Mission #140: Trapped in Time! [Pluto/Kuro]

[BlacKitten]

Mission #140 Combine any two missions that aren't Island specific and complete them both in under 50 posts for a special reward based on how creative your take on it was!

These two mission are what's being combined:

SPOILER: Click to show

Mission #59 ★★- On its way to Water 7 with you on board, the Sea Train has been hijacked and is in the process of being robbed! Find a way to stay alive and possibly stop the men responsible. Be careful though, the crew is made up of pirates worth over 50 Million!

Mission #54 - A unique fruit power that an opponent you were fighting has caused you and your crew to repeat one day over and over and... Over again!? Find a way to break the repetition before you all go MAD. Or are you already mad?

The existence of sea trains had been unknown to him until just today where Pluto and his younger sister, Rebecca, awaited at the station amongst the group of other future passengers. Crowds at this magnitude made him uncomfortable, so he stayed at the bench, waiting for the sound of a speeding vehicle to reach his ears. Their destination was Water 7. Personally, he had not clue what sort of island it was, but getting to another island through a train rather than a slow, wind-dependent ship was very convenient for him.

Despite the distance between where they sat, his shoulder was leaned upon when Rebecca decided on her own to fall asleep, but she wasn’t sleeping out of fatigue. The girl fell asleep because he was the pillow. Tension grew between his eyes as he gently pushed the girl away from him with the goal of lying her down on the armrest on the other side, but the little one opened her violet eyes halfway the moment her head wasn’t against her brother.

“Mmm,” Rebecca rubbed her eyes, “is it here yet?”

Holding his tilted face with his palm as the elbow stood against his own armrest, Pluto glared at the surrounding passersby with one open eye. Waiting was boring, and the overlapping voices made it hard to keep track of his own thoughts. His ear perked up by the gushing water from the far distance that gradually increased in volume. A murky green-colored train seemingly slid over the water as it decelerated to a stop in front of all the huddling people. The head of the train possessed a tube-like structure that released a trailing grey smoke. There were no windows in the front; the only windows were at the sides, systematically separated on each cart. Rebecca snatched his wrist, tugging the boy who stumbled forth and dragged around against his will.

There wasn’t any organized single-file line to stand behind; they had to squeeze and shove within a mob just to get to the entrance. His sister kept a tight grip on his wrist, making it hard for them to be separated. Once they stepped on board, it was like a miniature hotel room by design inside, but the only furniture would be the seats in the sideline with a long and wide hallway in between for walking space. This sea train was known as The Puffing Ice, recently manufactured with the number two in front as it was modeled after The Puffing Tom.

By choice, Pluto chose the seat closest to the sliding entrance, a strategic move that would allow for a quick escape if any misadventures were to take place. With the exit situated abreast from his seat, he was not a victim of being stuck between two people. Rebecca’s eyes rolled to the side, glancing at her older brother with a soft smirk on her face. She rested her face against his shoulder again and shut her eyes closed.

“Uh?” Tiling his body away, Pluto glanced with an expression of uncertainty towards his little sister; this had become a habit that may never disappear. Any words of dissuasion would only be responded with silence or tears; there was no way of detaching her without further predicaments. His eyes traced the motions of the people flooding in with the same flow, searching for any hostile-looking figures or potential threats. The Grand Line was known to be dangerous, but his heart couldn’t be at ease as long as he didn’t know what to watch out for. Even if the entire train was to flip over and sink, he should be able to escape if he acted fast.

Once the passengers of all shapes and sizes settled down on each cart, the doors slid close, and the train wasted little time running the engines. This was his first time riding such a form of transportation, and thus, he was nervous.

I’ve listed every possible disaster that can happen in my head. The only one I cannot handle is if a bomb annihilated this train. After all, crowds are a common target for mass murder; that is why I hate being surrounded by too many people.

There was no turning back now. The Puffing Ice had already left the station and entered the deep seas of the notorious Grand Line.

[Kurosaki]

After getting dropped off on Shift Station, the energetic blond had found himself having a hard time keeping still while he waited, the clock ticking ever so slowly, for the sea train to arrive. He was pretty much over taking in beautiful sky dotted with fluffy white clouds and over the water even as it sparkled, reflecting the rays of the sun above it and allowing the light to dance this way and that. The only thing on this little minuscule portion of man-made land was a small building, a tall white lighthouse that was presumably to keep inbound ships from crashing into the structure and, well, that was pretty much it. So with how crowded it was from various individuals waiting for the sea locomotive to arrive, it was relatively stuffy and confining despite the pleasantries surrounding them on all sides.

What was worse to the adventurer was that he was incredibly excited about this opportunity to ride on a vehicle that was powered by steam across water. The complexities aside, since he would not be able to wrap his head around that regardless, the idea of taking a train ride on water sounded so thrilling. A boat was a normal form of transportation but a train... You don't get sea sick on a train. You also didn't have to worry about begging rides out of strangers that were often times shifty or shady like he had been doing for the last few months. No, he had a ticket in his pocket that he had paid for and was a bonafide passenger that would not have to work off his debt by swabbing the deck.

Tapping his black boots impatiently on the cement ground beneath him, he wondered how people could relax like some of those lounging on benches and against walls. His nerves were quite on edge and he kept trying to visualize what the train would look like. The truth was that outside of books about them, the swordsman had never encountered one. That was mainly due to his home Island not having trains at all. It was a small Island in the middle of no where with restrictions about leaving... Incredibly strict restrictions. Like, you weren't supposed to leave.

Obviously Kurosaki had blown that one. Whoops.

Well, besides that, it also had no real extreme technological advances to speak of. Most of what they had on the Island were a lot of hand-me-downs and books on subjects.

Hearing what he thought might be a train whistle, he leaned far over, ocean blue eyes wide and full of wonder as he stared out over the water in front which was barred off with water buoys presumably to mark where the train tracks were underneath the surface.

There was nothing.

At first, his excitement was still at a high point, expecting that his ears had simply picked up on the train's arrival sooner than his eyes. However, another screech caused him to look up just as a seagull soared over top of him, wings so close that he could feel the wind from the flapping. A slightly hot and wet substance smacked him right in the face. To be more specific, the cheek.

Slowly, as if in slow motion, his facial features changed from one of expectation, to one of confusion as his eyebrows knitted together. Then almost like a stop motion movie, he reached up as his mouth moved into a frown and then let out a small cry of his own as he realized what it was. At first he attempted to wipe it off his face but it only made his situation that much worse as the semi-liquid-like substance decided to act like it was partially made out of glue.

"Ew, gross," he grumbled as he tried to shake his hand to get some of it off, stumbling his way over to the edge of the platform further away from the train tracks (he wasn't that dumb) and leaning over to wash off his face and hands in the salt water. At least, from what he had read, salt water was supposed to be a little bit of a cleanser.

Satisfied that his job was done, he stood up proudly and began to roll the sleeves to his black jacket back down his slender arms, turning as he heard something behind him. Eyes widening, he realized that he had pretty much missed the murky green colored train in all its locomotive glory rolling smoothly through the water track and into station. In his frenzy to get over close to the train and board, the eager beaver was unfortunate enough to not see someone stand up and begin to wheel their suitcase in front of him. A moment later, in a comical display, he ended up eating ground with his jaw and hands hitting the cement, his legs in the air as a result of tripping over the bag. The saddest part was the one responsible had taken off and was probably on board The Puffing Ice already.

Picking himself off and brushing off specks of dust that had settled onto his mostly dark attire, the poor blond exhaled loudly and hung his head. Just his luck that things had escalated that quickly. Well, the good thing was that moving forward things wouldn't be so bad. After all, the train ride would be uneventful, for sure. The weather was nice so there would be no worries about waves to rock their boat (metaphorically, of course) and he would be sitting down inside so no more chances of seagulls pulling surprises on him.

