I sit down on the toilet seat in exhaustion, and listen to whatever Boomslang is doing on the other side. I can hear the sounds of pictures being taken, while she’s gushing about how cut the cat is. It’s… certainly a whiplash compared to the old grandma who drop kicked me and chased me into a bathroom. At least she’s not trying to break down the door, yet.

  As I take a breath, Elisa speaks to me, “God damn. I was disconnected for a bit and it sounded like you went through hell. What happened?”

  I chuckle, “The superhuman old woman just chased me into a bathroom.”

  “Oh, kind of like what happened to Jack 3 weeks ago.”

  “Yea, but this time, it was 1 very fast grandma, not a swarm of them.” Damn, my job is very weird. “Anyways, can you look up any Storyborn that is an old female of european descent.”

  She types then says, “Can you be specific?”

  “Isn’t being an old lady already pretty specific?”

  “Since it's common in media for an older person to be good at fighting despite their age, there are old Storyborn that can fight as if they were 40 years younger.”

  She does have a point there, “She is very fast and has enhanced strength, as well as experience in hand-to-hand combat.”

  As she is searching for any potential matches, I could hear Boomslang say in that same voice a cat lady would talk to them, “Aw, who’s a cute little cat, yes you are, yes you are.”

  I say to Elise, “She might like cats a lot if that helps your search.”

  “It surprisingly does.” Damn, I forgot how specific the Storyborn database can be. “But there's still a handful of results that are the same. She does have a 6-pack and has bulging muscles."

  “No.” And thank god cause the thought of her having the body of a body builder is as terrifying as it is odd.

  It seems the list is still too long as she asks, “What’s her title? It might give me a clue on what else she can do.”

  “Boomslang.”

  “Ok.” I hear her suddenly pause as she asks with clear signs of worry. “Wait, isn’t that a type of poisonous snake? Holy shit, do you need an antidote?"

  “No, if she did have any sort of poison attacks, she would have done them when she drop kicked me.” Now that I think about it, if she doesn't have any poison abilities, why did she get the role of the Boomslang? Maybe she can only use poison on a certain condition, but why would she have been so direct if she didn’t fulfill that condition.

  The sound of Elisa laughing breaks my train of thought. “Holy shit. I’m sorry but I was not expecting that. Did it hurt?”

  As I was about to make a comment about how it obviously hurt like hell, I heard the door opening and closing outside, as well as Boomslang saying, “Noooooooo, don’t go, my baby bean! Damn you, Damn you mildly attractive depressed person. You must have scared the cat away with all of the talking and being an all around little bitch.” I hear her hitting the door, trying to break it open. “Such impoliteness will not be tolerated in the presence of me!” The door buckles, still holding strong, but signs of damage are visible. Soon the door will break open, as well as my last line of defense.

  Shit shit shit shit, I look around in a hopeless attempt to get myself out of this situation. I rub on the ladybug, but that same voicemail comes out of its nonexistent mouth. Maybe I can use the vents, after all, I have my screwdriver. But I immediately tell myself that it will not be able to fit me, let alone support my weight. There's a window that seems to be able to open, but that’s a horrible idea because I would be sucked into outer space… Wait.

  I ask Elisa, “You said that there's an atmosphere around the train correct."

  “Yep. As long as you're inside the bubble around the train, you won't be sucked out or burned and be cooled at the same time. The bubble is pretty big too.”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  That’s good. I get on top of the toilet seat and start opening the window, seeing the solar system and the stars beyond, as well as some asteroids that weren't there before that orbit around the train. True to what she said, I am still breathing and not being flung out like a baseball. “If I theoretically-"

  She interrupts me, “Why are you saying “theoretically” when I already know you have to do whatever you're suggesting right now.” She does have a point.

  The door rattles, telling me that I don’t have much time. “Ok I’ll get to the point. If I hang onto the side for dear life, how will gravity, or the lack thereof, work outside.”

  “Let me look it up… Oh interesting.”

  I say in concern, “What?”

  “It seems that the gravity will continually go “downwards” as normal as long as you're inside the bubble.”

