SP Mission: Bullet Train

"Um, I'll take that as a compliment," Photon said, nodding. "I can do that. You," she turned, signaling one of the red armored navis. "You're with me. Stay hidden unless they attack me." The red armored navi gave a single nod of affirmation, following Photon out the large hole that had once been a door. Once back there, Photon jumped to grab the roof of the car and pull herself up, just enough to peek over the edge and call out to the hunters. Her bodyguard, meanwhile, stood against the door of the engine, silently facing back into the car.

"No questions," the black-armored navi said simply, standing by. The front of his helmet faced toward the far end of the car, where the gorilla woman, as Majinman had put it, had left through. Lacking a face to the helmet, however, it was difficult to tell if he was watching it, or watching anything at all.

The footsteps on top of the car, slow as they had been, stopped as Photon addressed the hunters. No shots were fired, yet.

Most of the passengers, having either been frozen in shock or hiding under tables during the fighting, had returned to what they were doing. A few still remained hidden, or else kept wary eyes on Photon's bodyguards or the now-revealed Majinman. The lone navi with the high HP reading, however, remained unmoving in his seat, staring out the slit window.

"I appreciate the help," Majinman said, bowing his head to the others. Since the plan was in place, it was now time for him to get started. He glanced at his target. While his face was more of a helmet, making him expersionless, he was still hoping to sense some sort of reaction from him. Right now he seemed... bored and... disinterested. He'd probably have to change his plan to making sure he didn't interfere rather than trying to get him to help. Afterall, he wasn't really comfortable with Wild Cards. But how to approach this?

"You switched forms before you stepped out into the aisle, right?" Wes asked, talking over a private channel, "Most of the passengers shouldn't have seen the change. He might be more willing to talk to a child. If he calls you on it, that just shows that he's paying more attention than he lets on."

Majinman mulled it over. He was right, but at the same time, if he did catch on, he might not just look at it as a legitimate strategy. He really didn't want to set this guy off. Oh well, he'd try it anyway.

He walked down the aisle and climbed into the seat next to the navi, "Hey, Mister, what are you looking at? Wow, you're a strong one, aren't you? I bet you weren't scared of those meanies earlier at all!" He spoke in a loud voice, while keeping his smile big and eyes wide.

"You're a wordy kid, aren't you?" the NormalNavi responded, not looking away from the window. His voice, abnormally for a typical generic navi model, was oddly distorted, enough to muffle out any indication of tone or expression. "In order, I am looking out the window. I wouldn't call myself strong, but that happens sometimes. They were riffraff, and only fools are scared of riffraff. Besides, you looked like you had it covered. You can drop the act, by the way." The navi said all of this without pause, much in the same way that Majinman had thrown his childish questions at him. All the while he continued to stare at the window, though if Majinman were observant he would notice that his eyes were not directed at something in the tunnel outside, but on Majinman's reflection on the window itself.

Majinman shrugged and shook his head, "Well, it was worth a try, I guess," he turned his eyes towards the glass, figuring it was the closest he'd get to eye contact, "Though you are unusually calm about all this. I'll give you that those guys were pretty useless but given the situation, that didn't make them any less of a threat. After all, even a common Metool can destroy the Mystery data you have your eye on. If they had managed to get to the engine, all of us would've been in a good bit of trouble, yourself included, unless of course you enjoy walking. Sure, there were a few of us fighting to take them out, but our methods were haphazard at best," Majinman kept a close watch on the reflection. He'd look for any sort of reaction, though with a face like that, he was hardly expecting anything.

"Perhaps," the navi commented, still not moving. "I certainly wouldn't have expected anyone to actually succeed in talking down someone like Sagon, though. If you had managed that much I'd wonder why you were talking to me, since you obviously wouldn't need anything."

A few seconds of silence followed, during which the solid yellow eyes of the NormalNavi contracted slightly. "You do want something from me, right? Why else would you be talking to me? So what is it?"

