[Warbinger Returns Arc]

Chapter 12

Against All Odds

“Geoff?” His heart skipped a beat. “Man, is that you? What are you doing on the train?” His arms were around his friend before he could answer.

“Rick!” Geoff exclaimed. He looked awful. He was coated in dust and sweat and one sleeve of his uniform was missing—although Richard was missing both. “I was coming to save your ass, Mr Lost-in Another-World. What the hell are you doing on the train?”

“I was coming to save your ass from getting eaten by Warbinger.”

“I can’t even hug you back; there’s an alien on you.”

Richard laughed. “This is Sparlyset.”

“I am pleased to make your acquaintance, sir Geoff.” She held her hand up in welcome. “I am Sparlyset the Lightweaver and Richard’s romantic partner.”

“Rick’s what?”

“Romantic partner.” she repeated firmly.

Richard froze. He wasn’t bothered by the sudden declaration—he liked Sparlyset quite a lot—but they had never discussed it. He was worried about what Geoff would think.

Geoff met Richard’s eyes and leaned forward. His voice lowered as if somehow Sparlyset wouldn’t hear him. “I don’t know if time passes differently on Oval, but on Earth, man, it’s been like six hours.”

“Feels more like six days.”

“You got me there,” he shrugged. What have you been through?” Geoff asked.

Richard was relieved he dropped the subject. “Lot of walking uphill. Through the train tunnel. Sparlyset was with me the whole way. Almost died from some alien diseases. And so many of these things… like bulbsprouts.”

Geoff squeezed his shoulder. “I’m sorry man, I know you hate those bulbsprouts.”

“Yeah they tasted just like when you make them.”

“That bad?”

Richard laughed, but his mood changed when he noticed a burn on Geoff’s arm. “How did that happen?”

“Husky Tantrum. We’ve been dancing with Warbinger all morning.”

Richard pulled his first-aid pack out. “Let me get that.”

The tram exited another tunnel into the Game Car, a casino district. It had a single main road divided into blocks, and all of them were plastered with neon signs and obnoxious lights. The tram shook, and Richard’s first thought was that one of those fat birds had died and been left on the tracks.

While he was disinfecting and bandaging Geoff’s wound, another figure appeared out of thin air next to Geoff. She was a blue puren woman, much taller than Sparlyset. Goeff looked at her with confusion, and he and Sparlyset spoke simultaneously. “Lamet?”

Lamet cocked her head so her long ear touched her shoulder and she narrowed her eyes. “Sparlyset?”

“Well that covers introductions, I guess.” Geoff shrugged.

“This is the one I mentioned, Richard.” she said, pointing at Sparlyset. “As you can see by her position on your friend’s back, she cannot walk.” She met his eyes and added, “A pleasure to meet you,” as an afterthought.

“Yeah I remember,” Geoff said.

“Is that a problem for you, Lamet?” Richard glared. The thought of people mocking Sparlyset for her flaws was beginning to make him shake.

Lamet raised her chin to look down her nose at him. “I only said I was unsure whether a girl who lacks the use of her legs was suitable for battle,” she replied, her tail beginning to twitch.

Richard was relieved. It was a valid concern. He wanted to be able to trust Lamet if they were going to work with her, and she didn’t seem as disagreeable as her brother. She would see soon enough how capable Sparlyset was.

“She has already stabilised whatever is going on with that tunnel.” Richard explained. “Enough for us to board the train at least. Apparently there were issues with that earlier, where a team jumped off and they didn’t all come out in the same place.”

“That sounds like progress,” Geoff said. “I wonder if that helped us get on too. We were sent by Gunhilda Winding herself, backed by the authority of President Jasmine. I guess you don’t know what happened in Hometoll… Well Warbinger is eating it, and Jasmine has signed off on detonating the Final Cross. Except… “ he trailed off and looked to Lamet for help.