  Although good for me, I couldn’t help but ask, “How the hell does that-” The door bangs loudly once more. “You know what, it doesn't matter.” I put my head out of the window, and break the first rule of climbing, do not look down. Stars and a void of darkness stare back at me, a promise of what will happen if I fall from the train. But it’s probably a better fate than being killed by an old lady inside of a bathroom, so I take the umbrella, and start climbing out. Thankfully, there are enough bumps and even a pipe on the side of the train that I can grab onto. The outside feels odd, I feel the inertia telling me that this train is going insanely fast, but there is no wind that confirms this feeling.

  I use the hook on the umbrella to close the window. Hopefully, this will mask where I went. As soon as I close this, I hear a loud bang, and the woman says with clear excitement in her voice, “Here’s John…” Once she realized I am out of the room, she loudly complained, “Oh come on, do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting to use that line! Oh well, I’ll just use it for my next victim."

  Yep, I would have been given the London treatment. I carefully and slowly begin to move towards the front of the train. I may not have the highest stats, or taken any lessons in rock climbing, but I’m still stronger and exhaust less easily than “non-storyborn.” I can eventually move towards the front and see why the hell the brothers aren't responding. Unfortunately, it’s hard for me to get a grip on the hand with the umbrella for obvious reasons. I can hang it around my shoulder or something, but I want to keep it in hand just in case I end up falling. As I move, I see the inside of the train through the window, even if it’s hard thanks to the tinted heavy windows.

  I decided to keep on moving, as I want to get inside as soon as possible. I move slowly, making sure that any piece I grab won't just break off, but by the time I make it to the halfway point of this car, my hand slips. I fall and my other hand slips and I begin to fall. In a panic, I move my umbrella forward, in the hopes it hooks onto something. Thankfully, it dose on one of the pipes. As I wonder why I slipped, I notice my hands are notably sweaty, and the hand that is being directly hit by the sun’s rays is hotter than the other. It is then that I realized that it’s significantly hotter than inside, but only where the sun hits a surface. I hadn't noticed this as I was too focused on escaping from Boomslang and because of the auto temperature control on my jacket.

  I begin to climb up the umbrella, while also wiping the sweat off my hands. I grab the pipe and am surprised by how the pipe feels at room temperature, but I just chock it up to magic bullshit. I begin to lift myself up when I manage to see through the window, Boomsnake is inside, looking around in the car to try and find me. I quickly lowered myself and hoped she didn’t see me. I took a peek inside, and thankfully she didn’t seem to notice me. As much as I don’t want to, I think I’ll hang on to the pipes. It will be much more difficult and longer, but at least I’ll be safe here.

  The announcement came on as I heard muffled through the walls, “We will arrive in Madrid, Spain in 5 minutes. Please take a seat, as we do not advise standing while we make our stop.”

  Oh come on, I didn’t even say it out loud. I quickly pick up the pace and shimmy my way to the closest door. When I make it to the intersection of the trains, I get up. I look at where the train is headed, I see a small disturbance where the space around it is bent, like light when going through water. It’s pretty far away, but the train is rapidly approaching it, so I need to hurry up. I get into position in front of the door, and try to force it open.

  I made enough space for my fingers to go though, but the damn thing won't budge any further. I am contemplating just waiting where I am and hoping the portal is big enough to take me while hanging on the side. But before I could decide if that was a dumb idea or not, I heard sounds of flapping behind me, and a big shadow enveloping me. I turn around and see the blackhole-looking eyes staring right at me. The same eyes of the god damn space dragon.

  The “stars” on the dragon’s body begin to brighten up, the sun-like wings begin to turn more red, and the dragon’s head moves upwards. I haven't seen what the dragon can do, but I have a feeling if I don’t move, I will die. In a panic, I look back on the door, and begin to pour all of my strength into opening the door. I feel something behind me, it was a weird combination of extreme warmth and cold, like burning yourself with hot coffee on a snowy day. I keep on trying to open, until I hear a snap and the door sides open, causing me to fall inside.

  I look outside and see the dragon unleash what could only be described as a pitch black flame, but the “fire” moves around the train, I would have been toast if I was a second late. I couldn’t help by say, “Oh fuck. Mallisa is going to owe me big time for being the replacement.”

  Elisa says, “Even though you were probably always meant to come here?”

  I was about to argue with Elise, but I stop when the door open. I see Boomslang coming into the room.