World Stations

[Zypher]

Reiko watched as the train lurched out of the station from one of the many glass walls that made up the botanical garden car. In the distance Mount Fuji could be clearly seen standing as tall and as proud as ever. As soon as the Setagaya picked up a bit of speed and headed past the rice fields and smaller farms that dotted the outer edges of the station town they had just left Reiko turned on her heel and quickly rushed out of the car, passing by numerous people taking care of the gardens on her way.

The entertainment street was in full swing, the holographic ceiling was displaying a fireworks display amongst the stars, quite common actually. Reiko couldn't help but roll her eyes as she headed towards her favorite karaoke bar, right next to some pachinko parlor or somesuch. It was nice to actually have a break from running errands all day. She had spent the better half of the morning just loading foodstuffs onto the train with some of the others. From what she understood was that the Setagaya was heading towards the Hokkaido island of what used to be Japan to make a stop in a small town with the Sapporo train before heading across the sea to the Alaskan outpost and heading down the coast and then in to the Manhattan island.

"So around the world for this trip huh?" She sighed as she entered the bar, a couple of familiar faces perked up and began whispering about what she would be singing this time!

Over the loud speaker in all of the cars there were two loud dings. "Attention residents of the Setagaya, our next destination is the Hokkaido Island. This will take nine hours travel, please relax and enjoy the trip." The conductor spoke before hanging up the PA system with a loud click.

Nine hours eh? Well I guess I can get a couple hours of work in later if that's the case, but for now, KARAOKE! She giggled, little did she, nor anyone know, was that the Setagaya was going to be investigated when there for terrorists in a new initiative by the Sion Manufacturing Corporation.

 

[PhoenixArrande]

Kuniyuki Yanagisawa zipped out of the cargo hold on his skateboard and through the station asking a few people for the time along the way. Today was going to be a bit busy for him since he hadn't come out in a week, so he flew as fast as he could towards the cafe before 9 o'clock. "Kuni! It's been a bit of a struggle while you were gone last week! Where you going?" a middle-aged woman called out to him as he passed by the Pachinko Parlor. "The cafe! I'll be there in a minute, Riyoka!" he yelled back. He did his best not to run anyone over and slid to a stop in front of the cafe. The whole place was filled with the smell of good food and people and waiters walking around everywhere making Kuniyuki remember that he hadn't had breakfast at all. Grabbing a dinner roll from the basket on an empty table nearby, the 12-year-old squeezed through the busy workers and into the even more crowed kitchen over to the head chef to ask for any morning duties. "Bachi, I'm back! Got anything you need me to do?" the little boy asked entusiastically, muching on the roll and peering over into the big pot that Bachi was stirring in. "Hey! Thought you killed over or somethin! Move over! I don't want any of your boogers falling into the Miso Soup!" the head chef replied.

"My nose is clean, thank you very much!" Kuniyuki hopped onto the counter and waited for Bachi to finish and give him orders. He turned on his ipod and listened to Maji Desu ka Ska! again while Katu buzzed around singing along. Pretty soon, Bachi turned around quickly and gave him some work, "Alright, I need you to bring me back 7 bags of potatoes from the Shipping Car. Those lazy bums never deliver anything on time! They're going to be uber heavy, so you can just grab one of the carts and haul 'em that way. Got it?" Kuniyuki frowned, "But you know I can't read! And there's about a gazillion different bags and boxes in there!" Bachi turned around and dug through the cabinets and threw him an empty bag. "Look for the bag that looks exactly like that one, okay! Now, scram! I got work to do, too!" The boy ran out of the cafe quickly with the bag and back onto his skateboard. He skated down the station as quickly as he had come, sneaking into the Shipping Car past the guards, and started his search. It took him 30 minutes to get the job done, and he rode out the back on the cart. On his way back to the cafe, Kuniyuki noticed something different as he passed by the Pachinko Parlor. There was an odd girl in the Karaoke Bar singing to Snow Dance, but just as he had peeked through the window at her, he left just as quickly. He had a job to finish, and he couldn't let anything spoil his good work reputation.