“He has eaten it.” she said bluntly. “Our only hope is the Lightweaver, and I admit, despite my hesitation I am glad to see Sparlyset if she has completed the Rite of Light.”

“I have.” she said proudly.

Lamet presented her palm upwards.

“I need the train’s computer to get it out of its loop.” Geoff explained.

“I take it your orders came with a lot of instructions.” Richard laughed. Geoff preferred a good set of instructions.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Should be simple. Take the tram to the locomotive, plug in the card…”

The train suddenly shook. The power flickered, sending a wave of dark across them. The tram popped off its rails and skidded to a screeching halt in a shower of sparks. The lights continued flickering momentarily before the shaking subsided and the train returned to relative normal.

Geoff helped Lamet off the floor. He nodded his head down towards the conductor. Richard followed him through the three cars to where the conductor sat crooked in the slanted tram, struggling to undo his seatbelt. Geoff clicked it off and the short conductor stepped down with a hand on the door lever. The doors swung open with the crunch of broken glass.

He pulled the radio off the conductor’s belt and tossed it to Richard, who caught it with one hand. They all stepped out onto the sidewalk.

The radio had a talk button, like he was used to, but the main face just held a large dial for the different channels. He set it to ‘LOCOMOTIVE’. “Locomotive this is Richard Elliot, Hometoll Defence Force, calling from the Game Car. Can you tell us what that crash was?”

“W-” the radio buzzed. “What car?”

“Game car, number eight. There was a pretty bad crash or something.”

“W… felt that up here. Came from behind the locomotive. T… ing… check it out.”

The air started to vibrate. A chittering noise so quiet that Richard wasn’t sure he was hearing it intruded in the back of his thoughts.

Geoff’s eyes went wide. He grabbed the radio. “Do not check it out! Conductors, stay where you are. Remain quiet and keep away from doors and windows!”

“That quiet yet prevalent chatter in the distant corners of my thoughts… it cannot be Warbinger’s laughter?” Sparlyset rubbed her ears.

“It is, and though we have not discovered its purpose we have noticed it grow louder as Warbinger has grown in strength.”

“The ancient knowledge in my tomes describes the laughter’s purpose as twofold; steep minds in fear, and then see transparently into them.” Sparlyset added.

“So it reads our minds?” Richard asked.

“Only if you permit your fear of him to decide your actions.” she clarified.

Geoff called the locomotive again. “Is there a tram that can take us up from eight to one? We rode out of ten but it got derailed.”

“Who did you say you…”

“Richard Elliot and Geoff Friction, HDF. If you need an emblem number for the record it’s 4444.”

“HDF, the trams are in Little Hometoll… can’t reach conductors.”

“Damnit,” Geoff cursed. “It’s eating the radio here too.”

“At least we know his presence here is weak,” Lamet said, trying to sound reassuring. “Or their voices would not come through at all.” The wide downward arcs her tail made as it swished around told Richard she was impatient to be moving.

He looked at the signs overhead, flashing advertisements in every colour to seduce patrons. The bright tunnel ahead seemed drab by comparison. “Let’s go.”

The next car was called Old Hotel Town, and the conductor had decided to come with them. The major difference Richard noticed was that in Old Hotel Town, the hotels reached the full thirty-metre height of the train, with few leaving space for the rooftop gardens Hotel Town had. It was denser with all the buildings leaving room for only narrow walkways along the road, designed to pack as many paying customers in as they could. Not like the spacious Hotel Town for the richer folk.

There were also very few shops, he noticed. The closest he saw were for restaurants renting space in the hotels themselves. The streets had none at all, and with everyone kept inside it felt surreal. It was a claustrophobic and unsettling imitation of a city street.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Rick,” Geoff suddenly said, tossing the radio into the air. “I’m tired of these things, you call up.”

Richard raised his arm. As soon as he intended to reach for the radio, a shimmering projection of his hand flashed out and grabbed it firmly. It flashed again and the radio was in his grip.

