《Iron Engine》


 Ace Of Spades

    As train sped by in a winter, misty night frost was completely visible covering the train''s iron hide. Its passengers were sitting on their seats having average drinks. "It''s too bright and hot in here", a man, whose face was hidden by his black hood,at the back corner of the train complained. "Well maybe you should be outside in the freezing misty hell", replied by a woman with long blonde hair wearing a brown coat seated beside the hooded man. The man momentary looked over the window momentarily then got up from his seat and walked to a door leading to the train''s toilet.


    Shortly after the man''s disappearance, three figures stepped out of the shadow, heavily armed with bandana scarves, black coats along with cowboy hats. "Alright everyone, stay silent and we won''t hurt you" said a man - probably the gang''s leader. "There''s more of us in the back so don''t do anything stupid" said the raider on the left. "That''s right, we only want your Akyionium powered devices, said their leader.


    One by one the passengers disarmed their valuables and devices. When it was the blonde woman''s turn, she gave the leader what seems to be a card. "What is this?" the raider demanded. "Consider it as a gift, sir the woman said before winking. The gang looked at the card and saw the world-known death card, the "Ace Of Spades". A "click" was heard from a revolver''s hammer, ready to shoot, and then there was a huge flickering of lights could be seen outside of the train, along with multiple gun fire being heard.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Moments later, the train stopped at Winter Border station. As its doors open,terrified passengers hurried to get out. Fear and anxiety can be seen on their faces and body language. As the hooded man stepped out of the train, this time his hood was down showing his shaggy white hair with calm blue eyes, "Man that was a waste of good bullets!, he sighed while reloading his revolver it had a ebony black curved dagger for a frame, silver cog for the hammer and silver gears for the cylindrical release. Two men in suits were standing and staring at him. "Spades Valentine, I''m Ethan Carson" said the man on the left, "Yeah so what? Spades replied. "How many casualties this time?", insisted by the man on the right. "None Chief!" Spades quickly replied. "Though it would be anticlimactic if you killed the guy literally holding a world-known death card" said the blonde woman as she slowly step out of the train.


    All of a sudden, robotic droids, with pipes attached at their back smoking a little steam, appeared. It went inside the train, a couple of seconds later, the droids were back dragging 5 raiders followed by three more with gunshots on their shoulders. As the gang leader was being dragged, a card slipped of his pockets revealing the"Ace Of Spades" with some blood stains. "Oh by the way, the name''s Allison Valentine," the blonde girl greeted. "Nice meeting you, Ms. Allison, I''m Ethan Carson. I''ve heard stories that your skills equals that of your brother," Ethan complimented. "Well, probably better than him" she said while looking at her brother with a little grin. Spades just rolled his eyes.

 New Mission

    Ethan`s attention returned to Spades.¡°Mister Valentine, I believe we all should talk somewhere private,¡± the Chief said with a little smile. They went to a cafe nearby and decided to sit in the table besides a window. The waitress appeared, ready to take their orders. ¡°I`ll have an Oolong Tea,¡± Ethan said while Spades ordered caffe macchiato. As the waitress left, Spades looked at Ethan and asked ¡°This is your idea of a private talk? ¡°No! but it¡¯s definitely better than standing and talking publicly. Anyway, while we¡¯re here, let`s hear your report¡±, the Chief insisted.¡°Alright!, well aside from being normal raiders, they seem to be after the passengers¡¯ devices rather than their valuables. And, before you ask, all the devices were particularly powered by Akyonium,¡± Allison said with her arms crossed. ¡°For now, we don`t know why they want those. It¡¯s just a common mineral. Though, it¡¯s a well-known energy source which powers every devices and cities in the world,¡± Spades said as he glance at his revolver. Chief and Ethan looked at each other and nodded. ¡°Well, this confirms our suspicion,¡± Ethan said.


    The same waitress came back with Ethan and Spades¡¯ drink. As Spades sip his macchiato, Allison commented, ¡°Isn`t it your tenth cup?¡±¡°Shut up!¡± Spades replied. ¡°Anyway, what suspicions were you guys referring?¡± Allison asked. ¡°Well, you see your report is the same as that of other Agents that I sent¡±, Chief explained. ¡°You¡¯re saying then that it¡¯s connected,¡± Spades replied.¡°Well, it is a working theory,¡± Ethan said. ¡°That`s why we¡¯re sending you on a new mission¡± Ethan continued. Spades nearly spit his drink said ,¡°You wanna send us on a mission this early? Come¡¯ on! I¡¯m already pummeled from the previous one,¡± Spades complained. Allison chuckled and said, Come¡¯ on Spades! We all know you could have finished that mission in 3 minutes¡±. ¡°Fine! What will be the mission?¡±Spades sighed. ¡°Very well, Ethan said with a grin, you are aware of what a house is? Right?¡± Ethan asked. ¡°Are you referring to a cottage or one of those enormous so called Akyionium Academic Institutions?¡± Spades replied with a little sarcasm. ¡°The second one¡±, Ethan said before sipping on his tea. ¡°You¡¯re going undercover,¡± the Chief added. Ethan then hands a folder to Spades. ¡°You need to stop a possible assassination of multiple possible targets¡± Ethan said as he continue sipping his tea. Spades, after momentarily scanning the folder`s contents asked ,¡°How can you say there will be an assassination?¡± ¡°Well one of the thugs captured by one of our agents confessed some information during interrogation, ¡±the Chief answered. ¡°But it seems, even the thugs, don¡¯t know the targets or who¡¯s the assassin is, so we did a little digging,¡± Ethan added. ¡°Who are they and what makes them tick?¡± Allison asked.¡°Well, we have Luna Zephyr¡±, Ethan pointing to a young woman wearing formal attire with grey eyes and white ponytailed hair. ¡°Future Senator, she being killed may lead to a little yet massive riot in the court.¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Next we have Rin Arden,¡± Chief signaling at the picture of black haired woman with a little malicious grin. ¡°She`s a foreign exchange student. Her family owns one of the largest foundry companies.¡°After her parent`s death, she is supposed to inherit the company after her Graduation, assassinating her may lead countries to war because of her role in the military government.¡±


    ¡°Zack Johnson, a guy with brown hair and a metal prosthetic right arm, his family may not have the largest foundry company, but they do have connections though powerful friends, ¡±the Chief explained.