 

[Fluffy]

There wasn't any technical work needing to be done yet, so Benjamin was simply wandering the train. Watching people enjoy their lives was fascinating and sometimes, strangers or friends he bypassed could use a strong hand. In fact, during his walk, he confronted an elderly woman with a pair of heavy suitcases. She must have been visiting somebody or moving onto Setagaya; he didn't ask, though.

"Such a sweet, sweet swweeeet man you are!" she commented energetically, adjusting her little glasses as she walked beside Ben. He handled her luggage effortlessly, a bag in each hand. A simple chuckle was given in response, since he wasn't too sure of what to say at the time. No matter how many times people called him 'sweet', 'handsome', 'nice' and so on, he felt silly for saying thank you.

Soon, they reached the area she was staying in. From the looks of things, she reserved an empty room for herself. It was already furnished, so he assumed the suitcases just had her clothes and other necessities. After setting them down on the floor, he gave her a bow and stepped backwards, letting the door shut so she could be left in privacy. "You're welcome," spoke his masculine voice.

Benjamin continued his journey through his home, his prosthetic arm crossing with his regular one. There was a nine hour ride ahead of him and the other passengers, so he'd sooner or later have to find a place to stop and do something else useful.

Kids that passed by gave him an endearing hello, while women winked and waved. Men either ignored him, or gave an intimidated glance. He didn't know what to make of it all. More than anything, he was intrigued and just wanted to study, as well as understand why people did what they did.

It had something to do with the way his mind was built.

 

[Okami_Jigoku]

Ray "Blackheart" McComas was in the middle of a foot chase with one of his targets. Dam this guy can run! Ray didn't dwell on it too much he knew he could catch the target because Ray had both speed and endurance and his target wasn't exactly like a marathon runner. The target of Ray's was a man named Tsuga Maru a merchant who owed some bank money and the bank had hired him to get it. Unfortunatley this guy was tipped off by some friends of his and had taken off when he had seen Ray so now it was a foot chase. Ray kept jumping in between people and bouncing off walls to avoid things that were blocking his path as Tsuga was tossing stuff and people in Ray's way. Bastard. "What are you running for you don't know why I'm here!" Ray yelled at him when he was only 12 feet behind him. Ray would've liked nothing more than to kill him but the bank wanted him alive and there was too much risk of collateral damge that he couldn't afford to cause. Maybe if I shot out his knees? No my bullets would go right through his knees and hit other people. DAM! Ray kept on getting closer slowly but surely. Oh! Crap! He's almost to the entertainment car. He could hide in the crowds and shops while I search in vain. I got to get him before then.

The distance to the entertainment car was less then Ray thought though because the man got there before he could get him. DAM!

Tsuga jumped though the door and got hit by some sort of cart knocking him over. Ray jumped over the cart as Tsuga then grabbed some old lady 20 meters away and put a knife to her throat. "Really. You disappoint me Hunter. I thought you were ruthless yet you let me grab this old lady and let me get to the entertainment car. HAHAHA!" Tsuga howled in triumph.

"Don't think I'm letting you get away you got 200,000 Trade Credits on your head." Ray stated as he pulled out his pistol and unloaded it, then reloading it with rubber rounds he pulled the slide back and let a ruber round go in. BANG! BANG! BANG! Ray fired 3 rapid fire shots one hitting the mans hand knocking the knife away, the next 2 hitting his knees breaking them.

Tsuga started too crawl away fearfully while crying in pain until he got a boot on one knee and a gun barrel right over his head as he looked back. "How! Why!" Tsuga yelled out in a pained voice.

"You said it your self. I'm ruthless." Ray said. BANG! Ray shot Tsuga in the head knocking him out and he then began too cuff him as people watched. Damed! Ass! Forcing me to shoot his ass. Now I might get paid less because I damaged the goods. Ray thought as he reloaded his lead and copper rounds back into his pistol.