“Excuse me?” Geoff said, his mouth agape. Richard was as surprised as he was. He hadn’t even intended to use it, it simply responded to his thoughts. The artefact was cold against his wrist.

Lamet simply said, “Ooh.”

Geoff blinked and shook his head. “So while we were out there getting blasted by earth, wind, and fire, you were in Oval eating lunch, taking naps, picking up girls and playing with toys, huh?”

“I didn’t even tell you about lunch.” Richard said. Then it struck him. “Oh, you meant the sprouts. Those were riteseeds.”

“Riteseeds? Like the Rites? Rite of Tongues? You got Rites, Rick?” Geoff shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “I only get to pretend to have the Rite of Tongues for a day. You got the real thing?”

“If Richard performed the Rite of Tongues, I am surprised he is not still bedridden. Though, as the only one in Mount Flange with the Rite of Sharing I am not surprised.” Lamet said. “I spared you incredible discomfort by Sharing mine with you instead of performing that Rite.”

“Magic Rick, huh. Are you casting spells too? Lightning and shit?”

“Don’t be mad Geoff. Besides, you’ve got your MGS with you. I bet it was satisfying as hell blowing chunks out of Warbinger with that thing.”

“Oh I got him good,” Geoff laughed. He loved that gun, and it had been a long time since he got to use it. “And he doesn’t stay down, so I got him again.” He sighed. “Kinda stopped being fun after that.”

Richard threw his arm around Geoff’s shoulder and squeezed him. He looked at the radio in his hand, and the bracelet around his wrist. “I still don’t know how this thing works, I never really tried to use it. It was given to me as we left the village by an elder named Coremet. Your mother, Lamet?”

She flicked her tail. “My grandmother. How old do you think I am?”

Richard let down his arm and shrugged. “I don’t guess people’s ages. Getting older is sensitive for a lot of people.”

“Forty.” Geoff blurted. “And I'm guessing Sparlyset is like twelve, going by her size and knowing Richard’s luck. Finally gets a girl to like him and…well. I hope I’m wrong.”

“Did you even look at me when you made that guess?” Lamet’s tail coiled behind her like it was ready to lash out and her hand balled into a fist. “And… girl-friend? What did you do, Sparlyset?”

Sparlyset ignored Lamet and focused on Geoff’s insult. “I know little of human development, but among purens you would not find such a bountiful bust as mine upon the chests of children yet uncursed by the trials of puberty.” Her arm waved around beside Richard’s head as she pointed accusingly at Geoff, causing her chest to press against his back.

He looked at Lamet to divert his attention as she slapped her tail against the ground. “I am thirty, and Sparlyset is twenty, though I do not know how that translates to human age.”

“The races of the Eight Worlds are all possessed of centennial lifespans.” Sparlyset said.

“We’re twenty-six.” Richard said. “And you should know that Geoff doesn’t believe in asking people their age, so he makes absurd guesses to trick them into telling him.”

‘Don’t call me out.” Geoff chuckled. “And Lamet, I think your Rite of Sharing is running out. It doesn’t seem to work on Sparlyset.”

“Sparlyset speaks with ancient mannerisms. She can usually be understood, if you angle your ears the right way.”

“All right.” Geoff said. “So she is old enough for Rick, but she’s weird.”

Richard used the Grasping Glove to grab a bottle off the ground that someone had carelessly discarded, and then shot it back out to deposit it in a trash can across the street. “Good range,” he said to himself.

“Rick, I’m trying to tease you and you’re not even listening.”

“I thought it was funny.” Lamet smirked.

“Oh yeah,” Richard tossed the radio from his left hand to his right, “If you guys are done arguing I can make that call.”

Goeff leaned with his hand up on Richard’s shoulder. “Set it to ‘STAFF 4’,” should be management on that channel.

Richard wondered why Geoff even bothered to give him the radio just to lean over his shoulder, but he set the channel to STAFF 4 anyway.