    ¡°I thought you said there will be multiple targets, but why only three?¡± Spades asked. ¡°Well, the problem is, there are many influential students in all houses, we only managed to narrow it down to three,¡± Chief answered. And speaking of, ¡°Isn¡¯t your 16th birthday today?¡±


    The twins looked at each other and then focus their attention back at the Chief. Momentarily, silence occurred. ¡°Well, since we¡¯re twins, I guess it¡¯s appropriate to give presents¡± she signaled at Spades. ¡°Yeah,¡± Ace replied then pulling a little trinket from his pocket, after looking at it, he tossed it to Allison,¡°Here!¡± He gestured. Allison opened it, shortly her eyes widened in awe; it was a music box playing a familiar tune. ¡°Mom gave it to me 6 years ago before she died, remember? I think, she¡¯d want me to give it to you¡±. Allison with eyes nearly tearing up, closed the box and said ¡°Well, I guess as a gift to you, I`ll pay for your macchiato.¡±She took some dollar from her pocket and put it on the table for payment later. ¡°Let¡¯s go! We got a mission to do¡± she said as she stand-up. ¡°Alright then,¡± Spades replied. Before they could pass through the glass door, ¡°Hey, you¡¯re going to use your real names for this mission,¡± the Chief added with a grin. ¡°Won¡¯t that ruin the word stealthy?¡± Spades replied. ¡°You¡¯re walking through the front door, the Chief joked, also with you two together, there¡¯s no need for stealth. Oh and don¡¯t worry your classmates are as thesame age as you guys, so you`ll fit right in,¡± he added. The twins rolled their eyes before leaving.

 First Day

    While the twins were walking on the frozen streets as they discuss their new mission, ¡°Isn¡¯t it weird the Chief wanted us to use our real names?¡± Spades asked. ¡°Well, he is our uncle, after mom and dad died, we didn`t exactly had normal lives,¡± Allison answered. ¡°He look after us and was the one who taught as math, science, culture, and even 5 different languages,¡± she sighed happily. ¡°I can see why he`d want us to attend school and use real names, he wanted us to experience normal lives, and meet some friends,¡± she added. ¡°Well,see you tomorrow then?¡± Spades said before trailing off.


    The next day, though it is a bit cold due to snowfall, it is better than yesterday, Spades sighed as he walks the street. Cold breezes brush his new uniform.It`s been a long since he went to school, he thought to himself. I`m also not used to wear uniforms, he said to himself while looking at his apparel ¨C a dark blue statement jacket, with patterned red and black tie. Upon arriving at the campus¡¯ gate, he saw Allison waiting for him also wearing school uniform ¨C a skirt in a red and black pattern.¡°Sorry, I`m late!¡± he apologize.¡°It¡¯s alright!¡± Allison replied before tossing him a scarf with pattern of red and blue. As he put the scarf on his neck, he noticed his sister was carrying her weapon Cerberus ¨C a long black suitcase with a silver handle serving as the scabbard for three swords with hilts as having some sort of trigger.


    ¡°Are you even allowed to bring that?¡± Spades asked. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s a House after all,¡± she replied as she pointed to some of students fighting using weapons of their own. ¡°Uhmm, is the Government really sure about this? I meant allowing teens with Akyionium weapons as a good idea?¡± Spades asked again.Allison sighed, ¡°Of course, all students here are licensed to use those things, every House, not only teaches its students to be good academically but also train them how to effectively use Akyionium weapons because of House rivalry competition. It¡¯s an annual event where students from different countries¡¯ House compete or fight one another in the arena,¡± she added. ¡°What does the winner get in return?¡± Spades asked. ¡°Well, the winner will be crowned as Champion of the House!¡± She answered. ¡°That¡¯s it? So, winning is basically feeding that person¡¯s ego,¡± Spades said. ¡°Yup!Also the winner¡¯s House will be funded by the government till the following year, She added.¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re clueless about all of this?¡± Allison asked back. ¡°Yes, I am!¡± Spades replied. As they walked inside the campus, they undergo security check Allison was provided with paralysis darts instead of bullets to avoid seriously hurting or killing anyone. After Spades¡¯s turn, he asked Allison again, ¡°So, I don¡¯t have to worry about other students trying to kick my butt, right?¡± Well,once they have a ¡°brawl pass¡±, they have the rights to challenge you,¡± she answered.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    While they were in the campus, Spades caught a glimpse of his sister, ¡°Oh shoot!¡± he said. What¡¯s the matter?¡± Allison asked. ¡° I forgot Dice ¡±he said referring to his firearm. ¡°Since when did you started naming that old fire arm?¡± she asked. ¡®The moment I thought naming it would be cool,¡± Spades replied. ¡°Well, sucks to be you, anyway, keep a little distance between you and the targets,¡± Allison said. ¡°They¡¯re known to have quite the attitudes,¡±she added before trailing of. ¡°The classrooms are on the other way,¡± he shouted at his sister. A couple of seconds later,she went back to Spades and headed towards the classroom. ¡°Well,I guess, I¡¯m dead,¡± Spades said to himself before following her.