Walking through the aisle, Zhang passes by a group of suited men. One of the men turns their gaze towards him, not recognizing him. However, the group moves on, releasing the pressure off of Zhang's chest.
He scurries through the luggage trying to find the one with the meteorite. Nothing, likely already been moved beforehand. He looks through all the hidden compartments, shelves, and everything that could hide a space rock. Nothing as well.
Entering through another car, he spots the seller arguing with his bodyguards, playing cards, and taking a drink or two.
"He is the seller, keep a close eye on him," Quincy Harlow orders. Acting calm, Zhang smoothly takes a seat, not drawing any attention to himself.
Meanwhile, Adam and Kiara wander through the corridor, passing through empty rooms and seats. Kiara notices how quiet Adam has gotten, not paying attention to any of the surroundings, just walking forward.
"You sure you're okay, Adam?" she asks, worried.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Adam says, turning around. "Why do you ask?"
"You just seem very quiet when I mentioned my parents," Kiara says.
"Oh, that," Adam chuckles, a little too quickly. "It's actually nothing."
Kiara stops mid-step, not convinced. "I can tell something's bothering you. It's in your voice."
"Because there is nothing to tell you," Adam exasperates, pretending to act unconcerned. Kiara quickly notices, but is suddenly cut off by the sounds of someone whistling. Turning their heads, they see a faint outline of a man walking into the next train car.
Oh no, the enemy is approaching fast.
Grabbing onto Adam's arm, they skedaddle into the nearest empty compartment. However, the man catches a brief glimpse of them suspiciously entering the room as if they were criminals trying not to be caught.
Adam catches his breath while Kiara runs her hands through her textured bangs, calming herself down.
Plopping himself on the cushioned bed, Adam stares through the curtained window, the mountains and large forests zipping right past them. "If you wanted to know, your parents just seem perfect, that's all."
"Is that it?" Kiara asks.
"I mean, you went on nature walks and to the beach whenever they were available." Adam chuckles, "They're the 'warm and fuzzy' type."
"My parents were not perfect, Adam," Kiara crosses her arms. "They wanted me to have a good time."
"Well then, that's good for you," Adam says, voice hitching and higher pitch. "I'm proud of you for that."
Kiara stares, hearing him build up more walls.
"I vote we skip this part already," Adam pushes back, smiling at her kindness. "Can we go back to finishing this mission? Maybe a thug can knock on this door right now."
A knock hits the door.
Adam and Kiara glance at each other as Adam opens the door. "Ollo."
A burly worker towers over Adam as he stares down the boy as if he had taken his lunch money. Adam presses his lips together, already regretting his words as he slowly closes the door. The worker grabs onto the door mid-close, acting like a final boss villain.
"May I ask who you kids are?" the worker inquires. "Are you even old enough to work here?"
"Hmm. Yes, maybe we are, maybe we're not," Adam lies, hands emphasizing his words for dramatics. "We're just two youthful adults preparing our duties. May you please leave my quarters so I can continue my private business?"
Kiara shakes her head nervously. "Yeah, this is our quarters."
Out of nowhere, the worker's arm grabs onto Adam's throat, constricting his airways. Reacting quickly, Kiara grabs onto the door and slides across the worker's forearm, making him wince in pain.
"Why you!" the man snarls, trying to pry the door off his arm, while still holding onto Adam's throat. Kiara holds onto the door handle, trying not to let him pull it back.
"He's got my neck. He's got my neck," Adam panics, trying to free himself from the stranglehold. "He's…not letting go."
Kiara tries to pry the man's hands off of Adam's neck, but it's like a pair of iron grips for fingers. They didn't even budge once.
Retaliating, Adam kicks his leg forward, but the man forcefully pushes it back to the ground, with both of his arms. Coiling his fist up, the worker knocks out Adam straight in the face, pushing him right back onto the couch.
"Bottle attack," Kiara screams, slamming the empty bottle onto the worker's arm. Using the distraction, she pushes the burly man back against the wall, as she grabs Adam's arm, scrambling away.
In a blind rage, the worker charges forward like a bull, chasing the two teens down the hall.
