CHAPTER 13 — THE TRAIN THAT SHOULDN'T EXIST
The basement rumbled like something enormous was clawing its way through the earth.
Adrian stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Adriana, while Stormbreaker Adrian and Warblade Adriana flanked them. The air crackled with blue electricity and crimson heat—two main twins, two alternates, each radiating their own power signatures. Behind them, the remaining eight alternate versions formed a protective ring around the dimensional portals, blades drawn, eyes burning with multiversal resolve.
The floor trembled again.
But this time… the sound was rhythmic.
Ch—ch—ch—ch—CHHHHK.
Like steel rolling over steel.
Adriana stepped forward, crimson eyes narrowed.
"…That sounds like a train."
Stormbreaker Adrian tilted his head. "We're fifty meters underground. There shouldn't be tracks."
Blue sparks rippled across Adrian's palm. "Not unless something made them."
A harsh whistle shrieked through the basement—an echo that didn't belong in any normal acoustic space. A sound of rusty metal, tortured wheels, and something else… something alive.
A cold wind slammed through the portals, extinguishing every torch flame along the walls, leaving only the glow of dimensional rifts and the warriors' own auras to light the cavern.
Then they heard it—
A long, dragging, metallic howl.
SKREEEEEEEEEE—!!
A rail split through the stone floor, ripping open the ground like a wound. A set of spectral tracks materialized from thin air—glowing with infernal red sigils. The dimensional energy in the room twisted violently, all 10 portals flickering as though in fear.
Warblade Adriana unsheathed her crimson-forged blade. "This is the Demon Queen's work."
A ghostly train burst from a tear in reality, its massive frame phasing into existence with screeching sparks. Its engine was a monstrous skull of molten iron, and its sides were covered with writhing, tormented faces pressed into the steel like they were trapped beneath the surface—screaming silently.
The train slowed, steam hissing out like breath from a dying beast.
The doors slid open with a sharp clang.
A voice echoed from deep within the cars—feminine, ancient, dripping with malice.
"Enter.
Your destiny rides with me."
Adrian's blood froze.
"That's… the Demon Queen."
Stormbreaker Adrian grinned, electricity sparking from his fingertips. "Then let's go meet her."
Warblade Adriana stepped beside him, crimson aura blazing up her arms like molten veins. "Only four of us. The rest must defend the portals. Once we board, there might be no coming back."
Blue Adrian nodded. "Agreed. The Queen wants us specifically. We take the fight to her."
Main Adriana inhaled slowly—steadying her fear.
"Then… we're doing this together."
The four stepped onto the train.
The moment their feet crossed the threshold, the doors slammed shut behind them, sealing them inside as the train jerked violently forward.
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THE HALLWAY THAT CHANGED
Inside, the train was nothing like what they expected. It wasn't old—or rusty—or haunted. It was worse.
The hallway stretched infinitely in both directions, lined with flickering lanterns that cast shadows that didn't match their owners. The air smelled like burnt paper and rotting wood. Each door along the corridor pulsed with a heartbeat.
Literally.
Adrian placed a hand on one. It felt warm… and alive.
Warblade Adriana grabbed his wrist. "Don't touch anything unnecessary. This place feeds off curiosity."
Stormbreaker Adrian strode ahead, lightning dancing off his shoulders. "The Demon Queen hides at the engine. We reach it, we strike first."
But the train disagreed.
Because the floor suddenly tilted. The hallway warped. Doors shifted positions. Like the entire structure was rearranging itself to confuse them.
Adriana summoned her crimson aura, anchoring herself. "She's trying to separate us!"
And then—
Every door creaked open.
Every one.
Out stepped things that looked like them… but weren't.
A dozen corrupted versions of Adrian and Adriana—twisted by demonic influence, eyes black, mouths full of needle-teeth, bodies twitching unnaturally like puppets pulled by rotten strings.
Stormbreaker Adrian cracked his neck.
"Finally. A warm-up."
The monsters lunged.
---
THE BATTLE IN THE CORRIDORS
Stormbreaker blurred—vanishing into blue lightning. He reappeared behind three corrupted Adrians, kicking one so hard it turned to ash mid-air. His fist split the next one's skull like brittle glass. The final one swung an axe-hand downward—Stormbreaker caught it with his bare hand.
"Too slow."
Blue electricity surged from his grip, blowing the creature into the wall.
Meanwhile Warblade Adriana had already bisected two corrupted versions of herself. Her blade carved crimson arcs through the air as she spun, sliced, and crushed every enemy daring to approach.
Main Adrian stepped forward, blue aura erupting into flames around his fists. He struck the ground—
BOOOM!
A shockwave of azure fire blasted down the hallway, incinerating four corrupted twins instantly.
Main Adriana thrust her hands out, summoning the crimson aura that flowed like liquid fire.
"SCARLET NOVA!"
A wave of burning red energy swept forward, swallowing everything in its path.
But for every corrupted twin destroyed… two more crawled out of the endless doors.
Stormbreaker grimaced. "They're infinite."
"No." Warblade Adriana glared down the shifting hallway. "They're buying time. Keeping us from reaching the Engine Room."
Adrian clenched his fist. "Then we break through."
He grabbed Adriana's hand.
"Together."
Stormbreaker Adrian placed a hand on Adrian's shoulder.
"We'll follow your lead."
Warblade Adriana lifted her sword.
"Let's burn this nightmare to the ground."
The four warriors ran forward.
The train fought back—twisting, reshaping, trying to trap them—but their combined power tore through door after door, creature after creature, distortion after distortion.
Flames. Lightning. Steel. Crimson devastation.
The hallway finally broke open.
They reached a massive iron gate engraved with demonic sigils.
Behind it…
The engine.
---
THE ENGINE ROOM REVEALED
The massive gates parted with a metallic shriek.
The engine room stretched out like a cathedral carved from bone and steel. At its center, a colossal furnace belched black fire—fuels by thousands of glowing soul-orbs swirling inside like trapped stars. Chains hung from the ceiling, clanging with the train's motion.
But the true horror stood at the control pedestal.
A towering demon.
Clad in a shredded version of their school uniform.
Skin charred black and glowing with molten cracks.
Horns spiraling like twisted blades.
Claws dripping with liquid fire.
It slowly turned toward them.
And when its eyes opened—
Blue.
Adrian's exact blue.
Adriana's breath caught.
"…No. No, that's—"
Adrian stepped back, shaking.
"That's me."
Stormbreaker stared in shock.
"That's… a corrupted version of Adrian from a destroyed timeline."
The demon's jaw unhinged, revealing rows of serrated teeth.
It growled Adrian's name—
"…Aaaadriaaaan…"
The furnace roared.
The train shook.
And the corrupted Adrian lunged.
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