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Katawa ChooChoos 2 : Dark Days at Yamaku



She always knew painting was special. All art was special in this place, but painting was by the far the most special. This picture felt different from the others she had been told to make. Maybe it was because all of her friends had just died and that strange new boy had exploded, who knows. Whatever the case may be; she was nearly done. As Rin put the finishing touches on the reds of the eyes of the thing she had been painting, the air around the painting started to warp and bend towards it. She didn’t notice it, she was far too absorbed into her work. It had to be perfect, this commission was far too important to mess up. It had to look scary yet approachable with a frightening gaze. The eyes were the most important part, the commission stressed them in great detail. Finishing up, her thoughts wandered for a moment back to how her friends were suddenly taken from her, how their time together had passed like a bullet train. It was still too fresh in her mind to register entirely. As she was trying to sort through her feelings she was suddenly pulled back from her thoughts as she noticed something odd about the newly created painting. All she managed to say was “Hm” before she was sucked through the eyes of the painting into an entirely new world.


Today had been an incredibly long day for Misha. Shizune had demanded that the student council office was to be cleaned and Misha ended up having to do it alone since Shizune was swayed into helping Hisao learn sign language. It was good that he was learning but she still couldn’t shake the feeling that she was getting thrown to the side and ignored more and more since he showed up. She shook her head, drills flailing around in the cool night air, and cleared her mind of those sorts of thoughts. “There’s no way my Shicchan would forget about me! Especially not for a guy, we made a promise about that when we first met.” Feeling content with her reasoning, and happy that she had gone to the roof for a breather, she opened the door and made her way down the stairs. As she passed the door to the hallway of room 3-3 she heard a strange sound. She could have sworn that she heard…..a train whistle? “No that can’t be, the closest train tracks are over a hundred miles away” she thought. Out of curiosity she opened the door. She heard the whistle again, this time accompanied by the sound of wheels. It was closer now. Choo. Choo. “I must be more tired than I thought…” she thought to herself, trying to dismiss the sounds. Choo. Choo. They were getting louder. It almost sounded like they were coming from the painting at the end of the hall. Misha got closer to examine it and walked up to it and looked it over. She tried to check behind it but the painting wouldn’t budge. She heard it again, sounding as though it was in the hallway. CHOO. CHOO. She saw movement in the paintings eyes and for a split second, she caught the gaze of something that looked very train-esque. CHOO! CHOO! And then, the Ringine smashed through the painting from her realm into the realm of Yamaku Highschool and careened directly in Misha, slamming her against the opposite wall and instantly severing her spine. She was dead before she hit the ground.

“Oops” said the Ringine.


What just happened….Misha wasn’t alive but neither was she dead. She had lost her previous train of thought pertaining to what had just killed her and gained another one, where was she? Thankfully, that one was soon answered as she recognized the wall that her head was impaled to by a rivet from the wheels of the train. Luckily for her, however, she didn’t need her head to think as her consciousness didn’t stop at the wall. It felt as though she was alive and well, yet extremely cold. She could see a dead disfigured body….her dead disfigured body. “I guess if I was still alive, I’d faint…what would you call it to faint in limbo?”.

Before she could continue chugging along that line of thought, however, she felt a burning pain in what she assumed would be her legs, if she had any. She heard a hissing voice and although it was garbled she made out that it was saying “A little flabbyyyy but sssssshe will do fine.” She was panicking now, it felt like she was on fire which is a stark contrast to the chills she had felt before.

“W-what’s happening to me?!?” she screamed in vain.

“Sssssssshh now my darling, just lay back and let your mind go blank. That sssssshould be easssssy for you.” The next thing she knew, she was back in her body…but she couldn’t move. Yet, it got up anyways. She had no control over any of her bodily functions, but could see and feel everything. “What’s going on!?” she screamed internally. To her shock she was answered.

“Jussssst ssssssit back and enjoy the ssssssshow, girly. Thingsssssss are about to get interesssssting.” Not having the power to do anything other than that, she looked forward and feasted her eyes on the thing that had caused all of this. In the middle of the hallway, ripped in two and slowly disintegrating, was a large red train.


“So, this is what it feels like to die. Kinda feels like I’m just slowing down…a lot.” Ringine thought to herself. The impact hadn’t killed her, that squishy thing she collided with had somewhat cushioned the blow, but something had followed her through and cut her fuel line. It was only a matter of time. “I guess I must have made some sort of portal with that painting. No wonder the eyes had to be so detailed, teleportation takes a lot of artistic energy.” Now that the mystery of how she was here was solved, before she died she needed to figure out what killed her. She glanced up and saw the girl she collided with standing in front of her. “That’s odd, she should be crushed or at least torn in two. Kind of disappointing, I hit her like a train.” That wasn’t the strangest part, though. Ringine quickly noticed the dark nimbus around her head and the faint hissing noise of dissipating energy. “Ah, so it’s them. Makes sense, I guess. They always grumbled about wanting to leave Choolia and I guess they found a way. A little complicated and I don’t see why they had to kill me. Couldn’t be helped, I guess.” She was fading fast, if she was going to escape she had to be quick. “Now if my hunch is right, the painting would only link together two alternate worlds..” And she was right, of course. She was the top of her class in artistry and its mechanics. “I should be able to find the alternate me and salvage my mind inside her head. I hope she doesn’t mind the intrusion. Well I guess she won’t, I mean I wouldn’t so I can only assume that she won’t. But then again maybe she’s slightly different and is opposed to the idea of another consciousness chugging around in her mind. I guess I should ask first. How could I manage to…” Before she could finish her thought, she was interrupted by a horrid cracking noise and an intense pain. “Ah I should have seen that coming.” They were eating her, it was the only way to get rid of the body. The Choothulians were odd like that, they could eat anything and had voracious appetites…however, a Choo wasn’t on the top of their list of favorite foods. “Guess I should be going. I apologize for the intrusion in advance, me.”


