Bravo Team split up again. This time, Rebecca went with Edward, and Enrico paired with Richard. They all went in different directions, with Enrico taking the document. "The suspect is to be considered armed and dangerous," he told them. "You will give him one chance to cooperate. If he fails to do so, use deadly force."

Rebecca wasn't thrilled about the possibility she might have to kill someone. She followed behind Edward silently, both with weapons out. Edward, having the more powerful weapon, had insisted on taking point.

They walked for a bit, listening and watching for any movement. The moon was full and bright, casting the entire forest in moonlight. Of course, this also meant there were shadows everywhere. Both cops were moving with as much caution as possible. They would each take about ten steps, then stop and listen. It was during one of these stops when Rebecca noticed something. She tapped Edward on the shoulder to get his attention.

"Edward," she whispered.

The man turned around. "Do you hear something?"

"That's the thing," she told him. "I don't."

It was the middle of summer. The forest should have been filled with the sounds of nocturnal pokémon. Hooting notcowl, humming kricketune, and fluttering of a zubats' wings. But the woods were absolutely silent. The only thing Rebecca had heard the entire time was her and Edward's footsteps.

Edward nodded. He had noticed it too. "Let's keep moving. We won't find anything standing here."

They eventually noticed a barren spot beyond the trees. Edward advanced cautiously, while Rebecca remained behind the wood line to provide him with cover. Moonlight covered the entire spot. She could clearly see Edward stop and inspect something on the ground. He motioned her over.

"Look at this," he whispered when she ran over. "Railroad tracks."

The barren spot had a set of train tracks running across it. The tracks stretched out of sight in two different directions. "That is weird," Rebecca remarked. "There aren't any stations out here, are there?"

"There's one in Cerulean. The train comes by early in the morning and later in the evening. It's a passenger train, though, and it always came from the south. I always assumed it came from Saffron City." Edward touched the rails tentatively. "The rails are warm."

Rebecca was confused. "Why does that mean anything? It was a hot day."

"The friction from train wheels can heat up the tracks," Edward explained. "The fact their warm means the train came by a couple hours ago."

"But I thought you said the only train around here leaves during the evening."

"I did. It always hits the station at six in the morning and six in the evening." He stood and looked at her. "What time do you have?"

Rachel checked her watch. "It's almost eleven o'clock."

"These tracks should be cold by now," Edward said. He stared at the ground, deep in thought. "We're north of Cerulean City, so this couldn't be the Saffron City train."

"But if it's not," Rebecca asked, "where did it come from?"

"Let's follow the tracks," Edward suggested. "They'll lead us to a station."

They retreated back into the trees and walked along, being careful to stay quiet and hidden. The tracks lead them on for a while. But it wasn't too long before they found the train.

"What happened here?" said Edward. Rebecca just stared in shock.

The train was gutted. That was the only word Rebecca could think of to describe it. Windows were smashed in, doors were hanging open, and large dents covered the cars. Rebecca counted six carriages in all, and all of them looked like some giant teething toddler had chewed on them. There were barely legible words printed across the top of each car, ECLIPTIC EXPRESS.

"What could have done this?" Rebecca finally said.

"A bomb?" Edward was just as puzzled as she was. "That convict again?"

Rebecca didn't think so. A bomb from the inside could not have damaged all the cars without knocking at least one off the rails, or completely destroying another. And a bomb from the outside would have completely derailed the train. The Ecliptic Express, if that was the name of the train, was still on the tracks. All six cars.

"Wait," Rebecca said. "This looks like a passenger train. Where are all the people?"

"Something is very wrong here," Edward stated.

Kevin crouched on top of the helicopter, arms deep in the engine. His toolbox lay next to him, along with various parts he had removed. As far as Kevin could tell, nothing looked wrong. He couldn't understand what had made the engine fail. Muttering to himself, he stuck his head inside the compartment.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered. Turns out, the engine had overheated, badly. The fuel filter was melted to the engine block. The bang had been some fumes igniting and exploding, so the half that wasn't melted was embedded in other places. Kevin crawled out and glared at the damage. He would need some spare parts, and lots of them. A quick search of the chopper did not result in anything that could be used for repairs. Kevin cursed again and got out his radio. "Edward, Kevin."

The radio emitted a short burst of static. Edward was quick to respond. "Kevin, Edward. How're things going? Over."

Kevin sighed. "Edward, Kevin. She's not leaving the ground. At all. We need parts, and lots of them. Over."

Edward sighed. He turned to Rebecca. "Did you hear all that?"

Rebecca nodded. "More bad news."

Edward looked around for a moment. "It doesn't look like anyone is around," he said without looking at her. "I'm going to go see if I can help Kevin. You get aboard that train and look around."

"Wait a minute," Rebecca said. "There's an escaped convict in the woods, and he probably killed two people. Enrico was right when he said we should stick together."

"And Kevin is all alone at the chopper, and according to him, there's nothing useful he can do there." Edward looked down at her. "I can't tell him to meet up with us, he doesn't know where we are. So, I'll have to go get him."

"Why can't I come with you, then?"

"Because the train needs to be inspected," Edward told her. "You also need to learn how to work solo for a bit and since there's no danger here, now's a good time to do it."

"But I – "

Edward clapped her shoulder. "You'll be fine. You're well trained, and you've got a good head on your shoulders. And if you need help, you have a radio. And a pokémon." He pointed at the nearest carriage. "Now, get on that train. I'll be back in ten minutes."

There was no point to argue. Rebecca turned climbed up a small set of stairs to the door. She turned to look back at Edward, but he was already gone. Sighing to herself, she entered the train.

