Devilish Furnace

Both Zanthiel and Juliana questioned things in their minds: "Weak?" "Power?", "Maznacroft?". Thoughts such as these arose in their minds. But no matter the situation, everyone thought one thing, and it was clear by the way they were brutishly tugging at the Rivellin straps. "Hey girl, how do you get these things off?" asked Zanthiel. "Girl?" he said again, but there was no response. "If you don't help me, I'll be stuck forever!" he bellowed. Kissing her teeth, Juliana said, "I have a name, you know!" "And even if I knew how to get out, I wouldn't tell you," she continued. "Hmm, well, I thought you were smart," he said with a disappointed countenance. "You annoy the shit out of me," she responded. And so they both continued tugging at their Rivellin straps. Some time passed—seconds, minutes—it felt like hours even. The lights around the room suddenly brightened intensely; it was as if the sun itself had descended into the carriage. Zanthiel's pupils expanded like a balloon as he looked up at the light. "What are they trying to do, blind us?" he muttered to himself. The air got moist, and the lights glared more as it was now getting hot. "Hey Juliana, why is it getting so hot?" he asked. She grabbed the headphones wrapped around her neck and rested them over her ears. "Guess that's that," thought Zanthiel. With each passing minute, Zanthiel continued to bathe in the sun; it was almost like a free tan, or so he thought. As the temperature in the room rose from the heat of a sunbath to that of a furnace, passengers tongues fell like dried weed as they tried to drink their own sweat. "THAT DAMN GIRL, EVEN COOKING HER IN A FURNACE WOULD BE TOO KIND OF A PUNISHMENT!!" screamed Johnny.

"Quiet Johnny, I'm trying to think!" said Blake, gripping his spectacles. He gasped and said, "Furnace." Did you just say, "Furnace Johnny?" "Uhh yeah, but after we get out of here, we are throwing that bitch in a furnace, you hear me!!" he answered. That's your problem! sighed Blake. He looked around to see that the windows were reflecting the heat from the intense lights. "So that's why it's so hot, huh?". "I love a game of chess!" thought Blake, adjusting his glasses. The arrangement of the seats was like that of a chessboard, but not the pieces, the chequered tiles themselves. With each black tile sat a person; with each white tile, there was no one but a window, but it was arranged in the opposite formation on the other side, thus creating the very solution to the puzzle. "But of course, how could I not know?" Blake paused, then looked at Johnny. "Hey Johnny, remember when we visited that science fair in Enrith?" "Uhhh, what, the one we thought was marginal?" he responded. "Hehe, turns out it wasn't. Man, am I glad I went?" he said, grinning devilishly as he took off his glasses. "They were running tests on the Rivellin in that one room, dropping it, leaving it in water for days, and throwing acid on it. But what seemed to affect it the most, dearest Johnny?" "OH BLAKE, YOU'RE A GENIUS!" screamed Johnny. Blake adjusted his drooping glasses as they shimmered as if they had found some newfound hope as well.

Suddenly, without notice, red numbers appeared on the monitor and started to countdown. Red letters appeared on the monitor, and it said, "When the timer reaches zero, the lights will explode, setting this carriage aflame!" "Hurry, lest you be cooked," it said. Everyone around the carriage became distressed and started screaming like a colony of seagulls. "We're going to die!" "I've cooked things before, but I don't want to be the one getting cooked now!! Won't I taste horrible?" said a girl with blonde pigtails. "Oh dear god, dear Jesus, if it is thine will, if we have sinned, I will accept this cleansing, but thine god, if you shall save someone, save me!!" said the withered grey head of a priest with his hands clasped tight together. Zanthiel stopped flicking his coin for a second, looked at Juliana with puppy dog eyes, and said, "Save me!" She took down her headphones and said, "What do you want now?" "Save me, please!" and "And why should I?" He pointed up at the monitor, and sure enough, time continued to decrease like a ticking time bomb, ready to claim its next victims. Juliana averted her eyes and looked at Blake as he shone one frame of his glasses up just beyond his shoulder. It weakened the blue Rivellin as its blue hue turned black and crumbled off. She also looked at Johnny, as he was now blocking the light, heating his knife, and cutting through the same area as Blake. "So those are its weak points," she thought. She searched her pockets for a metal object but couldn't find one, and sweat dripped from her face. She looked over at Zanthiel as he lay back in his chair, throwing and catching his coin again. "That coin, let me see it," she said. "Okay, so now you want me... no," he responded. "Hey asshole, why not?" He adjusted his wavy fringe and said, "If this is your only key to escaping, you may have it on one condition!" "Which is?" she asked bluntly. "You save me!" He also answered bluntly, "And if I say no?". "We'll both die; that's simple, right?" She gritted her teeth and snatched the coin from his hand. "Do you want to die?" "Wouldn't that be so bad?" he answered. She reflected the light from the coin onto the weak points of the Rivellin.