 

[Vay]

The engine roared to life as Ryuko got to work. The train had a head start but it was planned for. Feeling Z behind him he kicked into gear and gunned the engine as the two of them rocketed out of the small street on the edge of town. "Alright back there." he asked into the radio built into his helmet as he lined up the bike parallel to the track and began closing the distance.

The plan was simple. Z would board the train and act as eyes and ears as well as discouragement should anyone notice what Ryu was doing on the outside. A well placed charge would separate the carriages and in the middle of nowhere a new coupling, and anything else that was damaged would take days to replace. Two on the same carriage and it would be a write-off.

Beneath the black visor he smiled, this could be their easiest, and most significant 'protest' yet. He pulled the bike next to the train and held it a steady as he could for Z to board the train before he undid the Velcro holding her bag of 'toys' to his back and handed it to her. "Play safe and don't shoot anyone you don't have to." he teased "I'll pick you up when the train stops." sooner than scheduled if all went to plan.

 

[Alarice]

Z held tightly onto Ryu as they sped out. Ah, the feeling of a vibrating engine between your thighs and a hard male body to nestle close to. Heh. She loved this job. As they neared the train, she shifted, got her legs beneath her, then jumped the short distance. She landed neatly on the bridge and snickered. "Don't worry about me. You're the one who's going to have a blast." She grinned at the bad pun and grabbed the bag. Then she waited for Ryu to start after she'd taken one of her toys out and turned the safety off.

 

[Zypher]

As her second song ended Reiko heard shots coming from the street. She set the microphone down and dashed out just in time to see the security force dragging a man who had handcuffed another man off towards the jail car. Certainly he had done something bad but she heard the whispers around her that he was a bounty hunter and she knew how lowly those were tolerated. Shaking her head she returned to the karaoke bar and paid her tab before heading back out to the street, hoping to find a familiar face to see if they had the real news on what was going on.

As she walked she nearly toppled over a kid carrying a sack of potatoes. "Oh, sorry! I didn't see you there!" Reiko chuckled, patting the kid on the back of the head. "Say, shouldn't you be in class right about now?"

 

[PhoenixArrande]

As Kuniyuki rode through the station on the cart, some wierdo knocked into it and another jumped over it. "HEEEY! Watch it!" he yelled looking back only to hear gunshots. He didn't dare look down, aware that the cart was probably dented now. He sighed softly and pushed the cart faster just in case some other stranger happened to bump into him again. Unfortunately for him, luck wasn't on his side. A woman bumped into him and started talking to him casually. He was used to plenty of people asking him that by now and knew just what to say. "My parents are rich so I don't have to go to school! School is stupid!" he replied adding a pout, "I got work to do anyways!.....Heeeey! I remember you! You're that lady from the Karaoke Bar!" Kuni looked the woman up and down before acting uninterested again. She was probably another one of those creeps.

 

[Okami_Jigoku]

As the security personel started to grab him and try to drag him away Ray threw them into eachother knocking them cold. "Well that was easy," Ray said as he recovered his guns. Just then another four cops tackled him. OW! That hurts! Ray was thinking when they all hit him. "Dam it." Was all Ray could say as he hit the floor hard enough to knock him senseless.

Ow! was the first thing in Ray's mind as he woke up in a solitary confinement cell. "What the hell? Oh yeah, I got tackled by four cops and.... huh they must of hit me pretty hard." Ray stated to no one in particular. Then the door opened and a lawyer walked in. "So who are you?" Ray asked as the man looked at him.

"I am a represenative of Sunny Rails Banks. You've caused quite the trouble for just a bounty." the lawyer said wth almost disdain.

"Well for one he was worth alot of money and for two he ran and took a woman hostage so I don't know what the problem is?" Ray stated flatly with an almost boredom to his voice.

