"We have to stop it," Hephaestus breathed, gripping the railing. "But... how?"

Damien looked at the massive engine below. Steam hissed from its vents, and the wheels were already beginning to screech against the metal.

"You tell me," Damien said, stepping back to let the expert look. "You built this city. How do we kill that train?"

Hephaestus adjusted his goggles, his eyes scanning the glowing blue tracks and the heavy iron locomotive with frantic precision.

"It's a Mag-Lev Induction Engine," Hephaestus muttered, his mind racing through schematics. "It doesn't just roll; it floats on a magnetic field generated by those blue coils on the track. Once it hits the acceleration tunnel, it locks into a vacuum seal. If we try to stop it then, the G-force will liquefy everyone inside."

"So we stop it now," Damien said. "What's the weak point?"

"The Coupling," Hephaestus pointed his wrench at the glowing joint connecting the engine to the track. "Specifically, the Flux Regulator. If I shatter the induction coil while the engine is revving, the magnetic field collapses. The train becomes dead weight."

"And then?"

"And then friction does the rest," Hephaestus said, a grim determination setting in. "It'll grind to a halt. But I have to be close to do it. I need to hit the regulator manually."

"Then go," Damien drew his sword, the shadow mana swirling around the blade. "I'll keep the guards off your back. You break the toy."

Hephaestus nodded. He took a deep breath, slammed his visor down, and jumped.

….................

[The Platform]

CLANG.

Hephaestus landed on top of a stack of munitions crates on the loading dock. The heavy thud of his boots drew instant attention.

"Who goes there?!" A Twilight Cultist shouted, spinning around.

"Plumbing!" Hephaestus roared.

He leaped from the crate, swinging his wrench with both hands.

CRACK.

He didn't aim for the Cultist. He aimed for the high-pressure Steam Valve on the pipe next to the Cultist.

The pipe ruptured. A jet of superheated, white steam blasted out at 300 PSI, catching the Cultist full in the face.

"ARGHHH!" The Cultist screamed, dropping his staff as the heat blinded him.

"Intruder!" The alarm wasn't raised yet, but the guards, three Cyborgs and two more Cultists, turned toward the commotion.

"Kill the dwarf!"

A Cyborg raised its arm-cannon, the barrel glowing red.

SHING.

Before it could fire, a spike of solid darkness erupted from the Cyborg's own shadow, piercing its power core from below. The machine shuddered and collapsed, sparks flying.

High above on the balcony, Damien stood with one hand extended, his Shadow Arts dancing around his fingers.

"Eyes on the objective, Prince!" Damien shouted. "I've got your six!"

Hephaestus didn't look up. He trusted Damien. He scrambled across the platform, sliding under the wild swing of a Cultist's sword. He kicked the Cultist in the shin with his steel-toed boot, shattering the bone, and kept running toward the front of the train.

"The Flux Regulator..." Hephaestus muttered, his engineer's eyes locking onto a small, glowing rune-plate at the front wheel assembly. "It's shielded."

He reached the front of the locomotive. The engine was roaring, the levitation field beginning to hum. The train lurched forward.

A massive Cyborg, larger than the others, a Heavy Loader Model blocked his path. It raised a hydraulic fist to crush the Prince.

"Out of my way!" Hephaestus shouted.

He didn't try to fight it. He pulled a small, spherical device from his belt, an overloaded mana capacitor he had swiped from Brokk's table a few days ago.

He slid between the Cyborg's legs and slapped the device onto its knee joint.

BEEP-BOOM.

The joint exploded. The Cyborg toppled over, its leg sheared off by the shaped charge.

Hephaestus scrambled past the falling giant and slammed his wrench onto the glowing blue Induction Coil.

"Artificer Art: Dismantle!"

He channelled his mana into the wrench. The tool glowed white.

CRUNCH.

He didn't just hit the metal; he broke the enchantment holding it together. The coil shattered. The blue light died instantly.

SCREEEEEEECH!

The magnetic field vanished.

