#ginou

Was Midnight Express ever menaced by a rival Rock 'n' Roll Express?

Dear Rockin' Roller,

Well, I think describing it as a "rivalry" would be something of an overstatement, but Rapid Run did once describe himself as a "Rock 'n' Roll Express" after Koji introduced him to the music of the Holograms. He took to playing their oeuvre at high volumes whenever he took to the rails, which rather irritated Midnight Express, who preferred human classical music—he had a particular affection for enka, I believe. Rapid Run was eventually convinced that was impolite to play music out loud on public transport, and he instead routed the audio tracks through his helmet's internal communications link.

If you are looking for a rivalry among rail-riders, however, perhaps I should tell you of Hakuki? Using technology purloined from Shibuya Manufacturing's laboratories and a disused WIN350 experimental bullet train, Hakuki was created by Dr. Arkeville as a malevolent mirror of Shouki capable of remotely controlling other rail vehicles—and when the Trainbots challenged him, demanding that he stop his campaign of terror over Japan's railways, it became apparent that his powers extended even to other Transformers! Taking control of the team, he forcibly merged with them, taking Shouki's normal place to form the mighty Shuden.

Shouki was saved from Hakuki's dominion by Yamabuki, whose diagnostic abilities were able to partition and isolate the evil locomotive's control code. Enraged by this affront, Shuden attacked; Shouki was forced to combine with the other prototype Trainbots as Shiden Special Formation Raiden, but the prototype combiner was no match for his more advanced successor. Hakuki, however, had neglected to consider that Shouki had replaced one of the prototype Trainbots, who was now conspicuously absent... and while Shiden distracted Shuden, that sixth member Ginou was able to restrain the evil combiner using his silvanite powers. Shouki called out to his fellow Trainbots, who rebelled against Hakuki's control, causing Shuden to break apart—and with all twelve Trainbots working together, the shadowy shinkansen was easily defeated.

Dear Densha Denominator,

They named themselves, as it happens—though not without some outside influence.

As with the majority of the prototype "G Liner" Trainbots, Yamabuki was not given a formal name upon her creation, instead going by her development codename "Yellow" or her nickname "Doctor". It was under this name that she met fellow medic Atari Hitotonari of the Earth Defense Command, who helped Yellow to work through her complicated feelings about her position as the Trainbots' doctor, and the two subsequently became close friends. One evening, Atari remarked that Yellow's paintwork reminded her of her favorite flower, the Japanese kerria; during her time as a member of the EDC's Kiss Players, Atari would look at those flowers to take her mind off of the stress of her experiences, and she now found that looking at Yellow gave her the same feeling of comfort. Touched by Atari's kind words, Yellow decided to rename herself "Yamabuki" after the flower, as a tribute to her friend.

after you dropped me like a rock

after i saw through that unnecessary

film of lies

and bullshit.

i swore i would never come back

never never never.

and now youre here

throwing up your peace signs

your fucking white flags

im gonna build my walls so high

im going to train till i die

its all eggshells

footsteps barely touching

patter patter

soft like a bunnys paw.

because i'm scared

youre the mad hatter

crazy and confused

and i'm alice

new connections that are

puppies and merry go rounds,

with laughter in the pauses in between,

churros and funnel cake

whipped cream on our noses

and movies in bed

with toasted sandwiches and ice cream

and at the end its just like

warm skin and blankets

and toes curled

i know for whats to come

and dread

for thats why my heart is like a drum.

i know when youre silent

and secretive

for thats why my head is pounding

i know youre gonna walk

and leave

for thats why i feel like crying

i know defying

and youre gonna lie