quote:

No one knows who first discovered the Park Beyond, or how he reached it... However it happened, he became the first contact.

Jeek posted:

You can even say Bobbin has... untwisted this mess of a story and remade a proper one in its place.

Dumb question time: If the discoverer of the Park Beyond is unknown, how would the rides know him as the first contact?

quote:

I slung the hellion then I grabbed him in an iron grip around his head. I squeezed like an anaconda; a horrible cracking sound came from his skull.

quote:

At the last second he threw the bag up into the air. I dropped him to the ground and reached for the packaged g’s. Unexpectedly, a plane caught it and flew up into the canopy.

“Stupid!” I yelled as I went after it. The plane flew among the branches, and that was where I was headed. I launched myself up a tree’s trunk and ran across its limbs as nimble as I could be.

quote:

The plane flew further ahead. The tree’s branches were coming to an end, summoning strength; I leaped onto the neighboring tree and continued the hunt.

quote:

Jumping and jumping onto trees and more trees. The plane was beginning to lose speed. I had to end this now; I couldn’t get to [sic] far from my friends.

quote:

Then the plane paused and hovered in front of a large kinkajou tree. This was my chance.

quote:

I paused and remained quiet. The plane looked around, thinking I was gone; it landed huffing and puffing on one of the moss covered branches. I silently pulled out my sword. I aimed, and then trust [sic] it forward like a tomahawk. The ride looked up in surprise, but it was too late. The sword pierced through its chest, pinning the creature to the tree.

I pounced onto the limb and picked up the bag of g’s. I then grabbed the sword’s handle and began to pry it out. When I succeeded, I began to lick the blood off. That reminded me to collect the antidote.

I pulled out the bag that held the book, and then searched for some kind of container. There was the vile [sic] that Moonhoof gave me, but that was far too important. Finally I found the bottle that I kept from the Silver Spoke. I twisted the cork off and poured the remaining liquid out. I then held the bottle below the dead plane, letting its blood drip into the bottle, when it was full; I started to make my way back to camp.

quote:

I now saw that the fight had ended, Merrylegs and Static were picking up the pieces.

“Oh thank goodness, Railrunner!” Merrylegs said relieved. “I see that you got our money back.”

“Indeed, it wasn’t really that hard to get.” I replied chuckling.

“It seems that was all the bandits were after. After checking, we found that they did not steal anything else.”

“It is better than them having the book.” I said.

“Right. There is no telling what evil they could have done with it.” Static cut in.

quote:

“So what is the death count?” Merrylegs said as she picked up stray materials.

“I killed the coaster and one of the planes.” I said.

“I took out the go cart.”

“The horses are dead.” Static added.

“Hmm, weren’t there two planes?” I asked suddenly.

“You’re right, Railrunner.” Merrylegs spoke. “That’s not good at all! It could get the word out!”

quote:

I suddenly heard a rustle up in the treetops. I shot a lightning bolt upward, a few seconds later the plane fell down at our “feet”.

quote:

“It’s dead.” I sighed.

quote:

“Nice one.” Static complimented me.

“Thank you.” I said nodding my head in response.

“Welcome.”

“Where to next?” I asked Merrylegs.

“I guess we should stop at the next town, Xzerma. We can stock up on food there.”

“But Xzerma is watched by the Fallen!” Static complained.

“I know, that is why Railrunner must wear his cloak.”

“It is mangled and looks like hell!” I protested.

“You might want to get a new cloak then, because all of the remaining cities have been claimed by the Fallen.”

Twisted posted:

I silently pulled out my sword. I aimed, and then trust [sic] it forward like a tomahawk.

JosephWongKS posted:

[...]by the end of the book he’ll probably be outright kicking puppies and kittens and clubbing baby seals.

Oblivion4568238 posted:

Aaaah what the hell you don't thrust with a tomahawk, it's a freaking axe. If you have a sword and are thrusting it, then you are thrusting it like a sword. Swords are generally good for thrusting, on account of most varieties having pointy tips. You swing tomahawks, or even throw them. Railrunner did neither, since the result of this thrust was, well, what you would expect from thrusting a sword.
Fake Edit: Amusing that this, of all the crap we've seen, is what actually gets me ranting in the thread. Maybe it's because nobody else commented on it before me, maybe it's because it's 2 in the morning local time, but this failure of weapon knowledge / thesaurus use really bugs me.

