Chapter 65

“…Mmm, well…Pawoo is a formidable lady, indeed. It must be difficult to find someone who can serve as her equal.” Fully dressed, and with her hair tied up in her trademark four long braids at last, Red Tirol spun around and eagerly shook Milo’s hand. “Thank you so much, Milo. You’ve literally saved my life!” “You’re welcome… But I’d like to ask just one question, if you wouldn’t mind.” “Of course, my dear friend. Ask me anything your heart desires!” “Who are you?” Milo lowered his voice. His silent eyes glittered like the ocean. “If you don’t want to answer, I won’t pry, because from the way you’ve looked after Tirol, I don’t think you’re out to hurt us.” “M-Milo…? Well…” “But. I could be wrong. It’s possible your scheme is just one step ahead of me. So if you make any sort of move on Bisco…!” Milo’s tone of voice was quite unlike him. Red Tirol found herself sweating under his discerning glare. After a few moments of silence, Milo brightened as though nothing had happened and patted Red Tirol on the shoulder before draping his cloak over her petite frame. “I’m sorry. Forget I said that. Let’s have some tasty fish!” “Milo… Milo, wait!” As Milo turned to leave, Red Tirol called out to him. Milo turned to see her hopping over the rocks toward him, a look of resolve in her eyes. “If I told you who I was…,” she shouted before Milo shushed her, and she continued in a furtive whisper, “…I am sure you would not believe the things I had to say. I had thought it better to keep my mouth shut and have you simply think me an evil spirit, than to tell such tall tales and remove all doubt. That is why…” “It’s okay, really. There’s no way you’d take such good care of Tirol’s body if you were evil. And the thought of putting a bra on wouldn’t even occur to you. Not with her chest anyway.” Milo looked into her eyes and smiled. “But I think we should keep this to ourselves. Bisco doesn’t need to know.” “Y-yes, quite right. He won’t be so quick to trust, will he?” “That’s not why,” said Milo, casting a sidelong glance at his partner, still tending to the cauldron. Though he appeared distracted, Milo still leaned over and whispered into Red Tirol’s ear, just in case. “Thinking about things is my job. It’s a lot easier on Bisco if we just let him believe what he wants for now.” “I—I see. But, Milo, are you sure you want to hear me out? I’m telling you, this story might be too much, even for you.” “Hey now, just try me. I’m a lot smarter than Bisco, you know.” At the sound of his name, Bisco pricked up his freakishly keen ears, and he glared over in Milo’s direction. Milo waved his hands as if to say nothing was wrong before leaning over to Red Tirol even closer and whispering: “I’ll be fine. I did go to school, after all.” “Bisco. Over here. Take a look at this satellite photo I took.” “Hmm? Man-Eating Panda. Eight hundred thousand sols. Height—” “No, turn it over, Bisco.” At Milo’s suggestion, Bisco flipped the poster Red Tirol had handed him and peered at it while munching on the grilled shrikefish Milo had cooked. “Ah, that was the only paper I had, I’m afraid. The photo is on the back. Anyway, this is an enlarged aerial shot of Kyoto Prefecture. Can you see that facility atop the bureau? It appears to be some kind of railroad station.” “…What’s a satellite? Wait… Did you fly to take these? When?!” “Just listen to me!” “Look, Bisco, don’t worry about that,” said Milo, as if reassuring a small child. “The point is, we might be able to get to Gunma a lot faster by train. I think it’s worth taking a detour and going to check it out.” So surprised was Bisco at his partner’s intervention that he spilled some of the fish he had been munching on, resulting in a burn. “Ow! Milo, are you insane?! She’s possessed! We can’t trust her!” “She’s just changed the way she talks, that’s all. Don’t you remember how Tirol helped us out in Shimobuki with the trains?” “Wait, you’re serious…?” Bisco looked once more at the photo in his hands, but no matter how hard he stared, the situation didn’t make itself any clearer to him, and eventually he got fed up and thrust it back toward Red Tirol. “Well, if Milo’s convinced, then so am I. Fine, we’ll go check it out.” “Bisco!” cried Red Tirol, her voice full of emotion. “Yeah, yeah, just eat somethin’ already. Leave your food out and Actagawa’ll take it.” “O-okay! I see… So this is how you eat freshwater fish…” “No, you moron. You have to take the beak off. Slice it open first, like this…” Red Tirol’s scarlet eyes glittered with curiosity as Bisco sliced up the fish. For Milo, it was an oddly heartwarming scene, considering