//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Train to Berlin // Story: SuShi's Bizarre Adventure: Nugget Run Horizon // by Jojoleopard //------------------------------// Madam Greygourd sat in her own personal train car, scrubbing through magazine after magazine as she pondered on the latest fashions of the year. She had gone through the winter section and agreed with every single piece on it, which just made it all so much harder to decide on what to get. They were all just so good. “Confound it.” She beat a hand against a model wearing a long grey coat and an ushanka, then tossed the magazine at the window. “Why must there be so many choices?” She had been in need of a new winter coat for some time now, seeing as the one she had on had lost a bit of fur on the collar. And just earlier before entering the train, she had bumped into another woman, who left a little black smudge on her right coat pocket. It was an absolute disaster. “I didn’t come all the way from England to have someone put some dirt on my coat,” she grumbled and flipped through the next magazine. “Disgusting behavior is what it is.” There was a knock at her cabin door and she grumbled even more. She had specifically told the captain that she wasn’t to be bothered unless she rang her bell. At first, she tried to ignore it, hoping for whoever it was to just leave, but the knocking came again and again and again. Greygourd threw her magazine aside and stomped to the door, making her face look as irate as she possibly could before throwing it open. “What is it?!” But there was no one there. She looked left and she looked right, but other than an attendant pushing a food cart to the far left, there was no one else in sight. She was just going to let it be, but a skittering sound caught her attention and she looked down. She only had enough time to gasp as a pinkish creature the size of a football lunged up at her face, grabbing on hard with six spindly legs and a long rat’s tail, sending her sprawling back into her cabin as the door swung shut. ——-JO-JO—— “Fuchs this. The cake here tastes bad too.” Fuchsia Blush threw her fork into the air. “Why even bother? I’m never gonna be happy with the cakes on this journey.” “Guess that’s what comes of being raised by the baker extraordinaire, Pinkie Pie,” Prism sighed. “It’s going to be hard to find cakes that measure up.” “You think…?” Fuchsia ran a hand down her face. “It’s not so bad.” Summer put her phone down from her ear. “Just look at the sunnyside of life.” She had just ended a call with her mother and things back home seemed to be going alright. They were still getting the occasional Weather Alternate Stand master attack, but her mother was strong, and so were all their parents. They were taking care of this easy enough, and they were more worried about them. Weather Alternate had picked up on their plan relatively early in their travel and that just meant they would be pulling more resources to stop them from getting to Mount Fegel, leaving less for their parents to deal with, which Summer also felt was a relief. She didn’t want to worry if her mother was going to be caught off guard like with the Timber Spruce incident. Jojo sat in the corner, finishing up his homework for the week. He had already finished the bulk of it and he was only left with one worksheet for chemistry class. Summer didn’t know how he could focus on something like that. Her mind was constantly buzzing, thinking of all the ways things could go wrong as they made for Mount Fegel. “Hey, do you think anyone on this train is headed for the Nugget Run?” Prism nudged her to get her attention. “I did see some guys who looked like prospectors earlier. Like, they had the mining hats and pickaxes and everything. Not to mention the scruffy beards.” “We’re getting closer to the mountain now.” Sweetie Belle was flipping through a menu. “We’ll be seeing lots of people here for the Nugget Run. People like to get rich.” “I’d like to get rich.” Prism leaned back and placed both hands behind her head. “Maybe we could pick up a couple of nuggets before we complete our journey. Gipsy, what are you going to do once this is all over?” Gipsy Dance looked up from a book she was holding and blinked. “I do not know, Prism. I’ve been set on finding Eximus Exo for so long, I haven’t thought what I would do once I’ve found him.” “What stuff do you like to do?” Prism pointed at her book. “Reading? Maybe you can open a bookstore. They’ve got plenty of bookstores in Italy, right?” “They have plenty of bookstores everywhere…” Fuchsia slapped a hand to her forehead. “I can’t believe you just said that.” “How am I supposed to know?” Prism raised her hands defensively. “I’ve never been outside America. I don’t know what the rest of the world has.” “That’s called ignorance.” Fuchsia shook her head. “Yeah, well… This ignorance has a steady passing rate in college.” “That’s nothing to boast about. Ah, fuchs this. I’m going to go see their cake selection…” Fuchsia got up and swept out the doorway. Summer chuckled lightly at the squabble, then looked back out the window to watch the passing trees and fields. They had left the Netherlands about forty minutes ago and they had at least another three hours to go and the sky had already turned dark. She figured they should get some rest, but she didn’t know if she could. She leaned on her side, facing the window and she closed her eyes. In the blackness of her vision, she could see past Weather Alternate members sneering in her mind, telling her that their whole adventure was pointless and in vain. She could see the Nugget People, rising from their tomb and bringing the world to its sixth extinction. She could see their wide mouths as they grinned at her. She didn’t even know what they looked like and they could still mock her in her own mind. But then she saw the faces of her mother, of Rainbow Dash, of Jostle Joyride, of Pinkie Pie. They had been through their own adventure, they had been opposed every step of the way to the end and once they got there, they had done the impossible and they had defeated their great adversary. Her mother put her hand on her shoulder and gave her a firm squeeze. “You can do this, Sushi. You’re my daughter, and you’re stronger than you realize.” Summer nodded to herself and managed a smile at the corner of her mouth. Maybe she couldn’t sleep, but there was hope yet. -------JO-JO------- Madam Greygourd woke to the sound of tapping. The first thing she saw was the ceiling of her cabin and she rubbed at her eyes as she struggled to sit up. Her muscles felt weak, like she had just been through a triathlon. Her mind was hazy, but she remembered something had jumped at her, wrapping its appendages around her face. She had fought to get it off, but where