JosephWongKS posted:

Chapter 40 – Pirates
Part 2

Oblivion4568238 posted:

Aaaah what the hell you don't thrust with a tomahawk, it's a freaking axe. If you have a sword and are thrusting it, then you are thrusting it like a sword. Swords are generally good for thrusting, on account of most varieties having pointy tips. You swing tomahawks, or even throw them. Railrunner did neither, since the result of this thrust was, well, what you would expect from thrusting a sword.
Fake Edit: Amusing that this, of all the crap we've seen, is what actually gets me ranting in the thread. Maybe it's because nobody else commented on it before me, maybe it's because it's 2 in the morning local time, but this failure of weapon knowledge / thesaurus use really bugs me.


These various critters will, of course, be in the direct employ of Ironwheel, on his campaign to spread cheer and happiness throughout his realm.

Iced Cocoa posted:

The reluctant and/or redeemable vampire is a common trope.

Chapter 40 part 1 posted:

Suddenly a petrifying neigh sounded in alarm.

SSNeoman posted:

Yeah, except Railrunner is neither reluctant or redeemable. I mean he just killed a being and harvested its blood with no remorse or secondary thoughts.

I also meant to point out that I TOTALLY CALLED The Angu Ra to have other MacGuffin powers, and lo it was so. It can grant energy and deflect concussion beams! Maybe it has even more loving powers we don't know about.

JosephWongKS posted:

This is stupid. They’ve already revealed their identities in two settlements without the slightest repercussion, and suddenly they are concerned that the “remaining cities” have been claimed by the Fallen?

quote:

This city now looked like the fiery pits of hell. Fire had burned bodies and buildings. He stood up without fear. His wheels were soaked from the blood of many, the blood of damned souls. He let out a bellowing howl and signaled his army to charge.

+ + +

Bobbin Threadbare posted:

"Everything that is or ever was a part of any amusement park, theme park, carnival, circus, or world, state, or county fair has a place here."

quote:

I followed the lines that were on the map. Xzerma was not but a few miles away. I continued to look at the map as Merrylegs and Static picked up the last remains of our camp. Then I put on my trench coat that was tattered and torn. It was acceptable, the holes weren’t that big so any ride could see my metal.

quote:

This time Merrylegs covered up, too. She wore a cloak that looked like it was from India. It was red and yellow with patterns all over the fabric. “Why isn’t Static covering up?” I asked her.

quote:

“Static doesn’t stand out, he looks more ordinary than we do.”

“I see.” I replied.

A few minutes later we walked among a dirt path through the forest. Merrylegs and I keep [sic] our hoods over our faces. Rides passed by, but they took no notice. That was a good thing. The scents of more rides made its way to my nostrils. We must have been getting close. I then spied a clock tower that appeared from above the trees.

“We’re here,” announced Merrylegs.

The dirt path became a brick one as we entered Xzerma. It looked to be an older city due to its many fields that were still farmed, but for the Fallen.

quote:

It looked a lot different from Trenzon or Zegria. It was more like an old English town, in fact its appearance looked like Transylvania.

quote:

Rides here were skinny and malnourished. They looked skuzzy and rough, but most of all miserable.

I sniffed, the Fallen’s foul odor was everywhere. It was hard to distinguish the smell of the good from the bad. Here we were to be extremely cautious.

quote:

“What now? Are we together?” I whispered to the yellow carousel horse.

“Yes, first of all you need a new coat. I remember a clothing shop around the corner.” Merrylegs said over her shoulder.

“Let’s go.”

We trotted across the brick walkway. Rides with sad eyes glared at us.

“Welcome to hell,” an old bumper car muttered.

Merrylegs guided me into an old stone building. Inside were racks of different fabric. A huge fireplace was on the wall to the left, from behind the large table, rolled an old tin-lizzy.

quote:

His appearance was no different than any ride here. He was dull grey, and had a small beard growing from the front of his bumper. His eyebrows were also overgrown. All in all he was an eyesore.

“May I help you?” he croaked.

“Yes sir,” I replied kindly. “I need a new cloak.”

“You do not treat me like vermin? You don’t carry the sent [sic] of the Fallen either.” He responded as he looked at me seriously.

