Nightmare Fuel / Infinity Train: Knight of the Orange Lily

Just because the prequel to Blossoming Trail takes place while Ash is on a tropical island, doesn't necessarily mean there aren't as many nightmares to be found...

In fact there's probably even more here than what Chloe encountered on her trek.

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In General

• In general, the idea that Gladion gets on the Train and not a single person in his immediate circle will be aware of this or even concerned for his safety for months to come is this. Only Mallow is concerned and only because she was on the Train years ago and that every attempt she tries to warn others is going to fail which will be bad for Ash since he'll have no clue about the Train's existence until a girl with a braid tied with a flower scrunchie suddenly runs off...
• Specter's deteriorating sanity after he learns that he has a Split Personality, as it harkens to the paranoia from Perfect Blue and Black Swan with him having conversations with his own reflection and becomes more and more terrified at blacking out, losing himself in the process.

Arc 1: The Fantasy

The Pearl Gates Car

• The prologue story has Gladion's parallel not only dead, but refusing to accept his death. The King with No Name humors the boy by making him relive the journey over and over again, but with no end in sight. It's bad enough to be stuck in your own Limbo, but for a child to go through this is especially horrifying.
• The Infinity Train has a glowing light that can draw people in. Gladion went from paranoid to curious in the drop of a hat. And where did the Train drop him off at? What looks like the Gates of Heaven itself. No wonder Gladion was freaking out as to how he thought he died.
• The end of the first chapter has Gladion taking a sip of some sparkling grape juice (with a pearl crushed in it, a token of faith) but then suddenly drops the glass and finds his body acting weird all while Margaret, his host, is telling things that everything will be okay...
• Chapter 2, titled The Snow Queen, reveals that Margaret did something to convince Gladion that he's her son. It probably would've been permanent if Larkpur didn't show him the orange lily bouquet.

The Spiral Car

• The Spiral Car is home to "The Village of Whirlpools' from Uzumaki. Gladion is in a lot of trouble, especially when he's shrieking in fear at seeing a snail-boy...
  • The fairy tale that starts this tells of a thief who wished to be shrouded by darkness. He's granted this by a butterfly and when he wakes up, he thinks he can sneak out since all he sees is darkness. Until a guard tells him it's actually broad daylight and it's the morning of his execution. Turns out the butterfly took his sight so he could not see the jeering crowd — as he murdered a child who witnessed him steal coins from his mother — or the executioner beheading him with an axe.