At a slower, more cautious pace, the tall blond worked his way onto the train and, after a bit of shuffling and bumping into strangers, found a nice cushy seat to park his butt on. His luggage wasn't that extensive so he simply scooted it under the bench. He traveled relatively light due to basically being a vagabond. His bag was really just his skateboard in its typical black carry case that he had slung on his back most of the time and his cutlass. This time he also had a small satchel with him that had a few of his personal affects as well, but nothing of real value.

Relaxing back in the comfort of the seat, the young man looked eagerly out the small window that he had a view out of. He had to admit he was a tad disappointed only in the fact that he didn't have his own private room on the train with a sliding door, but that probably would have cost him extra beri he didn't have.

After a little while of waiting, there was a whistle (an actual one not to be mistaken for a seagull) that signaled their departure toward Water 7. Slowly, the train began to gain momentum as the wheels beneath them found threshold on the railing and coal was shoveled into the engine.

Glancing over, Kurosaki realized that unfortunately he wasn't about to have his nice seat bench all to himself for long. A last minute person was rushing down the aisles looking for a vacancy and found it with him. The freckled, skinny red head stuck his hand out hurriedly, which was rather moist as Kurosaki shook it.

"S-sorry! I couldn't find an empty seat. I-I hope you don't mind me sitting here," he stammered.

"No problem!" the cheerful boy answered, not about to say anything negative toward a stranger despite his own reservations about having to share space with someone so close the entire time. But it probably wouldn't be so bad, right?

That was when the freckled man pulled out a handkerchief and blew his nose into real nice and loud and sniffled right after.

No, yeah, it was gonna be a long ride.

[BlacKitten]

Unlike a ship where it constantly rocks side to side with the seas, the sea train had been an incredibly smooth ride as it slid with the tracks. There were no bumps or vibrations as far as he could feel; sitting in this train would be indistinguishable from sitting on a bench at a park. The only sense that led him knows for sure that he was on a train and not a bench was the faint sound of water outside being spread outwards as the vehicle passed through the seas. Through the window behind him, his scrutinizing eyes gained access to the happenings outside the train, but all he saw was just a vast, prosaic body of saltwater that everyone sees daily in their lives. By now, they should be several kilometers away from the station, but they were still nowhere close to Water 7.

In his entire life, Pluto had never owned any pets, but he had a general grasp on the feeling of having one because Rebecca was now stroking her cheek against his arm whether she was asleep or not. Every little actions from her would always bemuse him; she was like a kitten trying gain attention. Leaning so far off to the side, he was about to lurch off his own seat, so he pushed back against the head that rested on his shoulder. From here, he could feel the gentle and soft breaths. It wasn’t the same as leaning against the wall because he could easily tell that this weight against his body was full of vitality.

“Darn you…,” he glared at the girl with a bit of an irksome expression and whispered, “stop leaning against me.” His shoulder gave a small nudge, but Rebecca remained asleep. She was virtually impervious to any hints or gestures that would go against her clingy desires. What made her even more like a kitten was her tendency to sleep wherever and whenever she wants, especially if he was around, sleeping on him when it was convenient for her. In their current positions, it probably couldn’t be helped; there wasn’t much else to lean against unless sleeping on the floor was an option. The light outside revealed that it was still daytime, early in the morning. How can Rebecca sleep at a time like this?

“Pluto,” a quiet voice emitted from her mouth as her eyes remained closed, “pet my head?”

His head tilted sharply by the ludicrous demand, but the way she said it made saying ‘no’ quite hard. “I can’t. You’ve taken over my arm.” Besides, patting her head would make him feel embarrassed with everyone around them.  

The girl’s head slipped past the shoulder that she was leaning on and fell flat against her brother’s lap, facing down. Pluto reluctantly petted her head, stroking downwards a few times before pulling her back up by the shoulders, forcing her to sit up with straight spine. “You seem rather sleepy today,” he commented.

“I’m scared,” she muttered closely into his ear, tightening her grasp around him. 

His eyes showed a slight sense of bemusement, “That’s not like you. You would normally be excited to be riding on something new like the sea train. I know it’s your first time and all, but you usually aren’t afraid of such things.”

Rebecca pressed her forehead against her brother’s arm, shaking her head gently, “not that, I’m scared of the bad-looking people on board.” All this time, her rubbing against him had been out of need for comfort due to her fear.

Eyebrows furrowed a bit; Pluto immediately scanned the surrounding people once more in the room. Almost every stranger around him was older than him, but through his eyes, each and every single one of them was equally suspicious. There were the ones that seemed high on testosterone by nature, and there were the innocent looking ones that could be hiding their sinister selves. None of them revealed any weapons from the outside, but they could be concealing them within sleeves or suitcases.

Bad people? What does she mean by that? I hope it's just her imagination.  

[Kurosaki]

Even as the train rolled out of the station, certain events were being set in motion. In one of the front train cars a larger man rose up wearing a black trench coat and a wide brimmed hat. While in a typical setting the outfit might have been suspicious, a lot of people on board weren't the most clean looking. A variety of pirates and travelers were making their way to Water 7 and there was no Marine check-point to weed out those that had a criminal or just plain shady past.

The man in the coat crossed down the wide hallway to the cart he was on as another person got up from a different row of seats, scooted in front of the other passenger situated next to him and pulled back his own brown coat to reveal a weapon underneath. More specifically a handgun. The first man in black saw that his partner had made his move and exposed his own shotgun weapon as he stood next to the engine room door, sealing off any access to the front. As soon as the glint of the firearms became noticed by the passengers in the cart, panic struck and a domino effect occurred as more and more individuals realized that they were being held hostage by these men now. They had all the power and more people were standing up, similarly dressed with a variety of other firearms pointed at the innocent on board.

A scream rang out, oddly enough from a younger man instead of any of the women. The hijacker closest to the engine room rose his shotgun and shouted, "Shut up! Nobody move! We're taking over this train!"

For a moment, silence fell over everyone as they realized the implications of causing a scene. If they began to panic and make noise, one of the goons might shoot them to silence them before they could alert the other cars. Also, there was no telling if the other cars were being seized even now and held at gunpoint as well. The numbers of these men were unknown as well as their motives.

Unbeknownst to the passengers on that front cart, there were no other hostages that made their presence known elsewhere. At least, not yet. Whatever sinister plans they had might be set in motion soon, however.

-----

A few minutes ticked by and the blond felt himself starting to anticipate landing on Water 7. He had heard rumors about what the Island was like with its crisscrossing water highways and elaborate fountain at the top. It must have been almost surreal to see. The technology of The Puffing Ice was already so impressive and that was just the transportation to the place. The actual Island must be amazing.

But here he was sitting next to a pencil thin man who would not stop stammering as he spoke and blowing his nose. It brought the happy-go-lucky adventure slamming right back down into reality every time he tried to fantasize about the future. Kurosaki's energetic expression had been replaced by a sort of bored, indifferent one and he was sitting rather rigid and as far to the side away from the hacking and sneezing stranger as possible. In his mind he was almost hoping for something to happen on the train so he could get up and out of his seat and somewhere better. Maybe he should pretend to be physically ill and run for the bathroom? He was pretty sure he had heard someone say there was a restroom up near the cars in the front of the locomotive.

But then if he just never came back, the guy would get suspicious.

-----

"None of you get any bright ideas, you hear? We're going to be taking over this train and each of you is going to fill up our sacks with all the goods you have. Don't got anything? Then someone is going to get hurt. Fork up something of value. We know you have it," the brute at the front of the group growled, signalling to his five men on the first train cart to raise their weapons and keep their wits about them. They did so as the man shed his black trench coat, grinning wildly as he revealed himself to be a man worth about 35,000,000 beri. A man that ran a crew that was known for taking over vessels and transportation vehicles all over the Grand Line named Jesse James. On his rap sheet were such crimes as robbery as well as murder.