“I don’t fellow ally.” I said as I made my voice sound soothing and reassuring.

quote:

“Come with me young coaster. I shall show you my wares. By the way, I am Ashsoot.”

quote:

“Nice to meet you, I am Railrunner. These two are Merrylegs and Static.”

quote:

“Good to see some nice rides like you three, now follow me.” He said.

Ashsoot guided us to the back room. He then began to look through different fabric.

“Where is my best seller!” he said.

“Maybe I could help -.” I started walking forward. Suddenly my tattered cloak snagged a nail on the floorboard. A big tear emerged up it, all the way to my shoulder. Ashsoot turned to see my flaming red metal.

“You... you...are the...red!” He said in surprise. “Hurry come quickly! I must take you all to a more secure place!” Ashsoot hastily explained.

quote:

The car then opened up a secret door that led to a set of stairs. As we got to the bottom, Ashsoot sealed us into a cramped room.

“Good, we are safe down here.”

“Nice.” Static said as he sighed in relief.

quote:

“I need to give you something I have been waiting to give.” The small car whispered.

“What?”

“This,” he said pulling out a chest from a secret nook. He unlocked it by combination, then opened it up to pull out a leathery cloak. It was well kept, the black leather looked to have been shined daily. “It is yours now, great red roller coaster.” I took it from him and slipped it on. It was comfy, a perfect fit. It looked like a goth rockers with studs and spikes, very intimidating. It was also nice that it had pockets.

quote:

“I like it, it looks threatening.” I told him.

quote:

“Glad to hear that. Mainly because this was Moonblood’s.”

“Really?” I said shocked.

“It was, now it goes to you.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. I did do one patch job on the cut that Ironwheel made with his claw. That was the blow that killed the red.”

I looked down at the slash. I imagined Moonblood crying in agony and his blood gushing out of the wound. Then out of nowhere a horn sounded.

“What does that mean?” Asked Merrylegs with her ears pricking forward as she became alert.

“Oh no! It is the Fallen soldiers! They are here to take prisoners, or even kill!”

“What!” Static yelled.

quote:

“Go! You have to leave at once!” Ashsoot said running out of the room.

He then went outside and joined the others. I pulled my hood up and followed Static and Merrylegs out of the cramped quarters. We hid in an old barn, watching through a crack.

Roller coasters and go carts appeared in a fleet. They wore armor like a knights [sic], except for the helmet looked like a skull.

quote:

Then Freakshow appeared in the middle of them. She wore only a smirk as she stared at the line of frightened rides.

“Captain,” she said. “What do you make of these rides?” She said to the orange coaster next to her.

“I think they are a bunch of bloody cockroaches, general.”

“Good answer.” She replied as she walked down the line of rides.

Ashsoot quivered, he was terrified. Freakshow then started to speak again.

“I suppose you worthless souls have heard that the red has returned, but don’t get your hopes up!” she laughed wickedly.

I quietly snuck out of the barn and stood at the end of the line.

Surprisingly Merrylegs and Static joined me. When Freakshow and her troops had their backs turned, I leaned to the miniature train next to me.

“When I attack, you all go for her goons, tell everyone.” I whispered as I rolled up my sleeve slightly. His eyes got big, and then he started to spread the word.

quote:

Freakshow began to walk in our direction.

“I suppose you -.” She paused as she stopped in front of Ashsoot.

Freakshow bent down to sniff him. The aggressive coaster must have smelt me! Her face went into a disgusted grimace. “Ashsoot, you carry the stench of the red!” she said slamming him to the ground. He slowly got back up, fighting tears. The pain in his face angered me.

“Where is he!” She yelled as she smacked his face.

“Hey leave him alone!” I snarled. Freakshow stopped and hurriedly strutted up to me, her eyes ablaze with anger.

“Why do you speak [missing comma] roller coaster?”

I did not answer, she then smacked my face.

“And you wonder why we don’t like your kind. Especially not me.” I said pulling off the cloak and lunging for her. Freakshow and I fell to the earth, slashing each other in a fury. I heard screams of triumph come from the attacking rides.

Freakshow and I got up and started to fight mercilessly, my claws making deep cuts into her metal.

quote:

Suddenly she broke free and bolted into the fields. I went after her, Merrylegs and Static followed, unfortunately so did two of the go-cart soldiers. My allies soon noticed them, and began to track them down through the tall crops.