“Get the…!” a voice shouted. “Seal the tunnel!” a crash and heavy breaths followed. Richard adjusted Sparlyset on his back and sprinted ahead.

As the others followed he heard Geoff shout behind him, “Do you have more of those spells, Lamet?”

“No,” she answered. “I used my last Horizon Bound to board the train!”

A second voice came on the radio. “It’s still getting through! … what?” Another crash followed.

They ran through the tunnel into Little Hometoll while desperate cries and frightened shouts erupted from the radio. The car was designed after a shopping district with all the amenities one could want from the big city. Shops and restaurants, a movie theatre.

People were dashing through the streets, shoving each other in a frantic bid for safety, everyone panicking to the point of barbarism. A few train staff called directions uselessly into the chaos.

“Damn,” Geoff said, “It wasn’t this bad even when you left, Rick.”

Richard tucked the radio into his pouch, but he left it on. “Look cool and back me up, Geoff,” he said.

Geoff tore open his uniform jacket, releasing a cloud of dust into the air and revealing his muscled chest. With a shrug of one shoulder the MGS swung around into his hand.

“Cover your ears, Sparly,” Richard said. He pulled his pistol out of its holster. The crowd struggled towards them. The echo of gunshots ricocheting in the distance spurred them on. Richard pointed his pistol in the air. It was nothing like the rockets and explosives the Pillars used, or even Geoff’s micro-grenade shotgun. But it was his gun, and it did what he needed.

He fired the Painkiller, and its bang announced the Warning Shot. The sound brought hesitation to the crowd, and when the shot hit the ceiling it split and rained down a shower of relatively harmless pellets that sparked and banged loudly enough to seem real.

He strode towards them, pistol in the air. “Listen up,” he yelled. “Hometoll Defence Force is here! Proceed to the rear of the train in an orderly fashion! You have a responsibility to look out for your fellow man! Anyone who fails to do so may have charges pressed against them!

There is nothing to fear, Hometoll Defence Force is here!”

His confident declaration staggered the crowd, but they kept moving, showing more confusion now than raw fear. Good enough. The train staff stepped up with directions, and finally managed to bring a sense of order to the fleeing crowd. While Geoff and Lamet helped up those who had fallen, he repeated the call until most of the fleeing citizens were behind him, and then holstered his gun and picked up the radio.

“This seems to…” a voice said. “D…t seem to be able to get any farther.” He could see what they were talking about now. Dark ooze soaked the wall, and where the tunnel into the next car should be an enormous hand thrashed around grabbing for people. LT Security were firing pistols at it, but it ignored the bullets like specks of dust.

Signs of the sudden panic were scattered everywhere in the street. Discarded food and drink, broken handbags and toppled waste bins. More than one restaurant had broken windows. He was glad not to see any stragglers though.

As they approached, two eyes as big as cars appeared on the wall. Warbinger’s Laughter was loud enough to interrupt his thoughts now, if he wasn’t careful. Don’t let it scare you.

A woman jogged up to them. Her navy-blue uniform had a tag that read ‘Jennifer’ on it. “H-HDF? Oh thank goodness.” She was sweating heavily. “We put a call out hours ago asking if there was anyone on the train who could help…” she trailed off looking at Lamet and Sparlyset.

“You’re a manager?” Richard asked.

“I–yes.”

“This monster appeared in Hometoll, mixed us up with an alien world, and now we’ve joined forces to kill it. We’re not from the train. Magic and technology have brought us here to finish it.” The lady’s eyes widened as he spoke.

“Can you Banish it from here?” Lamet asked Sparlyset.

“This is merely Warbinger’s finger, prodding where it is unwelcome.”

Lamet bit her lip. “Then perhaps you should preserve your strength. Is there another way?”

Geoff translated for Lamet and Jennifer responded, “That depends… what are you trying to do?”

“I have something from Mrs. Winding that needs to be brought to the caboose, ASAP. It’ll get the train out of its loop.”