Once he had shed his disguise, the sharply dressed man tossed away his brim hat with a wild grin, sharp brown eyes sweeping over those scared faces in front of him. The man himself looked like a gentleman-type which made the fact that he had found this line of work all the more surprising. His face was one that the ladies would easily go crazy for with his square jaw, neatly trimmed beard and slicked back black hair. Meanwhile, his first mate's looks were not as impressive. Instead he had a boyish face that made his crimes that much worse since he looked like a person that would be free of sin. Baby blue eyes and fat cheeks plus an naturally upward turned mouth.

His first mate was a man named Robert Ford who had followed him since almost day one of their string of crime. On his head had been placed a 27,500,000 beri bounty since he had also participated in the murders that had taken place on other ships and trains. As he shed his brown coat and tossed that aside, the man gave a thumbs up to his Captain, signalling the readiness for the next wave of their plan.

SPOILER: Click to show

(I'm not sure where Pluto is seated initially during all of this. If he is not in car #1 I was going to have the hijackers first rob those in the front car and make their way to car #2 as they collect goods. The DF user and his friend are sitting there.)

[BlacKitten]

“Hm?” Pluto shifted his eyes to the very end of the cart. I thought I heard a scream. Am I getting too paranoid that I’m starting to hear things?

Just then, a cloaked figure stood up from his seat, striding towards the center. His face was shadowed by a dark hat, and right after him, three other figures wearing similar attires stood from their seats. Each of them were spread apart in a systematic formation as if guarding a specific section of the cart. The eyes of the passengers were glued onto these suspicious people, and once the four figures of enigma pulled out firearms from the insides of their cloaks or trench coats, everyone began to panic.

Shrieks, screams, and gasps blared in the room, only to be silenced by the roaring gunshot. One of them fired his pistol at the concave ceiling, leaving a dark hole on the spot. Heartbeats pounded, and the passengers began to press closely against the walls to lengthen their distance from these armed men.

Pluto kept a poker face, maintaining a composed outward expression, but deep down, he too was startled like the rest of them. Rebecca buried her head into his body, slightly trembling; her arms wrapped around his waist, hugging him tightly. He wanted to whisper to the girl, but he felt circumspect with these dark-themed riffraff nearby. Rebecca… if they shoot me, I don’t think I can dodge with you clinging onto me. I suppose you’re right about there being ‘bad guys’ here; your intuition is unfortunately correct.

Pistols pointed in all directions; there was barely any blind spot as each man faced at different angles than the next. One of them bellowed out their demands, first wanting everyone here to shut up and the second was to place all any valuables in the sacks that they handed out, expecting it to be passed on to the next person. If they were not satisfied with what the passengers had to hand over, then it would be their guns doing the talking.

Mmm… this isn’t good. I have nothing worth handing out besides my own weapons, and since my weapons are disguised, they won’t even be able to identify them as weapons. Women probably have jewelry; men probably have cash. But, I don’t have any of those...

Holding the sac, shaking it up and down, a cloaked gunman weighed it in his hands with a disappointed look on his face, “Is this seriously all you guys have?” With a gesture of his head towards his comrade, another man scanned the surrounding room as if searching for someone. A hand suddenly grabbed onto Rebecca’s hood, and the girl was yanked off. Her hands rushed to her neck when she thought she was suffocating. She cried out and yowled, “PLUTO!”

Her legs wanted her to move forward as one of her hand reached out towards her brother. A barrel end of a gun pressed at the side of her temple, causing her to freeze her struggling movements, even her breath. Her eyes grew teary as they glanced at her older brother for help. The man behind her turned her away, causing her to face in the opposite direction, “If you don’t hand over something that’s worth some money, the girl dies!”

While Pluto maintained his poker face, he couldn’t help but let the tension grow between his eyes as his teeth clenched as tight as his fists. Tch… it can’t be helped; Rebecca is the youngest one here. She’s the best hostage there is. Psychologically, one would be more willing to save a younger one than an older one. With that gun at pointblank range, there’s nothing I can do.

There was only one thing he can do now, and that was to let this scene play out on its own. Eyebrows furrowed in passive rage; the boy shot out a murderous glare at the one who threatened his sister’s life. A powerful, yearning urge for blood rushed through his veins. His hand squeezed tightly onto his wrist, trying to suppress his own irate breath.

GO TO HELL! DIE! KILL! KILL!

[Kurosaki]

In the front car, the train robbers were going from the first rows of seats back to the end with sacks that they held out. The Captain and First Mate stood watch, keeping an observational eye out for anyone that looked suspicious to them or that looked like they would disturb their operation. In the past, they had only killed those that had caused a scene. Or those that didn't fork any valuables up to them. After all, this was a business that they were in legal or not. They had to make the green or it wasn't worth it. Letting someone get away with not paying would be bad for that business.

"Keep it moving, folks," Jesse warned, sweeping his shotgun back and forth to give them a tad bit more incentive to toss their goods into the bags as fast as possible. While it was unlikely that any sort of Marine presence would be on the move or that anyone had notified those driving the train since the Captain was currently blocking off all access to the engine room, they still weren't going to just loiter around the place. That's how men in their line of work got killed by being too nonchalant about things.

The hoodlums had come to one particular row in the front that had two young men sitting together. Judging by the similar facial features, they were probably brothers. Both of them were exchanging looks at each other and nervously rummaging through their bags but coming up with nothing of value. Instead, all that seemed to be scooped out of their satchels were clothes and useless books.

The criminals seemed to get antsy at that when nothing shiny was produced. One of them glared down upon the heads of the duo causing the atmosphere to become thicker and thicker. It was almost hard to breathe for the two brothers as they struggled to produce even just one shred of something that would pay for them to continue to live.

-----

Unfortunately, sometimes when you're hoping for something so badly to change from your current situation, things can actually change for the worse. Kurosaki quickly realized that as things took a sour turn. One minute he was thinking about how best to excuse himself from sitting next to the weird stranger that had decided to join his seat row on the train and the next the entire train car's attention had been diverted to four men that had stood up and moved about before finally pulling out weapons; firearms to be precise.

Screams and cries filled the air before a sharp retort quickly put a stop to the noise making. Blue eyes shifting up toward the ceiling above where the man at the front of the car was standing, the blond spotted a bullet hole there. So these men were serious. They had real guns with them! But what were they after? They were the very last car on this train, if he remembered correctly. If they were after just hijacking it then this would be the last place they would want to be. Which meant they were probably after... Valuables.

Kurosaki swallowed hard. He was actually quite poor. He had never lived a life where beri or anything shiny was all that particularly important to him. In fact, most of the time it was the very last thing on his mind. On his Island, a lot of times people let bills and the like slip by simply because there was a good abundance of supplies to go around and everyone eventually ended up spreading out the workload relatively even. But out here in the real world, those bills were what made the Earth keep rotating for most people. Just, Kurosaki had not yet gotten used to that fact.

"O-oh my!" squeaked the skinny chap sitting next to him before immediately rummaging for his thick and heavy leather wallet. As soon as the men declared that they were going to be collecting people's valuables, it was like the little guy had decided he was a hot potato. It was lucky for the robbers that he hadn't just simply tried to toss it at them. Kurosaki, meanwhile, was sitting very still, eyes watching the men cautiously as they handed the first passenger in the rows a sack and instructed them to pass it on and fill it up. The swordsman hated to think about what would happen if they had nothing to contribute if their guns were going to be doing the talking.

As the sack was passed, it came to a girl and a boy sitting in the row directly in front of the blond. Popping his head up, he watched as the train robber carefully weighed the sack after snatching it back from the two of them. Apparently, he had moved from his corner to double check the contents and wasn't all that thrilled with what had been added, if anything.

When the two didn't immediately answer if that was all of their belongings, the impatient ruffian reached over and snatched the smaller, young girl up by her hood and pulled her into the middle center aisle, using her as an effective hostage in her own right. Though they were all technically in the same boat, no one else had a weapon pointed that close to them at the moment. Right at the temple, in fact. These guys weren't messing around! Cursing himself for not acting quicker, the swordsmen wondered if he could risk trying to get his cutlass. At the moment that seemed like a horrendous idea. If he made that move, the little girl's brains could easily be blown right out of her skull before he could even slide the metal blade out of its hilt.