There was now one minute and thirty seconds left, and blisters were now forming on some people's skin. "Ewww, this is disgusting." "Oh, it's almost like I've got balloons all over me." "Please help us, doctor!" A black woman with rimmed round spectacles and a high, oversized purple bun held a scalpel in her hand as she continued to shine it in the light. So I am scalpel in her hand as she continues to shine it in the light. "So I am in high demand even in a train, it seems," she said, looking at them and saying, "fear not. Once I have overcome this conundrum, I will make all of you bright as new; you have my word.". They all sighed in relief. There was now one minute and ten seconds left, and a boy with neck-length snow-white hair rose from his chair, his purple eyes only slightly visible from the white strands of hair covering them. He wore black cargo pants, white trainers, a black scarf that covered his neck and mouth, and a giant white fur-lined coat, along with a black t-shirt underneath. He walked to the door as everyone watched him in distress. "Hey, aren't you going to tell us what to do? We really need help," said one passenger with a now hoarse voice. He turned his head slightly, then carried on making his way to the door. "Please!" said the passenger. "Don't figure this out, and you truly are weak." The door opened, and the boy walked through.

With that, one person had made it through. The monitor made a ding sound, flashing green, and said, "One lives to see another day." Not too long after, both Blake and Johnny rose from their seats and headed to the door. "When I get out of here, that bitch is going to get a piece of my mind!" said Johnny as he raised his fist in the air. "You wish," responded Blake. "Well, good luck to everyone," he continued. They both moved through the door, and two dings were set off. There were now forty seconds left on the timer. Juliana reached the last weak point by her waist and burned off the strand. She sighed in relief and got up. "Why's he not pestering me like normal?" she thought as she walked towards the door. Then she could hear loud motor engine exhaust noises coming from a certain seat next to her. She sighed in annoyance this time and walked over to him. She said his name many times, but he just wouldn't wake up. Anxious, she shouted, "Do you want to die or something because I'll just leave you?" His eyes shot open, and he said, "So you have finally come to save me, my hero!" pouting. She said, "Look, I'm just upholding my end of the bargain." She handed back the coin and walked over to the door. Use the coin to reflect the light onto the corners of the Rivellin, and, um, thanks, she said"", turning her head away. "Was that a thanks? I never thought I would hear that from you!" said Zanthiel, surprised. "I hate you!" she said, putting her headphones over her ears, and so Zanthiel got to work, thirty seconds now remaining. The doctor was almost done with her weak points and then said, "Listen, everyone, when I have freed myself, I will help you as well!" With more vigour within them now, the other passengers that had a metal object tried harder, and the ones that didn't had a sprinkle of hope now embedded within them. Rising from her seat is a black girl with violet-coloured braids pushed back by an orange headband, an orange cropped tank top, mini denim jeans, and orange and white sneakers. She expanded pink gum from her mouth and then popped it, saying, "C'mon Shanice, like, why are you so nice? Leave these losers and let's scadoodle." Nah, don't be like that, Kayla; these people deserve to be helped." "Suite yourself," responded Kayla as she got up and made her way to the door. Losing his grip, Zanthiel's coin flew out of his hands. As Kayla was passing, she noticed and kicked the coin back up to him. He noticed it and caught it.

"Hey, uh, thanks," he said. "No problem, dude, she said as she walked through the door. Shanice had now finished and was helping the other passengers who didn't have a metal tool or glass get free. There were twenty seconds left, and it was getting noticeably hotter as Zanthiel could now feel his skin burning. "Ahh sh*t," he thought as he was reaching his last strand. People after people rose and went through the door, countless dings going off. It had gotten to the point where Shanice had helped more passengers than was humanly possible. "Guest, this is the end," thought Zanthiel as he put the coin back in his pocket. He looked up at the timer; it was now onto ten seconds, and Shanice was helping a little boy who was crying from the chair. She comforted him, stroking his hair and telling him it would be alright. "I'll give you a lollipop for being such a good boy, okay?" said Shanice, now letting the little boy out. He nodded while still crying. She took the boy out and held his hand. The room flashed red as the timer beeped with every countdown; there were now seven seconds left. The fire was now an inch away from the bomb; any second now, it would detonate. Five seconds later, the passengers behind Shanice started begging her to help them, but she didn't say a word.

"Doc?" said the boy, looking up at her as she stood there, looking ahead. "Sorry, I am so sorry!" she said. The passengers behind her screamed and cried for help. "It's too late for us now!" said the priest. "Do not fear, as God will watch over you from heaven above. He may now judge and see who is worth saving," he continued. "Can it, priest? Your sermons won't save you now!" said a passenger opposite him. "Haha, we shall see; it is you sinners who never get the last laugh!". "Last chance!" said the monitor. Shanice held the boys hands tighter. Shanice bolted faster than a cheetah. Shanice grabbed hold of her scalpel and cut something. Zanthiel closed his eyes and thought to himself, "Bye world, it was nice not knowing you!". Shanice dragged something behind her and shot herself through the door like a bullet. "NOOOOOOO!" screamed a man from the opposite side of the room. "I don't want to die!!!" "Please, please, please, please, please." A woman just undoing her Rivellin strap ran up to the monitor and said, "But I have children; you have to let me go; you must..." The monitor threw a malevolent grin at the woman. "This is a joke, right?" Her eyes now clouded with despair; she fell to her knees and was now but an empty husk of herself. Everyone in the opposite carriage looked out the window. "They wouldn't really kill them, right?" questioned Johnny, trying to close his eyes. "Now's the time to find out," said Blake. "DIE!" shouted the monitor. Within a second, a blast the size of a missile, also sounding like a gunshot, was heard as orange-red flashes came from the room and guttural screams came from the carriage, along with the smell of burnt meat and flaky wood. That second felt like an eternity; the window was smeared in black ash and dust, so no one could see the true destruction, but maybe that's a good thing.