The 400 Rabbits Car

• The 400 Rabbits Car has been announced by the author to be filled to the brim with NF, giving a warning that if she has an inspiration list than that usually means the readers are in for a scare.
  • Gladion is starting to lose his mind over how time doesn't move at all in the car and attacks Specter — who he assumed was Paul London, having been assaulted and thrown into a casket in their first encounter — and is about to bash Specter's head in with his shield.
  • Gladion remarks that the eyes of the rabbits are...off. Like mindless puppets off.
  • The White Rabbit is all sorts of creepy. He enters on a chair with spider legs and his mask somehow has a ruby and a pocketwatch for an eye. He wears a straitjacket and looks too pristine in the very dark car. And when Gladion asks who he is...
  The White Rabbit: I am simply known as the White Rabbit...but you may call me Tokio.
  • Remember in Blossoming Trail that Tokio escaped the Apex by riding a casket down the river and was found by rabbit masked fanatics. What the hell did they do to Tokio that made him their leader?!
• The second chapter of the 400 Rabbits car answers everything, Tokio was brainwashed by Kisaragi to fill in the role of the White Rabbit. The final scene has him in fits of laughter as he follows the programming to declare himself the White Rabbit.
  Tokio: I am a rabbit. I am the White Rabbit. (cue him bursting into laughter before he suddenly stops and continues to be brainwashed)
  • Something is wrong with Specter. Lampetia reveals that when they were in the Toy Brick Car, he started assembling a blue heart...but via telekinetically moving the pieces around and was so enamored by it that Lampetia had no choice but to destroy it. But that didn't do a thing...instead Specter started mouthing something that chilled her to the bone.
  Specter: Give me my heart back.
  • And earlier, Specter drew two cards. One was the Ace of Hearts...
  • Part 3 adds more terror when Kisaragi reveals that the brainwashing was consensual. Yes, Tokio willingly transformed himself into the White Rabbit. Even London, who has committed murder and religious sacrifice, is horrified at the implications''.
    • And it also has a lovely detail of Tokio screaming while he was stuck in a coffin, fearing for his life...
  • Remember how Specter got two cards? Part three reveals why: he's basically got an alternate personality that dubbed itself "Earth-as-Specter" — or "Easter" later on — and the fact they come this close to killing one of the rabbits is the least disturbing things about him. It also raises the question what type of trauma did Specter go through that he needed to create a Split Personality to begin with?
• Grace showing off how horrible and cold she can be by murdering Utahoshi with her knife and not even caring how she just committed murder in front of hundreds of rabbits and traumatized Tokio. To the point that Tokio begged Kisaragi to become the White Rabbit as atonement. Even when Kisaragi removed the brainwashing so Tokio realizes what he's doing, Tokio insists on being the White Rabbit forever. If Mallow didn't find Captain Phyco to send a message, that might've been Tokio's fate...
  • Tokio starts acting like a malfunctioning doll when he reads Mallow's message, warring inside himself between going home and his "duty" as the White Rabbit. And when he begs Kisaragi for it to stop, Kisaragi...refuses.
  • When Specter initially tries to probe The White Rabbit for any hints, he gets nothing because every time he asks for anything personal, all he gets is "Classified". In fact, he spends more time terrified of having to see Kisaragi brainwash Tokio, learning about the carnage they did against the Apex and was even hit with a frozen time spell (for five seconds) before he decides hastily return to London and Gladion. Yes, Specter is horrified about what he's seeing.
  • Something is wrong with Specter as when he wakes up from being electrocuted by Kazashiro, he overhears Kazashiro and Nozama about getting married, and Kazashiro being called "Queen". He starts going on a rampage on wanting a heart and somehow electrocutes her. Was this what Lampetia meant when she sensed something wrong with him?!
• Kisaragi acts friendly to everybody and even tries to become friends with Tokio, but once he succeeds in doing that, he essentially brainwashes Tokio into becoming the new White Rabbit after the last one was killed by the Apex. Even knowing Tokio willing decided to get mind controlled doesn't distract from the fact this seemingly friendly Bunny is in fact a sociopath who's willing to turn a child into something else entirely just to get revenge on the Apex.
  • While primarily sad, the simple fact that Tokio willingly brainwashed himself is unnerving: how badly did he take breaking his promise to Goh that he'd willingly forget who he was just to escape?
• In a small amount of NF, it's revealed that Specter was on the Hanoi ship when the Train picked him up. A ship that had four others that are skilled hackers. In the middle of the ocean. So somehow, Specter was able to disappear while in the middle of the sea and no one is able to figure out where he's been...can you imagine what Ryoken and the Knights of Hanoi are thinking to see one of their own gone?