Freakshow was losing ground. Her mismatched body was not built for speed. I quickly caught up to her and sunk my teeth into her back leg. She yelped like a dog, then turned and bit my back.

quote:

I let go and clamped my teeth down onto her throat. Freakshow cried in pain, and then she swung her tail and knocked me away, breaking both of us apart.

“Let’s see how noble you are, Railrunner!” she said pulling out her sword. I did the same and charged like a gladiator.

quote:

We collided again, fighting like knights.

quote:

My blade blocked hers from slashing my hide. Then her sword got caught in one of mine’s many points. I twisted it around, flinging hers out of her wheels. She then sent a bolt of lightning after me. In a split second it bounced off my sword. With luck, it hit Freakshow, but it was not enough to take her down.

She ran again, still I hunted her like prey. I leaped in front of the coaster and scratched the side of her face with my claws. Blood ran down her cheek and it continued down her entire body. She then hit me with a heavy blow from her wheels to my jaw. She then closed her teeth onto my neck. I swung my tail onto her head. As she let go, I rushed at her again, continuing our brutal one verses [sic] one match.

Now the fight had gone on for three minutes, but it seemed longer. We had bitten each other numerous times. Slashed each other for hundreds. Pain was very prominent in my body.

quote:

I swung my cars and knocked Freakshow onto a boulder. I enclosed both sets of wheels around her neck, holding her arms down with the others. She squirmed, but went nowhere. Then she stopped and stared at me with her strange eyes.

“Do you feel any effects, Railrunner?” Freakshow moaned. “From my venom? If so, why do you still fight?”

“Because my thirst for your blood is still raging,” I said biting onto her neck like a vampire. Suddenly she raised her arm and drove one of her claws into one of my seats. Pain ripped across my back, tears came to my eyes. I then slammed my claws into her shoulder. She screamed her lungs out and reluctantly let go.

quote:

“drat you!” she said spitting blood. I suddenly felt weaker, I could barely stand up. She was right; I was feeling the effects of the venom. It looked like she was worse, staggering toward me like a drunk and looking pale. She was sweating and was also dark under the eyes. I looked back, to my horror we were nearing a cliff. Then I turned my attention back to Freakshow.

Suddenly the dizziness grew worse, my vision blurred. Then without warning, I felt the ground fly out from under me. I now lay helpless at the edge of the cliff. Then Freakshow worsened even more, she couldn’t even stand. Her eyes rolled back into her head. She then began to fall forward, onto me. Gathering the strength I had, when she impacted, I flung her off me and over the cliff. Freakshow was now falling helplessly to the earth below, to her death.

I stared up into the cloud filled sky blankly. I inhaled and exhaled harshly, completely out of breath. I tried to get up, but my body would not respond. My cuts and burses stung terribly. I tried to cry out for help, but I did not utter a word.

I felt everything within me slow, like I was going into hibernation. My eyesight seemed to dull, was I dying? I couldn’t have been. Thunderbark said that only humans suffered severely to our venom. Hope he was right.

Then my sight dulled even more. Soon it turned into “tunnel vision”. Now I could only see faint shadows like the ones over me. I heard voices, but to whom did they belong to? I couldn’t make out the words; they sounded gibberish, like extreme mumbling. Then everything went crashing into eternal Detective blackness.

JosephWongKS posted:

“Red and yellow with patterns all over the fabric.” Miranda Leek has probably almost certainly never seen “a cloak from India”.

quote:

“Static doesn’t stand out, he looks more ordinary than we do.”

“I see.” I replied.

quote:

What kind of amusement park ride is a “tin lizzy”? The top 5 results from Google were Tin Lizzy’s Cantina, the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy, the Ford Model T (colloquially known as the “Tin Lizzy”), TinLizzie18 Longarm Quilting Machines and Systems, and a Yelp review of Tin Lizzy’s Cantina.

quote:

Which part of the thesaurus did Miranda Leek get “prominent” from?

quote:

Then I saw, a magic laser gun lying in the dirt. I picked it up and shot all of the bad guys, killing them.

"Wow, nice work there Railrunner" said Static. Yeah, you are a hero" said Merrylegs. "I just wish you didn't have to kill them all." she sighed.

