[img]https://i.imgur.com/4uuThLm.jpg[/img]


[img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/909715047918497815/1037211200871731300/Umbri_banner6.png[/img]


[url=https://youtu.be/zjvY07ZxMwk?t=356]The thumping of the train was reverberating into echoes.[/url] The tunnel was near. Temujin laid his back flat against the hull. 

[i][color=#A4303F]“When the train flips in the tunnel, I’m letting go,”[/color] she said, [color=#A4303F]“And I’m breaking that.”[/color] She pointed towards the glowy contraption she assumed was keeping them from falling off. She didn’t dare make a fool of herself trying to give a name to it. [color=#A4303F]“Before the minute’s up. I’ll catch you.”[/color][/i]

The dark chasm ahead grew larger, closer, like the maw of a thresher ready to devour them. Temujin whipped his attention towards Umbri. The train’s horn blared out in warning, its deafening sound competed with the drumming wheels, their spins in step with Umbri and Temujin’s artificial hearts.

She’d flipped herself back upside down, her legs elongating across the roof of the carriage and back sliding down until she was almost in the splits. Her arms trembled with the effort. She needed to be as low as possible in preparation.

[i]WHOOMP.[/i] Her ears popped as the dark swallowed them, not for long. Lights spat at them from all angles and the train’s wail echoed louder. The train curved, following the slope of the tunnel. Umbri’s hair settled back down her neck as her stomach followed the snaking movement, and her arms felt relief. But there was no time to let them relax, she was on the clock, right now. Her pupils enlarged.

She reached over her shoulder and gripped the handle of the fire axe. Her legs snapped together as she let go. She slid towards the hole on an angle, feet first, one palm dragging behind her and keeping her steady. It was fast and felt like falling. The hole was passing on her left in a blink.

And in less than that, her hand shot out and snagged it. She pulled the axe free and army crawled her way back up, eyeing the golden glow of the techo-thingy. It wasn’t too far from her. She swung out with the axe and prodded it. There wasn’t enough momentum or force she could build in the swing. She abandoned the attempt immediately, adjusting her position to reach out with her right leg and slam the device with her heel, again and again, each kick drawing a louder growl of effort from her.

[color=DC091C][b]"Thirty seconds!"[/b][/color] Temujin yelled, feeling the pressure of his on-board ticking clock. 

[color=#A4303F][b]“It broke my fucking heel!”[/b][/color] Umbri shouted back, as the clear stiletto spun off into the void. She still persisted, desperately smashing the front of her shoe against the device.

An alert came to his view. [color=DC091C][b]“Ah, shit. Fifteen seconds! There’s not enough time, go on without me!” [/b][/color]

She could. He was stuck on the train, he wasn’t going anywhere. She would be thrown off any second now if she didn’t duck inside, she could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but

Umbri shouted as she gave it a final kick, her eyes turning almost entirely black. The explosion of adrenaline shot down her leg and slammed the tech with a CRACK. Metal broke off and the device popped free of the roof, scattering. Umbri didn’t watch it go. She pulled herself up and hooked her legs into the hole, ducking as the detached pole came spinning at her. Temujin right behind it, coming in wide. She lunged towards his trajected path, and realised with a chill - [i]she won’t make it[/i] - and he was falling past her, and she decided just as fast -

THUNK.

A sharp pressure was embedded in his spine and held him still. He looked back to Umbri, stretched out after him with the axe.

Temujin gasped. The axe's impact sent more of his guts out to spill, dribbling away into the wind. The ninja watched Umbri in shock, all whilst his interface nagged at him in beeps and whistles. He cast them aside, and whispered, [color=DC091C][b]"...Thanks."[/b][/color] He looked to the other side, towards his guts disappearing into twinkles in the chasm. [i]That could’ve been him.[/i] Even as he came to terms with it, he couldn't help but lament, [color=DC091C][b]"I will never financially recover from this."[/b][/color]

The telltale flip of her stomach marked the end of their window. Umbri grit her teeth, tensed her legs, dug her nails in and braced herself.

[color=#A4303F][b]“You’re… wel… comeeeaaaAAAAAGHHH!!”[/b][/color] Her breathy reply morphed into a roar. The tilt of the train slid Temujin to the right and jerked her, but she held fast. As gravity began to take him, she was forced to release her grip on the train and take the axe in both hands. She felt like she was tied between two cars and they were slowly putting a foot down on the accelerator. All she could do was scream with all her efforts. Her fingers twitched, and slowly, they committed to crawling up the length of the axe to draw Temujin towards her.

Something grabbed her legs from the inside. She was yanked in. Her roar switched to a squeak as she disappeared. Temujin hit the roof and was dragged after her.

Her stomach didn’t backflip, it felt like it was floating in space. For a moment the entire word seemed to rotate in reverse as they flailed in the air, before crash landing on the ground. Umbri’s head bobbed with a gulp, swallowing back the sick brought on by the agony of her ankle and violent nausea from that fleeting past second. She looked up - and though her sense of balance told her she was upright, through the hole in the ceiling on top of her, she saw the distant ground. A pair of red goggles popped into her view, followed by yellow ones.

[b]“Wow, you were so loud up there, we felt bad for you.”

“Idiots. Now we [i]actually [/i]have to kill her.”

“Hey Shivs, how about I kill YOU if you don’t get that safe open in the next minute! What’s taking so long?!”

“Like you said. She was loud.” [/b]

Umbri scanned past Shanks and Stabby, over the ransacked cargo carriage, towards Shivs, who was taking a break from fiddling around with a very secure, techy looking safe to load a bullet into a barrel.

[b]“So let’s deal with that.”[/b]

[b]“You should have just held on,”[/b] Shanks resigned, stepping back.

[color=DC091C][b]“Ohhhh… Ohnnnzt!”[/b][/color] Temujin’s voice was distorted by glitches, but they could not hide his fury. [color=DC091C][b]“That’s… it! Hooker! I have - HAD - it with these smug, pussy-footing, no-good CROOKS!”[/b][/color] He twisted to lay flat on his stomach, the axe handle sticking out of his back. [color=DC091C][b]“You’re lucky I don’t have my limbs right now, cause I would be ripping your GUTS out of your assholes!” [/b][/color]

There was a chill in the air. The train lights flickered once, twice. A shape leaned against the wall, tucked at the edge of Umbri’s peripherals. 

[color=CD09DC][b]“That won’t be necessary.”[/b][/color]

A voice. Smooth, velvet-like. The voice of a handsome man, radiating with a cool sort of confidence. He was a wiry figure, cloaked in shades of purple, his arms folded, his coat swaying against the momentum of the train - even as he remained perfectly still. A hood obscured much of his features, complimenting a gas mask that matched his peers - save for a lack of goggles, exposing warped brows, gaunt cheekbones, and a pair of solid yellow eyes, glowing with hellish light.

[color=CD09DC][b]“Sorry, lads. I forgot to mention,”[/b][/color] the shape continued, strolling towards Umbri. His steps came in calm, even strides, casting no sound or stumble. He slid behind Umbri, standing a bit shorter with a slouch, and slipped a hand over her waist. His black-gloved fingers pressed in with an appreciative squeeze. [color=CD09DC][b]“Meet our fifth member… Sugar.”[/b][/color]