The massive iron engine, suddenly subjected to gravity, slammed down onto the concrete sleeper. Sparks showered the platform like fireworks.

The momentum carried it forward, grinding against the stone with a sound like a dying dragon. The metal screamed.

"Hold on!" Damien yelled, shadow-stepping down from the balcony to grab Hephaestus by the collar.

Damien pulled the Prince back just as the engine jumped the track.

CRASH!

The locomotive smashed into the control booth, demolishing it in a cloud of dust and debris. The cargo cars behind it jackknifed, slamming into each other with deafening thuds, but they stayed upright.

The train had stopped.

…..................

[The Evacuation]

Silence returned to the cavern for a split second, followed immediately by the wailing of sirens.

WOOP! WOOP! WOOP!

Red emergency lights began to flash, bathing the cavern in a blood-colored glow.

"Alert. Transport Sector Compromised. Lockdown Initiated."

"We tripped the silent alarm," Damien said, dusting off his cloak. "We have maybe ten minutes before the Warden floods this room with neuro-toxin."

Hephaestus didn't care about the gas. He scrambled over the wreckage of the engine and ran to the first cargo cage.

"Open! Damn it, open!"

He smashed the electronic lock with his wrench until the casing cracked. He ripped the wires out, hotwiring the door mechanism with trembling fingers.

Click.

The cage door swung open.

Inside, the dwarves were huddled in terror. They flinched as the masked figure reached in.

"Don't hurt us!" An old woman cried, shielding a child.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Hephaestus said, pulling his goggles up. He looked at them, his eyes wet with tears and soot. "I'm sorry I'm late."

"Prince... Prince Hephaestus?" The old woman gasped.

"It's the Prince!"

"He came for us!"

From the back of the cage, a small figure pushed forward. It was Thorn, the boy from the alley. He was clutching his broken toy.

"You came back," Thorn whispered, recognizing the wrench. "You saved us."

Hephaestus looked at the boy. He looked at the hundreds of terrified faces in the other cages.

"I promised," Hephaestus said, his voice thick with emotion.

He turned to Damien.

"Damien. The vents. The airflow is reversed in emergency mode. If we send them up the intake shaft we came down, the updraft will help them climb. It's the only way out."

"It's a five-hundred-meter climb," Damien warned.

"They are Dwarves," Hephaestus said fiercely. "We are born in the rock. They can make it. But we need to buy them time."

Damien nodded. He pointed to the massive blast doors at the far end of the platform. They were beginning to groan as the Warden's reinforcements tried to force them open.

"Get them to the shaft," Damien ordered. "I will seal the entrance behind them. Once they are safe... we go for the sword."

Hephaestus nodded. He turned to the prisoners, his voice projecting with new-found authority.

"Everyone! Listen to me! Move to the ventilation shaft! Climb until you see the sky! Go!"

As the civilians scrambled out of the cages, helping each other toward the maintenance ladder, Hephaestus looked back at the burning wreck of the train.

He looked at the hologram projector, which was now flickering with static.

"My Uncle called them fuel," Hephaestus spat, gripping his wrench.

He looked at the blast doors where the enemy was coming.

"He wants power?" The Prince's eyes hardened. "I'm going to show him what happens when you overload the system."

Damien smirked. The timid engineer was gone.

"Good," Damien said, his Dual-Core humming as he prepared for the next fight. "Let's go rob your father!."

…..........................

[Meanwhile - Team B]

[The Cell Block]

KLANG.

Leona kicked the heavy iron door of the cell block entrance. It flew off its hinges, crushing a Cyborg guard against the wall.

"Did you hear that?" Leona grinned, her ears twitching as the distant sirens began to wail.

"The Young Lord started the party."

Brokk racked the slide of his massive mana-rifle.

"Then we better not be late," Brokk growled. "Isabelle, heat up the room. Lyra, shoot anything that doesn't have a beard."

"Aye, Grandmaster!"

They charged into the prison block.

The Riot had begun.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.