Dreggon posted:

How am I doing?

quote:

“Come with me young coaster. I shall show you my wares. By the way, I am Ashsoot.”

quote:

Then Freakshow appeared in the middle of them. She wore only a smirk

quote:

It looked like she was worse, staggering toward me like a drunk and looking pale. She was sweating and was also dark under the eyes.

quote:

I heard voices, but to whom did they belong to? I couldn’t make out the words; they sounded gibberish, like extreme mumbling. Then everything went crashing into eternal blackness.

Dreggon posted:

How am I doing?

quote:

The red coaster lay in a deep sleep. Bandages wrapped around him in various places. Tubes ran into his arms, hooking him up to fluid sacks that were attached to a machine. He had been lying there for quite a while in the large bed draped with white sheets. The room where he rested was quiet, the firelight flickering against the walls of rock.

quote:

A lime green roller coaster stood over Railrunner. She had been tending to him since he first arrived. She continually checked the monitors.

“Looks like the venom count is decreasing.” She said inaudibly.

quote:

Then she turned and wrote in her records of his condition. Then she turned again, watching for signs of movement.

quote:

The coaster could still not believe, even after all the time she spent watching him she could not grasp the mere thought that he was actually there. The legendary coaster had convinced her that the rumors that the red had returned were true. She did not believe any of this was happening, even though it was.

quote:

“Chainlink.” Spoke a deep voice.

quote:

Chainlink turned to see a navy coaster standing in the archway. “Yes Razorblade?”

quote:

“Some of our members believe they found who was accompanying him. I’m going to let them enter, to see if they can recognize him.”

“Not to object, but does that seem a little risky?”

“Yes, but the two claim to know him, plus some of the members say they saw these rides with the red.” Razorblade said stepping aside. Merrylegs and Static walked quietly into the room.

quote:

“Railrunner!” cried Merrylegs as she ran up to him. Static followed her.

Merrylegs brushed Railrunner with her nose, but he did not wake.

“What did you do!” she pleaded with Chainlink.

“I’ll explain,” she sighed.

quote:

“We found Railrunner unconscious after we saw him battle Freakshow. There was no one around to help him, but two members of our pack. They brought him here so we could revive him. So far, we are making slow progress.”

“Is he in a coma?” Merrylegs questioned.

“No, he is just under a lot of anesthetic. I took it off him to see what will happen.”

quote:

“Okay, but what is really wrong with Railrunner?”

“During the battle, he was bitten many times. He has a high venom count.” Chainlink continued as she grasped a pole.

quote:

“Will he be all right?”

“Yes, but in time.”

quote:

+ + +

I stood there looking at Railrunner in disbelief. He looked as if he were -dead. Except for the occasional breath he would emit every few minutes. Of all the time we spent looking for him, he was here, in submission. He seemed to be in silent hibernation.

quote:

“How long do you think it will be before he recovers?” I asked Chainlink.

She raised one of her wheels about to answer, when Razorblade walked in.

“So?” he asked her.

“Yes, they are the ones.” She replied.

quote:

“Good. Now, If you both would follow me, I need to show you a few things you must know.” He said motioning us to come along.

I looked at Chainlink for her answer. She simply lowered her head and shut her eyes. That probably meant she was uncertain.

Razorblade guided us into the long hallway again. As we walked I looked among the wall, the same language that was in the temple was all over. There were some illustrations here and there of roller coasters. All in all, it looked like caveman writings, but why was it here?

“Ancient battles.” Spoke Razorblade.

“What?”

“The drawings you see are records. Records of war.”

“Oh.” I replied.

“It will all make much more sense when I show you this place.” He chuckled deeply.

Then the tunnel opened up to a balcony that overlooked a large room.

Dozens of roller coasters worked, on weapons: Swords, maces, axes, any instrument of death that was ever on blueprints.

quote:

“This is where -.”

“You make weapons.” I finished.

“Correct. If you haven’t figured it out already, we are a pack.”

“Like wolves?”

“Only smarter and much more deadly.” He laughed to himself.

quote:

“Now, I am the alpha, as you know I am Razorblade.”

“Okay.”

Then we started to walk again, out of view of the large room and down a big flight of stairs.

