"Phew! That felt good!"
"After all these Amber Eras, revenge is finally mine!"
Pom-Pom felt an unparalleled sense of relief like years of cosmic constipation had finally cleared.
Meanwhile, Aha lay on the floor, utterly defeated and trembling. The lingering damage they'd taken was all from March's pure Imaginary Energy. That energy was terrifying.
"Alright, Conductor. Feeling better now?" Yuki casually glanced at Pom-Pom.
Pom-Pom nodded. But then the fluffy conductor looked down at Aha and felt like just letting the trickster go would be too easy.
"I do feel better, but just letting them walk away feels like letting them off too lightly!" Pom-Pom muttered indignantly, eyeing Aha's twitching clown masks. The urge to punch them again stirred, those masks were just too provoking.
"Uh... Conductor, you're not thinking of killing them, are you?!" March's eyes widened as she looked at the fiercely pouting mascot.
Himeko's heart tightened. Killing an Aeon? She'd never even dared to imagine such a thing, she couldn't even fathom the possibility. Curiosity mixed with a deep tension: How would one even kill an Aeon? What would be the cosmic consequences?
"Of course not!" Pom-Pom quickly shook their head, ears flopping wildly. "Pom-Pom, the Conductor, would never be so cruel as to kill someone!"
"But... they're not just someone. They're an Aeon," March pointed out.
"Aeon or not!"
"Besides, they have history with the Astral Express. And their death would cause massive trouble in the universe. So let's forget it!"
Ultimately, Pom-Pom chose not to let Aha die.
The main reason? Deep down, Pom-Pom still saw Aha as that former Nameless from back then. Sure, that Nameless eventually blew half the train to cosmic dust. But no one died in that incident. And afterward, Akivili never sought to kill Aha in retaliation. So Pom-Pom let it slide.
"Heehee haha!"
"The Conductor is so understanding!"
"Even after all this time, still sentimental! Truly righteous!"
Aha laid on the flattery thick, their tone at least half-sincere this time. Because right now, the Aeon of Elation was genuinely afraid Pom-Pom might actually want them dead. If the mascot gave the order, that pink-haired girl would come at them with that terrifying Imaginary greatsword again. And that? That would actually kill them!!!
"Stop flattering the Conductor!"
"Despite everything, the Conductor still hates you!" Pom-Pom huffed, tiny arms crossed, glaring daggers at Aha.
"I have an idea for punishing them. Want to hear it, Conductor?" Yuki had a highly amusing thought.
"Oh! Passenger Yuki! What's your idea?!" Pom-Pom's eyes lit up, turning eagerly to him.
Right now, Yuki was the person Pom-Pom respected most on the entire train. So Pom-Pom took his ideas very seriously.
"The idea is simple..."
Seeing everyone's eyes on him, Yuki didn't keep them in suspense. He laid out his devious plan.
Ten minutes later.
The front of the Astral Express, now cruising smoothly through deep space, had a bizarre new decoration.
An orange-red clown mask was firmly embedded into the train's exterior nose by some kind of supreme, rule-based force.
To any ordinary observer, it might just seem odd why hang a creepy clown mask on the front of a space train?
But if another Aeon saw it, they'd be absolutely shell-shocked. Because that mask wasn't just any mask. It was Aha, the Aeon of Elation, themselves.
Yuki's idea was brilliantly simple: physically compress Aha into a clown mask and permanently seal it onto the front of the train.
Their new job? Shield the train from cosmic elements. Whenever the Express came under attack, Aha would automatically be forced to use their immense cosmic power to absorb the damage.
Basically, they were a living, suffering defense system. A divine meat shield.
Pom-Pom was absolutely thrilled with this punishment. Trapping an Aeon whose entire existence revolved around freely roaming the cosmos to seek entertainment—in one fixed place forever? That was pure psychological torture. Worse than death, even.
When Aha first heard the idea, they protested vehemently. They even offered to scrub the train's floors for ten thousand Amber Eras instead.
But no one was foolish enough to let an Aeon especially a chaotic trickster like Aha roam freely inside the train as a janitor. It was far too dangerous.
So Yuki's plan was unanimously approved.
Seeing the situation turn dire, Aha tried to flee. But against Yuki? Where could they possibly go? Especially since Yuki had already sealed their connection to the Path. All Aha could do was watch helplessly as they were transformed into a solid mask and tossed outside, imprisoned on the train's nose.
As long as Yuki's seal remained, Aha would never escape.
And just to be absolutely safe, Yuki layered on additional rules. Aha got their cosmic power back, sure. But under these unbreakable laws, they could never harm anyone on the Astral Express. They were magically bound to act in the train's best interests. They could never scheme against anyone aboard. Rule after rule locked the trickster down completely.
Aha was neutralized.
Yuki's rules were the highest laws across all worlds and dimensions. Even supreme multiversal beings couldn't break them. Aha? Not a chance.
And so, Aha—the Aeon of Elation—became the Astral Express's literal lucky charm and hood ornament. With Aha permanently stuck to the front grill, any other Aeon who saw them would probably think twice before messing with the Nameless.
"Pfft!"
"Can you believe it? The mighty Aeon of Elation, reduced to a hood ornament and a shield! This is hilarious!"
"Ahaha~~~"
March burst out laughing. This was just too funny. She even wondered if her deadbeat dad, Fuli, watching from the shadows of the Memory Zone, was completely dumbfounded right now.
"I have to share this with the group!"
With the true spirit of spreading the elation, March opened the multiversal chat group and relayed everything.
[March 7th]: Guys! Guys! Something hilarious just happened!
[Marika]: Oh?! What's so funny, March?
[March 7th]: Okay, so here's what went down...
As March recounted the events, everyone in the group burst into laughter.
[Shizuka]: That Jester God probably never imagined they'd become such a literal joke today.
[Seitenshi]: Haha, stuck on the train's front like that? They must be completely hopeless by now.
[March 7th]: Serves them right! First they blew up the train in the past, then they tried to pull the same stunt again today with bombs. Conductor Pom-Pom was merciful not to kill them!
Everyone in the chat wholeheartedly agreed.