Sleep was an odd thing. At times it could be very hard to come by and at other times it could be completely unavoidable. This was one of those times where she was incredibly tired but sleep was elusive. Fairly normal procedure for Rin, she always was either working on some painting or working out some mystery of the universe, in her own way. This time it was something different. She had been sleeping yet was rudely awoken by a strange feeling in her head. Now, this is extremely odd as once Rin falls asleep, waking her up can be a mammoth undertaking but this worked instantly. “…what?” she mumbled groggily, she had been asleep for a good four or five hours and it was now ten o’clock. Her sleep schedule was odd, to say the least. “Hello” said an unfamiliar voice in her head. “…….what?” Rin thought.

“I’m a little confused too, I may have managed to get into the wrong mind…is your name Rin?” asked the Ringine.

“Yes, that’s me. You don’t sound like any voice I’ve ever heard in my head before. Am I going insane?” Rin asked

“No more insane than anyone else, I guess” the Ringine replied.

“I guess you’re right. Although, it is beyond the ordinary to have something talking to me from inside my own head” said Rin.

“Well it isn’t that odd when you’re the one talking inside of someone’s head. It’s a matter of perspective, I guess” the Ringine said lazily.

“I can understand that. So we’ve come to terms that this is actually fairly normal now I just would like to know who you are” Rin replied.

“Oh that’s an easy one. I’m you yet I’m not. I’m from an alternate dimension that’s directly parallel to this one, I unwittingly created a path to your world from mine in a painting and now your world is going to be destroyed unless we do something about it” the Ringine said in a deadpan manner.

“Oh. Well at least that’s fairly straightforward and easy to understand. So you’re me yet you aren’t, does that mean we’re the same person but we aren’t?” Rin asked.

“Well I guess if you wanted to consider it that way, yeah. At any rate that isn’t all that important. My physical form was killed and I had to take shelter in your mind. I’m technically dead, this is just a sort of stop on the railroad to the afterlife for me” the Ringine replied.

“Well that’s unfortunate, I’m sad to hear that you’re dead. Now on to the more important topic of what you are exactly and what we’re up against…also, I’d like to know how we’re going to stop them if you don’t mind. I’ve been seeing some odd things in my thoughts that I don’t think are mine, could your brain be leaking into mine?” Rin inquired.

“That’s exactly what it’s doing. You’re absorbing my knowledge and wisdom as I continue to die. Sorry if it sounds morbid but there’s no time to be eloquent. I’m a train, I’m from the land of Choolia and my race are called Choos. Don’t ask, our forefathers weren’t very clever. There is another race that lives with us, they are called the Choothulians. We coexisted together quite nicely up until recently when there were several rebellions and they managed to summon one of their demigods to the physical realm but we managed to defeat it. That’s what killed me and that’s what is invading your world now. They don’t have a true physical form, they can be anything from a human like you to a train like me, and everything in between. They suck the life from anything that holds a Spark of life and can take its shape afterwards. They’re quite remarkable really even though they’re pretty unpleasant to be around, what with the murder and all. Anyways, all that needs to happen to stop the invasion is the destruction of the painting. It’s in the hall on the 3rd floor, the weird guy with red eyes. Destroy that and they’ll stop. Your art is a weapon now that our worlds are linked. Anything you draw or paint will become real, you’ll find the skills and details in my memories. I’m fading quickly, the only other piece of advice I could give you is to find allies. You’ll be hard pressed to defeat them all alone. I’m spent now…I hope you make it out. I like you. Now if you’ll excuse me Rin, I have to chug along into the afterlife. Goodbye.” The Ringine spouted out all of this information in record time, never pausing at all.

“Okay then. Thank you for the warning and all, I hope your trip is a pleasant one. I’ve always liked train rides.” Rin answered back. She understood what had to be done and with the knowledge from the Ringine in her head, she knew how to do it. With the speed of a bullet train she got up, got dressed and sped off in the direction of the boy’s dormitory.


This was one of the craziest things Hisao had ever heard and yet coming from Rin, it seemed nearly commonplace. “So you’re telling me that a train came into your mind and gave you the ability to stop demons from invading our world from hers?” Hisao asked incredulously.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I said. Did I stutter or slur any words?” Rin asked with a worried look on her face.