Even the adventurer was not that adventurous. Risking the little girl's life in that way would get nothing accomplished. Gritting his teeth together, the brave warrior tried to consider his other options. While he could picture so clearly ramming the sole of his nice black boots into the sneering thief's face and crushing the cartilage in his nose, he had realized that playing it smarter was required. The black haired girl screamed out, presumably for the other person with her to help.

"Wait! I'm with them," he declared, standing up slowly in his seat with his hands held out defensively so that they knew he wasn't carrying anything. "We have all our stuff in this bag here. Just let her go and you can pass the sack back to me and I'll give you everything that we have, I promise!" Of course, this little fib of his would be destroyed if any of them tried to verify it. He didn't have a clue who the people in front of him were except that the guy was probably called Pluto. But why would either of them risk saying that they didn't, in fact, know him when he was vouching for them?

After a moment of being scrutinized, the gunman made a grunting noise deep in his throat and shoved the little girl back at the seat row before spitting on the ground as if to express his displeasure at not having been able to shoot her. With that, he shoved the sack at the kid sitting next to Kurosaki who shot his wallet inside and passed it to the adventurer before he crumpled up into a ball in his seat.

"Better be good kid. You're paying for three people here not just your own skin," the man warned before gesturing his pistol toward him and grinning a grin that revealed his many missing ivories.

"Yeah... Let's see here..." started the young man before he began to rummage through his one bag that he had nervously. It was either now or never, he realized. Though it would be dangerous to strike now with so many innocents around, if he didn't do so now his own life was in jeopardy. "Oh, here it is!" With that, he jumped up, tossing the bag back down onto the plush cushion and using the tops of the seats where Pluto and the girl were sitting as a boost with his hand as he swirled around in mid-air. His boot made an amazing noise as it collided with the man's face, spewing blood from his nose onto the carpet of the Puffing Ice's middle aisle. For a moment there was dead silence as all the passengers and the gang members realized what the kid had just done.

[BlacKitten]

Kill, that was the only action left in his mind as he abandoned all sense of logic and reasoning. Desperation instantly clutched his heart, and he was prepared to massacre these four men before the trigger could even be pulled. If needed, he’ll cover up the barrel of the gun with his own hand to divert the bullet off course; sacrificing one hand would be a cheap price if it meant Rebecca would be saved. One thing was certain if the gunman was taken out; he would have no trouble giving the other three pirates a one way ticket to the underworld.

All of a sudden, a blue-eyed, blonde boy, slightly taller than him, stood up with his hands raised. Pluto widened his eyes in disbelief when the stranger claimed to be with him and his sister. A droplet of sweat flowed down the side of his face, completely indecisive if he should act now or let things play out. If the blond one had a plan, his own actions would just ruin it, but now, he had completely no idea what to do next. If this boy did something foolish, Rebecca might die.

His heart pounded like a drum even when Rebecca was thrown back at him; the poor girl rushed into him in teary eyes, kneeled against his lap and buried her face in his stomach.

Just now… if that boy hadn’t intervened, I would have been forced to use my trump card. He… saved her? Damn it! I couldn’t do anything to help her.

The longest few seconds of his live passed by, and the one sitting next to Kuro tossed in a wallet into the sac. Afterward, it was the blonde one’s turn to offer something. All of a sudden, the blue-eyed boy hurled himself into the air by using the top-part behind Pluto’s seat as a boost before swinging a midair roundhouse kick into the man’s face.

Gapping and goggling, all the passengers and the pirates stared in awe by the boy’s sheer stupidity of pulling such a move in such a situation at such a given time, “EHHHHH???”

“Y-you idiot!” all of the three remaining men aimed their guns towards Kuro.

NOW! Violet eyes sharpened; Pluto slid his foot across the floor, wedging the tip of his boot beneath the unconscious body before him. Simultaneously, he shoved Rebecca away as his body dropped off his seat, producing the leverage needed to hurl the body in midair. As gunshots sounded through the room, bullets pierced into the temporary suspended body. With all the projectiles aimed initially at the blonde one, Pluto was at little risk at getting hit if he had failed. When the body was hurled upwards, a gun fell from the corpse’s hand, only to be caught by the hands of the black-haired boy.

As the body began to descend, Pluto remained in his extremely low position towards the ground as he pointed the pistol in his left hand towards the group of men along with his empty right hand. At the same time, both of his fingers pulled the trigger on two different gadgets. A bullet fired from the gun and a wired spearhead was launched from his forearm protector. One man collapsed from the shot to the chest, and another was stabbed in neck. The spearhead retracted automatically from the impaled neck, and Pluto traded shots with the last remaining man.

Even as the three bodies lay there, he continued to fire bullets into their bodies until he was all out of ammunition. Puddles of blood spread across the floor at a rapid rate. The body Kuro knocked out was bleeding profoundly when it shielded them from the first wave of bullets.

Dropping the handgun as it thumped onto the floor, Pluto slid his body back to his seat as his panted for air. He needed time to let his mind regain its normal senses; he no longer felt like himself after he just killed three men in front of the eyes of many passengers. Something inside of him still wasn’t satisfied. He didn’t want Rebecca to see death at such a young age. He hated himself for being unable to protect her in a better way.

Slowly, his eyes turned towards the blond-haired boy who rescued his sister from the life and death scenario, “Thank you.” His words were deprived of emotion, but he meant what he said sincerely.

[Kurosaki]

Boots back on the ground, the blond didn't really seem to realize the full impact of his actions until the repercussions started. He knew that he was going to be the center of attention, however, but what he hadn't expected was the level of complete astonishment both the passengers and the train robbers seemed to have at first. Firearms swiveling so that they were pointed at him, the adventurer realized how quick he would have to act now. Ducking behind the seat cushions, the first bullets missed their mark.

Scrambling, Kurosaki managed to pull out his skateboard from its black case. It was unfortunate, but he realized he might have to use it as a shield. If these men came around and cornered him in his seat, he would need something to block himself from instantly being gunned down. Then again, at point blank range it probably wouldn't do much good which meant he actually had to move sooner than that. Still... His precious skateboard. He loved that thing. With it's sleek design and black and white flames on both sides. It was a piece of perfection in his eyes. If it looked like Swiss cheese at the end of this he was probably going to cry.

"I've been called that before," agreed Kurosaki under his breath at being dubbed an idiot. In fact, that was probably the most commonly used insult thrown his way even by his best friend. Then again, usually it was a justified response to something he had done.

Bracing himself, the adventurer came back up with the skateboard raised as a shield and darted out from behind the seats and past his little curled up buddy beside him. Only, he was a little too late for the rest of the action. The young man didn't hear anymore gun shots and didn't feel any bullets slam home into his precious skateboard. In fact, everything was eerily silent to the point that he lowered the recreational tool and looked about.

The ring leader of the group of men that had been issuing the commands was collapsed on the ground, blood pooling around his body. Turning his head to the right and swiveling himself so he had looked at each of the men that had been in different positions in the train car, Kurosaki quickly realized that all of them had been dispatched. Turning back around, his lips slightly parted in shock, his blue eyes cast down to the little boy that had done the dispatching. The gun in his and was smoking ever so slightly still even as he rose up to his full height, which was only a few inches shorter than the tall young man, and turned to look at him. The words of thanks actually startled Kurosaki out of his shock, which was good because standing around with your mouth gaped open wasn't all that flattering.

"Y-you're welcome," he stammered out, thinking that the guy probably hadn't needed his help as much as he had first thought. In fact, he was older than he had first surmised. Probably older than him by a few years? He couldn't really tell since he had a very youthful face despite its lack of emotion. "Actually, I should be the one thanking you for the save." With that he gestured to the gun he still had.