their hectic travels so far, and he smiled as he watched and listened to Bisco’s lesson. “Wow, Bisco! Look at that!” “That’s this place’s bureau? That thing’s ugly as all hell.” “Well, not everyone liked the Golden Pavilion, either. Some say it was far too gaudy,” said Red Tirol, peeking over Milo’s shoulder at the soaring tower ahead of them. “But faced with this monstrosity, I will admit that even I find myself pining for the former construction. At least it had style.” The building before them was a veritable skyscraper, an enormous steel-clad spire that penetrated even the clouds above. There was absolutely no trace of the gold-leafed temple that had stood there before. This tower was far taller than any the boys had seen before, and yet it showed no signs of buckling or collapsing under its own weight. It was an architectural marvel of the days of old, the likes of which even the finest engineers of today could never hope to match. “There it is. That’s the Chuo Maglev, the superfast railway.” “Hmm?” From where the jellyfish girl was pointing, up at the highest level of the tower, there was indeed a see-through pipe extending away from the building and far off toward the east. Bisco could easily imagine a train riding along it. “Just need to get all the way up there, then, do we? Right, Actagawa?” he said, spurring the crab on toward the building. “Bisco, be careful. I feel like…we’re not alone,” said Milo. Bisco could feel it, too. From somewhere among the abandoned buildings, it felt like someone was watching them. “I can smell gunpowder,” Milo said. “He’s got a gun.” “So can I,” replied Bisco. “But I don’t sense any hostility. Don’t draw your bow unless you need to.” As the two boys whispered to each other, they spotted a relatively large man with a heavy pack trudging the other way. When he spotted Bisco, he gave a broad wave, as if asking the boys to pull over. “It’s just the badgers.” Bisco sighed with some measure of relief, and he slowed Actagawa’s pace. “I guess they’ve come to loot the place, now that everyone’s gone.” “Milo?” asked Red Tirol. “What does he mean, ‘the badgers’?” “Illegal scavengers,” Milo replied. “They’re a rowdy bunch, though. You should hide.” Doing as Milo said, Red Tirol hid herself beneath the luggage on Actagawa’s back, while the crab stopped before the man and Milo and Bisco dismounted. The man was covered in steel armor, with a flamethrower tank on his back, and goggles and a mask on his face. He began talking incomprehensibly to the pair with wild gestures. “Khhhhhh. Khhhh. Khhhhh.” “What? I can’t hear a word you’re sayin’ over all that static.” “Khhh… Sorry, had the darn thing on a private frequency. Well, if it ain’t the Man-Eating Redcap himself! Ah thought ah recognized that spiky-haired red fella screamin’ toward me, but ah just had to see for mahself! Yer a lot younger than ah thought, ya know? ’Bout the same age as mah kid!” “You guys ain’t above collectin’ bounties neither, are you? You after mine?” “Sure ain’t. Ain’t nobody left to pay ’em now. Else ah woulda taken the shot as soon as ah seen ya.” The badger paused before both he and Bisco erupted into hearty laughter, clapping each other on the shoulders. Seeing this, Milo also offered a tentative chuckle. “Mah son’s a real fan o’ yers, kid. Could ya sign…? Ah, shoot, ah ain’t got a pen.” “Did you come to scavenge the gold leaf off the bureau? Must be a shame to see it turned into that thing,” said Milo. “Sure did. At first me and the boys figured we wasted our time comin’ here,” said the badger, casting a glance at the towering skyscraper, before rustling around in his pockets. He pulled out several small boxes and began undoing the beautiful wrapping paper on one of them. A fragrant scent wafted out from within. “Wh-what is that?” “Try one.” Bisco was extremely good at sniffing out poison, so once he popped one into his mouth, Milo threw aside his trepidation and followed suit. Instantly, his eyes widened as the sweetest taste he had ever experienced filled his mouth. “…!! Th-this is delicious! What is it?!” “Yatsuhashi, so they’re called,” replied the badger. “Least, that’s what it says on the box.” Seeing the reactions of the two boys, he went on. “And that ain’t all. There’s sweet stuff, spicy stuff, food, drinks, all stuffed into little glass boxes all over the place. It’s like a treasure trove. ’Bout the only thing ya can’t find in there’s a weapon.” “B-but… Isn’t that bad? This is a valuable resource! What if people start fighting over it?” Even as he said this, Milo instinctively reached out for another…only to find the box