Dio, while strong enough to stand, was not much stronger than that. His body was still recovering from his crippling defeat. Of course there was no way he was going to let Thomas and Lady know that. He needed more blood, but before he could collect more, he needed to figure out what his oppositions abilities were first. Until then all he could do was take his time and find an opportunity to strike.

Lady and Thomas thought the same thing, for she too didn't know the true abilities of her enemy. All she knew was that she needed to bring this foul beast to justice.

Thomas charged forward with the force of 1000 bears, using his abilities to improve his strength and mobility. Dio smiled, he almost was taken aback by this trains new speed ability, but he knew that even when he wasn't at his full power he could still strike at any given moment.

Thomas hit DIO head on, the sound of DIO's bones breaking resonated in the empty field of flowers. But DIO latched onto the front of Thomas, digging his fingers deep into Thomas' metal.

Lady charged forward for a moment but then lost momentum in an instant. She stared blankly at the slaughter that occurred in front of her.

Thomas' corpse had been crunched up, DIO still hanging limp on the front of it, his legs twisted horribly underneath him.

Lady struggled to move forward, her wheels turned but the movement wasn't there. Of course, she had forgotten, in order for her to be able to move in this plain field, she needed-

Laughter abruptly began

The sound of DIO's bones moving back into place and the sudden thump of him landing interrupted her train of thought.

He attempted to lift the metal corpse but he still hadn't achieved his full strength, so he turned and walked slowly towards Lady, who had become unable to back away.

"Do you think that simple charges can really catch me anymore? With every attempt at striking I, DIO, down, I shall become stronger." DIO taunted, bringing out The World

"You'd be surprised." Lady replied

The sound of chugging appeared right next to DIO, and before he could react, Thomas charged into him again

"Miss me?" Thomas said cheekily .

DIO had grown adjusted enough to being hit by a train that it didn't take him long to get up. He was getting tired of this, so he decided to pull out the ace in his sleeve.

Thomas had already turned around and come within a foot of DIO when the World had appeared, but he was too late. DIO suddenly disappeared.

Thomas stopped in his tracks.

"What just happened?" He asked, starting to shake.

"I-I don't know" Lady uttered, spinning wildly around trying to find him.

Lady was confused as well. She didn't see him dodge, dive, or and jump over, DIO simply disappeared.

"You trains seem to have hearing issues, have you not listened to a word I have said?"

"I heard you the first time" Lady said shakily"But frankly neither of us care"

Lady began to contemplate running away, she was running out of options, she could bring Thomas back countless amounts of time, but she was afraid to try out her new powers on herself.

The sound of metal bending cracked the menacing atmosphere. The sound was coming from Thomas.

He stared outward, stuck with a shocked expression.

The metal creaked and crumbled. Thomas was shrinking, his face becoming sunken in.

He managed to utter two words.

"This hurts"

And then his face fell off, as it no longer matched the shape of his body. DIO burst out of the top of Thomas' boiler, covered in blood.

"Ahhh, yes, it feels good to be attaining my full power again" he taunted, his blood drenched muscles glistening in the moonlight.

Lady was stuck again, she was fearful of what would happen if this kept up, she knew she could bring Thomas back as many times as she needed, but she didn't know how long she could last against DIO at this rate.

DIO hoisted the rest of his body out of the engine. As he rose with one arm, he used his free one to grab some metal and twist it into a spear.

Lady began turning her wheels wildly, but she still couldn't move. Thomas wasn't back yet.

"What's wrong? Has something interfered with your path of travel?"

"N-no, I am merely stalling" Lady stuttered

DIO laughed

"Darling nobody says that they are stalling, that ruins the point" DIO stepped closer, preparing to throw his spear. His nasty grimace growing ever so slightly.

Lady felt her ability spark to life. She felt Thomas come back to existence.

"I never said I was good at it." Lady said, rolling back successfully now.

DIO curled his lips and disappeared just before Thomas hit him. Thomas screamed and tipped over. He was getting faster with each attack.