"Well, I guess that's it though. All the guys are down. Someone should probably let the conductors and the people up front know though," Kurosaki observed, one hand on his chin thoughtfully before he turned back around and started to collect his stuff from on and under the seat. Once he had his skateboard safely tucked back into his case and strapped to his back, his cutlass hilt back in place on his side and his satchel stored underneath the seat for collecting later, he turned back to the stranger. Clearly, he intended to be that person to go up front. After all, it seemed all the other passengers besides this guy and his companion were frozen in their seats, still stunned from the entire ordeal. No one else besides the robbers seemed to have been injured though.

Remembering what his friend would say about the importance of introductions, Kurosaki realized that he still had not yet done one due to all of the earlier chaos. Sticking out a hand toward the slightly older teen, he grinned and said, "Name's Kurosaki. Nice to meet you! You know... Just in case there are more of these guys, maybe we should both go up to the conductor? Seems you know what you're doing!"

-----

One of the men snagged one of the brothers and dragged him out of his seat and onto the ground before pointing his gun down at him. A clicking noise sounded as the safety was turned off.

"You either deliver, or we'll make an example out of your friend here!" the Captain warned from up front, signalling to his goon that he should hold off for a moment to give the family member time to offload his valuables if they were simply trying to sit on them. The brother on the ground had begun to cry, hands up above his head defensively as though they were attempting to protect his head from the slug that would surely find a way into his brain. Not that his hands would do him any good. The other brother's horrified look spoke the real truth though. They had nothing to give.

[BlacKitten]

As if it would never come, the incident had finally ended. While exaggerated, it felt like a hour had just passed by. The moment Pluto returned to his seat after neutralizing the threats, his little sister crashed into him, hugging him, shivering in fear. There was no blaming her this time, having a gun pointblank at one’s temple would have traumatized any regular child.

The cutlass-possessing child returned the thanks to him for the short rescue. “You saved my little sister, and I saved you. I guess we’re even then,” Pluto didn’t want either of them to believe they held any debts to one another. His hand slid over to pat his sister on the head, “Sorry Rebecca, it’s my fault for letting them take you as a hostage.”

The blond-haired boy introduced himself with a facial expression that seemed to have forgotten all about what just happened. He suggested him to come along to the conductor’s room in order to report about the incident just in case that there were more of those villains. If there really were more of those men, Pluto questioned to himself as to why he would risk his own life all over again with another similar situation.

“Kurosaki?” he repeated the name, wanting to remember the person who risked himself to save his beloved little sister who instantly tightened her arms around him at the thought of her brother leaving. His eyes grew tense when he spoke up, “A while ago, I thought I heard screaming in the front part of the train; I thought I was just being paranoid and was hearing things.” Eyes had then closed shut, “I still hope that I was just hearing things.” Now that he knew about the realism of Rebecca’s fear earlier, he began to trust what he had heard back then.

Not immediately declining, he began to clarify his viewpoint to the newly met acquaintance, “However, you overestimate me. I only got lucky back there. They were aiming at you, and the unconscious man in front of me was holding a gun. The situation was set up in a way that made it possible for me to take them out. And besides…” his eyes drifted off towards his half-asleep sister. She can always fall asleep whenever her head learned against him; it worked like magic. “I don’t want to put her in any more danger nor do I want to leave her here,” he added.

His eyes glimpsed over the blood-strained floor along with the pile of dead bodies; his eyebrows tensed. “On the other hand… I don’t want her to wake up seeing this...,” he said nonchalantly. It would ruin her child-like innocence if he exposed death in front of her eyes in plain view. Maybe coming with Kurosaki was a good idea after all; besides, maybe there weren’t any hostile criminals on the other train cart.

Bringing his left arm in front of him, Pluto activated his little gadget. His black-metallic forearm guard spread open on above, forming an arc-shaped bow with multiple strands of strings attached to the ends. This was his little hidden weapon, a wrist-mounted crossbow that can be folded up to be disguised as regular armor. From the large-rectangular pocket on his dark trouser, he slipped out a short, metal, arrow-like bolt, used as a projectile. Since this took time to set up, doing so now was would be best. Sliding the rod inside and pulling it back until it was locked in place; the long-ranged weapon was ready to fire with a pull of a trigger. “Just in case, I’ll bring along my own long-ranged weapon. Guns are too noisy.”

This was going to be embarrassing. Pulling on both of Rebecca’s wrists over his shoulders, the girl instinctively curled around his neck for support. As he stood up, the brother practically was giving her a piggyback ride, much to his annoyance. Carrying her for so many times in the past, he was extremely used to her heaving such a weight for a long period of time. In a way, it made him stronger. As long as the girl clung onto his back, his hands were free to use at the cost of speed. Opening the door, a rush of cold air blew at his face along with the scent of salt from the seas.

As he stepped across through the short distance, Pluto immediately ducked behind the other door as his eyes slowly peaked through the small round window. Just as he feared, there were more armed men inside just like the ones they had encountered. His eyes turned back towards Kurosaki and shook his head to gesture that something is terribly wrong. Raising his voice just loud enough to be heard over the sound of the train gushing over the water, Pluto gave an advice to the blond one, “I don’t know how good you are with your sword, but if you’re not the killing-type, cut off their wrists so they can’t hold a gun anymore.”  Even now, he was questioning if he should enter the next cart or go back to their own cart. 

[Kurosaki]

The blond frowned a bit. He hadn't been really expecting the slightly older teen to not tell him his name right away. He would have to just keep thinking his name was probably what the girl had shouted out before. Pluto, right? Well, the shy guy was comforting his little sister, who still seemed to be in shock, so the young man really couldn't blame him. The adventurer had never really been around anyone that he needed to protect. He typically had friends and family that were more than capable of taking care of themselves. 'Pluto' seemed incredibly close to his sister Rebecca to the point of risking himself to keep her safe.

Kurosaki didn't think that Pluto had just been imagining things though. Most likely, if the robbers had attacked their car then they were elsewhere as well. After all, this was the last cart on the train! Surely, they wouldn't start at the very back and work their way up? No... It was even possible that they had men on each of the carts of The Puffing Ice which would also spell trouble for them.

At first it seemed like the teen was going to be content in staying out of whatever mess might be up front. Not that the swordsmen would blame he anyway. If there was a chance that there were more gunman up there, then it would only raise the chances of dying themselves if they were to take that chance. Only, Kurosaki really couldn't just sit around and wait. His personality just wouldn't allow for him to sit idly by while there might be others at risk.

"Well, truthfully I probably only got lucky with that kick. If the other guys had reacted any quicker I'd be toast!" Kurosaki declared, laughing a bit at the end of that statement. Several passengers looked over with wide eyes, thinking him insane most likely. Of course, now that he had his cutlass he also felt better. His attacks were far better with that weapon at his disposal. With his own weapon at the ready, Pluto seemed to finally settle on tagging along. Which was a wonder, since the adventurer probably didn't instill a lot of confidence with his declarations.

"You sure you want to take her along? It might be harder to fight while trying to protect your sister," Kurosaki cautioned but they had already set out with Pluto giving Rebecca a pretty neat looking piggy back ride. The younger girl was slowly falling asleep though so she didn't seem to either be excited about it or embarrassed. Maybe all the stress of what had happened had caused her energy levels to wear out? Instead it had done the complete opposite to the young man. He felt refreshed, full of energy and completely pumped up.

It seemed that the older teen was pretty sure though because he didn't hesitate. Instead he led them up to the sliding door between the cars and opened it. Blond hair immediately flying back and forth, Kurosaki shielded his eyes for a moment from the change in lighting from the inside to the outside. Tagging behind him, he watched as Pluto checked the car in front through the little window cautiously before turning back to him. By his gestures the adventurer assumed they were dealing with more men and his hand went to the hilt of his cutlass.

