New South Route

Shrill ring

It was one of the many unfamiliar sounds Cerise heard once she started coming too, and it wasn't doing her any good as it felt like she was being hit repeatedly in the head by a baseball bat; in simple terms, a raging headache.

Choo Choo

"Uh?" She confusedly mumbled out, still feeling a little out of it while rubbing the back of her head. Slowly, she got up from her..cushioned seat? and opened a..sliding door? Wait, what!? What the heck is going on? The last thing the young woman could remember was that she was having a nice outing with her boyfriend and..and...

"Oh god? Where am I!?" Cerise incredulously asked herself as her dark chocolate, brown eyes widened once they got a good look outside the window. Instead of the luscious amounts of green grass, crystal blue lakes, and beautiful infrastructures, what took their place were just reddish-orange cliffs everywhere. This can't be right! Did she accidentally sleepwalk onto a random train and was traveling to "wherever" this is?

The melanated woman was brought out of her thoughts when a sudden screaming came from down the corridor. She hurriedly followed the sound to the next train car, which was the dinner car, only to see a woman crouched down next to an injured man and by the look on her face, He was either her husband, brother, or someone very dear to her.

"They shot him! They shot my dear Ulrich!" The crying woman exclaimed, one hand supporting the man, or Ulrich, while the other was supporting his right side. He was losing alot of blood it seemed. "I'm fine Darla. It's okay." This time, it was Ulrich talking, trying to reassure the woman, whose name was Darla.

"Wait, who's they? Who did this to you?" Cerise questioned, looking over at Darla before directing her attention down at Ulrich. Though, before she could get an answer, another man, who was heavily breathing came rushing into the train car that the three people were in. "We found the conductor tied up in a cargo hold. Two bandits have taken over the front of the train!" Upon hearing this, multiple screams were heard, and the melanated woman had just noticed a few passengers behind the said man as they were curious about his behavior and the other passengers that were in the dinner car with her, Darla, and a badly shaped Ulrich. When she did however notice all of the people around, She had just realized something. Everyone here, including her, wasn't wearing modern clothes.

No buildings from miles? Old-timey clothes? Bandits? Runaway train?

"Am I in the Wild Wild West!" The young woman exclaimed in a shocked manner while the rest of the passengers stared at her in confusion. It all made sense now, but 3 questions haven't been explained yet.

1. How did she even travel back in time to the 18th century when the modern South Route was being built?

2. Did she somehow sleepwalk getting a ticket? Or did someone dump her here?

3. How come she has no recollection of boarding the train?

Cerise was trying her hardest of trying to retrace her steps, from hanging out with her boyfriend to now. Alas, she was brought out of her thoughts when the man from earlier asked,

"Are you here to save us?" Once he asked this, everyone looked over at the melanated woman with expectancy as she was their only hope of making off of this train alive.

"What!?" Cerise asked surprised, huffing out a nervous laugh, "No. Y-You have the wrong per-" Before she could finish this sentence and practically crush the passenger's spirits of being saved, two little kids came out from the crowd. A boy and girl.

"Please Mame, you have to help us." The little girl pleaded, clutching a doll to her chest.

"Our parents are waiting for us that the station. We miss them." This time, it was the little boy, who wrapped his arm around the girl's shoulder. It didn't take her long to figure out that these two kids were brother and sister, and the puppy eyes that they were giving her could melt even a cold heart.

"Okay fine, but listen up. We may only have one go at this, so let's make it count." Cerise firmly stated with a determined tone, She may not know how or why she was sent here, but deep down, this inkling inside of her made her feel like she was here for a reason.

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After finding out that there were even more bandits outside riding alongside the train, Cerise knew it was only a matter of time before the train was completely taken over.

"Make sure those who all have a weapon don't waste their ammo or lose their only protection." The young woman ordered, directing this statement to the man from earlier, whose name she learned was Cedrik. "Also, make sure the other men protect those women and children. We don't need any casualties." With that being, She turned around and opened the dinner car door, but before she took another step, Cedrik's words stopped her.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Didn't you hear? I have a train to stop."

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"This has to be the most craziest stunt I've ever done." The melanated girl mumbled to herself, straining to even speak as she walked along the roof...of a speeding train! It was ridiculous that she was even keeping her balance, more so as a few of the Bandits tried to shoot her down. Yeah, no pressure at all. She wondered if this is how actors and actresses felt when needing their stunt double to step in and take their place.

After a few more leaps, Cerise had finally made it to the conductor's car all in one peace. Thank heavens! One small step and she would've been a part of her city's historical museum. She crouched down to get a better look through the sunroof and sure enough, there were two Bandits controlling all parts of the train. "Okey-dokey, you can do this Cerise. Just think." She voiced, thinking up of a way to get these guys out of there and take back the train.

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"Here goes nothing." Without another word, Cerise was able to shimmy down the side of the locomotive but made sure she wasn't visible near the small window, She then abruptly opened the door before climbing back up to the roof, her heart pumping like that of a jack rabbit. Once she made it up, the melanated woman could see the confused yet startled looks on the two bandits, the one actually controlling the train made the other bandit (who was closest to the door when it opened) go and try to close the door back, but clearly, you can see him shaking in his boots.

As soon as the other bandit was close enough to the opening, that's when the young woman jumped in through the sunroof and without hesitation, kicked the 2nd bandit out of the train, either tumbling to his demise or into a body of water somewhere below. Now to take care of the other one, but just as she thought this, She was immediately placed in a chokehold, being completely taken by surprise. There was a bit of a scuffle, while one tried to get out of the hold, the other only made it harder to do so.

Just as Cerise felt her world dimming around her, She used what little energy she had left and threw her weight back to where a cling! sound could be heard. She ended up getting the bandit to bang the back of their head on a metal pillar, causing them to release their hold completely. Now with her being free and able to apprehend the assailant, all there was left was to stop. this. train!

"Wait! I don't how to handle a locomotive!" The mocha-skinned woman exclaimed, eyes widening as it dawned on her that after finally getting rid of the bandits, the plan also included stopping the high-speed train. There was no time to look for a manual or even pull a thousand levers to see which one would stop it, and now she wished she had paid attention on that field trip to the museum. With no other option, she braced for impact, expecting the inevitable but alas.......

.

.

.

"Oh my god, Cerise! Are you okay!?" questioned a muffled voice, sounding very much alarmed to the woman in question.