Fighting the Fake Vampire

The duo walked to the front of the train, passing through the nearly empty restaurant car. The Old Mobster was with two henchmen, getting ready to return to their rooms, and he glared at the Illusionist with hatred. Setting that aside, he continued his journey with the Vampire, without encountering either the Criminal or the Cowboy as they reached the storage room. They went past everyone's luggage until they reached the room with the mirrors, where he imagined the Fortune Teller's body would be.

He investigated the place, occasionally removing the fabric in front of a mirror and ended up seeing something very strange. In addition to his own reflection that always brought forth strong emotions, he saw the Vampire's clothes floating in the mirror, as if there was no one there.

"So, you have no reflection, interesting," the Illusionist said, making sure not to appear in the mirror himself.

"Some myths are true. Just don't tell Cowboy."

"And photos? Is that why you only took a photo of the Noble?"

The Vampire was now surrounding a white cloth and seemed certain of what was there, sniffing the air carefully.

"That was his idea, but yes, I can't appear in mirrors or photos. Are we doing this?"

The Illusionist approached, tapping his foot twice and touching her shoulder. He did not want to see her corpse again, but it wouldn't be necessary. The Vampire sniffed the air attentively.

"So?" he asked.

"It's subtle and there are many other scents here, but there's definitely something strange."

"Could you identify it in the presence of others?"

"Maybe, but I'd have to be very close, probably inside the room with the poison."

The Illusionist began to think about how they would do that when he felt the Vampire's hand on his shoulder.

"We better head back, or people will start spreading rumors about us."

He accepted the suggestion, and they returned. Now in the second class car, the Illusionist wanted her to track in the Criminal's and Cowboy's rooms, but it didn't seem like the right moment. That's when they heard sounds coming from the first class car.

The two ran and saw a figure over the bodies of three henchmen, while the fourth one was completely terrified but still trying to confront the figure.

With a punch, the figure knocked him down and turned to the duo entering. They could see the being; it wore a helmet that covered its entire face, resembling a metallic skull, and a long black cloak that covered the rest of its body.

They didn't wait, and the battle began; if they captured him now, everything would be resolved. However, the problem was that the enemy thought the same and advanced against them. He tried to attack the Illusionist, but the Vampire defended him, holding off the attacker with her vampiric strength.

"He's strong!" she said, struggling to hold him.

The Illusionist moved in, showing agility, leaped over them, and tried to remove the metallic helmet. But the enemy turned, hitting him and throwing him to the back of the car.

In terms of strength and speed, the assassin and the Vampire seemed evenly matched, and the Illusionist realized he would need tricks to win this. He drew cards from his sleeve and hurled them at the enemy, cutting pieces of the cloak, but upon hitting him, they heard metallic noises.

The assassin got distracted, and this was the Vampire's golden opportunity. She kicked him in the chest, sending him flying, almost next to the Illusionist. They heard another noise, something metallic being thrown as well and hitting a wall, but they were in too much danger to figure out what it was.

The assassin tried to attack the Illusionist, but when he turned toward him, the Illusionist was on the opposite side, pulling a rope from his sleeve and tying it around the assassin's right arm.

"I need help!" the Illusionist cried, and the Vampire rushed over at an impressive speed, gripping his left arm. Now the enemy was nearly immobilized, but he still had strength and managed to strike the Illusionist with what seemed to be metallic claws, causing four light cuts on his chest. Letting go of the right arm, he violently pushed the Vampire against the car's wall, shattering some windows and almost throwing her out.

He didn't stop to finish off his enemies and ran toward the front of the car, almost as fast as the Vampire, while the duo tried to regain their balance.

"He's escaping!" the Illusionist shouted, gathering his strength to follow. The assassin opened the door and entered the second class car while the others ran to catch up.

When they opened the door, they were met with another person and no sign of the assassin. Cowboy seemed to be running toward them, revolver in hand, and he quickly aimed at the two.

"What happened?" he asked, ready to shoot if he didn't like the answer.

"What do you mean? You didn't see the..." The Illusionist pondered how to tell Cowboy without becoming the enemy. "The Vampire just entered this car!"

No one was more surprised than Cowboy himself, looking around.

"I don't see anything!"

Indeed, there was no one else there. Even though the assassin was quick, was it possible for him to have gone unnoticed?

"What were you doing?" the Vampire asked.

"I heard chaos in the car ahead and went to see what was happening. And you two? How do I know you're not the vampires and made up this excuse to appear innocent?"

The Illusionist feared for the Vampire; if Cowboy discovered her identity, he might try to kill her before finding out the truth.

"If we wanted to kill someone, we could. There was no one there capable of stopping us, but we didn't kill because we were chasing the real killer!" the Illusionist risked, showing the fallen henchmen through the open door.

For the moment, that seemed to be enough for Cowboy, especially with the scars on the Illusionist's chest.