Act III. Part VIII.

Blood ran down from Ryu's forehead making the vision in his left eye red. He felt like dropping there and then but he knew what would happen. He just simply closed his left eye and charged towards the first.

The first opened his arms and his legs, bolstering himself to catch Ryu. As Ryu got closer the first reached out but Ryu went underneath his left arm and grabbed his torso from behind. Lifting the first off his feet and throwing him back. He did what you would call a German Suplex.

Is what would have been perfectly executed if the first and Ryu had the same experience level. They swapped places. The first now held Ryu. He hurled him into the air, sending him to the floor head first with a loud metal thud.

The first one let out a large breath, and started to walk towards the doors that were now open. He walked past Ryu and after a few steps he stopped.

"I'm doing this for your sake because I don't want you to go through the things I did. And about the other Ryus, they just wound up like that.

It's the mechanism of the loop to not house any oddity from the outside, especially if they're similar to the creator, there can only be one. After some time they all slowly faded out and I assume they were ejected back into their respective times." Said the first one with his back facing towards Ryu. "I'll come back for you." As soon as he finished his last sentence he continued to limp towards the door.

Ryu laid on the floor and groaned, with his arm over his eyes. "It's not fair. It's not fair, after everything you just want me to give up and stay here." He sobbed.

Ryu slowly got up. He pulled himself up, reached into his pocket, and pulled out his coin. He held it in his right hand, and a hilt of a katana started to form as well as a blade. But the blade was the size of a fingernail, and well that's all that formed. Ryu looked at the hilt with a frustrated expression but started to charge at the first with both hands on the hilt of the very tiny blade regardless.

The first turned to see Ryu coming at him and made a pitiful expression. He pulled out his coin as Ryu raised his arms diagonally. The first threw his coin into all light bulb covers in the back of the train. Sending one half of the train into complete darkness, all that could be seen was their bodies in the dark and the blank space that lay beyond the windows.

The first could see in the darkness, and he watched Ryu still charging towards him with a fierce expression and watery eyes in slow motion. The first opened his right hand and his dagger flew into it from further inside the train.

He diagonally raised his right arm waiting for Ryu, but he stopped. Ryu's hilt started to shimmer, it looked like pieces of glowing gold slowly appearing out of thin air, piecing themselves together to form a golden blade. The first one gazed at the sword because it was simply beautiful, and as he stared at it, he saw his reflection. He looked into his reflection's eyes and back into Ryus.

"Wow." He said to himself as he stopped slowing down time.

Ryu slashed him across the chest and continued to run past the first's body until he dropped, letting go of the katana which fell and turned back into a coin. The first remained standing but shortly dropped.

Ryu limped over to the first one and dropped onto his chest with his right knee. The first one coughed out blood loudly, and as soon as he did, he opened his eyes, turning to face Ryu.

"Our life has been and is just going to continue to be one giant mass of unfortunate events." He said in a withered voice.

"That's not true, we have enjoyed wonderful moments and have wonderful people in our lives. Dad, the twins, Toshiko, Mila, even Laveda." Ryu chuckled as he reached the end of his sentence.

"Ha! You don't even know half of what I know and you want to lecture me on life." The first one scoffed. "Tell me, do you know why Toshiko is helping you despite still having his family? Or where Mila went the day of the museum? And the best one, do you know how fatless become Fateless?"

"Somewhat."

"Somewhat." Said the first one as he laughed and shook his head. "Fatless are oddities created by other oddities being around normal people."

"Laveda?" Ryu asked with a puzzled expression. "Then why hasn't our entire class turned into fateless?"

"Twist is even if you're exposed to one continuously you won't become one. So how did you become one? An unlucky and unfortunate meeting with a god on our way home." As soon as he finished, he started to cry.

"No that can't be. The woman in the rain was a god? Then why did you say I haven't met any of the gods?"

"I don't know. I didn't even plan on telling you anything when I found out wher- when you're from. I thought I'd be going in your place." The first one answered as he placed his arm over his eyes.

Ryu got up and stretched out his hand to the first one. "Get up."

The first one stared at the hand extended and grabbed it. Ryu hoisted him up and put his shoulder around him.

"Let's both go." Said Ryu.

"That won't wo- Okay. I trust you." He answered with a smile.

The two slowly walked to the open doors in the middle of the cart.

End.

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"Please, no." The first one whispered under his breath.

"What?" Asked Ryu as he turned to face him.

"No!" The first one screamed out and as soon as he did Ryu dropped him.

Time seemed to have slowed down in the cart as he fell. Ryu cupped his hand over his left ear and turned to see the first one. As he was falling, he seemed to be arguing with someone and for some reason, Ryu couldn't hear any of it, he was the only one stuck in slow motion.

"Ryu!" Ryu shouted but also couldn't hear himself.

He started to walk towards the first one still calling out his name. Each step felt heavy, he wanted to drop to the ground and fall asleep, but he gritted his teeth and soldiered on. After only four steps Ryu started to hear bits of what the first one was saying.

"We agreed you can't do this! R… Hesi… Don't… deal he'll die." The first one pleaded.

As Ryu got closer the first one turned to face him and mouthed something with a scared expression with tears running down his face which then turned to a smile. Ryu couldn't hear a word, but he knew what he said.

"Don't!!" Ryu cried out.

The moment he did the first one's back went backward as if snapped like a twig that still had a piece of its bark connecting the two ends. All the arguing, the sorrowful expressions, and signs of resistance stopped. He was gone.

Ryu ran towards him before he fell to the ground and caught him. He held the warm body of someone that looked like him, which was him. He cried out and all the windows around him started to crack as he did.

"Whatever you are, I'll find you." He said angrily as tears ran down his face.

"You will do none of that." Said an unfamiliar loud voice that filled the cart.

The voice was deep but it was high-pitched at the same time. He didn't know who it belonged to but it struck fear in him.

"Go back to your time and the rest will follow." As soon as the voice finished all the cracks on the windows grew.

Ryu turned to look at them and at the same time the other end of the cart crunching itself up like a ball of paper. The windows shattered and Ryu was stuck. He didn't know what to do.

"You've always run away naturally. Why is this time different? You are interesting….but then again it can also be foolishness." Said the unknown voice.

The first one's body was then immediately flung out of Ryu's hand and flew through the now open windows into the abyss. Ryu got up and ran to the window ready to jump, and as soon as he touched the frame of the window, he was flung out of the train in the opposite direction of the first one's body.

End.

...

The first one's mouthed words were:

"Get out of here you'll die. Never leave Aikaterine alone once she starts speaking. And just take care of yourself. I'm sorry for all this. I just didn't know what to do. Goodbye."