“No…no you didn’t. It’s just that this seems a little odd don’t you think? I mea-“ before he could finish his sentence he was interrupted by Misha who was dragging a very angry and very loud Kenji down the hall.

“LET GO OF ME YOU JIVE MOTHA FUCKAH!” Kenji yelled out angrily.

“WAHAHAHAHA~ Oh Kenchan you’re so funny. You need to come help us out in the student council room, Shicchan’s orders!” The noise subsided as they continued down the hall.

“Misha is one of them” Rin said, still looking at the doorway the two had just walked past.

“Wait, what? I mean sure she can be annoying and loud but do you really think she’s a demon in disguise?” Hisao asked.

“No. I don’t think she is. I know she is. I could see it slithering around her head, couldn’t you? Anyways listen Hisao, I need your help. I can’t beat them alone, I would if I had arms but unfortunately I don’t so I need you to help me. I can show you proof once we get to the painting” Rin said with a hint of desperation in her voice.

“Okay, fine. I didn’t have anything else to do today so I guess this won’t be that much of a waste of time" Hisao said.

Relieved, Rin said “Okay follow me and be careful. They could be anywhere or anyone….or anything.” She snuck out of the door and took cover behind a fern before advancing further. Sighing, Hisao followed her out. It took them around twenty minutes of walking since Rin was in Metal Gear Solid mode and taking cover behind every possible item that she found. She even tried to crawl prone at one point although it just ended in her asking Hisao for help getting up. Finally, they reached the painting.

“Here we are. Can’t you see the little vortexes? And the walls are bending” Rin said in a quiet voice.

“What? No I can’t see any of th- wait…WHAT IS THA-“ Hisao began to yell out but was silenced by a foot to the mouth. There, coming through the eye was a formless black mass of shadow. Staring at it gave you an intense feeling that it was just wrong, you just knew that whatever it was didn’t belong here.

“I-is that what’s attacking us?!?!” Hisao asked, panicking.

“Yes. Now keep it down before it notices that we’re here and does something we’ll both regret” Rin whispered in an even tone.

“What I need you to do is this; I’m going to go to the art room and paint a weapon for you. You’re going to take it and jam it into the painting, okay? That will seal the hole between worlds and this will all be fine and dandy” Rin said in a matter-of-fact way.

“Wait…so I’m hitting that painting on the wall with another painting? What will that even accomplish, Rin? Shouldn’t we call the army or something?” Hisao asked.

“No. They wouldn’t believe us and it would just exacerbate the situation. You’re going to pull the weapon out of the painting,” Rin noted Hisao’s eyebrows raising and the incredulous look on his face.

“Don’t give me that look, it will work. All you need to do is stab the painting, it will be easy to do. They don’t realize a Choo is still here in some form” Rin stated.

“A…Choo? Rin, are you okay?” Hisao asked with more than a hint of worry in his voice.

“I’m great, thanks for asking. How are you?” Rin answered in her usual deadpan manner.

“Oh, whatever. Let’s go get that painting so this crazy plan of yours can come to fruition…we’re all going to die.” Hisao cringed as he finished the sentence.

“Oh ye of little faith…” Rin muttered.


The walk to the art room was a short one. Rin kicked open the door unceremoniously, rushed in and headed straight to the paint cabinet. “Get down a gold, a silver and a blue can of paint and bring it to me” Rin said as she walked over to an easel set up across the room. Hisao hurriedly grabbed the cans of paint and set them down next to Rin. “Okay, this could take a while. You should watch the door just in case the Choothulians are onto us, Hisao.”

Hisao turned to face Rin and asked “The Choowhatians?”

Rin shot him a look that could have stopped a bullet train in its tracks, “The things we’re trying to stop, stupid.” Hisao sighed and proceeded to stand next to the door, diligently watching for any intruders. “I hope she doesn’t take too long…” he thought to himself.


It was about time for these goddamn jive-turkies to learn their place. Kenji should have suspected something when that honky Misha dragged him out of his room to the student councils office. He’d been trapped inside since then and was going to be used as some sort of sacrifice to turn her into a demigod. “That shit won’t be goin’ down if I have anything to say about it” he thought to himself as he struggled with his bindings. After a minute or so of struggle he managed to rip the chains from the wall. Picking up one of the wall mounts, he bent it into the shape of a boomerang and began to formulate a plan. There were two guards on the other side of the door and a window to his left and another window that leads into the next room a few feet to the right of it. “It’s about time to lay the smack down on these diabolical kidnappin’ mother fuckers” he snarled as he sprung into action.


It had taken Rin the better part of twenty minutes to fashion a suitable weapon. The painting was just a simple blade with a gold hilt but she assured Hisao that it would do the job nicely. “So all I have to do is go poke the painting with it, right?” Hisao asked with doubt in his eys.

“Yes, poke the painting and we can seal this world off from further attacks by the Choothulians” Rin responded.

“So….how do I get the sword out?” Hisao inquired.

“You reach in and take it, obviously” Rin answered in a matter-of-fact tone. Sighing, Hisao approached the painting and tentatively touched the surface. To his surprise his fingers went into the painting and the surface rippled. With a gulp he plunged his hand in and pulled the sword out.

