Chapter 71

Crouching Doberman, Fighting Dragon

Everyone then went back inside the train, going back into the hall of car 15. They had just shut the hatch when Cailus made an announcement over the intercom.

"Well done, brother! Well done! You've saved the ambassador and his family, as well as lion boy's relatives as well! Too bad you didn't think outside the box... Did you really think I am just going to let you walk off this train alive? Because even if you succeed in ending me, you can't stop me from turning this train into a mobile thermo-nuclear warhead! I've already had my men plant several plutonium-based shielded fission explosives in the command section of car 2, and even if you get those... Well, that still leaves the hydrogen-fueled engine with the rigged performance program I've setup in it's fusion reactor core. As soon as we cross the border with Zanarkhann, it will instantly go into overload. Then, it will only be a matter of time until boom. You may have a chance to stop it... Care to try?" Cailus finished with a laugh. "I'll be waiting in Car 1."

Mick's eyes went wide. "Holy shit, he really is crazy!"

Uniko, noticing the tension in Mick's face quickly asked the question he needed an answer to: "Fission explosives? Those are more powerful than dynamite, right?"

"Fission Explosives are Dynamite-100-fold-plus in destructive power!" Xen explained. "Even basic models have the explosive capacity of 30 kilotons of dynamite combined! They also leave behind large and concentrated pockets of nuclear radiation, which renders any land within it's explosion radius uninhabitable, as it kills off organic life! It basically poisons living creatures down to the atomic level, causing mutations, radiation sickness, and death..."

Everyone knew the critical urgency of the situation! They all took off for the front of the train in a mad sprint!

# # # # #

Eric Cardigan waited patiently in Car 2 with a team consisting of Cailus' personal elite guard, all armed to the teeth with automatic lasers and even automatic ballistic weapons consisting of rifles and SMGs. He smiled as he saw the doorway to car 3 slide open, seeing Egad Nob and his Coven burst through the door.

"Well, well, well... Looks who's come to try and save the day again! I must congratulate you, Mr. Foxmoore: Your heroic perseverance never fails to impress."

Bishop, Gareth, and Tommy turned to Egad, looking at their master.

"Master, may we dispose of them?" Tommy asked.

Egad quickly uttered a spell, casting it on the trio, and nodded. "They leave us no choice, Tommy... You, Bishop and Gareth can take them out."

Bishop, Tommy, and Gareth walked forward bravely, Gareth and Bishop standing at Tommy's sides.

"What's the matter, Mr. Foxmoore? Too afraid to do your own killing?" Eric challenged.

"Master isn't afraid," Tommy corrected, giving Eric a scowl as the rest of the coven got into cover. "He's saving his strength for the main event. Besides, he doesn't need to soil his hands with the likes of you."

Eric grinned. "Looks like you really have gained some gusto, boy... No, you and your parents aren't afraid of death anymore, are you? Good, that means we share something in common."

Tommy gave a dark smirk. "The only thing we have in common Eric, is that one of our sides is about to die. I intend to make sure it isn't the side I am on. Turn around, while you still can."

Eric's brow furrowed. "You cocky little shite! Who do you think you are?! You don't have enough ammo or shots to take on all of my men! You have nothing but a few pistols, some bloody knives, and religious dragon karate gimmicks! My side has AUTOMATICS!"

"No, Eric." Tommy corrected again, shutting his eyes with his parents. "What your side has is charged energy cartridges and magazines filled with bullets, and the hope that when said cartridges run dry and said magazines are empty, we won't be standing. Because if we are, all of you will be dead before you've managed to reload and prime your weapons."

Eric let out a snarl that the doberman species was known to make when angered as he raised his revolver laser. "Bollucks! Kill them!"

The rest of Eric's men raised their weapons and opened fire, but none of their shots connected! The lasers bounced off all of them, even Gareth! The solid rounds were not effective, either! All they did was curve around their targets, missing by what could be considered miles in accuracy slang as the slugs impacted the wall behind them!

Eventually, the hell storm of weapons fire ceased, Eric and his men clicking the triggers of their empty weapons! Their guns had run dry!

Tommy opened his eyes again, as did Bishop and Gareth! Their pupils and irises seemed to have dissipated, their eyes giving off faint glows of light in the dim environment of the train! Bishop's glowed gold, Gareth's glowed red, and Tommy's glowed blue!

"May the Five Paragons forgive you for your transgressions, as well as us for what we have to do to stop you..." Tommy said. "It's our move."

Bishop then whipped out two daggers in one hand, and chucked them at two of Eric's men as they spun through the air, starting the coven's counter-attack! Their blades sank deep into the mercs' necks, as the two targets were thrown off their feet from the force of the impact!

Tommy whipped out a set of Ninjato Katanas from his back, spinning them in his hands as Bishop unsheathed a Nodachi Katana and Gareth popped out wrist-blades from underneath his armor suit!

The three then charged forward, movements a blur as they sliced, stabbed, and slashed into their aggressors, making Eric and his men look like they were moving in slow motion as they attempted in futility to reload their weapons in time! The trio was effective, elegant and deadly in their movements, the whole thing looking like a deceptive and beautiful dance of death! The only one that managed to successfully reload in time was Eric, but he didn't get to fire one shot from his revolver as Tommy slashed one of his katanas into Eric's hand, causing the doberman to drop the gun with a yelp!

"May both the Five Paragons and the Creed of the Burning Crown have pity on your immortal soul, Eric." Tommy said, holding his sword to Eric's throat.

Then, with a swift motion, he sliced Eric's throat open! Eric gurgled on his own blood, the doberman falling to the floor, convulsing a few times before flat-lining.