"B-big trouble, pom!"
A furry creature resembling a stuffed rabbit stomped its feet as it rushed into the parlor car and shouted at the bewildered passengers.
By all rights, this should have been a rare day off. The train was running smoothly along its preset route, and everything was peaceful.
With a rare moment of leisure, navigator Himeko was pondering new coffee ingredients in the car; the mature, dependable Old Yang had just been forced to serve as her taste tester and was now sprawled lifelessly on the sofa by the window.
Conductor Pom-Pom, who had stayed behind in the cab, was this very peculiar creature in a specially made uniform and a large hat.
Frankly, Himeko rarely saw Pom-Pom this panicked. Its short little legs were shaking so badly it could barely walk straight.
"Where did that wall come from?"
Welt sat up, clutching his stomach, and pointed through the window at the enormous wall that had suddenly appeared in space, stretching across the heavens with a blued-steel sheen.
"That's the problem, pom!"
Pom-Pom hopped frantically. "The train was accelerating for its next jump when, all of a sudden, this wall longer than a planet appeared right in its path, pom!"
"Can we brake? How long until we hit it?" Himeko asked calmly.
"At our current speed, ten minutes. But the conductor should have already taken the necessary measures."
The cool young man's voice came from behind them. Dan Heng, the Vidyadhara High Elder and aloof little azure dragon, opened the connecting door and walked over calmly.
Two little ones followed behind him-the Genderbent Kars, the pink-haired girl of unknown origins, March 7th, and that absurd Stellaron gremlin, Trailblazer!
The entire Express crew had gathered in the car for one obvious reason: the immense wall that had abruptly appeared