Sagon? Who the heck was that? Before he could ask, the navi decided to take a more direct tone with him. So what should he do? Should he try for more information, tell him that he had his eye on him, or just let it go? He was already probably suspicious of Majinman being suspicious of him, so he might as well go for it, "From the sounds of it, those guys will be back and with help, so I'm using our short break to get as much help as possible and try to come up with some sort of plan. That said, other than the lady and gents that I've already got in my corner, you seem to be the only worthwhile person here. Not only that, but your behavior also seems a bit peculiar, and I don't want any more surprises, which is why I'm talking to you myself. While I'm still not sure what to make of you, there was one thing you said that makes me a bit curious. Would you mind elaborating on who Sagon is?"

"There is nothing to make of me. I am simply more observant than most," the NormalNavi commented. "And if you're looking for my help, you won't find it right now. I have other business to attend to."

He finally showed some semblance of an actual reaction when Majinman brought up the name he had tossed out seconds ago, in the form of a light scoff. "The excitable woman who was shooting up the car earlier. Her name is Sagon," he explained. "And if you were trying to win her over back there, you were wasting your time. She was part of a net terrorist ring some seven or eight years ago and was known for being extremely violent and unpredictable."

He paused, but only briefly, before adding, "That's all I know about her, before you ask."

"I see... Well, any little bit of information can be helpful, so I appreciate that little tidbit," Majinman stood up to leave. He thought about telling the navi to stay in his seat so that he didn't have any extra distractions, but given his attitude, it was probably unneccessary, "Thank you for your time."

"Well that was unexpected and certainly helpful," Wes said, "You weren't even looking for info on her and here you got it. Though I have to wonder how he knew about her."

"I wouldn't worry about that. If she was a big enough name on the terrorism scene, he probably just read about it in the paper or something," Majinman said, "What worries me more is what she's doing here. I'm hoping that it's just coincidence but we can't really be sure. She's probably not working with the guys we're currently up against, but still..." He did say she was violent and unpredictable. It didn't seem too far a stretch to think she might try hijacking a train herself, possibly singlehandedly. While he'd deal with these heelnavis first, it seemed he'd also have to make sure she didn't get too close to the first car either.

Pushing the uncorfirmed possibilities from his mind, Majinman decided to check on the rest of the car. How was Photon faring? Had anyone else been recruited? Was anyone else worth recruiting? And last, but most importantly, what was going on in the car behind them? After looking over his other inquiries, he'd glance down the aisle and try to see if anyone was coming back yet.

"One more thing," the NormalNavi said, doing something very unexpected and turning away from the window and at MajinMan. "Watch yourself around Photon. I don't know what she's doing here, but I doubt she's just on as a regular passenger." The navi turned away again, and this time through the reflection Majinman, were he still paying attention, could see his eyes shut off as he apparently went idle. Whatever the meaning of his parting words, Majinman wouldn't be getting anything else out of the navi right then.

The rest of the car, for the most part, remained silent. No one had yet returned from the other cars, and if there was any fighting going on in the other cars, any sounds of it were being drowned out by the roar of the train itself. In the back, however, the black-armored navi had joined one of his red-armored companions outside the car, and was now pointing his rifle up over the roof. Photon was nowhere to be seen, but from the opening in the front, Majinman could tell something on top of the car was glowing brightly.

Majinman paused at that last statement. What specifically was he trying to imply? Whatever it was, the fact was that she was proving a valuable ally, at least as far as he could tell. With that in mind, it would be counter-productive, not to mention rude to question and/or doubt her. He grinned, "No problems there. I already have a hard time taking my eye off her."