“Wow. That’s not something you see every day” he said in amazement.

“What do you mean, you see paintings every day in class” Rin said, confused.

“….never mind, let’s just go” Hisao said with a sigh. They rushed down the hall and stopped at the corner leading to the painting. Hisao peeked around the corner and then slowly looked back at Rin, his face a mask of horror and shock. “What is it?” she asked.

“B-bad guys. A lot of them” he answered with more than a hint of fear in his voice. Rin glanced down the hallway and was greeted by the sight of at least twenty Choothulians in front of the painting. They seemed to be initiating a sort of ritual and there was an inky black substance emitting from the painting itself. At the forefront of the congregation was Misha who was suspended in the air, held up by smoky black tentacles. “MY METAMORPHASIS BEGINS” she screamed. “I REQUIRE MY SACRIFICE TO REACH MY FINAL FORM!!!” she yelled.


It was go time. Kenji was about to put his extensive studying of the Fist of the Black Panther fighting style to good use. He had learned it long ago to prepare for the upcoming feminist takeover, but this was as good of a time as any to use it. Grasping his makeshift boomerang he threw it out of the window with a slight amount of curvature to the right. “I hope to sweet baby Jesus that works” he thought with a smirk. He ran to the door and kicked it off of its hinges with a flying kick. As soon as he hit the ground he was already moving again. He reached to the right and grabbed the nearest creature by its neck. He leapt forward, still gripping onto its neck and slammed it against the wall and was greeted by a satisfying crunch as the monsters body fell limp in his hands. As he turned to meet the second ones gaze, the window behind it shattered and the creature screamed in agony as his boomerang smashed into the back of its skull, shattering it and throwing an odd violet substance all over the wall. “I THREW THAT SHIT BEFORE I WALKED THROUGH THE DOOR!” Kenji yelled triumphantly as he curb stomped the creature on the ground into oblivion. Now, it was time to get out of here and stop that evil feminazi bitch, Misha. He walked to the door and threw it open and was greeted by the faces of a dozen or so confused creatures. “There’s more than enough Kenji to go around you jive mothah fuckahs!” he yelled as he fell in amongst them.


A minute or so after the Choothulians left to gather their sacrifice the screams started. Thulian bodies flew down the hall they had just ran into and the ones that weren’t sent flying ran out of the hall screaming. “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS INTERRUPTION!?” Misha inquired.

“That would be me you diabolical dick shrinkin’ mother fucker!” Kenji yelled as he strode into the hallway proper, holding a struggling Thulian in his hand. With a twist of his wrist the creature fell to the floor, lifeless.

“That’s unexpected. Hisao, that sword is useless. Put it down. I have a plan” Rin said as she hurried to the end of the hall opposite of Misha.

“MINIONS! END THIS PITIFUL CREATURE BEFORE ME!” Misha yelled as she jabbed at Kenji with a tentacle.

“Bring it on honkies, there’s enough Kenji to go around!” he yelled as he rushed to meet the mob of creatures that was now stampeding towards him.

“I hope whatever idea you have is DAMN good Rin, because this situation looks pretty hopeless” Hisao said with tears running down his cheeks.

“Oh stop being so untrustworthy, it’ll work. Go fetch me some green paint and a brush, please” she asked calmly. Hisao rushed to the art room, gathered the materials and returned. “Okay now just sit tight while I work and don’t bother me” she said as she turned around and got to work. The glyphs and the pattern was all there in her head from her Choo counterpart. A summoning of this size would require a lot of power but she really didn’t have an alternative. “Worst case scenario would be that I die from the strain…but at least everyone else would be safe” she thought. She began to paint the portal, intricate glyphs outlining the edges and words of power on the top and bottom of it. She heard a crash and a yell down the hall and glanced down at the battle that was underway. Kenji was, apparently, an extremely adept fighter. The waves of Thulians broke upon him like waves upon the rocky shore and he gave far more damage than he took. Still, there were several hundred of them and only one of him. He would break, eventually. She needed to finish before then. Hisao was huddled down in the corner. Poor boy, he’ll probably be scarred forever because of this. Five minutes of hurried painting later and the vortex was done. She just needed to paint the activator glyph and the end would begin. She painted it slowly, it was arguably one of the most complex of all the artistic glyphs but her painting was perfect. As she finished, the portal rippled and shimmered, coming to life. “Here goes nothing…” Rin muttered. Then she poked the center of the glyph with her brush, finishing it and completing the connection. The portal exploded into life and opened up and in the distance you could hear a faint chugging noise. Misha noticed this immediately and flipped around, drills and tentacles flailing wildly. “NO! MINIONS, STOP HER! KILL THE CHOO AND CLOSE HER DAMNED PORTAL!” she yelled in desperation, but it was far too late for her. The chugging was getting louder and louder, growing in intensity and volume until it shook the foundation of the school itself. In the portal you could see the black outline of a train quickly approaching. It crashed through the portal with a resounding CHOO! and careened toward Misha. It was the most grandiose and elegant train Rin, Hisao or Kenji had ever seen. A glowing, golden F40PH with wheels of diamond and windows glowing red with righteous fury. Its horn blared like the yell of an angry god as it took off down the hallway towards Misha. It crashed through waves of Thulians as though they did not exist and slammed directly into her, driving her back into the evil painting at the other end of the hall. She gripped onto the walls and screamed “NO! I WAS SO CLOSE! DAMN YOU, CHOO CHOO! DAMN YOU!!!!” as she was pushed back through by the Ubertrain. After it had passed through, the painting exploded. The shockwave took out every foreign object that had come through it, including every memory that had to do with a being from the other world. Kenji glanced from side to side, muttered something about “damn feminist conspiracy” and stalked back to his room. Hisao looked at Rin and said “Man I haven’t had this much of a headache in a long time…” Rin looked at him and smiled, still retaining her memories of the events that had just occurred.

