The most dangerous gamer

Winona gently lowered herself to the ground as she arrived at the town's south entrance. "Really looks different in the day. Bet those two are hiding amongst these buildings. Aoi probably won't mind, but I know Rosa will bawl her eyes out when she learns that I'll take down any and anything standing between me and victory, even those not in the game," she thought as she laid eyes on an unsuspecting old lady walking nearby. 

With all her arrows gone, and her forgoing to make any new ones in order to get to town as fast as she could, all Winona had on her in terms of weapons was her spare knife and bow. Her magic levels had also been drained thanks to both the giant arrow she created before and the healing magic she used to patch herself up. While she could freely move around again without any pain, she was at her energy reserve's limits, meaning now truly was the showdown of the hunt. 

"You or me, Aoi. Only one of us is gonna survive this," Winona thought as she hurled her dagger at the old lady, killing her instantly. 

...

Aoi groggily opened her eyes to find herself laying down in between train tracks. She attempted to get up, but quickly found that her wrists and ankles were bound with duct tape with her mouth covered up with a piece of tape as well. 

"You fucking bitch, Muki! Your ass is so dead for humiliating me like this," Aoi angrily thought as she pulled out the knife she had gotten from Winona from her back pocket and used it to cut her wrists free. 

No sooner did she fully free herself did Winona stumble into view. "Well look who it is. And you even got my knife already for me." 

"You look like you're low on HP. Bet I could finish you off right now," Aoi smirked as she assumed a combative position. 

"Don't know what "HP" means, but if you think I'm a breath away from death, I ain't. I was able to kill some folks no prob on my way over." 

"How many?" 

"An old lady, a small grey bird, just warm ups to make sure I'm still functioning after that nasty surprise you hit me with." 

"Liked my ride? I got a whole garage of those things," Aoi lied. 

"Then as part of the marriage vows, better tell me where all your assets are so I can claim em myself!" Winona cackled as she charged towards Aoi. 

The two began clashing ferociously with their knives, each with big smiles plastered across their faces. This was it. This was the big showdown. Winona still had lots of time left to hunt, but she had been weakened to the point where her physical strength was directly on par with Aoi's. Skill and luck would be the deciding factors so it seemed. 

A little ways down the tracks, a train engine began picking up speed, en route to Aoi and Winona. At the helm of it was Jenna with a still fast asleep Rosa in the passenger area. However, Jenna was not in control of her own body. Rather, Muki had assumed full control over it via the microchip she had implanted in Jenna's brain. 

"This is such a strain, but I gotta do it. This is the only shot I'll get at killing that elf," Muki thought. 

The train eventually came into view of Aoi, who unaware of Muki's plan, took it's presence as a positive. "I'm gonna pull off such a gamer play. Just gotta lock her into battle then hop out in time, and she gets slammed by the limited express," she thought. 

Winona also took note of the oncoming train. "Not yielding? Bet you want to play chicken with me, or maybe trap me so I can't dodge that. Well game on. I can still use some wind magic, so it's your loss," she thought as she continued to clash with Aoi. 

Little did the two know Muki would beat them both to the punch. 

Aoi's eyes widened in shock as her body suddenly began moving on it's own, her arm bending in a way it shouldn't be able to normally as it slammed the knife into Winona's left chest. The stab just barely missed her vitals, but it did accomplish it's intended purpose of keeping Winona in place. 

"What the hell!? Humans can't bend their arms like that! Shit! I can't wiggle free!" Winona thought as she grimaced in pain. 

But it was Aoi who was the most shocked and angered. "MY FUCKING ARM! That bitch, she do something to me while I was out!? My legs won't move, my grip isn't weakening. I can't leap out of the way!" she furiously thought as she tried to force her head to turn towards the oncoming train. "MUKI! THIS SHIT AIN'T GAMER!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. 

"Think I care? You're a liability to the town if I keep you here. I told you I know all about you and your resume's shit. That, and you snapped back at me during the little time we directly conversed. I don't care how good a fighter you are. If you aren't obedient, you're a liability," Muki thought as she forced Aoi to close her jaw, effectively gagging her for her final moments. 

Control and obedience meant everything to Muki, meaning the wild and chaotic Aoi was doomed from the start to never curry favor with her. Perhaps if she was just a little smarter, she'd have lived, but Aoi Plav was an idiot. 

"MMPH [MUKI]!" Aoi screamed just before the train slammed into her and Winona. 

The impact killed Aoi instantly, but Winona still clung to life despite nearly all her bones now being broken. Clinging to the train's windshield like a bug, Winona took notice of Jenna and Rosa inside, attempting to break through by crushing the glass with her her hand.  However, Muki then forced Jenna to brandish her handgun, smashing it violently through the section of the glass Winona's head was pressed against. 

An emotion Winona had never felt before in her life took hold as she felt the cold metal of the gun's barrel slam into her forehead. Time began to slow as Jenna pulled the trigger.

"Huh? Wh- What's happening? Why is everything getting slow? I'm still alive. Yes, Aoi failed! She died, so I win! This woman's just an interference, she doesn't... doesn't... Why? Why do I feel so-" 

BANG! 

But Winona was never able to truly process that she was feeling fear for the first time in her life as the bullet blasted through her skull, killing her instantly. Her grip on the train's windshield vanished instantly as her body flew back a few feet before landing hard on the tracks and being run over by the train.  Her knapsack had miraculously slipped off her body before the impact, leaving it perfectly intact on the side of the tracks. But that was the least of Muki's concerns for the moment as the train was rapidly approaching the end of the tracks. 

"Fuck, my head's hurting. Jenna, stop this fucking train!" she ordered as she gave control back to Jenna. 

Jenna silently nodded and activated the train's breaks, causing sparks to fly as the train attempted to stop. However, it didn't stop in time and skidded off the tracks digging into the grassy earth outside of town before finally losing momentum and toppling over onto it's side. The jostling quickly roused Rosa, who screamed as she was thrown about, but she suffered no further injury. 

Jenna quickly fetched her and brought her out, staring at the skid marks the train had left. "Madam, my apologies. It seems it will be difficult to get this engine back to town." 

"Tch, we'll sort it out later. My head's hurting so gather up everything and haul it back to the lab," Muki ordered. 

"As you wish," Jenna nodded as Muki ended the phone call.