Wes sighed, "Not that I wasn't expecting a reply like that and I can see where you're coming from, at least on the issue of trusting her, your demeanor still manages to worry me. In any case, she strikes me more as a scientist than some sort of secret agent with a hidden agenda, so I'm willing to trust her as well. Plus, given our original mandate..." Wes trailed off. They still didn't know what specifically they were protecting and it was highly unlikely that they would be hired to protect someone who already had bodyguards. Of course, Majinman had said that they should try minimizing damage and causelties on this mission, so watching out for her fit into those parameters, "Well anyway, unless she attacks either you or the train itself, I'm willing to keep this team-up going. I'll keep an eye on her, just in case." From behind his PET screen, it would be hard to tell where he was looking. He could be suspicious without looking suspicious.

Majinman looked around. Nothing out of place... except that Photon was missing. There was also something bright on top of the train. Well that answered one question, but raised another. What was she doing up there? Majinman called out to the bodyguards, "Hey, everything okay on your end or you gonna need my help?"

((Banana... I mean, bump))

"Everything's fine," the black-armored navi said curtly, raising his rifle slightly and firing off a shot. Several more shots sounded from the other end of the car, barely audible over the roar of the train. The light from the front began to fade, then went out completely. Immediately after the last of the light went out, something slammed into the roof of the car, hard.

"Hey, we're still here! Can you fight it out when we're not in the way?" came a shout from what was probably the middle of the car. Someone near the back shouted a response, but it was impossible to make out.

The door from the car behind the one they were in slammed open, and a navi in standard NetPolice armor walked through. "May I have your attention," he shouted to the passengers who were steadily beginning to panic again. "Please remain in your seats. Only then can we guarantee your safety. We have the situation under control." As he finished, he looked directly at Majinman. "Sir, that applies to you too," he said.

"Tch, more of you," the black-armored navi grumbled from the front.
___

Majinman narrowed his eyes, his jaw hanging slightly open as he watched the bodyguard, "Really now? Well, whatever's going down, I suppose I'll trust your judgement. Just let me know if you do need help. After all, we are friends now. Accomplices? Allies? Yeah, that last one works the best," Majinman said.

"Just be careful. If they mess up, it'll cost us our pay. Though as long as no one reaches the front car, we should be fine. Right now, it seems like they're having a nice little shoot-out up there. The light is most likely Photon. I hope the fading doesn't mean that something happened to her," Wes said.

"Awww, our you getting attached to our new friend as well?" Majinman smirked. Before Wes could get in a retort, a new navi walked in. They listened to what he had to say, which caused Majinman to grin even wider, "This guy seems to be worried about my safety. Wes, what did the nice lady say before I boarded?"

"'You can board but please do not interfere', or something like that, if its the conversation I think you're referring to," Wes replied. Then, switching to a private channel, he continued, "Well, you have two options. You can comply and let him fight off as many of those heelnavis as he can before he falls or you can tell them off and risk a confretation."

"Tsk tsk. In this day and age, people need to work together. Besides, as I've already proven, you can't really judge people based on their appearance, not in this situation. It's best to keep him close for the moment," Majinman chided his netop. He switched off the private chat and began to speak out loud again, "I'm sorry, Officer, but I've been asked to do a favor here. I could not, in all good conscience, just take a seat and allow you to do all the grunt work. Of course, I would more than welcome any assistance you could survive. For starters, we could exchange information on what we know about the situation thus far."

The police navi stared at Majinman for a moment before recognizing him and saying "Oh. It's you." Apparently, it was the same Police navi that ENA had said those same words about not interfering to. "The situation has gone well beyond the scope of any civilian mission. You'd do best to stay out of this and let us handle it from here."

A voice came in over the police navi's radio. "What's your status?"

"I've got ENA's hireling here. Should I prevent him from interfering?"

A few seconds passed in silence before the voice on the other end spoke again. "No. At this point we can use all the help we can get. Just make sure he doesn't make things worse."

The police navi gave a sigh, apparently not liking the idea of being forced to work with civilians. "Understood, sir. If I may ask though, weren't you supposed to be up here first? What's taking so long?"