“Are you hungry?” she asked him.

“What does that have to do with a headache?” he replied.

She smiled, “Nothing.”


Merry Christmas, everyone!


Update: Kenji art as drawn by my friend http://i56.tinypic.com/11vl6yr.jpg

... You're as insane as ever. Apparently, so am I, cause I giggled all the way through reading this

Now to await the storm of "wtf"s coming this thread's way...

If nothing else, I feel better about reading this thread in the first place. Thanks.

Just one thing: did Misha survive? I mean, she was killed during this thing; did she come back to life?

griffon8 wrote:If nothing else, I feel better about reading this thread in the first place. Thanks.

Just one thing: did Misha survive? I mean, she was killed during this thing; did she come back to life?

She was slammed through the portal by the summoned train. Mishas body was taken over by the demigod that they were summoning, so it was destroyed. Because of the memory wipe, the world has been altered so that no trace of her exists except for in Rin's memories.

whathaveicreated wrote:Because of the memory wipe, the world has been altered so that no trace of her exists except for in Rin's memories.

Gee, no chance of complications from that. I'm glad everything's okay.

griffon8 wrote:

whathaveicreated wrote:Because of the memory wipe, the world has been altered so that no trace of her exists except for in Rin's memories.

Gee, no chance of complications from that. I'm glad everything's okay.

Her fate is subject to change depending on whether or not I decide to continue writing this. If I don't it ends as stated above. If I do, who knows.

*huddles in corner* What has been seen...can not be unseen...

Why, hello there.

Katawa ChooChoo 3 : The Last Stop


Prologue - A Sound of Chugging

Five years had passed since that dreadful conflict at Yamaku. Time and space had corrected itself so that nobody without a pre-existing link to magic would remember any of the events of that night. Still, links had been made during the battle. Links that would change the lives of everyone involved. The residual energy released as Misha died caused a link to be formed in all of the parties involved. Shizune, Kenji, Lilly, Hanako, Emi and Hisao. None of them would ever be the same again, yet they would not remember any of the events of that night. Rin’s memories are the sole survivor of that night, since her link was already forged when her mind was invaded by a creature from another realm. She remembered everything of that night and her magical prowess grew. She began studying the scarce few books that other Magi had created.

A human using magic is rare, but some have existed. The information is there, you just have to be able to look for it. She had travelled through the walls of this world to others, seeking information. And over five years, she has amassed a fairly large knowledge of the four colors of magic, Red, Blue, White and Black.

Red and Blue are the most base and simple to control facets of magic. Red is generally used for offensive measures whereas Blue is more used for auxiliary powers and defensive magic.

The White and Black magics were far more difficult to find information on and even more difficult to grasp. From what Rin could find, White is control of Time itself; a potent ability. There is little information on how it works, as there are very few White magi. The Black is even more mysterious. It is known simply as the Void, it is the magic that should not be. It is the antithesis of creation and the death of all things. The Void will only allow itself to be used by one who is not pure of heart. Only beings of evil may harness it’s power, and those that do cause great destruction.

For five years, peace has reigned in the temporal rift around the world. For five years, they survived without a care. Now, invaders come. Enemies surround the world, and foes thought defeated are reborn. It’s the end of the tracks for this time of peace and the beginning of a new train of events.

Any constructive criticism or grammatical corrections would be welcome, as I have no idea what I am doing.



Act 1 – Train Keeps on Rollin’

Boring. It’s one of the four thoughts that crept through Rin’s mind as she got on the subway that would bring her downtown. Then she would walk three blocks to the left, two blocks to the right and across the street to her job at a large telemarketing firm. Bored, tedious, cereal and underwear. Those were the four things on her mind as she stepped onto the subway.

“I guess it really can’t be helped, though. I have a feeling that this job is important. I need to stay here and see this through until that nagging goes away”, she thought with a resigned sigh as she sat down on the subway chair.

She never liked subways, or cities for that matter. They smelled too much and were far too crowded. She preferred open places; nice, green, lush places filled with flowers and fields. You could inhale a breath and have your lungs filled with the smell of nature, you could smell the wetness on the air from the coming rain and enjoy the slight breeze through the trees. In a city like this, a deep breath could cut your life expectancy down or leave you in a fit of coughing. But still, she felt it was important, so she stayed. She had feelings like this before and they had never steered her wrong. On her last whim she was able to find a hole in space and go to another realm for a time. She learned a lot from there, such as the existence of the Black color of magic and she learned what it would be like to have a tail.