completely empty. In a matter of seconds, nearly the entire batch of yatsuhashi had found its way into his partner’s stomach, and the final one was on its way, held between Bisco’s fingers. “Well, that’s the darndest thing. It never runs out! The inside o’ that building keeps changin’ around, almost like it’s alive.” The badger looked up once more at the bureau as the two boys quarreled over the last yatsuhashi. “That means it’s pretty dangerous in there, ah tell ya. Ah was just in there with mah partner when one o’ the walls straight-up swallowed him. Ah wasn’t crazy enough to stay in there on mah own, so ah came outside.” “What?” Those words came as a shock to Bisco, who turned back to the badger with an apologetic look. (As for the fight, it seemed that Milo had come out on top this time.) “Dude, I’m real sorry ’bout that. And we’ve just been stuffing our faces with this stuff.” “Sorry ’bout what? Way ah see it, ah been real lucky today!” The badger laughed a burst of static before gathering up his things and waving good-bye to the two boys. “Right now, ain’t nobody gonna object if ya go in there an’ take a look around. Just make sure ya go no higher than the second floor. Place gets more lively the higher ya go. An’ don’t even think about usin’ the elevator. Guy went up to the tenth floor and got turned into mincemeat. Ya shoulda seen the inside of that thing when it came back down.” “Got it. Thanks for the info!” As Bisco waved good-bye to the badger, Red Tirol quietly slipped back out of her hiding place and crawled over to him. “Going by what that man said, I’d say that the inside is not nearly as fully restored as the outside. Perhaps the system is caught in an update loop as new bugs are introduced. It would behoove us to refrain from passing through if we wish to reach the top alive.” “Milo. Translate.” “He said we shouldn’t go inside because it’s too dangerous,” Milo answered. “Yeah, I agree. Those badgers are pros. If that place killed one of them, it’s gonna do a lot worse to us.” “I—I am sorry. I thought it would be a shortcut, but we ended up wasting precious time…” “No we didn’t,” Bisco said, leaping back atop Actagawa and pulling up Red Tirol. “We’re still gonna go. We gotta ride that mag-whatchamacallit.” “Hmm? But…I just said we can’t go inside…” “Then we won’t.” Bisco took out a box of yatsuhashi he had been hiding in his pocket and tossed them before Actagawa while stuffing one in Red Tirol’s mouth. “Actagawa can’t fit inside the building anyway. We’ll just climb up the wall instead.” “Hlimb uh the hall?” “Don’t speak with your mouth full!” “Actagawa can easily scale soft, flat surfaces like that,” said Milo with a smile, clapping Red Tirol on the back before she choked to death. “Don’t worry, Tirol. It’ll be okay. The inside might be dangerous, but there’s nothing to stop us out here!” “Just strap yourself into the luggage so you don’t fall out. Actagawa, we’re off!” Actagawa scuttled ahead through the ruined streets, eager to attempt his first mountain-climbing challenge in a while. The boys pulled out their bows, and with a Gaboom! their King Trumpet mushrooms launched him full-force toward the wall of the skyscraper. Far off in the distance, something orange and shiny could clearly be seen glinting in the sunlight as it scaled the vertical walls of the towering prefectural bureau. “What is that?!” “Wha-ha-ha! They’re only climbin’ the damn tower!” “Ah can never know what these Mushroom Keepers are thinking!” “Maw, come and take a look at this! Ah ain’t never seen nothin’ like it!” “That’s the spirit, boys! Keep it up!” All the badgers lurking in the surrounding area came out of their hidey-holes to gaze at the remarkable sight. After giving a wave to all below, Milo turned and looked back at Actagawa’s destination: the clear blue sky ahead. “We’re so high up!” he cried. “What floor do you think we’re at now?” “Still gonna be a while until we reach the top, though. Still, the King Trumpets saved us a lot of time.” Actagawa’s eight legs drove in and out of the concrete wall like pile drivers, and he transported his riders upward with exceptional stability. Red Tirol poked her head from the luggage and looked down at the incredible distance below. Bisco and Milo must have done this many times, for they sat in the crab’s saddles with nary a lifeline to save them if they fell. “A-Actagawa, this is amazing! Carrying three people up a vertical cliff…” “We ain’t there just yet. Pop your head back down until we arrive.” “Oka—” Red Tirol was cut off as a nearby window exploded with a Crash! Some sort of mechanical beast crawled