The Shock Street Car

• A car based off of a Goosebumps book? This will be lovely.
  • The Flashback that explains why the White Gestalt is even partaking the trials gave them two choices: either spend an hour screaming for their lives or they could help Mr. Toggle with his pianos. Mr. Toggle was the antagonist for Piano Lessons Can Be Murder in which he killed children, chopped off their hands and put machines in them so that they could play the piano perfectly. Here? It's implied that the White Gestalt were going to lose their arms so that their bones could become ivory for piano keys. All four members — yes, even Specter — immediately go with Shock Street.
  • This chapter puts a spotlight on Specter's Split Personality Easter, and they're all types of unsettling. For one thing, the trigger is to electrocute Specter. The second thing is that Easter really doesn't give answers as to who they are, why they're here or even ''why Specter even has this personality in the first place. The closest answer we get is Easter pointing to the sky and London making an assumption that Easter is just a guardian angel wanting to help Specter out. Easter doesn't necessarily confirm it...
  • Upon entering Shockro's House of Shocks, Easter gets electrocuted...but instead of acting in agony, he treats it like he's in an orgy thoroughly creeping everyone out. And when he finally gets out of that place, they've overloaded the machines and gained enough power to destroy a giant water tower attack robot when Gladion couldn't do that with all his Memories on Silvally!
  • And the worst part? When the four make it to the Magic Castle Car, all that sets Easter off is when Cutie reveals she's a queen and he roars that he wants a heart. So if you don't need electricity to make him fully switch, then eventually there's going to be a point that Easter will take over completely.
  • To top it off, Specter's number suddenly turns into static. This has never happened before in the show, which makes you wonder what the hell's wrong with him.
• The opening story has a boy staying underneath a tree that once hanged two brothers — one by an irate gambler the other who chose to do — and it ends with him on a noose. The worst part is that it's unknown as to supernatural forces were at play or he somehow got tangled on a noose and hallucinated everything.

The Windfish Car

• Specter's increasing fear as he can't even trust his own mind with Easter buzzing around in his head. How bad is it? When he first sees that he now has blue streaks in his hair, his reflection is smiling back at him. Specter washes his face with more water and his reflection is back to normal...and then starts speaking to him, stating that he's refusing help to confront his problems and tries reaching out towards Specter. When London arrives with a Cucco, Specter turns around before noticing his reflection is back to normal.
  • Lin's theory and the revelation on what Easter is doesn't help; Easter's not just a Split Personality, but rather a denizen. The lightning bolts in the Living Lightning Car strike things down not just for fun, but in the hopes of getting a body. Because of this, it now acts like a parasite and has been getting stronger the more Specter gets shocked by electricity.
  • Remember the static on Specter's hand? It's because the lightning bolt is fused to him that the Train can't recognize if he's a passenger or not; the only way to undo it is to somehow get Easter out of Specter.
  • London then brings up another point; Easter's "Earth as Specter" name, the anger towards queens and obsession with hearts doesn't line up with the timeline, meaning Specter is hiding something. Easter briefly takes over snarling that it's "None of your business" before Specter returns, questioning how much he's missing out while his hands are shaking.
• Death Eye attacks the Gestalt with their worst fears, shapeshifting into the Mother Beast and Goh to taunt Gladion and Tokio. As for Specter, we only see a giant blocky golem who taunts him about not wanting to change and electrocutes him, only for him to unleash Easter who wheezes for breath, unleashing a maniacal screech of laughter not unlike Brandon Lee's Eric Draven, stating that what Specter wants is help which Death Eye also agrees to. The only question now is why did Death Eye turned into that golem in the first place and why is Specter so scared of that?
  • Sunvine Thrasher tries to protect his master, but he gets destroyed by Death Eye with the details of his bones being crushed like twigs underneath one's foot.
• There's an existential dread as well...we learn that the train cars 'reset', but not the memories of the Denizens. Every single inhabitant of Koholint knows that they're just part of the Wind Fish's dreams, constantly resetting for every passenger that comes through.

