you my real name. So you can just call me Boomslang.” Oh fuck me.

  I quickly rub the ladybug and say, “I need back up, I’m being attacked.” However, the ladybug only slightly glowed as I heard Tangerin say, “If you are hearing this, I’m in the middle of something. Please be patient until I resolve whatever I am doing." Double fuck me

  I get up and start to run as fast as I can. I only get a few steps when I hear her getting closer, “Don’t be a coward. Fight me straight on!”

  Since I can’t get away, I’ll have to fend her off. I turn, throw the briefcase behind me, and pull out 2 pencils, one in each hand.

  When she’s in range, I thrust the pencil on my right hand like a rapier, while keeping the left hand close to me, like a guard dagger. Boomaslang deftly moves out of the way of the thrust, which makes sense because of the lack of reach, and moves to punch me in the gut. I block the punch with the pencil, but the force causes me to step back. She steps forward and punches again, and I block that with the other pencil. This exchange goes on 4 more times, until when I block a kick, both of the pencils break.

  When she sees it, she says, “Sorry I broke your pencils.” She then begins to wind up for an attack. I quickly observe where I am, in the middle of the car 14. I’m very close to where I put some “weapons.” I dodge to the left, successfully dodging her attack, but I trip on the seats, causing me to fall on them. As I land, I reach for something under the seat. Boomslang raises her leg and tries an axe kick on me. I take the item out, which is an umbrella, and open it. Thanks to the static durability of my ability, even the polyester manages to not break, and block her attack. This surprises her, and I use that moment to push her with the umbrella. She easily falls over, which almost makes me feel bad, and closes the umbrella and quickly moves as far away as I can.

  I stop at the intersection between cars 14 and 13, as I highly doubt I can surprise her like that again. And fleeing is not the best option as she can easily catch up with me before I meet with Tangeren and Limon. As I quickly think of my options, I see a bathroom in this intersection. I could hide in there and pray that she wouldn’t notice me entering, but she’s only a few feet away from me, so it would be obvious. I could lock the door and myself some time, but with her unusual strength, it would probably only give me a few seconds at most.

  Before I could think about my options some more, I see Boomsling get up, and start charging at me. Not wanting to get hit by a granda-shaped truck, I move to the bathroom. As I close, I hear here desperately move close and say, “Oh no you don-” I couldn’t hear the rest as I slam the door and lock. I move back and hold the umbrella like a baseball bat. The door shakes as she is clearly trying to break the door to get in. Surprisingly, the door is holding ferm, not even a tear in the frame.

  After a bit, she says loud enough to hear, “You are lucky that entering an occupied bathroom in many cultures is considered to be rude. But I swear that once you get out, I will make sure that this train will be your- Awww, I didn’t know there was a cute little ketty on board.” …I don’t know if her getting distracted by a cat makes her less or more intimidating? But for right now, I am safe, and stuck.