out onto the building exterior and, as quickly as a skink, dashed across the wall toward Actagawa, its many legs plunging into the concrete as it went. “…!! Bisco!” “Not again! What is it this time?!” As the creature opened its mouth wide, a series of arrows landed in the flashing red, green, and blue lights on what appeared to be its head. After a single cry of “Beeeep!” the mushroom arrows exploded, knocking it off the surface of the prefectural office building and sending it plummeting far below, where it crashed into the roof of a nearby building and smashed to pieces. “What was that, Tirol?!” “That was another municipal life-form! It appeared to have been based on a spider…so perhaps a name like ‘city spider’ would be appropriate?” “Based on a spider…? Goddammit. C’mon, Actagawa, let’s hurry!” Bisco frowned at Red Tirol’s words before spurring the crab on. Just as he did, the windows on all four sides of the building shattered simultaneously, and out came more city spiders in a veritable swarm. “H-how many of these things are there?!” “They must be mutated crowspiders,” explained Bisco. “They like to flock together and roost in high places. We gotta get to the top before they surround us!” Firing arrows left and right, the two Mushroom Keepers fended off the pursuing city spider swarm with their bows. But for every one they felled, two more seemed to spring up elsewhere, until the surface of the building looked like a carpet of black tarnished with a single orange blot. “You bastards!” Bisco took a deep breath, summoning up the Rust-Eater spores all over his body, and he drew a deadly final shot. His solar arrow pierced the swarm and building alike, growing glittering golden mushrooms all across its surface and pushing the swarm back toward the ground. “How d’ya like that?!” “Bisco, look out!” Hearing his partner’s voice, Bisco immediately jerked the reins, just as a huge chunk of rubble fell down from above. After Actagawa dodged the rock, it collided with the city spider swarm and knocked a bunch of them off the building. The skyscraper was beginning to shake. Bisco’s Rust-Eater arrows had eaten into it, making it unstable, and now Actagawa was finding it much harder to scale the unsteady wall. “Bisco, you can’t fire your Rust-Eater arrows here! They’re too strong; they’re going to destroy the whole building!” “Then what the hell am I supposed to do?!” “Just leave it to me!” Milo fired an anchor arrow, leaving Actagawa behind and fixing himself to the side of the tower. There, he closed his eyes and began to focus his mind. “Bisco!” shouted Red Tirol. “Milo’s in danger!” “He’s not in danger! You are! What’d I say? Get back down!” “Right you are, Bisco. So he has a plan, then?” “Who knows? I guess he must, right?” “Y-you don’t even know?!” As the three of them climbed higher, Milo stood fast, the floating cube spinning faster and faster in his palm. The swarm pounced at him, their metal fangs just inches from his fair skin, when Milo swung the cube with all his might down into the concrete at his feet. “Won/shamdarever/valuler/snew! (Impale surrounding area with Rust!)” The surface of the building Milo was standing on seemed to shimmer for a moment before countless emerald spears burst from the wall, skewering the city spiders around him. The spears spread outward from Milo, cleverly avoiding Actagawa while eliminating the entire swarm in the blink of an eye. “Wow! So this is Milo’s mantra power! I never would have thought a human body could control the Rust so effectively!” “So how come his attack ain’t makin’ the building collapse?” “Unlike your mushrooms, whose roots extend into the concrete, Milo’s mantra simply crystallizes the Rust that appears along its surface. The building itself is effectively unharmed.” After Milo was reeled back into his seat, he looked exhausted, but still he shone a brilliant smile and pointed at the city spiders flailing in the air below. “Look at that! I did that! Aren’t I amazing?” “You shoulda done that from the start.” “Would it kill you to be nice?!” “Hold on, boys! Something’s not right!” At Red Tirol’s words, the other two looked down to see the scattered city spiders doing something strange. At first, they began forming together into a black blob, a writhing mass of machinery. Then Chunk! Chunk! One by one, eight legs extended from the main section, forming the shape of one enormous spider, and with a Ker-lunk! it stuck its legs into the wall of the prefectural bureau. “Huh. That’s another thing those crowspiders do. When huntin’ prey, they group together and make one big version,” said Bisco. “I