was it now? She looked around, hoping it was a dream, but it was not to be. Under the seat on her right was a pink shape, long like a capsule, flipped upside down with its legs curled up to its chest and its tail spiralled around its body. One leg continued to twitch, tapping against the floor, making the sound that woke her. It didn’t look like any animal she’d ever seen in her life, but then again, her knowledge on wildlife was limited, seeing as she had never once needed to know anything about them. She prodded its side with one of her magazines on the floor, but it made no attempt to spin around and attack her again. It was truly dead, or at least, dying. “You deserve that.” Greygourd threw the magazine against it and scoffed. The creature’s attack on her had been for naught and now she would simply forget its existence as the train continued on to Berlin. She had come all this way for the Nugget Run and though she already had plenty of money, more wouldn’t hurt, especially if that meant she could keep others from acquiring more nuggets. She wanted it all, to have the riches of the world piled at her feet, to have the masses begging her for scraps, and even then, she would not give them any. She would let them suffer and she would watch them with a crooked grin on her face. Crack! A hand shot to her chest as her face morphed in agony. A small gasp escaped her mouth as pain flared across the inside of her chest. It felt as though something had pounded against her ribs. Reaching into her handbag, she grabbed a vial of pills and spun the cap off. In the stressful environment she had to live in, she had a history of heart trouble and she figured it must’ve been the constant struggle of having to put up with people who would dirty her attire, or strange creatures that wanted to attach themselves to her face. Putting a pill in her mouth, she grabbed a flask of water from the chair and undid the lid. Craaack! She spat the pill from her mouth and dropped the water all over the floor as both hands grasped for her chest. This time, the pain was greater and she found she was having trouble breathing now. “No… Not now…” She reached for the door handle. She had to get help. Craaack! “Aaaaah!” She screamed as another pound came, this time, shattering her sternum. She could feel it better now, the squirming of something inside her and it was threatening to break out. “H-Help! Help me!” She placed two fingers against the handle, but as she pushed the door open, there was another vicious crack and blood sprayed out against the door’s fine wood. Greygourd fell on her back as the pounding increased, faster and harder than before. Each pound let out a scream from her mouth and she had already lost sense of everything else. The pain was too great and after one more pound, her vision turned red as blood splashed against the ceiling above her. Something reached out of her chest cavity and she could see a pinkish arm with three fingers reach for the sky. After that, her head drooped to the side and she was gone. --------JO-JO------- “Did you hear that?” Gipsy Dance dropped her book and turned her head towards their door. “Hear what?” Prism looked between all of them and cupped a hand over one ear. “I heard screams. A woman.” Gipsy stood up and placed her ear against the door. Summer Shine tried to listen out for it, but from where she was, along with the train’s wheels against its rail, she couldn’t hear any screaming. “What do you think that could be?” Jojo put his homework away and sniffed. “Could be a robbery.” Sweetie Belle got up. “We should check it out. Someone might need help.” Gipsy was about to tell them she couldn’t hear anymore screams, but one pierced the air around them, forcing her away from the door. This one sounded close. Very close. Wasting no time, she swung their door open and looked down the hallway. At just the next cabin, the door was ajar, smashed into two and there was a woman halfway out the door, bloody and torn, her eyes frozen in a glassy gaze. Summer dashed out the door and saw the carnage, unconsciously raising a hand to cover her mouth. More screaming came from inside the cabin and she ran over to see a strange pink beast tearing into a man’s chest inside. It had a strange plated head and a ridged back and a tail like that of a rat thrashed in the air behind it, reaching as high as the ceiling. The beast itself was no higher than Summer’s thighs, but it looked no less intimidating. It turned from its meal and snarled. Its head had no eyes, but it had rows of irregular and very pointy teeth, stained red. In a fraction of a second, it had twisted itself around and was already off the ground, sailing towards Summer with its short stubby arms raised to the sides to tear into her. Pegasus Forever emerged from her and raised both arms to block the attack. The creature slashed against its armor, leaving grooves across it before landing on its feet and spinning in a circle, knocking its feet out from under it. Summer too lost her footing and fell on her back as the creature jumped on top of her Stand, roaring in its face before slashing repeatedly at its chest. Summer felt her own chest burn and she had Pegasus Forever punch up, freezing it in the air as it changed its energy, then punching it down the corridor with a second punch, transferring kinetic energy into it and sending it rocketing all the way until a bend in the path. It got up and skittered away, knocking down a fire extinguisher in the process, blanketing her view with white. “We’ve got an enemy Stand here!” She clutched at her wounds. “It’s quick!” Prism joined her outside and instantly covered her nose and mouth. “Gross!” Gipsy peeked out from the doorway and frowned. “My Stand will do no good here. It is too narrow for it to throw its weapons.” “I’ll go find it,” Summer volunteered. “The rest of you wait here. Jojo, in case it comes back, I’m leaving it to you.” “Right. Be careful, Sushi.” He gave her a nod. Summer slid the door to their cabin shut and proceeded down the corridor to the cloud of gas from the broken fire extinguisher. All along the way, all the cabin doors were open or destroyed and their occupants lay in there, partially eaten and long dead. Summer had to hold her stomach back as she witnessed the Stand’s carnage. Whatever it was, it seemed to need food, but Stands didn’t have hunger like normal people. This thing must’ve been eating for another reason. But what reason? Summer heard a hiss from ahead as she passed the steam. There was a clitter clatter of talons scraping against the train floor, followed by a growl. Wherever it was now, it was waiting for her to make the first move. She spread her feet further apart and darted her eyes along the corridor. This definitely wasn’t going to be easy.