“There’s no way…” She shook her head frantically. “Not without going through The Multistadium. But the entire thing is wrapped up in this black goo. The whole car…”

“Did everyone make it out?” Richard asked.

She shook her head.

“How many are on the other side?”

“I don’t know.” She flinched as the LT Security guards fired into the thrashing arm. “H-hundreds? There are a lot of employees on that side, especially in Processing and Farming.”

Richard hung his head, trying to think of an answer. There had to be a way around. He refused to believe they would just be stuck here until the end. “Any ideas, Geoff?”

“You’re asking me?”

“Are you not the one who deciphers meaning when little is known to elicit a clear conclusion?” Sparlyset said.

Richard sighed. “I told her you have everything figured out. Compared to me you really do. What about the MGS? How many shots do you have?”

“Not enough.” His downward gaze spoke to the struggle he must have faced battling Warbinger without him while he was on Oval. “What about from the outside? Is there a way onto the outside of the car?”

“You would have to be out of your mind to go outside the train while it’s going this fast.” Jennifer said sadly, “Someone tried it earlier.”

“Well Chrisk Bonnair is back, if that’s who you mean, and when we stop this train we’ll find the others too.”

“Well…” She sounded relieved. “I don’t know how that happened, but if you say so.”

“We’ll need the tethers that maintenance sometimes use when working on the outside.” Geoff suggested.

“Alright, this way then.” She led towards the corner of Little Hometoll where a tower rose into the ceiling. “Built into the roof of each car are the maintenance shafts, and each corner has a hatch to the outside. From up there, you’ll find everything you need. There is one maintenance crew member there, I’ll let him know you’re coming.”

“If you can get a message through, can you warn everyone to get to the back of the train?” Richard said. “Everyone on this side of The Multistadium at least. If anyone is left on the other side… we’ll do what we can.”

“What are you going to do?” Jennifer crossed her arms nervously.

“We’re just going to get the train out of this loop,” he replied. “But honestly, I don’t trust it to stay on the rails when we do.”

She blanched.

Richard set Sparlyset down. There was no way—or point—to take her with him. Lamet couldn’t carry her, so she would need her Floating Disc.

“Return to me,” she commanded. Her stern look told him there was no room for argument.

“I will.” He had no intention of getting killed, but he knew Sparlyset was worried about his fear. Geoff was too, it was written on his face. “I’ll be fine. You two better be waiting for us in Caboose Park when we get there.”

The tower was really just a pair of elevators with a supply room at the bottom. They rode the cramped lift into the ceiling, where the halls were just as lacking for space. The scent of grease and smoke irritated his nose. They were greeted by a tidy man in the green maintenance uniform.

“You two are out of your minds,” he said. “Absolutely insane. We don’t go out there without scaffolding or a lift, and that’s when the thing’s stopped.” He slammed open a locker and tossed two harnesses at them. “Put those on first. When you think they’re tight enough, make ‘em tighter.” He stuck a key into a panel on the wall while they figured the harnesses out.

Richard found himself wondering whether this sort of harness would be useful for holding Sparlyset on his back. Anything had to be better than that sheet. He tugged it around his shoulders. It was tight, but with her weight on the thin straps he bet the sheet would actually hurt less.

The panel held coils of cable inside. The crewman hooked them each to a separate spool, and then connected them to each other. “A hundred and twenty metres of cable here. It’s enough to get you past The Multistadium just barely. The sides of the cars have plenty of places to hold, but if you can handle the wind you’re better off staying on top. Climb between the cars, and jump across to the next one.” He eyed Geoff up and down. “You look athletic enough to do it. And since you have a radio, you can try to reach me on ‘MAINTENANCE 2’, you might need to if you get too much slack cable.”

“Understood. Thank you…” He read the man’s name tag. “Hoffman.”

“You’re out of my hands now. Try not to make a mess out there.”