"I've got another one back here. Can't tell who it is, but they just took out three HeelNavis in one shot then attacked me." A small explosion sounded through the radio, followed by a tremor running through the terrain. "Listen, once you've cleaned up up there, get back here immediately. Understood?"

"Yes sir," the police navi said. He turned back to Majinman. "Commander Tarkel is willing to accept your help, so I guess I have little choice. You want to know about the situation? It's an absolute nightmare is what it is. At least two HeelNavi gangs, virus summoners, a lunatic shooting up the place, Netmafia, whoever those hunters on the roof are, and whoever the commander just got attacked by. Our only saving grace is that they're all fighting each other, but at this rate they'll tear the entire train apart."

At the back of the car, the black armored and one of the red-armored navis had also climbed up to the top, leaving only the other red-armored navi guarding the door. Though it was difficult to tell from the middle of the car, he appeared to be focusing his gaze down the middle of the car, at Majinman and the police navi. Meanwhile, a flash of light preceded another small explosion toward the front of the car's roof. A couple seconds of sustained buster fire followed, and ended with the dull thud of one navi falling toward the middle. Outside the window, a navi-shaped shadow could be seen dropping down from the roof for a brief moment.

"If you have any questions, or any information to give me, say it quickly. Every second counts."

"Hmmm... If his assailant is a woman, its probably that Sagon chick again. If that's the case, so much for trying to get her to help us. Anyway, Wes, you have any questions? I have a few in mind, but I'll let you start out," Majinman said.

"All right, here goes," Wes took a breath and put communications back to normal, so that the officer could here him, "First off, are any of the groups you listed working together or is this just anarchy? Second, do you happen to know what they're after? We weren't told what we were hired to protect, so I prefer you don't tell us anything specific, but it would be helpful to at least know if their goal is hijacking, rioting, kidnapping, assassination, or a specific item."

While Wes asked, Majinman took a moment to check in with his other allies, "You sure you guys are okay? I can take those folks on the roof out, if you need some help," he called to the armored navi still in the car.

The police navi sighed. "I wish they were working together. Then they wouldn't have turned the entire damn train into a shootout before we could do anything. No, it's just anarchy as far as we can tell. As for what they're after, we're here because we were tipped off that the NetMafia planned to raid the train and steal some important SciLab data. Other than them, though, we have no idea." As he spoke, he kept glancing toward the front of the car, at the remaining bodyguard navi.

When Majinman mentioned the 'folks on the roof', however, he took a step back and raised his buster. "We're the ones on the roof," he said. "Are you NetMafia? What are you really after here?"

"So much for not drawing suspicion," the red-armored navi muttered, pointing his own weapon at the police navi. It looked like the car was about to become a battleground again.

Well crap. It was anarchy on the train and because that wasn't bad enough, suddenly there was anarchy in his lap. Though this was surprising. Wasn't it those pansy hunters on the roof? When the the NP take their place? And how was it that Photon was now an enemy? She was too cute to be evil. Wes, on the otherhand, just sighed. He knew he should have asked the NP navi if he had ever heard of Photon, but he didn't want to upset his navi.

Majinman held out a flattened palm at each of the navis, though he refrained from stepping directly between them, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it, fellas. Do we really need another shoot out on train? I'm here for vague reasons, the police are here for peace keeping and.... possibly also vague reasons, and you folks are here for reasons that are even more unclear. So why don't you call Photon and your other buddies down here and we at least clear things up before things get all crazy, possibly over a misunderstanding?" Majinman glanced back and forth at each of them, very carefully. Since he still didn't know what he was guarding specifically, it would be best if he kept destruction to a minimum, though he got the impression that pacifism wouldn't be an option much longer.

Wes raised an eyebrow, but Majinman gave a slight shake of the head in response. So he didn't want chips just yet. Probably trying to avoid antaganizing either side. That was fine, but soon it would be out of his hands. A fight in the train... a fight on top of a train... there were a lot of interesting possibilities. He almost wanted his navi's negotiations to fail.