Listening to Pluto's words of advice, the blond cracked a grin and laughed. "Haha, you're funny. Man, even under these types of circumstances you can still make jokes?" he answered back, clearly not taking the words seriously. He completely believed that it had been a mere joke. After all, the optimistic young man would never think to do something that callous. In fact, despite the fact he carried such a brutal weapon like a cutlass, he barely if ever drew much blood from his opponents. If anything, he would simply knock these men out, tie them up and hand them over to the authorities.Besides, to him clearly Pluto was making a joke. Cutting off someone's wrist would, in fact, kill them from blood loss.

"I got it! We could go from above to the front car and maybe someone up there could help us," Kurosaki decided, pointing to the ladder that was just right next to the connection for the cars. "It might be dangerous for you to take Rebecca along though. Why don't you wait here and keep them from coming after those in the last car again and maybe try to stop these guys if you get an opening? I'll be back in a jiffy." With a thumbs up, the energetic young man jumped over to the ladder recklessly and climbed up, disappearing over the edge from Pluto's vantage point.

Crouching low, the wind velocity increasing and threatening to pull his light frame right off from the train's roof, Kurosaki clambered across. He almost felt like he should crawl across the top rather than crouch walk. Black jacket whipping around him in the breeze, he realized what a mistake this was compared to how he had envisioned it being. Usually in books it was super easy to cross on a train roof! At the very least, since they were in the midst of the ocean, he wouldn't have to worry about ducking for train tunnels which was a relief.

Scurrying across, the adventurer took the first leap across from one cart to the next and his stomach leaped along with him. Heart pounding, he rushed across the next one and jumped across but his foot almost slipped. Deciding he would need to be more careful, he crossed a few more more cautiously and finally came to the first car, the engine directly in front of it. All in all he had found out that The Puffing Ice was a very long passenger train.

Feeling relatively ill, he opened up the hatch slowly, keeping low and trying to keep his movements as quiet as possible though it was hard to hear if he had made a ruckus over the wind whipping around him. Down below he could make out a few things happening. One person was standing with a shotgun toward the engine room. Another was standing guard on the other side, blocking passengers from escaping the car. The other three train robbers were in the middle with the passengers, but one was in the midst of dragging a person out of their seat. Like a flashback to the earlier scenario, Kurosaki realized instantly that they hadn't been able to pay up.

Despite the odds stacked against him, the swordsmen knew he had to make a move but even as he went to jump down, the gun went off.

Ears ringing, blue eyes wide as saucers, Kurosaki felt his heart skip an entire beat as he witnessed the scene from above, unable to do anything but watch as the boy slumped forward onto the carpeted floor. The hole now present in his head was the telltale sign that the gunshot had been fatal as crimson liquid slowly seeped out of the wound.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" came a scream from the person that had been sitting besides the boy. They must have been together. From his view point, he couldn't see the person's face but he could hear the torment in his voice even as the gunman pointed his pistol at him in turn. Not able to hold back, the swordsman leaped down from above, foot outstretched. In a typical fashion for him, he dropped down with his boot ramming right into the man's face. Alarm rang out from the train robbers at his literal 'dropping in'.

Just before the gunshots rang out, his blue eyes met with the eyes of the passenger. Tears were stained on the young man's face but determination was there too. Slowly, he nodded in his direction before something strange happened. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl. Kurosaki heard a soft 'bang' as though a gun was going off in the distance. Turning slowly, he saw that one of the robbers had pulled their trigger. But it was all happening so slow. Strangely, there was a tick-tock sound like a clock that was right next to his ear. It slowed down as well until a sound like the winding of a clock began. The world around him faded back and for some reason, Kurosaki was pretty sure that he had bit the big one. That was, until he opened his eyes...

(Sorry, not trying to rush the thread but get to the meat of it quicker since we've only got 50 posts. )

[BlacKitten]

“Eh?” His eyes widened in bemusement when Kurosaki laughed at his friendly advice. For whatever strange reason, his words were taken as a literal joke, but he had truly meant every word that he had said. Understanding that not everyone had the lack of morality when it came to taking someone’s life, Pluto had only suggested an alternative way that wouldn’t lead to an instant death. Personally, the black-haired boy would feel no scruple whatsoever in taking someone’s life, but only if it benefited for his sister’s and his own survival. For instance, if Rebecca was about to be killed, he would not hesitate to exterminate those that harmed her. This was a philosophy that he subconsciously developed in order to change his once conventional mentality into a darker one. It wasn’t that he wanted it; it was necessary.

Contrary to his original belief of the blond one’s courage, he had no expected for their plans to suddenly result in them splitting up. When suggested to come along, it was under his impression that it was because the boy didn’t had the confidence and wanted someone to act as a backup or a bodyguard against any hostility. Kurosaki climbed up the ladder to reach the rooftop and strode off from there, leaving him behind because of Rebecca being in the way. If he was going alone anyways, what was the point of bringing him along? Now, Pluto no longer felt necessary to enter through the sliding door in front of him, especially if there were more armed men on the other side. For what possible reason would he purposely enter through this entrance with a sleeping girl on his back?

Suppose he did decide to play the role of the hero and tried to take out the criminals inside, there were dozens of other passengers at risk as well. Although he didn’t hold an ounce of care about their safety, it was an excuse to convince his conscience to not get involved. Besides, look at the last time someone tried to do that. When Kurosaki flew a kick that knocked that man unconscious before, everyone in the room was at a greater risk of getting shot at. Wasn’t the whole point of paying attention to history was so that the bad stuff doesn’t repeat itself?

Yes, there were corpses and blood in the previous cart, but corpses were more or less harmless. Rebecca was fast asleep, so he would just have to comfort her to stay asleep. “Well, I better go back, then,” Pluto turned around and headed back to his original seat, “the quicker I get her off by back, the better.”

Time had then reversed itself. All that has happened was removed from both reality and memories of everyone. The bodies and blood on the floor were gone. The passengers wore their daily expressions, free from any fear. 

Pluto and Rebecca were seated as they just got on the train a few minutes ago as they were on their way to Water 7 like everyone else on board. 

“Darn you…,” he glared at the girl with a bit of an irksome expression and whispered, “stop leaning against me.” His shoulder gave a small nudge, but Rebecca remained asleep. She was virtually impervious to any hints or gestures that would go against her clingy desires. Her tendency to sleep on him when it was convenient for her had remained a habit as always, and he feared that this may never go away. In their current positions, it probably couldn’t be helped; there wasn’t much else to lean against unless sleeping on the floor was an option. The light outside revealed that it was still daytime, early in the morning. How can Rebecca sleep at a time like this?

“Pluto,” a quiet voice emitted from her mouth as her eyes remained closed, “pet my head?”

His head tilted sharply by the ludicrous demand, but the way she said it made saying ‘no’ quite hard. “I can’t. You’ve taken over my arm.” Besides, patting her head would make him feel embarrassed with everyone around them.

The girl’s head slipped past the shoulder that she was leaning on and fell flat against her brother’s lap, facing down. Pluto reluctantly petted her head, stroking downwards a few times before pulling her back up by the shoulders, forcing her to sit up with straight spine. “You seem rather sleepy today,” he commented.

“I’m scared,” she muttered closely into his ear, tightening her grasp around him.

His eyes showed a slight sense of bemusement, “That’s not like you. You would normally be excited to be riding on something new like the sea train. I know it’s your first time and all, but you usually aren’t afraid of such things.”

Rebecca pressed her forehead against her brother’s arm, shaking her head gently, “not that, I’m scared of the bad-looking people on board.” All this time, her rubbing against him had been out of need for comfort due to her fear.

"?" The brother scanned around the room, taking heed of the girl's words. 

[Kurosaki]

One of the first things that he felt was the calming sensation from breathing in ocean air. Eyes now open, the adventurer realized slowly that he was somewhere different than he had been a moment before. In fact, at first there was a calm sensation in him as he considered that he must have died. Shot trying to do something bravely stupid. If Ryou, his best friend, had found out, most likely he would have told him scornfully that he had told him so. How sad was that? He had even been warned that this was how he was going to end up if he kept acting like an idiot.

