XI - The Mad Train Ride

Shien, Mivangeline, Elysia, and Enshiron gathered their healing items before arriving at the rocky outskirts of Tetrachrome. They hid behind the hills to prepare for their ambush once the samurai wartrain arrived. Meanwhile, Enshiron and Elysia watched in awe as Shien taught Mivangeline the Avian Form.

Mivangeline listened with interest when Shien helped her build foundational steps. She kept her knees bent for balance, redirected force instead of going head-on, used knees and elbows as powerful weapons, and punched correctly by using the knuckles for damage.

The most important lesson that stood out to the commander was the need to react to the opponent. This was similar to Mivangeline's learning curve in adapting strategies during battle. When Shien thought she was ready, he sparred with Mivangeline to test her. They parried with rolling punches and reacted to one another. Enshiron and Elysia enjoyed the live session.

"Avian Form: Woodpecker Beak Strikes!" Mivangeline closed her palms into beak shapes.

Shien countered with finger strikes. "Avian Form: Pitohui Stinger Strikes!"

The special strikes slowed Mivangeline's beak strikes, but the commander quickly countered with an elbow strike. "Avian Form: Toucan's Mace!"

The surprise elbow strike pushed Shien back, but he also adapted. Shien stood on his hands to aim a helicopter kick at Mivangeline.

"Avian Form: Cardinal's Talon!"

"Avian Form: Shoebill Thunderforce!" Mivangeline smashed a whirling fist against the powerful kick.

Shien backflipped up and tripped Mivangeline with a leg sweep. "Avian Form: Puffin's Foot!"

"Avian Form: Peregrine Landing!" The commander quickly stomped her foot, smashing a crater into the ground.

After Shien jumped over the fissure, he curled his index finger at Mivangeline, who did the same.

"Avian Form: Hummingbird's Tongue!" Both Shien and Mivangeline ended their spar with colliding finger strikes.

Enshiron and Elysia clapped their hands as the two martial artists bowed.

"Quite the performance, my dear comrades!" Enshiron wagged his tail with Elysia.

"You two were amazing!" Elysia twitched her fox ears in joy.

Shien and Mivangeline looked at each other and laughed. Another user of the Avian Form was born.

"Welp, looks like I've become a bird," Mivangeline joked.

"A pretty bird, too!" Shien jumped.

"Thank you, Shien," The commander checked on the time. "The train will arrive in a few seconds!"

The four friends took cover behind the hills as they heard the train whistle. The Dynastiotron hovertrain arrived as the android NPCs calculated. They watched the samurai musketeers and napalm ballistas guard the train as their warriors dug into the rocks, mining for crystals to please their Shoguness.

"Alright, this is it. Those ballistas are big trouble. Enshiron, I want you to snipe them down. The rest of us will focus on taking out the riflemen. The warriors will be easy to pick on once their ranged firepower is gone. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Commander!" The friends saluted.

While the musketeers watched their workers dig for colorful crystals, Enshiron was the first to sneak on top. He started hot, sniping the first ballista by aiming at its loaded napalm arrow. The artillery unit exploded as the samurai panicked.

Mivangeline, Shien, and Elysia took advantage of their disorientation. Elysia slashed the riflemen down within the smoke as Shien kicked them off the train. The commander sliced the musketeers in half with her katana as Enshiron kept up the pressure. The Dynastiotron warriors frantically aimed their ballistas at the intruders, but the Vulpi marksman blew them up before they had the chance to use them.

"We're on the way! Good work!" Mivangeline slashed a samurai down as the wartrain whistled.

The four friends held on as the hovertrain rumbled away, leaving their poor workers behind. They felt a heavy breeze when the train blitzed away from Tetrachrome at super speed.

"Let's keep our momentum!" Mivangeline ordered her friends. "We're doing great!"

With the napalm ballistas neutralized and the musketeers taken out, only the katana-wielding warriors remained. It was a quick lightning strike as Mivangeline calculated. As the party fought the last samurai on the train, they found a figure gazing at Shien. It was the hooded user of the Avian Form wearing a purple martial arts robe with a purple martin embroidery.

"Thalamoid," Shien growled.

"I've returned for our rematch as I've promised, Shien! And this will be a legendary duel!" Thalamoid pointed at her rival. "With your defeat, Isrina will recognize me! And you'll be nothing but a thought!"

"So that's the creep?" Elysia scowled at the droid with lightning bolt eyes and a respirator. "I see what you mean, Shien. She does look schizophrenic."

"I'm not! I'm real!" Thalamoid growled.

"Want a legendary duel?" Shien lifted his palms into position. "One where I kick your butt again?"

"You little thief, thinking you're entitled to Isrina's love! I'll bring Isrina your head as a gift to declare my place as her true child!"

"Aw, you're going to make me cry," Shien taunted. "Enough talk. Talk is cheap! Bring it!"

"Avian Form: Sandpiper Spear!" Thalamoid dashed at Shien, aiming a spear-like palm strike.

"Avian Form: Heron's Knee!" Shien countered the palm spear with a rock-hard knee.

While Thalamoid and Shien had their second duel, Mivangeline and the Vulpi friends saw another figure standing on the train with them. It was an android woman wearing a white suit and skirt covered with a black trench coat. She wore secret agent glasses and an earpiece coil.