“I still miss that fuzzy old thing”, she thought with a slight frown.

Ever since she left Yamaku, things had changed. She had gone to art school for a year, but decided to drop out; she still painted, but she didn’t feel it necessary to study. She spent her time studying magic and working odd jobs when she needed to. She lived like a nomad, never staying in one place for more than a month. She still kept in touch with her friends from Yamaku, though. At least, the ones who would still speak to her. Hanako and Lilly had completely fallen off the radar after the accident three and a half years ago. Shizune never cared for Rin, so contact was kept to a minimum. Rin still made an effort to keep tabs on her, though, and knew she was now the principal of Yamaku. Kenji was an enigma, speaking to her once or twice every year. And even then, it was mostly just to check and see if she was alive. She spoke to Hisao a couple times a week, via email or a phone call. She enjoyed talking to him when she could and she had to keep close tabs on whether or not he would start remembering. He was important, both to her and to the world.

She also frequented Emi’s laboratory on the outskirts of the city. Emi was something else. After graduation, she went on to get a Ph.D in Physics, Engineering and Chemistry. In five years. It was insanely impressive and she now was the head of a research company known as the Ibarazaki Research Group. The group moniker is misleading, as its Emi who does all of the work. A smile fluttered across Rin’s face as she thought of perhaps seeing Emi tonight and going to dinner.

“Hopefully it would alleviate some of the dread I have about this job and this city”, she thought.

It was strange, all of her friends had changed in so many ways since school, yet Rin stayed essentially the same. She was weird and loopy, she still loved to paint and she still made no sense. It puzzled her to think that maybe she wasn’t doing anything with her life, but she killed those thoughts early on.

“I protect the rift between worlds, make sure nothing comes in or leaves and I gather information on the workings of magic. That’s a worthy effort if I’ve ever seen one”, she thought gloomily, not entirely convinced by her own train of thought.

Still, of course it was worthy to her. It was her life’s work, she certainly wouldn’t talk downtalk it. However, when compared to Emi or even Hisao, who went on to become a fairly accomplished writer, it seemed as though she was just wasting away.

“Well, no time to think about any of that now. This is my stop.” she thought as the door slid open.

She got out of the subway and made her way to her workplace. As she gazed up at the far-too-tall building, she sighed.

“Another day, another dollar, as the saying goes.” she said aloud as she walked towards the automatic doors.

She stepped up to the elevator and poked at the UP arrow with her toe, deftly keeping her balance on one foot. Being linked with the Red as she was, her physical capabilities were increased to the point where her feet could do anything her arms could, even more so than they could when she was in school without the Red. The elevator took its time moving from the seventeenth floor to the lobby.

“I could teleport…” she thought with a sly grin. But no, that would probably cost her the job…or get her arrested, both things she could not afford.

The elevator dinged its arrival and she stepped onboard. She waited patiently as two of her coworkers joined her and then clicked the button with the black twenty on it.

“The one plus of this job is that the view is fairly nice, dontcha think?” she asked the two people in the elevator, without looking at them. Her question was met with grumbled agreements from one and silence from the other.

A minute or so later, the elevator stopped on the twentieth floor and the doors opened. There, standing in the entryway was Hanako. Rin could sense a flaring of the Red magic coming from her and by the look on Hanako’s face, this wasn’t going to be a peaceful or happy reunion.

Act 2 – Skyscrapers and Reunions

“Oh. Hiya, Hanako. How’s life been?” Rin said in her trademark deadpan tone.

Silence answered her and Hanako produced two things out of the inside of her suit’s jacket; a couple of knives, plain looking things; but also very sharp looking, with pretty gems inlaid at the bottom of the handle. Her eyes met Rins and she settled into a stance that implied she was not here to talk. Her right hand was outstretched towards Rin and held the first dagger she pulled out. There was a red gem at the bottom which glowed a bit, although it was nearly unnoticeable because of the morning sunlight beaming through the window. The only thing Rin could focus on, though, was the eyepatch. The gems could be analyzed later. This eyepatch needed her full attention. It covered her right eye, the scarred side of her body. It was a plain black eyepatch. And it was fascinating.

“I’m digging the eyepatch. Not sure why you have it but it’s definitely a fashion statement I can get behind. I had an eyepatch, once. It was for Halloween.” Rin said with a great deal of interest.

“I was a pirate. I don’t think you’re a pirate, though. Pirates don’t wear suits. Maybe it’s Halloween and I’ve lost track of time. What’s the date, Hanako? I really hope it isn’t Halloween. I don’t have a costume.” She continued rambling. However, it wasn’t just mindless babble; she was using this time to spread the Red magic throughout her body so she could move if she needed to. She was also priming her first few shots. Hopefully, it didn’t come to that.

Unfortunately, hope failed.