Still in a daze, Adam jumps onto a dining table, grabbing onto the roof's chandelier to propel himself forward, but since that's not how physics works, the chandelier's chain instead snaps, smacking him into the roof instead.
His body flops painfully on the floor like a tumbleweed. His opponent does not give him any time to recover, running up and aiming his fist low. Adam, noticing fast, quickly picks himself up, narrowly dodging a harrowing strike.
Adam's leg presses forward, spinning his body like a dreidel, arm outstretched. "This is getting really annoying now."
A black mist follows his arms, bursting up like mini exploding stars before his broadsword manifests right in his palm. Bringing the blade over his shoulders, he carves right through the space between him and Langford.
Too bad his opponent managed to get out of the way before that happened.
The worker repositions himself before pulling out a walkie-talkie from his jacket. "So you kids are Wardens?"
Suddenly, something grabs the walkie out of his hand, without him noticing.
"Baboosh," Kiara chants, meeting the worker in the eyes, as she glides right past him. Langford's head turns around from where Kiara came from— seeing that she must have propelled herself off one of the dining tables behind him.
Kiara, however, due to her trajectory, her body spun and crashed into another dining table.
"Give me back my walkie-talkie!" the worker barks, arm lunging forward for the device. Kiara instead does not give him the walkie-talkie, tossing it to Adam like a hot potato.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" Adam stumbles, throwing the device bullseye into the worker's face, breaking it into multiple pieces. With their opponent momentarily distracted, the two take an immediate tactical retreat—down the corridor.
Before the man reaches them, Kiara decides to do the classic mediation talk.
"Whoa. " Whoa," she raises her hands, breath ragged. "L-let's talk about this. You don't have to do this."
"It's not every day I get to beat up some kids," the worker smirks. "This is going to be a great way to relieve some stress."
Adam shifts his head back, clearly taken aback. Kiara stays frozen, not expecting that answer.
"What?" she says flatly, slightly disbelieving.
Just then, a train attendant slowly strolls her trolley cart, not noticing the carnage around her. Kiara, Adam, and the worker stop in their tracks as the woman restocks her snacks and drinks. Adam whistles as the female attendant notices the three standing perfectly still.
"Would you like some snacks?" the woman asks. "Chips? Nuts? Drink?"
"Yeah, I could do some chips," Adam says cautiously.
Kiara rolls her shoulders back. "Soda for me."
"I'm good," the worker answers.
As the female attendant hands Adam his chips and Kiara her cup of soda, she cautiously looks at the worker. "Are you okay, Mr. Langford?"
"These guys are infiltrators, by the way," Langford says, pointing directly at Kiara and Adam.
Kiara's eyes widen as she stops drinking from her cup, while Adam stops mid-pull, opening his chips. The attendant nods slowly as she leans down to pick something from her trolley cart. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the woman throws her arm up and brings down a serrated knife onto Adam.
Caught off guard, Adam blocks the attack with his chip bag. Crumbs fly everywhere, ricocheting off the countertops and floors.
"Ahh! She has a knife!" he screams out. He throws his chip bag in the air as the crazy woman slices through the plastic, spilling more crumbs.
"Oh, what the—" Kiara chokes on her soda, summoning out her daggers.
Langford sighs. "Yeah, she does that sometimes."
He cracks his knuckles, kicking the cart down the corridor before his body charges up for another punch. Meanwhile, in a different railcar, the seller furrows his brow, hearing something in the distance. "Did you not hear that?"
Many of the suited bodyguards stop what they're doing, trying to listen for…something. The room falls into a long silence as they hear faint grunts and yelling.
Did those two get caught already? Zhang grits his teeth, not believing the situation he is in right now. I just need to find where the meteorite is.
"No, I didn't notice anything," he lies, draping his legs. "Maybe it's just the wind."
"Are you sure?" the Seller inquires, not convinced. "I feel like I heard something about 'She has a knife'."
Zhang smiles, already knowing who exactly yelled that. He sucks in a breath. "I'm sure, sir, that nothing is going on. But mind if you tell me where the meteorite is being stored? It's best to make sure it's safe."