"And so thou art Mivangeline. My destined foe to crush beneath mine own foot," SANDRA pulled her black hair back. "A dash of fate to see mine own enemy face-to-face, yes? But I'm afraid the humble treat I bestow upon thou heathen is eternal punishment!"

"So, you're SANDRA," Mivangeline readied her sword. "We're all escaping this game no matter what you and Maika do!"

"Such boldness from a shy, meek Christian singer as thou with the gall to spitteth at mine own holiness! Thou truly believeth thy voice may proclaim the Lord? To lead an army? To move mountains? Bleh! I think not! Saitori's faith in such an insignificant girl as thou maketh me laugh! For thou art a joke to me as the Lord spitteth at thy broken stuttering lips!"

Enshiron blinked. "This lady certainly has a way to say things."

Mivangeline huffed at SANDRA, unshaken by her insults. "You speak of the Lord, I see. And yet you deny that God uses the foolish to shame the wise. I don't think you know as much about the Lord as you think!"

The Machine Queen snarled.

"Blasphemy! Thy wretched blabbering hurt mine own ears! Thou darest claim the Lord would choose the lame over the righteous? If God chose one to serve him, it'd be one of royalty, a qualified vessel, a conqueror, one clean of transgressions!"

When the Dynastiotron samurai attacked SANDRA, the Machine Queen pierced her palm into each one. She turned the Dynastiotron into copies of herself. Now, there were many agents with dark glasses and earpiece coils, wielding tessen warfans.

"En garde, thou heathen!" SANDRA barked.

"Elysia! You and I will fight the agents head-on!" Mivangeline ordered. "Enshiron! You support us from behind! We'll protect you!"

"Yes, Commander!" The Vulpi friends saluted.

The SANDRA clones fought Mivangeline and Elysia, using Tessenjutsu against their blades. Enshiron fired wind arrows at the agents, blowing some off the train. Elysia's machete sprayed poison that stung the agents, sapping their HP. The agents opened and closed their tessens while they clashed with Mivangeline and Elysia's swords.

"Careful, Elysia! Those are warfans. If they catch your blade, they can cut it in half!" Mivangeline cut a SANDRA clone's arm off.

"Oh, great. That's fair!" Elysia kicked an agent onto another.

With Shien and Thalamoid fighting with rolling punches, Enshiron helped Mivangeline and Elysia battle the SANDRA agents with his wind arrows. Soon, the train rumbled to a screeching halt, making everyone tumble. Thalamoid toppled onto the SANDRA agents while Shien crashed onto his three friends. The samurai hovertrain arrived at the Dynastiotron village filled with red Minka houses.

"This is our chance!" Mivangeline pulled her three friends off the rubble. "Let's go to the boss before SANDRA and Thalamoid catch up!"

"Yes, Commander!" The three friends followed Mivangeline as quickly as they could.

SANDRA pushed Thalamoid and her other clones out of her way. "Thou fools! Killeth them!"

Mivangeline's party ran through the traditional village away from Thalamoid and the army of SANDRA agents. The Dynastiotron villagers rang their watchtower bells, calling their warriors and musketeers to repel the intruders within their territory. They charged at both SANDRA and Mivangeline's groups.

"The boss is in there!" Mivangeline pointed at the jade palace towering over the Minka houses. "Don't waste time with the enemies!"

Mivangeline, Shien, and Elysia slashed and punched their way past the Dynastiotron samurai. Enshiron shot the musketeers down while the friends rushed towards the jade palace. The SANDRA agents killed and converted the villagers into more clones as Thalamoid rushed ahead at Shien.

"Avian Form: Roadrunner Blitz!" The droid martial artist charged her head through. "You won't get away! I'll prove to Isrina who her real child is!"

"Avian Form: Shoebill Thunderforce!" Shien smashed his fist into Thalamoid's forehead.

Thalamoid felt dizzy, tripping into a villager's home. Soon, Mivangeline and her three friends arrived at the jade palace. After Enshiron quickly shot the musketeer guards, they opened the green boss doors.

"Thou shalt not enter!" SANDRA roared as her agents multiplied across the village. "Thou heathen hath no right to escape this game! Thus saith the Lord!"

The agents in trench coats charged through the Dynastiotron villagers. Mivangeline's party of four quickly shut the doors behind them, letting the SANDRA agents angrily knock on the locked door.

"Whew! That was close!" Elysia sighed.

Shien fist-bumped Elysia. "We all made it."

Enshiron shared healing potions with his three friends. "We're the best of comrades. Together, we're mighty dragonslayers!"

"Good work, at least Maika's agents can't interrupt our boss battle," Mivangeline checked everyone's HP bars to ensure they reached maximum.

The four blinked when the dark room was lit with red light. It was the familiarly large arena room decorated with grid patterns. The same type of arena where the party fought Dosigma and the royalmechs.

"Boss two of three," Elysia readied her machete. "I hope Phoenicia is safe. Are we ready, Commander?"

Mivangeline smiled at Shien, Enshiron, and Elysia. "God gave us everything we need. He will help us. Let's beat the Shoguness boss and save Phoenicia!"