The Desert Wasteland Car

• Mad Ben. He's every bit as powerful as the Ben Prime we all know and love, but ruthless and using his powers against the good guys. He has a seemingly endless list of powers he can shuffle between, can scan new forms whenever he encounters a new passenger, and every form he has is the Ultimate Lifeform version of that species. This includes Gladion's team. And if you were to catch him and attack him in human form, he'd just get turned into a form that can survive the attack via the Omnitrix failsafe. To put it bluntly, he may simply be unkillable and something that Gladion's team cannot defeat in combat, and they know it. And so does Mad Ben.
  • Mad Ben can control all of the water in the Desert Wasteland Car, selling it back to the denizens for harsh mark ups and complete control. How does he do this by the way? He has a Lapis Lazuli form. A character who in her own series could control the entire ocean when injured, brought up to that of the perfect version (like Jasper or Spinel) in the hands of a brutal warlord.
  • Easter ends up nearly killing Mad Ben when their electric attack strikes the Omnitrix with the narration mentioning the smell of cooked flesh. Gladion is looking in horror as he told Silvally to use an Electric Multiattack on Specter so that Easter can help deliver a killing blow.
  • To make the situation worse? He's still on the train when Voyage of Wisteria starts, and he's ready to hunt down the Apex...
• The situation with Specter and Easter is getting worse; not only is Easter now able to communicate with Specter more but it's more casual like when Easter gets angry at the "lightning in a bottle" remark or correcting Specter by using the "they" pronoun. Easter even tells London to stop probing into business that isn't his.
  • At one point, when Easter starts talking in a sheet of glass, Specter shatters it with a spanner in full view of his White Gestalt members. In their perspective Specter just shattered his own reflection on a whim.
  • Back in the VRAINS world, Ryoken is not taking Specter's disappearance well. Not only was it on the ship, not only did he look away for a minute to give Specter some medicine, but now he has recurring nightmares of seeing Specter electrically tortured tinted with an unearthly green glow and Shadow's shadow looks like the Earth Ignis. It doesn't help that he learns that Specter was secretly meeting with Yusaku, Takeru and Aoi in regards to their experiences with their Ignis. Question is, how was Ryoken seeing into this nightmare?

The Ghoul School Car

• Specter has essentially given up trying to fight Easter and casually tells them (via talking to his own reflection in front of an audience) that he'll "tap out". Easter swiftly takes over without little to no effort and goes to Elsa in the hopes that she will go and electrocute him in her laboratory. London himself lampshades if they should start being afraid of how Specter is calmly letting Easter swap places so easily.
  • They should. Elsa reveals that the lightning bolts in the car Easter is from don't have any understanding on wanting to help and actually hurt more than they could. And at the rate this is going, if they don't separate Easter from Specter soon Easter will completely consume Specter whole and he'll never leave the Train.
  • During an argument between the two sides, Specter hisses that he does not need Easter at all, having a near mental breakdown.

Intermission

• Ryoken's nightmares aren't getting better. He's seen Specter repeatedly electrocuted, begging for mercy and someone about to stab his heart out with a giant knife.
  • Ai is back and he did something to Yusaku that may or may not involve brainwashing him, all for the sake of preventing Yusaku from leaving. How bad is it? The author states that Ai is the foil for Parker. Now remember what Parker did just to make sure his sister came back safe and sound?
• Readers of Blossoming Trail will be screaming when they see White Gestalt meeting with Alex Shepherd, as it means that they're in Silent Hill for Act 2, the same city that broke three Pokémon trainers and had Chloe die in it. This wont' end well...