“Our pack works to protect the citizens of Amusement Park Between from the likes of the Fallen. We have waited over thirty years for Railrunner to arrive. He is the key ingredient, if you know what I mean.”

“Of course.”

Razorblade led us to different rooms. Finally we came to a large door that was at the deepest part of the whole place. There were two guards at the door holding sharp spears. They nodded to Razorblade and let us pass. We entered the largest room of all. It was circular and lit by dozens of torches.

quote:

Columns surrounded it; in the center was a large stone chest. Carvings of roller coasters appeared on the surrounding walls. The “temple language” was everywhere, even on the ceiling and floor.

Razorblade walked up to the stone chest. As we got closer I noticed the writing was microscopic and the chest was as big a roller coaster itself.

Razorblade ran his wheels over the lid.

“What is this?” asked Static.

“This is one of the most sacred places in our world, a tomb.”

Razorblade spoke with his tone suddenly turning serious.

“A tomb for whom?” I asked befuddled.

“Well, the coasters on the walls are actually generations of reds. The one in the center, behind me there, is Moonblood.”

“So -.” Static went on looking at everything.

“This,” Razorblade said rubbing the chest, Is Moonblood’s tomb.”

“Whoa and why do you live here if this is a tomb?” I said in shock.

“You are not really supposed to be doing that,” Static added.

quote:

Razorblade sighed.

quote:

“We were forced to live in this place after the Fallen drove us out of Alcator; we discovered this place on accident. One of our members fell into a hole that led us here.”

“Oh.”

“Since then we have been preparing for revenge against Ironwheel.” The navy coaster said as he stood taller.

“What kind of revenge?” I asked.

He smiled cunningly “You will see once our leader awakens.”

quote:

Iced Cocoa posted:

The picture for this chapter:

Dreggon posted:

bahahahaha

e: just look at it holy gently caress

e2: ok ok no seriously think about it a human is supposed to fit into one of those seats so imagine how big the bed + equipment must be, then think about how big that equipment needs to be (i.e. a tenth the size) then look at the horse and

SSNeoman posted:

Freud would have a field day with all these female characters grabbing poles of some sort

Okay no really. You have a rebel force with medical equipment camping out inside a tomb. How big is that loving tomb? If it is so big, then how was lost? Were there aggressive dust cyclones in the area?

And really Miranda. Just explain all medical equipment with "nanomachines". I am loving serious. If you have no imagination, then having such a dismissive explanation of medical technology is totally acceptable.

Cuntpunch posted:

Nanotorches
Nanostone
Nanoblades

Yep, that simple prefix basically helps fix the insane anachronisms.

quote:

“Some of our members believe they found who was accompanying him. I’m going to let them enter, to see if they can recognize him.”

“Not to object, but does that seem a little risky?”

“Yes, but the two claim to know him, plus some of the members say they saw these rides with the red.” Razorblade said stepping aside. Merrylegs and Static walked quietly into the room.

attackbunny posted:

"We'll let these guys take a look at the only red roller coaster train in existence and see if they go 'oh yeah, that's the red roller coaster train!'"

Cuntpunch posted:

Maybe these merry outlaws are all colorblind, ok. It's the sort of deep character backgrounds Miranda builds into her stories.

JosephWongKS posted:

But all roller coasters have "the sight of a dragon". Thunderbark said so in Chapter 7.

Cuntpunch posted:

...unreliable narrator author? A new trope for fiction writing!

Cuntpunch posted:

...unreliable narrator author? A new trope for fiction writing!

quote:

The state of pure peace was so relaxing. It seemed that the quiet comfort surrounded me in never ending warmth. Was this heaven? Sure felt like it. I looked to see if I sprouted wings, nope.

quote:

Was it hell then? Sure did not look like it. Maybe the place was an air lock between the real and unreal.

quote:

Well, wherever I was, I liked it.

Here, it felt more weightless than airtime.

quote:

Everything seemed light as a feather. Suddenly I felt the comfort slipping from my grasp. All of the harmony was being pulled away from me. Faint hints of pain returned, they got greater as they seemed to overcome everything. Then all seemed like it had shifted, I realized I had thudded back to reality.

My eyes were closed. I could see nothing but blackness.

quote:

I gradually forced them open. Everything was blurry; I could only see faint colors. I blinked my eyes once. I could now see outlines. I blinked again, my eyes finally got into focus.

quote:

I was in some sort of chamber. Across the room was a green coaster and Merrylegs with their backs turned to me. Where in the heck was I?