"Well because we had to post you on bail and represent you you're only getting half the money." the lawyer stated.

"Well what the hell, we agreed on 200,000 not 100,000!" Ray responded pissed.

"Yes well as I stated strings had to be pulled and the like inorder to get you out and still get Mr. Tsuga's bounty to you so you'll only get half." the lawyer responded.

What the Hell! Did all that work and I only get half? Well 100,000 still is alot of dough, but I was going after him for 200,000 not a 100,000. Still it would probably be best if I take it otherwise I'm guessing they'll leave me here. Dam! Ray thought it over. "Alright I'll take half, just get me out of here before I end up getting hit for murder." Ray said.


"The Judge said you will be released in the morning. In the mean time we have arranged some meals for you that are better then what you should get but you will be realeased tommorow morning after breakfast." The lawyer said. "See you in the morning, by the way you have to pay for 30,000 worth in damages. Good day." The lawyer stated smuggly as he left and closed the door.

"Great just flippin great! Stuck in here till morning and most likely the suit will 'forget' about me and leave me here a week! Just flippin great!" Ray stated after the lawyer left. With nothing to do he just waited for his supper.

 

[Fluffy]

Two people weren't far from him, after he stepped foot on the street. A young boy and a woman, to be specific. Silently, he watched from interact, enough distance between himself and the two so he wouldn't seem creepy. He hoped as much, anyway. Benjamin's persistent observing of human behaviour made people uncomfortable sometimes. That was something he was learning to avoid; he didn't want to be remembered as some sort of stalker!

Another event distracted him for just a moment. His sensors went on alert when authorities rushed to claim a criminal. There was a disturbance on the train, his human eye making a brief show of anger when he looked to his left. Police were certainly not someone to mess with, but neither was an irritated, enraged cyborg. Should any villain or nuisance cross his path, they'd get a metal fist to the jaw.

Putting his attention back to Reiko and the boy, he decided to approach them with a greeting. The woman was a co-worker, so he should be friendly. They didn't get to talk too often, though. She was always in a hurry with messages, if not hanging out in the social environments he usually avoided.

"Good day, Reiko," spoke his bass voice. Then, he nodded to the boy, who he probably passed by once or twice, but not enough times to know a name. "What's the commotion? Do you know?"

 

[Alarice]

The train shifted under her feet. Z spread her legs slightly to maintain her balance. This would have to be a quick job; she had a shopping spree to begin. Those boots weren't going to stay at half price forever. As she waited for Ryu to start--maybe he was getting slow in his old age--the door she was facing slid open and she was face to face with two security guards. The looks on their faces said they had been on normal security rounds and a woman wearing a commando outfit and holding a gun was certainly not normal.

She winked. "Hey, guys." Neither of them were cute or young so she didn't bother flirting. All it took were a couple of shots and both of them fell to the ground. Those tranqs worked really fast. She looked them over and decided she could use some souvenirs. One security guard lost a set of keys. The other lost his gun--or whatever farce they called a gun, anyways.

Z peered into the car they had come out of. No one else appeared to be in there. She looked down at the guards but she couldn't leave them out here, either. She quickly surveyed the stoarge car and found a closet. Then it was a simple matter of dragging both their asses into the corner and covering them with a tarp. She returned to her bag to drop the souvenirs into and then slipped the bag over her shoulder. It was almost time to make a hasty get away and she didn't want to risk leaving it here.

 

[Vay]

The engine roared as Ryu sped up moving forwards in relation to the train. First coupling, from his bag he drew one of his specialties... Steadying the bike he loaded the bomb into the launcher, aimed and fired. Powerful clamps and electromagnets fastened it to the coupling and the red light blinked, armed. "One down." he said with a smile stowing the launcher and putting both hands back on the handlebars.

Inside Z would already be working her magic, Ryu knew better than to hope she would be going thing quietly, but the girl got thing done and looked good while doing it and thats really what mattered.