Arc 2

The Fog Car

• ...And just like the author said, this is gonna get dark.
• Alex Shepherd's demeanor in this story is a stark contrast to the older brother figure in Blossoming Trail. He shows off how he's no better than Walter in torturing Specter over letting Easter to die, shoving medicine down his throat via stabbing him in the hand to open up and enjoying Easter (who is now given an appearance similar to that of Ryoken) getting his revenge all while turning on a radio that has the song "One More Soul to the Call". And if Specter doesn't want to admit what he did is wrong? Oh that's fine; he can just become a permanent resident of Silent Hill.
  Alex: Now then Specter, it's time to take your medicine.
  • Easter has had enough of Specter not admitting his faults and decides to join Alex in torturing their partner and refuses to hear Specter's pleas to stop. But given that Specter did just attack them and hurl them out of a window, they have a justified reason to be pissed off.
  • Easter's Ryoken design is off-putting with diamond pupils and cuts on his skin that bleed static with a voice a electrical distorted version of Ryoken's.
• Jack's innocence makes him immune to the darkness, but then he has to see his father (Aaron Hotchner) start walking off with someone that looks like his mom...who's already dead. Considering how Hotchner is usually portrayed, this is a massive cause for alarm.
• Specter's brutal beatdown on Easter after reaching his Rage Breaking Point. Easter, as pushy as they were, has not harmed Specter at all, only begging that they just want to help. Specter refuses to listen and kicks them out of the window and leading to Alex's personal vendetta...made worse in that this is coming after Easter decided to let go of their desires to have a body...
• Thought the Fog Car was terrifying in Blossoming Trail? Part 2 just ramped it up even more with its focus on Pyramid Head / The Bogeyman and the town itself praying on people's darkness.
  • Gladion follows Hotchner and his wife Haley to a movie theater and is forced into his seat, his arms almost fused to the armrests and unable to speak. He also has to see Haley's killer, George Foyet kill her with a gun to the heart. Sounds mild, right? Well, thing is, Gladion keeps seeing some odd green glasses on Foyet and mumbles out something that sounds like Faba.
    • Just the fact that, like in Silent Hill 2 both "Haley" and "Faba"/"Foyet" act so uncanny up until the gun reveal. And even after Foyet shot Haley in the chest, Haley doesn't even care that she has a bullet in the heart and just casually eats popcorn like it's no big deal.
  • London is reunited with the White Rabbit of his old world who reminds him that London chose to make offerings and that he will never escape or gain redemption...just as the Bogeyman arrives and drags him off with their tongue around his ankle and El Bunny laughs in glee.
  • Tokio is surrounded by Grey Children and a construct of Utahoshi blaming him for his state. Thankfully, it's brief as Tokio realizes that Kisaragi was a coward and vows that he will never follow Kisaragi's word ever again.
  • And then there's Specter and to describe his torture would take up an entire page. But the short end of it is that he ends up so broken to Paul levels and hallucinates his reflections staring back at him or planning to murder London. If Specter is the crazy one, that's not a good sign.
  London: (panicking) Specter you are not making sense and it's terrifying me that you are not making sense!
  • Larkspur briefly sees a monster with sledgehammer arms in the distance, presumably a reminder of her failure to save Dar.
  • And of course, the fact that Alex Shepherd is the one masterminding all of this torture and pain. But the question is, is it all Alex or is it The Bogeyman unleashing this?
  • Another question to consider, is the Easter that's attacking Specter real or a construct of Silent Hill of something Specter is subconsciously hiding from himself? If it isn't real, then Alex is just letting this torture go on for no good reason.
• Back in Den City, Yusaku is acting off in how he behaves around Ryoken, and it sounds like he's threatening Ryoken with something bad if he keeps pursuing Specter's current whereabouts. We find out it's because Ai has brainwashed them and the way Yusaku's thought process is all about Ai is goddamn creepy considering how Yusaku usually is.
  Yusaku: Ai is here...Ai is back...Ai is all I need...Ai is Love. And all I need...is love.
  • This also leads to another question, how the hell did Ai learn about the Infinity Train?! Or worse, he doesn't know about it and is using it as a cover to keep Yusaku to himself...
• Pyramid Head in all his glory is terrifying. Nothing stops him, nothing will stand his way, nothing will get him to leave until he gets what he wants: and that's for Specter to confess for his crimes.
  • When we say nothing, we mean noting. Bullets tickle him, Shadow Ball and Dark Pulse doesn't do anything, biting his arm, energy slices, stabbing him, nothing. Even electrocuting him only knocks him out for a few minutes!
  • Alex's near Logic Bomb transformation towards Jack as it looks eerily similar to what Desire / Delirium will go through in a few months.
  • And then there's the reveal that Alex was once a human turned into his form by One-One. The cute bowling-ball with two personalities converted him into the Bogeyman, a monster so dangerous that even the rabbits assumed he was a nursery rhyme.

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