Ignoring Rins words, Hanako silently put away the second dagger that was in her left hand. She carefully slid it into her jacket, into a holster of some kind. She stood tall, hand outstretched to Rin. Lit by the rising sun behind her, it was easy to tell how much she had changed. She was taller than she was at Yamaku and while she was still thin, it wasn’t a sickly or unexercised sort of thin. Lean would be a good word to describe her. She reminded Rin of a wolf, the way her one eye quietly regarded her prey. The easy stance she took that oozed a feeling of casualness but at the same time resembled the stance of a predator, watching its prey intently. And that prey just happened to be Rin. She crouched ever so slightly, knees bending a bit, preparing for the dash that was about to come.

“Three steps. Fake to the left, hard stab through the collar into the heart. Five seconds. Job done.” Hanako thought as the instance played through in her head.

She had thought about this moment a lot. She didn’t want to do it. Truth be told, she liked Rin. But the Assembly said she was a danger to the world that had to be eliminated. Denying the job would mean expulsion and that would leave Lilly alone in the Assembly. That was something she could not do. There was no time to muse on her reasoning and the repercussions for her actions. The time for action was at hand. Should her initial plan fail, plan B was very easy to step into. That’s the way her plans worked; and that’s the reason she was a high ranking agent of the Assembly after only three years. Her plans were laid out as though they were a dance. Each movement progressed seamlessly to the next and there were multiple branches for each movement. If the fake failed, she would crouch and take out Rins legs and deliver the killing blow from there. Without a second thought or a word spoken to her erstwhile schoolmate, she sprang forward.

One and a half steps later, she stopped. It was not a stop she wanted to make, nor was it of her own accord. The air around her was hot, sticky, and it felt as though it was a solid object. She was caught in a trap. She should have expected this; the Assembly had told her that Rin was a mage of no small power. However, she did not expect her reactions to be this quick. It was not like Rin to plan ahead, even if it was barely half a minute ahead.

“This could be it..” Hanako thought to herself. It almost made her laugh.

“Killed by Rin, of all people. And by my own hubris. What would Lilly say…” she thought with a small, mirthless grin.

Thirty seconds passed, though it seemed like an hour. Rin said nothing. She stood there, motionless, peering deeply into Hanako's eyes, as though she was reading a book. This was her chance, if she was going to escape and have any chance of finishing this job, she had to pounce on this hesitation. She had to act before Rin found whatever it was she was looking for. She was about to put all of her weight into slamming forward, hoping to break through the trap with brute force. She was never good with magic; the little bit she used was self-strengthening and in the jewels of her daggers. As she began to push forward, though, the wall strengthened proportionally to her push.Rin still stood there, motionless, but her expression had changed from her normal look of boredom to an expression of mild surprise and interest. She stepped past Hanako and walked up to the window.

Gazing out at the sunrise, Rin said to her
“I have a lot of questions. I know who you work for and why you are here, that much I could glean from a simple Gazing. However…” she said as she turned to face Hanako,

“I do not understand why you want to kill me. Something is happening in the edges of our world and instead of putting power into stopping that, the Assembly sends out agents to kill me. Something evil is stirring. Something old is coming back. I can feel it and they are senseless if they do not. You have to have remembered by now. You’ve had more than enough contact with magic; the memories were supposed to come back after your mind could accept the information. Hanako, please, just come with m-“

Before Rin could finish her sentence, Hanako was in motion. In her dialogue Rin had let the hold on Hanako slip and she pounced upon that opportunity eagerly. She may not get another chance. If Rin knew of the Assembly, as she had just claimed, then she was more dangerous than anticipated. That meant the job would have to be done quickly and decisively; Hanako wasn’t even sure if she could win at this point. This talk of “remembering” was probably a ploy to get her guard down, and knowing Rin she let the hold slip when she began speaking. Anyone outside of the Assembly who claimed to know the Assembly was deemed too dangerous to be kept alive. She would have to be killed or taken in for interrogation. Hanako did not take prisoners. This would end here, one way or the other. She dashed forward, strengthening her limbs with the Blue magic, and grabbed Rin around her shoulders. Mild shock flew across Rin's face. Holding on to her tightly, she pulled her through the window and outside of the building.

... hoo boy... O.o

You know... This is actually kinda coherent compared to act 1...
I didn't expect that, but it's a nice surprise. Looking forward to the next chapter.

Want to finish this before KS proper comes out, so I'm doing all of the Acts from here on out in one go with no revision. May not even read them when I finish. If you find any horrid errors, do point them out so I can fix it. Enjoy.


Act 3: Of Battles and Rememberance

They fell together. Sunlight twinkled on the shards of glass that fell through the air around them, cutting into Rin’s back and shoulders. Her face was a mask of concentration, no hint of fear so much as flit across it. She placed her foot on Hanako’s chest and kicked off, rocketing earthwards and sending Hanako a few feet up the side of the building. Hanako turned around and slammed a knife into the wall, making a handhold. Rin sped down towards the ground.
She placed a foot onto the building and stopped instantly. Standing there, she examined her enemy and their surroundings. Hanako held onto her dagger like a vice, there was no way to displace her. Before she could formulate her next move, Hanako took action.

