Early Bird Gets the Train to a Place that Looks Like Heck

They made their way to the train station. Shania was skipping and humming. "What's got you in such a good mood?" Lo asked, looking at her confusedly. She was very grumpy just a second ago.

"Well, I'm finally going on an adventure!" Shania replied. She stepped on a pointy rock, and immediately felt pain rocket through her foot. "Yowch!" She exclaimed. "Owie... I stepped on a rock..."

"That's what you get for not bringing shoes, I guess," Lo replied. "Goes to show you still have a LOT to learn." Lo walked onwards as Shania hopped in place on one foot, while holding the one she had stepped on the rock with.

"H-hey!" Shania exclaimed, upset. "Wait up!" She ran after Lo, pushing through the pain. "I'm not as useless as I may seem. You'll come to find I am a much better adventurer than---!" They heard shouting from their left. They slowly turned around.

Standing there, was a man in a dull tuxedo with greasy black hair. He also had a top hat which may have once been fancy, but it was torn at the top, leaving some strands of hair visible. They looked as loose as Lo's tooth he lost when he was eight. He had a swarm of what looked to be his goons. This man didn't look like a monster... but he also wasn't quite human either. Lo had a fishy feeling about this guy. Not quite bad, just... fishy...

"Here's the deal, you pretty eye meal," the man rhymed to a lady working at a tourist assistance stand. He had a very peculiar high-pitched buzzy voice like the sound a fly makes. "I am the grrrreat Lord Ommin!" He had failed rolling his r's. "I hereby order you to hand over any and all information on how to access the Gold Haven. I tried entering, but there's some kind of magical barrier. Give the info to me! Feed it to me! Give me it to drink. Shower me with the smallest of factoids and temper-tilting trivia!" Lord... Ommin? So this was the doofus treasure hunter Winimum was talking about.

"I... don't know what you're talking about!" The woman whined. "It's my first day on the job... why do I always get the weirdos?"

"I'm afraid if you can't answer my conniving question promptly, that I may have to do something... drastic!" Ommin exclaimed. He grinned wider, and stared the woman in the eyes threateningly. "Yes! YES! If you do not obey... I may have to make a negative report about you to your manager!"

"... What?" The woman asked. "Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to l-l---"

"'Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave!'" Ommin imitated in a squeaky voice, donning a mocking nervous expression. "That's you! That's what you sound like. Now... give me the gossip, gi-!"

"Hey!" Lo exclaimed. Ommin stopped in his tracks, and slowly turned around on his heels. "Leave her alone, Ommin."

"Ah! Who might you be, young lad?" Ommin asked, craning his neck forward with a sound like a slow zipper until his head was right above Lo's. Lo looked up angrily.

"I'm Lo," Lo stated. "You must be the same Lord Ommin trying to get to the treasure, I suppose?"

"Why, yes I am!" Ommin exclaimed. "And you must be the same Lo that Winimum Mage told me about. What did she say before? 'Go home, meanderer!' The treasure is mine and mine only!" Ommin cackled.

"That's funny," Lo snarked. "Because we're getting to it first. Because we have... a... train..."

Oh no.

The train!

They had all been so caught up with Ommin, that they had forgotten all about the train completely! "All aboard!" The conductor shouted from far off.

"Wait! No! Don't go!" Lo shouted. But the conductor couldn't hear him over the sound of the train starting up.

"Haha! Another expert diversion by Lord Ommin!" Ommin bragged. "Now, you'll never get to the treasure before me!"

"But how will you get there before us without a train?" Lo asked, all but defeated. Ommin raised his eyebrows. He then dashed off towards the train, which was already beginning to move across the rails.

"Wait for meeee! Stop the train! NOT all aboard!" He shouted, waving his arms and making a big scene.

"We need to follow him!" Lo exclaimed. "We can't let him board that train before us." Squiggle and Shania nodded. Lo ran after Ommin, Squiggle on his hat and Shania in tow.

Lo was a fast runner for his age, but Ommin had very long legs. It was almost neck-and-neck. Lo looked over to Ommin, and the two smirked at each other competitively. Lo pushed himself to run faster, as the train began to pick up speed. He took the lead as he moved closer to the train.

Lo then jumped over the fence, and grabbed onto a handle on one of the train cars. Shania jumped towards him, and he took her hand. Ommin had fallen behind a considerable amount. He had speed, not stamina. But then, his goons arrived.

"Quick! Toss me onto that train!" Ommin exclaimed, pointing towards the train with his red-gloved hand. One of his larger goons picked him up, and then threw him as hard as he could. "AAAAAAAAAH!" Ommin screamed as he was flung into the air.

He completely missed the train, and flew off into the distance.

"Oops," the goon who threw him mumbled, scratching his head. Everybody looked at him disapprovingly. Even the people who weren't in the legion.

Meanwhile, Lo, Squiggle and Shania had climbed onto the top of the train. They fought against the turbulent wind to stay on top. "We need to find an opening!" Lo exclaimed. Even when shouting, it was hard to hear him. But it wasn't hard to hear Ommin's screams as they sliced through the train sounds and wind with ease. Lo looked over to the nefarious gentleman, as he rocketed into the distance.

"I have a feeling this isn't the last we've seen of him," Lo stated, distracted from the task at hand.

"Lo! There's a panel here!" Shania exclaimed. Lo looked over, to see a loose panel that opened up into one of the cars. "We should break it down to get inside."

"Nice work, Shania!" Lo exclaimed. He jumped onto the panel, and broke it down. He landed inside the train, on the panel, in the train. Shania jumped down, looking ready for a fight. "Shania, this isn't an enemy train. You can calm down."

"Oh, right," Shania mumbled. She put her hands in her pockets.

A few seconds passed.

"So, what now?" Shania asked. "Do we just wait?" Lo hopped into a seat.

"Yep," Lo replied. "But that's okay. The train is pretty nice, right?"

"I suppose so," Shania agreed. She sat down. And watched the desert that was on the border from The Nile to the next region speed by.