see,” replied Red Tirol, equally fascinated. “It sounds like they group together to make themselves appear larger and more threatening.” “Sure… ’Cept in this case, it ain’t just a threat.” “This isn’t the time to be bird-watching!” shouted Milo. “Actagawa, we need to get out of here!” The large spider advanced up the building with frightening speed. Despite its enormous size, it was clearly faster than the giant crab on which the party rode. As it closed the gap, the boys fired arrow after arrow, tearing chunks out of its legs, but the conglomerate nature of the beast meant that it could repair such damage almost instantly. “Dammit! One Rust-Eater arrow would make quick work of this…!” “…! Bisco! It’s spitting something up!” The colossal city spider opened its mouth wide and fired a flurry of black thread up at them. The boys whipped out their lizard-claw knives, but they could not hope to protect all of Actagawa, and soon his swift legs were tangled up in tar-black webbing. “Oh no! They got Actagawa! This is bad!” “…Bisco. These threads…” Red Tirol didn’t even get to finish her line before the surface beneath their feet shook. The threads suddenly flashed with a bright white light, and there was a distinct burning smell as Actagawa was sent into violent and uncontrollable spasms. “They’re electric cables! Bisco, he’s shocking Actagawa!” “The fuck? That bastard!” Electricity was one of the few weaknesses of the steelcrab, pinnacle of evolution as it was. Its carapace was formed of a sort of organic metal that lent the creature its name, and though it offered excellent protection against heat and cold, electricity passed straight through it. Even the mighty steelcrab would be rendered helpless if its muscles were paralyzed, and although Actagawa was the mightiest of them all, even he was no exception. “Ahhh! No! Actagawaaa!” With his partner’s horrified screams ringing in his ears, Bisco knew what he had to do. His face slowly took on a look of pure wrath as he pulled his bowstring tight, and the spores flowed forth in an ever greater number, burning like sparks. “Bisco, no!” yelled Red Tirol. “You’ll kill us all!” But Bisco was deaf to her protests. Just as she jumped for cover in advance of the inevitable explosion… Whoosh… Boom! A different blast rocked the beast’s body. As the giant city spider turned to look back at its attacker, its ensnaring cables came loose, and Actagawa was free of the electric net, barely managing to dig his claws into the building. “What the hell was that? A rocket?!” “Bisco, look!” As he did, another missile arced toward the foe, a plume of smoke erupting from its rear. It was a Matoba-made Salamander Rocket. As the patented Salamander warhead found its target and exploded into the giant spider’s side, many of the smaller spiders broke off and fell toward the ground. “Yee-haw! That’s what ah call a direct hit!” “That’s… That’s that old badger we just met!” “Gah-ha-ha-ha! Ah can’t be sittin’ back, cuttin’ slack when the scallywags are tryin’ their darndest!” yelled the badger from far below as he loaded another Salamander Rocket into his man-portable launcher. “We’ll give ya all the coverin’ fire ya need. Just find a way to take that thing down!” The fiery heat of the rocket’s explosions stirred the giant city spider into a rage, and it rushed recklessly for Actagawa, but just then, one of the missiles hit it in the head, and it reared up, revealing its underbelly to Bisco and Milo. “Bisco! Now!” “Got it!” Bisco drew the Rust-Eater spores back into himself and swiftly nocked a King Trumpet arrow, firing it directly beneath the heart of the city spider. Then, just as the spider regained control of itself and settled back on the wall with all eight legs… Gaboom! …the mushroom erupted directly into the core of the beast, pushing it clean off the building and flinging it helplessly below. “That was a hard fight! Sorry, spiders, I underestimated you!” “That’s very honest of you, Bisco.” Bisco’s eyes twinkled as he drew his bow one last time, sending a final shot down to meet the falling spider. The blazing arrow pierced the creature, and with a Gaboom! Gaboom! Gaboom! the Rust-Eaters tore its body apart, eradicating the swarm before it even hit the ground. “Mighty fine work, lads,” said the badger, looking on in admiration. “It’s like a mushroom firework!” “Keep it up, Akaboshi!” After making sure that the spider was well and truly defeated, Milo waved to the cheering badgers down below. Meanwhile, Bisco clambered back into his seat and peered over at Actagawa’s face. “Sorry about that, pal. Did it hurt?” The crab