Well, heaven sure was beautiful. There was a baby blue sky stretching out in front of him, and waves crashing at his feet. It took him a few seconds to realize that they were hitting a platform that he was standing near the edge of. Slowly turning his head, he realized that he bizarrely recognized his surroundings and it wasn't what he had originally thought at all. No, in fact, he was standing on the very platform where he had been waiting before for The Puffing Ice to arrive. Everything was the exact same, in fact, down to the water buoys in the water bobbing slowly up and down and the cry of a seagull from above his head.

Right. A seagull. A nervous laugh filtering out of his lips, he thought that surely he wouldn't have the same experience as he had first had with that one seagull.

In a confused daze, his brain almost in a fog as he moved, the mostly black clad youth turned around and began to walk a short distance. His mind was in a pure funk as he tried to figure out how he had gotten back here. He was standing right back on the platform for the train as though he had never left it earlier. Was this some sort of strange way that his brain was showing him his life as he died like a flashback? That wouldn't make sense though seeing as how he had always heard that they were supposed to be quick snippets. Not relieving it completely.

Kurosaki looked up as another screech from above caught his attention. His pointed nose toward the sku, his blue irises caught sight of the winged beast before he felt a warm substance strike his cheek. Slowly, it began to run down his face. His dazed expression turned to one of shock, surprise and then utter bafflement. This was exactly what had happened to him earlier!?

Rushing to the side of the platform, he was in a hurry to wash the gunk off of his face. So much, in fact that everything was almost a blur to his eyes. When he stood up, shaking off his wet hands in the air and spitting out some salt water he then turned around. That was when he locked on like a homing beacon to the murky green colored locomotive sitting at the station, steam puffing up from its chimney steadily, earning it part of its namesake. Brain racing, what if's swirling in his mind, the blond began to walk almost in a zombie-like state forward just before he tripped straight over something, smashing into the ground with only enough time to brace himself with his forearms. Popping back up a short time after, he looked back to realize it had been a suitcase.

A. Suitcase.

If that wasn't bizarre enough, people had begun to board the train. Still in a state of auto-pilot, Kurosaki made his way on board and found that while navigating the crowds a bit differently than last time, he still made it to the last car and that the very seat he had taken before was the only one vacant. Standing dumbfounded in the aisle, he spotted a familiar pair of faces sitting in front of the seat he had claimed before. They seemed preoccupied with each other's company and though his stare seemed to bore into them, neither of them so much as glanced in his direction. You'd think if either Pluto or Rebecca remembered that this was going to lead to them being robbed and to an epic showdown in the middle of a train car, that they'd be a little bit more on edge.

"W-what on Earth is going on here?!" he thought to himself as he slowly walked past them and sat into the seat. Almost immediately after, the train gave a short whistle and they were off again. Again, or for the first time? Kurosaki didn't know for sure. The traveler had never had something like this happen to him before. Everything had repeated itself exactly. Even down to the-

"S-sorry! I couldn't find an empty seat. I-I hope you don't mind me sitting here," came a voice that the blond recognized well as belonging to his stammering seat partner that had done his best impression of a ball during the time that all the action had gone down.

Almost immediately, Kurosaki shot up in his seat and then without saying anything, squeezed past the scrawny stranger who stammered a question that he didn't hear. Walking straight over to the seat in front of him and looking straight down at Pluto and Rebecca seated there, he realized what he was going to say was insane. In fact, he thought that maybe he himself was going insane. But that didn't change the fact that this day was repeating itself and he knew exactly what was about to transpire.

Taking in a deep breath, at first it looked like he was planning on holding it like a temperamental child that was trying to get something out of there parent by not breathing until they passed out. Instead, however, he was breathing in before launching into a wild statement that was most likely going to make the two sitting there believe he was bat nuts crazy or bonkers crazy. One of the two. All of his words, however, despite his rush to say them were kept low and he occasionally glanced over his shoulder as he spoke to check that he hadn't provoked anyone sitting in the seats by being up out of his.

"Hey, um, you're honestly probably not going to believe this unless you know it already but I know you two already. You're Pluto and Rebecca. I met you the first time we were on this train. Or, I guess, before time repeated itself? I'm not sure a hundred percent what's going on but everything from me being on the platform up until now is repeating itself. And... In a minute, some men are going to stand up with guns and take this car hostage. We need to move fast," Kurosaki's words were rushed, kept low and a bit frantic due to his own confusion about what was going on. The chances were very high that Pluto or Rebecca if they hadn't experienced what he had would think him insane.

[BlacKitten]

“… eh?” Pluto tried to understand all of the words that were said to him; he really did. Those words combined with logic and common sense ended up with a twisted up solution that held no meaning at all, but the only piece of evidence that made him even consider this ludicrous possibility was the fact that this stranger knew his name along with his sister’s name. First of all, how could he have met his person the first time they were on the train if this was already the first time they were on the train? Unless his memory was rotting away from young age, he had never once told his name to this kid, and the only explanation was that the blond one overheard his name when Rebecca said it. Although, that didn’t explain how this kid knew his sister’s name.

“Uh…,” his eyes narrowed as his mind tried its best to comprehend this stranger’s logic. Something about time repeating itself, something about this man experiencing déjà vu, most importantly, this blond one claimed that some men were about to take this train cart as hostage. Leaning towards his sister with his hand cupping the edge of his lips, “Is this one of the ‘bad-looking people’ you were mentioning? I’ll admit, I didn’t notice anyone stalking us. He’s good…”

Shaking her head softly, Rebecca’s eyes held no sign of fear towards the blonde one, “I don’t think so…”

“You said my name since we got on this train, but I never mentioned your name at all today. Even if he was eavesdropping, there’s no way he would have known your name,” Pluto whispered his thoughts to the girl, suggesting that this blond boy might be possess some high-level spying skills. Even so, to purposely reveal his presence, telling the two of them about such an alarming foresight, what would a spy possibly gain from this? If this boy had already leaned all about Pluto’s personality, then perhaps the kid was trying to take advantage of his cautiousness, but no normal person would buy into such a likely hoax. The kid’s final words were ‘we need to move fast’. Move where? Where were they supposed to go? Obviously, this was probably where the trap comes in if the siblings went along with it.

Wait a minute… I’m being too self-centered here. What if we’re not the targets this boy is after? By saying that some armed men will take this cart hostage, is this boy trying to start a panic? It’s like trying to say there’s a fire in a public building; everyone would be in chaos. Is that what this boy is after?

Still, how was he supposed to respond to this kid?

“Is this a prank?” Rebecca said in an innocent state of confusion.

“If this is a prank, I don’t see where the funny part comes in,” Pluto grumbled. Sighing, he gave in to only one possible conclusion. Glaring straight towards this stranger, he said, “I’m impressed! For you to be stalking us for more than one day without my awareness, you’re pretty good.” Although, he still couldn’t figure out what this kid was after, but whatever it was, he didn’t want to get involved.

All of a sudden, four men stood up in the cart in synergy, spreading out across the cart before finally revealing their firearms in plain view. Several gasps and screams sounded out, but a gunshot silenced them all. Everyone started to panic inside but remained frozen in fear, leaning against the wall to create some sense of distance away from these gunmen.

Meanwhile, Pluto and Rebecca widened their eyes in shock but for a completely different reason than everyone else. The blond kid’s prediction was right! A series of solutions were listed in his mind to explain this bizarre situation. There’s a completely logical explanation. 

“Tsk… the marines are never around when you need them,” he crossed his arms. His eyes glared in annoyance towards the blond one, "Oi! If you wanted to convince me that this would happen, why didn't you just say you overhead their plan in taking this place hostage?" That would've been a lot more believable than time reversing itself.