I looked down to see that I was in a bed with white sheets. It suddenly came to mind that I ached everywhere. I tried to shift, moaning as I moved slowly.

“Railrunner?!” Merrylegs said running to my side. “I’m so glad you are awake!”

I sighed and tried to sit up, however something pulled me back.

quote:

“Easy, just relax,” said the lime green coaster.

I looked to see that I had IV’s in several arms. I gave up and lied back down.

quote:

“Merrylegs, where in the crap am I?” I asked while staring at the ceiling, and then I turned to her for an answer.

“It is probably better if Chainlink explains that to you.” She said looking at the coaster.

“All right, Chainlink, I want to know what’s wrong with me and where I am.” I demanded.

quote:

“Is he always like this?” she asked Merrylegs. I rolled my eyes and gave a weak smile. Merrylegs laughed and nodded.

“Anyway,” Chainlink began. “You are being held in our pack’s lair under close surveillance. We have kept Freakshow’s venom from overpowering your system. I can say this, we are very happy to have you here.”

I let out a deep sigh. I popped my neck as I tried to get comfortable.

quote:

“How long have I been here?” I asked looking at Chainlink.

Merrylegs glanced at her, gulping. Chainlink swung her arms in hesitation. Then she shrugged and looked at me.

“A week.”

“What?” I said sitting up again. “I’ve been asleep, for a week!”

“Well - yeah. You will probably be bedridden for several days still. Railrunner, you are not ready for combat yet.”

“Wonderful,” I said throwing my arms up, unfortunately I forgot about the IV’s. “Ouch! drat it!” I spoke in frustration.

“My apologies, Chainlink. He can be cranky.”

quote:

“I can see that.” She laughed.

“I guess it is just the fact that I have spent a week here doing absolutely nothing, while Thunderbark rots in hell.” I grumbled. I lay back down again and started to twiddle my wheels. “Sorry for swearing.” I said taking a deep breath.

quote:

“That is quite all right, Railrunner. I understand.” Chainlink replied.

Then Static rolled into the room.

“Morning,” he spoke to Merrylegs. Static must have not known that I was awake.

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“How is Railrunner?”

“Dandy.” I said. Static looked up in surprise.

“Nice to see that you are finally up!” Static laughed. “Razorblade wanted me to check on you.”

“Who is Razorblade?” I asked puzzled.

“Pack leader.”

“Oh.”

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“Anyway, he said if you were awake, he wanted to speak with you.”

“Tell him I’m up then.” I yawned. Static nodded and exited the room.

I stared at the ceiling again, my body felt like it had been tossed around in an ocean surf. It still felt like it was too, with never ending swaying movement. Then a navy blue coaster entered the room. He stood looking at me grinning, and then he started to kneel.

“You don’t have to do that, I’m nothing special,” I interrupted him.

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“Sorry if you do not find that- likeable. It is just that you are the most pure source of energy in all Amusement Park Between. You are a blessing.”

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“I am only a different color.” I said laughing slightly.

“If you say so, my lord. Might I ask how you are this morning?”

“Still sore and hurting a bit. You said you wanted to see me about something?”

“Ah, yes. We want you, Railrunner, to lead our pack in the invasion.”

“Excuse me?” I replied, not sure if I heard him right.

“The Fallen are planning to attack Amusement Park Between’s biggest city, Alcator.”

“But isn’t it a Fallen city already?” Merrylegs interrupted.

“Yes, but the Fallen are going to raid it in three days, killing all who live there. Our plan is to first break in the prison and gather troops, then siege Alcator right as the Fallen move in.”

I crossed my arms. “Sounds like one hell of a move, Razorblade.”

“What is your further opinion, Railrunner?” He replied while raising an eyebrow.

“I think we should go through with it. Shall we discuss tactics?”

“Yes, we need to figure out how we should enter the prison unnoticed. I am going to hold a meeting tomorrow night.”

“That seems good, I might be better if you know what I mean.” I said as I scratched my chest where the Augu Ra rested. Razorblade’s eyes still transfixed on it; completely overwhelmed I was here.

“Yeah, it is settled then, you are going to lead us to victory?”

“Certainly.”