released only a burnt-smelling bubble in response, and Bisco rubbed his shell. “…I shouldn’t have let you get hurt. That was my fault. I was too focused on tryin’ to beat it. It won’t happen again, Actagawa. I promise.” It’s been a while since I’ve seen Bisco so meditative, thought Milo, as his partner’s rarely seen kinder side came to the fore. Pretending he hadn’t seen anything, he instead turned to Red Tirol, who had just poked her head out from the luggage once more to see what was going on. “…Does it seem strange to you…,” he asked her, “that Bisco acts like this?” “Not at all. I think it’s lovely,” said Red Tirol, gazing at Milo’s partner with a gentle smile. “And it’s not just me. Tirol finds it quite endearing as well— Ow!” “Listen, we’re about to reach the top. Hold on tight,” said Bisco, and Red Tirol rubbed her stinging cheek before retreating back into the luggage. Milo found it hard to stifle a chuckle at the scene, and then, with a Ker-thunk! Actagawa at last clambered over the roof of the building and, exhausted by the long climb, sat himself down to rest. “…Wow! This is the train?!” “Indeed. This is the Tokaido Chuo Maglev. In our day, this was the fastest means of transport available.” Inside the enormous station that stood atop the prefectural bureau, enshrined upon its rails within a clear pipe, was a burning crimson and extremely futuristic-looking train. To Bisco and Milo, it looked as if they’d wandered into a sci-fi world. “It’s a strange bug indeed for this to be all the way up here,” said Red Tirol, “but that’s good news for us. I mean, this line isn’t even supposed to pass through Kyoto at all.” “Look how freakin’ shiny it is,” said Bisco. “This ain’t nothin’ like those freight trains over in Shimobuki. How does it even work?” “Leave it to me!” said Red Tirol proudly. “I alone have access to the maglev system. You two rest along with Actagawa. I’ll let you know when we’re ready to go!” Then the girl trotted off excitedly in the direction of the train, her pink braids bobbing up and down as she went. After watching her go, the two boys sat down with Actagawa and sighed. “Geez, what a trip. Everywhere we go, there’s weird shit waitin’ for us.” “You seem awfully calm, Bisco, all things considered,” said Milo, pulling out and chewing on a strip of frog jerky. “Well, it’s actually kinda fun,” Bisco replied enthusiastically. “I didn’t like what those white boxes were doin’, but there’s so much freaky shit on this journey I ain’t never seen before. Just when things were startin’ to get borin’.” “You’re a tough cookie, Bisco. I wish I could be like that. Here, want another bit of frog?” “Sure. Got any red sesame? That’ll spice it up a bit.” “Sorry, Bisco, I already put it away.” “Damn. Go get it for me.” “Get it yourself! …Fine. We’ll rock-paper-scissors for it.” Suddenly, a pair of white headlights flashed on, and the crimson frame of the bullet train emitted a high-pitched whistle as it began to move. “Milo! Bisco! I’m sorry! Hurry up and get on!” “Wh-what the—?! You said you would call us when you were ready!” “I know! I’m sorry! I made a mistake!” shouted Red Tirol from the driver’s seat, fiddling with buttons and levers, to no avail. “Just hurry up, or you’ll be left behind!” “That dumbass. Easy for her to say.” “Actagawa, we’ve got to go! Get on, Bisco!” With his two masters on his back, the crab began sprinting toward the train as it rapidly built up speed. Unfortunately, old Japan’s ultimate mode of transport was no joke. Before Actagawa could reach it, the bright-red carriage had already left the rooftop. “Bisco! We’ll have to use the King Trumpets!” “Why can’t we just sit down for one second?!” Gaboom! The boys’ arrows catapulted Actagawa toward the train like a pinball, barely allowing the giant crab to latch on to the rear of the vehicle with his claw. Behind them, the force of the growing mushrooms proved to be the last straw for the prefectural bureau. A large crack sliced the building diagonally in two, and then the whole thing simply collapsed. “Nice to see you made it, boys!” came Red Tirol’s voice over the train’s PA system. “You had me going for a moment there!” “And whose fault do you think that is, asshole?!” “Sorry, but I don’t know how to get the doors open. You’ll have to use Actagawa to tear your way in. He should be able to fit inside, too, if he crouches down a bit.” Eventually, the boys were able to do as she suggested and tumbled at last into the carriage’s interior, gasping and wheezing for breath. “You boys had better hold on to something; we’re going full steam ahead! Next stop, Imihama!”