[Kurosaki]

Sucking in some air at the end of his long winded explanation, he hoped against hope that somehow Pluto had experienced the same strange phenomenon as he so that the slightly older boy would understand. Or, at the very least that he would hear him out after having unleashed names as well as details about what was about to occur. Cheeks still puffed out, he held it for a moment as the young man seemed to consider what he had said, then ask his young sister if he was one of the 'bad-looking people' she had mentioned before.

Nearly face planting at the comment when the swordsmen knew full well he had saved Rebecca as well as stopped a whole mess of awful things from happening on that very car, Kurosaki wondered how on Earth he could get them to truly believe him. He would maybe have to launch into more details? Was there even time to do that?

Folding his arms across his chest and tapping his right foot impatiently on the maroon carpeted floor of the aisle, the blond waited while Pluto attempted to puzzle this out with his baby sister. Though they were whispering now so low that he couldn't hear what they were saying but he was getting the distinct feeling that they weren't buying what he was selling. At a time like this, when time was so of the essence, it was almost enough to drive a person mad worse than having somehow become involved in a time reversal. How did that even work, exactly? Why was he the only one that seemed to remember any of it?

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the little girl asked pointblank if it was a prank.

"Why the heck would I try to prank you with something like that?" Kurosaki questioned, striking his forehead with his own palm in bafflement. "And why the heck would I stalk you? I don't even know you that well!" Flinging his arms up into the air, he comically looked down at the young man in frustration.

"Look, we're running out of time. You can either chose to believe me or not but there's no changing the fact that any minute this train is about to be-" he started to whisper hurriedly, trying to cool himself off enough to get his message across before the hijackers made their move. If they did, they were going to be in real trouble. Again.

In fact, if he was recalling events correctly than it was literally any second now...

Almost immediately after making the connection between the timing and his memories, the swordsman realized that all four hijackers in the train car had already stood up and were spreading out again in a very familiar pattern, their firearms in plain view as one of them fired a warning shot into the ceiling. A few pieces of debris rained back down as a result and panic ensued as everyone realized how serious these men were.

Slinking into the seat next to the small pencil-thin boy from before (who was sitting by the window this time), Kurosaki's eyebrows furrowed upon hearing Pluto's criticism of his actions.

"Okay, you try almost getting shot the first time around and then have time reverse on you and have to start from the beginning and see if you reach a logical decision on how to convince someone that you know what's going to happen before it does; then we'll talk!" he hissed from behind Pluto while holding onto the back of the seat so that he was leaning as close as possible to the young man so that only he could hear him well. "By the way, you guys don't have anything to fork up so they're going to grab Rebecca and threaten to shoot her if you don't give them something of value."

It was a long shot by now, Pluto still not entirely believing him nor his sister. If he said these things now, they might also consider him to be one of the members of the train hijackers. Biting his lower lip and realizing he was effectively burying a hole for himself now unless he really got them to believe him, he decided to hurriedly make a remark or two before the robbers got to them.

"I don't know much else about you guys to make you believe me but I do know that you have a weapon hidden in your arm like a crossbow, are not afraid to kill and made a pretty funny joke about how to go about dispatching these guys. You said if I'm not the killing type I should cut their hands off at the wrist," Kurosaki hurriedly exclaimed, rushing to throw the words out there as low as possible since the man with the sack they were to put items in was almost upon Pluto and Rebecca.

Meanwhile, the agile youth was biding his time, waiting for the same moment to strike as before. Though he was at a different position in his seat this time, it would be just as effective if he were to strike Rebecca's attacker straight in the face from here with a well timed kick. Then, everything else would play out just like before, hopefully.

[BlacKitten]

With the amusing jester who ended up in a seat behind him, the hissing response he heard still made no sense at all, but his eyes sharpened the moment the boy claimed that his sister would be threatened by a gun. Somehow, someway, the blond one knew that he held a hidden weapon on his forearm and even knew that Pluto felt no scruple in killing anyone. Soon those words became more and more fitting for a stalker. Although, he had no remembrance of making any joke throughout his life.

His eyes glanced towards the maroon-colored carpet, holding a serious expression on his face. Was it true that Rebecca would be danger as this boy foretold? Kurosaki had told more truths than myths so far, but if this was truly a result of time reversing itself, then it was either some bizarre natural phenomenon in The Grand line or the work of a Devil Fruit power.

Pistols pointed in all directions; there was barely any blind spot as each man faced at different angles than the next. One of them bellowed out their demands, first wanting everyone here to shut up and the second was to place all any valuables in the sacks that they handed out, expecting it to be passed on to the next person. If they were not satisfied with what the passengers had to hand over, then it would be their guns doing the talking.

Holding the sac, shaking it up and down, a cloaked gunman weighed it in his hands with a disappointed look on his face, “Is this seriously all you guys have?” With a gesture of his head towards his comrade, another man scanned the surrounding room as if searching for someone. A hand suddenly reached out towards Rebecca’s hood as the girl was now clinging onto her older brother for dear life.

In a flash, Pluto snatched the wrist of the outstretched hand, gripping it like an iron vise, crushing the bones between his fingers and palm. “I see,” his eyes slowly glared directly towards the gunman. He had waited to test out Kurosaki’s predictions, but it was all true. Just now, this man tried to grab his sister by the hood, but… what happened to the last time this occurred? For this man to even have to opportunity to aim a gun at his sister before time reversed itself, that would imply that he had failed protecting her, unable to do anything with the girl taken as hostage.

Unacceptable.

“You want me to put something valuable in this sac, right?” His eyes grew murderous as his tone grew dark, “I have an idea; how about I cram that ugly head of yours inside this sac?”

“You idiot! I have a gun,” just as the man angled his weapon towards the foolish boy, he suddenly found himself in midair. A sharp pain rushed into his wrist, and it felt like his entire body contorted to lurch towards his strangely positioned hand that was grasped by the black-haired boy. Collapsing onto the floor with his arm supinated to its maximum, he was pinned down, unable to stand back up. It was hard enough to not cry out from the pain; it felt like his wrist was about to be ripped off.

Heaving himself from his seat, Pluto had his eyes glaring down at the body below him as his grip tightened even more. Without a second thought, he brutally stomped down onto the extended elbow of the arm he had control over, snapping the joint under his weight. A sharp cry of agony reverberated throughout the interior of the cart as the three other gunmen had their attention staring at their fallen ally. Guns were immediately pointed towards him.

“If you’re prepared to kill, then you must be ready to be killed yourself,” the boy slid his foot underneath he body below him before hurled the body into midair with a violent raise of his leg. Switching up his feet, he side-kicked the body to fly across the cart and slam into one of the other gunmen. Gunshots were fired. Eyes sharpened, Pluto dashed forth with his arms held up over his face. Bullets were deflected upon contact with his round edges of his metallic forearm guards.

With the speed of a martial artist, he closed the gap between the cloaked men and himself. A bullet was about to be fired at him directly as the finger pulled the trigger, but in an instant, the boy swiveled on his front foot, facing the man from the side at a blind spot as a bullet missed its mark.

“Damn it! He’s fast!” A man decided to risk it, firing his gun even at the risk of hitting his own ally. Pluto ducked towards the ground to evade the bullet while shoving the face of a gunman downwards with the rotation of his waist and the drop of with weight. He pushed down, slamming the back of the skull against the floor.

Just as the gun lowered itself for proper aiming, Pluto was already underneath the weapon, dashing forward at a low angle. Deflecting and grabbing the dangerously armed hand to the side as a bullet pierced the floor, his fist was immediately planted onto the man’s face with the weight of his body behind the punch. The man’s head smashed straight through the window from behind. Fragments of glass shattered as the head dangled outside.

Sliding the gun off of the enemy’s hand, Pluto pointed the weapon at the last gunman. The body that he kicked across the cart had slammed into this last gunman who was now sitting on the floor. His eyes darted towards the blond one, “Should I kill him or do you wish to interrogate him first? For each question he does not answer, I’ll shoot a limb.”