She ripped her dagger from the building and kicked off the windowsill above her, rocketing down towards Rin. As she flew she let fly three daggers. They flashed through the air like red lightning and were on course with Rin’s chest. The air shimmered as three red bolts of energy met the daggers midair, destroying two and throwing the third off course. It landed several feet in front of Rin, embedded in the side of the building. Hanako grinned and she continued her hellishly fast descent and snapped her fingers.

The gem in the hilt of the dagger glowed for a moment and then exploded, sending a shockwave through the building and knocking Rin off balance. Through the veil of smoke, Hanako careened directly into Rin and tackled her off the building. They plummeted in a dead drop and slammed into the roof of the neighboring building. A thin veil of pressurized air saved Rin from a crushing death and she quickly blasted Hanako off of her and rolled to the side.

“I didn’t expect you to be this well versed in combat, Rin.” Hanako said, breathlessly. “I haven’t had to exert this much effort in months. It’s quite a rush.”

“I didn’t want to do this, you know. I just wanted to talk. Then you go and push me out of a window, it’s really quite rude.” Rin said with a pouty expression.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be over soon enough.” Hanako said as she stood up straight. She put her hand to her ear and said “Take her.”

On cue, a huge resounding boom was heard from behind Rin. Reacting like lightning, she jumped up and pushed herself to the right with all the energy she could muster. She was too slow, the bullet grazed her left leg and she fell to the ground.

Ch….

Hanako strode up to where Rin lay, a triumphant grin distorting her face.

“It’s a cowards way to fight, but it’s so very effective.” Hanako said as she produced another dagger from within her suit coat.

Choo…

“Hanako wait, something is coming. You need to get out of here.” Rin said, fear apparent in her eyes.

“Don’t play that card on me, Rin. It won’t work and you won’t find any sympathy here.” Hanako said as her face returned to her usual stoic mask.

Choo…Choo…

“Lilly sends her regards, from afar.” Hanako proclaimed as she raised her dagger up for the killing blow.

“No really Hanako, if you don’t move right now you’re really going to regret it. Really.” Rin said as she shuffled backwards quickly.

“I told you, that won’t work on m-“ she was cut off as the ground beneath her began to contort and morph into an inky black pool.

“What is this?! What have you done?!” Hanako exclaimed in fear as she kicked off and leapt out of the pool.

“I told you…” Rin said as the rooftop shattered.

A train, eight cars long, shot up into the air from the top of the building. It swung around like a snake and went straight for Hanako. She jumped atop it and ran down its side, hopping off besides Rin.

“What the hell is that th-“ Hanako started to say, however she was interrupted as she fell onto the ground clutching her head.
“What’s…happening…what did you…do..” Hanako struggled to say through clenched teeth.

“You’re remembering. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” Rin said as she stood in front of Hanako.

The train turned and regarded them both, smokestack contorting in what can only be called a smile. It’s master would be pleased, the girl would be slain here. It pulled back and slammed itself down onto Rin and Hanako.

It stopped five feet short, hovering in midair. The air around the two girls crackled with red energy and the train started to slowly lift up. Rin’s face was contorted in exertion as she let loose a torrent of energy, ripping the train from the ground and throwing it off the rooftop. She lead up with a barrage of energy bolts, ripping into its metallic hide. The train wrapped itself around the building and came up behind them. Rin fell limp onto the ground.

Hanako stood up.

“Sorry, Rin. I’m not sure why it took me this long, but I remember. Lilly does too.” Hanako said as she put her hand to her ear again. “Give it all we’ve got!” She exclaimed as she ripped off her jacket, exposing the six knives she had remaining. She grabbed them all, three to each hand gripped in between her fingers. She sprung forward in a low crouch and raked the knives into the chassis of the engine.

“If this thing works like a normal train, we should just need to destroy the engine. Right, Rin?! Rin!?!” Hanako yelled out amidst the chaos, hoping for some sort of confirmation.

“Y-…yea…” Rin managed to say before she passed out.

“Shit.” Hanako said as she narrowly avoided being crushed. She glanced at the engine itself, looking for a point of entry. It was an older train, driven by coal and therefore had a large smokestack.

“That’s our chance.” She said and tapped her ear again. “Lilly, get ready to shoot. Aim for the stack.” Hanako said and then broke into a sprint.

Dodging gouts of energy shot from the front of the engine, she ran up its side and leapt onto the roof. She dashed to the smokestack and performed a sideways cut with both hands, slicing it in half. As the smokestack fell off, the train reeled backwards and threw her back onto the roof with a bestial scream. As it righted itself again and prepared to strike, a second boom sounded. The train jerked like it had been struck by lightning and fell motionless. The fires in its windows died out and it ceased all movement. From the bottom up, it began to dissipate like mist.

“Nice shooting.” Hanako said as she turned to regard Rin. Her eyes were open and she was propped up on an air conditioning unit.

“Well, at least you remembered before you killed me.” She said as she passed out again.

Hanako smiled. “Let’s take her back to the safehouse, we have some important matters to discuss.”

I really enjoyed this! It was gripping and I'm glad Hanako and Lilly came to their senses. Thanks a lot.