Edward had told Kevin to expect him in five minutes. So Kevin spent that time checking his weapon and supplies. He had two twelve round magazines, and a combat knife if things got dicey. Despite the recent turn of events, Kevin had a good feeling about this mission. He was a capable pilot and police officer. Kevin felt he would have no problem proving he would make a good addition to the S.T.A.R.S. unit.

The sound of approaching footsteps made him look up. Kevin checked his watch. Five minutes on the dot. He holstered his pistol and stood up. "Bout time, Edward," he said as he walked forward.

The door lead Rebecca to a small room between the cars. She was in some sort of connection tube. Its purpose was to provide a safe and easy way for the train staffers and passengers to move between cars. To left was a door that said KITCHEN, and to her right was a door that said DINING. She tried the kitchen door, but it was locked. So she took the right door.

And instantly regretted it.

The people hadn't gone anywhere. Rebecca could see them everywhere. Men in nice suits, women in fancy dresses. The waiters were dressed in black vests and pants over white shirts. In the corner was a chef, complete with chef's hat. And they were all dead.

Bodies were strewn across the seats and tables. Some were lying in the middle of the isle. Broken glasses and dishes were everywhere. What dishes remained intact still had food on them. These people had been killed while eating their evening meals. It was a massacre.

Rebecca covered up her mouth to keep from screaming. And vomiting. She stumbled back out into the tube and quickly shut the door. "Oh God, oh God, oh God…"

Finally, Rebecca composed herself. She'd seen dead bodies before, the most recent being minutes ago. There was no excuse for acting like this. She was an officer of the law, and a special ops one at that. Rebecca pulled out her pokéball and whispered a single word.

"Fox."

With a flash of white light, her vulpix bounded out of his ball. She immediately knelt down to talk to him. "We're working now, Fox. So this is the real thing. I need you to be as professional as possible, okay? No noise."

Fox nodded and nuzzled her leg. Rebecca scratched his head affectionately and took a deep breath. She stood back up, and stepped back into the dining car.

Sightless eyes stared at her from every direction. Fox trotted out and started sniffing the bodies. Rebecca slowly followed him, keeping her pistol lowered but ready. A cursory glance revealed no danger, so she holstered her weapon and began her investigation.

Now that she was thinking clearly, Rebecca began noticing some seriously weird things. First of all, every body she looked at had the same kinds of wounds. Every visible piece of skin had a small circle scraped into it, with a ragged hole right in the middle of the circle. The holes were wide enough to stick her thumb in, while the circles were about the size of her fist. People had them on their arms, legs, faces…Rebecca could even see where patches of clothing had been torn away. She almost became sick again.

"Wait a minute," she muttered. Rebecca started counting bodies. Just from where she was standing, Rebecca could see seven dead people, and there were probably more out of sight. How do you kill over seven people and not leave one splash of blood anywhere?

Now, she had a reason to be scared. She picked up her radio. "Edward, Rebecca."

Nothing. Just static. Perfect. "Edward, come in. This is Rebecca. Over."

More static.

Rebecca felt a shiver go down her spine. Shaking slightly, she clipped her radio back on her belt and brought out her pistol. Trying not to freak out again, she slowly looked around. "Fox?"

A scratching sound behind her made her jump a mile. She whirled around, pistol straight out in front of her. "Who's there?"

The scratching sound was coming from the opposite end of the carriage. Rebecca could see Fox standing next to a door. She suddenly felt very stupid. Fox whined and scratched at the door. He sniffed under it and cried softly. "Vul…"

Shaking her head, Rebecca walked forward and knelt next to Fox, rubbing his back as she did so. "What'd you find?"

This door had a window on it, as did the one beyond it. There was another tube connecting her car to another. She cautiously looked through the doors, then pressed her back up against the wall next to her door. There were bodies in the other car, and from what she could see, they were killed in the same way.

Oh, boy…

She eased the first door open, keeping her pistol pointed into the other car. She did the same with the next door. Rebecca edged forward slowly, waiting for Fox to come in before closing the door behind him.

Then she heard a voice. It was a man. He was speaking loudly and clearly, and he was somewhere in the car.

"This is Officer Chambers of S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team!" Rebecca called out. "Please identify yourself."

The man kept on talking. Rebecca moved forward, checking all the seats as she passed. Fox started following her, but stopped and started edging back towards the door. He snarled and bared his teeth.

"Fox, stop, he probably needs our help!" Indeed, someone who just kept babbling when confronted by a police officer had to be traumatized or something. Given what Rebecca had just seen, she was more surprised to find someone breathing. But then, she heard a different voice. A female voice. Rebecca stopped and listened. Fox stayed where he was, only now he was whining.

"Is someone there?" Rebecca said. She kept walking forward, slowly.

The lady was saying something about the government. Her voice was really loud now, sounding like she was right next to her. But Rebecca was standing next to an empty seat. She moved up to the next one.

There was no woman. It was a man. And his left eye was hanging out of its socket.

At least, she thought it was his eye. Around the eyehole was one of those same circles. But instead of a hole, there was a single piece of…something…hanging out. It was a string connected to half of a yellow ball. The voices she was hearing? A radio was laying on the seat next to the man.

Get into law enforcement, Dad said. Do something worthwhile, he said. Rebecca reached down and picked up the radio. She shut it off and sighed. Holstering her gun, she walked back towards Fox. "Come on, let's go find Edward."

Something had Fox riled up. Fox snarled and barked loudly, then turned and ran to the door. Then he turned back around and looked at her, whining again. Rebecca stopped, confused. She had never seen Fox like this before. In fact, she had seen Fox take down a grown man almost five times her size. Rebecca had always considered him fearless. "What's wrong with you?" she asked. The only reply she got was another whine.

Then, Rebecca heard a groan behind her. She turned around just in time to see the one-eyed dead man stand up.