Adam's muffled screams echo into the meeting room. The room falls silent once more. Zhang takes a long, deep breath, his eyes clearly done with life. Outside the meeting room, Langford picks up Adam off the floor and throws him deeper into the train car.
His body rolls and tumbles on the carpet floor as it comes to an uncomfortable complete stop. Then, out of nowhere, the insane banshee lady jumps into the air with the jagged knife clearly aimed to stab his face. Adam's pupils dilate, turning his body just in time to avoid the blade that somehow penetrated the floor.
An inch before disaster. Adam gasps.
"Oh, that is just not right," he composes. Summoning his broadsword, he slashes above, trying to shake the lady off of him. The attendant pushes herself off the ground, scurrying on the floor like a lost cockroach. Adam stares utterly confused at the sight. "...Is this what trains are like?"
Langford's fist collides against Adam's face, sending his body crashing against the front of the trolley car.
Thinking randomly, he opens each compartment left and right, finding only plastic cups, soda bottles, and crushed ice. Langford charges forward, arm twisted back, ready to headshot Adam.
Grabbing a plastic cup, Adam scoops up the ice and swings it forward like a baseball. Langford's face and the ice collide with one another, the cold wildly stinging him. Kicking back his leg, Adam launches the cart forward, colliding against Langford as his body rolls and crashes into a wall.
"Woo, it all worked out just fine," Adam says, wiping his hands.
Meanwhile, Kiara jumps off a tabletop, locking blades against the crazy attendant lady.
"Lady, you don't have to kill us!" she screams out, before pondering on the thought. "Wait, why are you trying to kill us!"
The attendant doesn't answer, kicking her leg straight into Kiara's stomach. Momentarily clutching her stomach, Kiara watches the crazy lady raising the knife before drawing it down like a stinging hornet.
Noticing a pillowcase in one of the seats, Kiara grabs it just in time, halting the knife's momentum. With a sharp kick to the woman's shin, the attendant grits her teeth before Kiara lands an immediate smack to the woman's face, sending her flailing on the carpet floor.
"Sorry about that, ma'am," Kiara half-apologizes, shrugging her shoulders. "Also, not really. Maybe don't attack strangers on a train with a knife…have you thought of that?"
Making her way to Adam, she helps him against the larger Langford. Ducking his head, Adam watches a punch that collides directly against the overhead bins. Taking advantage of the situation, Adam swings his broadsword across the aisle, but Langford scurries back a few inches, narrowly being cut in two.
Lifting his head, he tilts his body as Kiara's dagger flies through the room, teleporting her behind her opponent. Weaving her body, she narrowly dodges a strike from Langford. Grasping the train car handle, she slides it wide open. A metallic screech echoes in the room as a suction of air narrowly drags Langford out of the train.
Getting low on her feet, Kiara snaps her leg against Langford's leg, whipping it back. Sweat beads down his temple. As the man stumbles on his feet, Kiara shoves him outside.
Langford lets out a faint scream before the whipping air grabs onto his body, sending him plummeting back.
Kiara exhales. Adam rolls his shoulders back, clutching the hilt of his broadsword.
"That wasn't half bad, actually," Adam compliments. "Good thinking."
"Yeah, it just happened, really," Kiara chuckles. "Side quest completed. Whatever that was supposed to accomplish."
Suddenly, the female attendant leaps forward, knife hand outstretched to kill. Her battle cry is loud, screechy, and demonic.
"Oh, what the—" Kiara screams, pushing Adam to the side. As they stumble out of the way, the attendant's eyes widen as she is now leaping through an open train door. Her eyes, once bloodlusted, now dilate, and the corners of her mouth move downward.
She slowly mouths the words: Oh no.
She momentarily locks gaze with Kiara. As her body leaves the train car, she disappears in a blur, flying through the air like a projectile. Adam presses his lips together and closes the train door. "Well, that was something."
He pats his hands together like he just finished a woodworking project. "Rest in peace, I guess." The two immediately high-five, congratulating themselves on their victory.
Kiara exhaled. "Did we win by accident?"
Adam drops himself on the carpet below him. "Yeah."