The red-armored navi did as requested, but wasn't gone long before he had his answers. "Photon says not a chance in hell. Not quite on those exact words. ...actually, those were Dimmu's words. She still refuses." And what a great way to start off negotiations that was, with one side refusing to come down and negotiate.

The police navi gave a similar response. "I have to agree. I'm not going to have them back down here in a car full of civilians for negotiations that are doomed to fail. And if we're going to be talking at all I sure as hell won't be the one doing it. I don't trust NetMafia goons to say a damn word."

Two refusals, and the Police Navi's words clearly set off the red-armored navi, as he raised his buster again. "What a coincidence. I don't like hearing you either," he growled. The police navi shifted his buster from Majinman to the red-armored navi in response. Meanwhile, the normal navi Majinman had spoken with earlier waved him over.

"If I may make a suggestion," he said in a hushed voice. "The NetPolice force's second-in-command is much more reasonable than this guy. He goes by 48 and he should be on the roof now, if you wanted to try appealing to him."
___

Majinman froze as the loyalties of his new friends were revealed. Well crap. This can't be good, "If you think about it, we were the only ones that we know of that were hired to be here. The NP are aware but were not officially requested. The NM could be here under similar circumstances or could just be passengers who got spooked by the appearance of their opposing faction," Wes said, contridicting Majinamn's intial line of thought. Wes sighed as he continued, "While I can't believe I'm saying this, I think you should put a little faith in these guys and wait for evidence before passing judgement. I'm Netopian, so the whole 'innocent until proven guilty' thing."

Majinman slowly shook his head. However, there was one thing that was still bothering him. How the heck did that NormalNavi know so darn much? Knowing about a terrorist was one thing, but knowing which officer was specifically here and where he was currently located was a bit much. He was either a spy, an uncover cop, a psychic, or some combination of the aforementioned. Either way, he had something to go on now, so why not get to it? He could only hope that he wasn't being taken for a trip.

He took a deep breath, "Hold on for a bit, you two. We have terrorists on board and so far, no one has been able to tell me what their agenda is. I really think we should prioritize taking down the rogue agents before you guys start up a turf war. I heading up there to try and sort things out, so for the moment, keep pointing those things at each other but please don't fire. This really isn't the place."

He headed towards the back door of the car, hoping that neither would shoot, especially not him in the back. As he passed, he glanced at the Normalnavi with the corner of his eye. If he wasn't setting him up, he could prove a really good friend to have. He passed through the door, glancing up at the edge of the roof. Making a cone with his hands in front of his mouth, he tried to yell above the roar of the train, "Excuse me, I'm looking for a 48. My name is Majinman and I was hired to handle any situations that would arise on the trip. I was kind of hoping to talk to you before anyone else got blown up."

"Hold your fire."

A navi walked to the back of the car to peer over the edge in response to Majinman's request. It was another navi in standard Netpolice armor, painted a dark green instead of the orange-brown of his companions. One of his eyes appeared to be made of glass or something similar, and his other kept drifting toward the front of the car to keep track of his adversaries. One one hand, a wrist blade retracted into its sheath, but the other still held a riot shield, facing toward the front of the car.

"Any situations?" the navi asked. "SciLab's either putting a lot of trust in you or has no grasp of what's going on here. I certainly wouldn't have expected a single navi to try to handle every group represented here."

He sighed, then dropped down at the edge of the roof and slid off to land in front of Majinman. "Don't get me wrong, kid, I'd like to solve this without blowing anyone up, too. It's been a bit difficult so far, though, especially with Tarkel's preferred method of dealing with problems being to throw firepower at it until it goes away.

"That said, if you can get them to back down and find out what they're here for, I think we can work something out. We've certainly got enough problems here without Mafia involvement, so I'd be happy to have one less thing to worry about."