DIO emerged from Thomas' corpse again.

"You know, you aren't good at a lot of this combat stuff, i've already figured out what both of your abilities are, I may even know more about yours than you do." DIO jeered, mere meters away from Lady.

Lady's wheels screeched, she was trying her hardest to get out of there.

"Oh? Go on, I'll give you a head start."

Lady was terrified, he knew that she couldn't move.

"What's the matter? Interestingly enough, you have only seemed to move when Thomas was around? Do you need him to feel comfortable moving?"

Lady was pumping her pistons as hard as she could.

"Wait a minute…. I forgot that you two are trains in the heat of the moment haven't I? How are you moving without your tracks?" DIO asked, stroking his chin in a mocking demeanor.

Lady lurched backwards as she willed Thomas back again.

DIO instinctively stuck his spear arm out, impaling the train like a kebab.

DIO couldn't hold his laughter any more. He stepped closer to Thomas and jammed his hand in the metal.

"What a pathetic ability…." DIO chuckled. "What did he call it?" He asked, his smug grin now ear to ear"'I've been working on the railroad'?"

Lady grimaced. That is what he wanted to call it.

"Very specific too, all it does is make sentient trains move without tracks, correct?"

He removed his spear from Thomas and threw it at Lady in a single motion, breaking her wheels.

"I've grown tired of playing with my food."

The pain shot up her boiler. The sound of wheels turning was replaced by the clanking of her piston after being broken.

Now she couldn't move even when Thomas did come back. She was a sitting duck.

DIO became close enough to touch lady, only then was the vampire's massive figure apparent. Lady was a small engine, and as she looked up at him he blocked out the moonlight. Her vision was beginning to blur, all she could see clearly was his bright yellow eyes.

She felt a hand softly touch her face. Her fear began to melt. Her shaking stopped and her pain almost go away. She stopped turning her wheels.

"I could use an ability like yours you know."

Lady stared deep into DIO'S eyes, for some reason after all that he had done, she found his presence calming.

She struggled to remembered everything that DIO had done, her memory blurred even further.

"Perhaps I can…." DIO smiled. His hair began to float, something sprouting at the end of each lock.

Lady struggled to form words. What was happening?

"Lady!" A voice shouted, snapping her out of it.

"Don't let him alter you! He's trying to convert you!"

Without realizing it, she had brought Thomas back, not that it mattered, she still couldn't move anymore. He was just barely visible out of the corner of her eye. His face wild and worried, contrasting far from DIO's sudden calming demeanor.

"We can still win this! You can use your abilities to bring this island to its former glory! After this one fight you can be repaired!"

Lady fixated her view on DIO again. His freaky hair twisting and turning in the air. He grunted.

"Don't choose the losing side, I can give you riches beyond your wildest dreams, a shed practically made of gold."

Lady felt the fear begin to crawl again. She only had one acceptable option but she knew what it meant. She already knew exactly what was going to happen next.

"I will never join you!" She shouted, letting loose all of her anger. She felt a psychic force rush out of her, manifesting itself into an almost physical form.

Her stand had appeared, a large, old, and metal train covered in spikes, with pistons sprouting out to the sides like massive arms, one of which going straight through DIO's abdomen. Lady had landed her first ever punch, and she had not expected it. She quickly thought of something cool to say in celebration.

"The only time I can use this ability on living things is when I am in contact with them, but now that I have plenty of contact with you, how far down your timeline would you like to go?"

Thomas let out a sigh of relief "I knew you could do it!"

While she couldn't see everything clearly, she could see one moment in particular where DIO was reduced to his weakest possible physical form a long time ago.

The blow that DIO took kept him in a non reactive state, he just hung off of her metal fist, blood dripping to the ground below.

She began to turn back DIO'S timeline, watching as his body changed, but for some reason, the shift was slow. Rather than immediately reverting to the point of weakness, DIO began reforming the cavity that was left in his chest.

She realized what she was doing and desperately tried to speed up the process, but she was too late.

DIO was gone and there was a massive hole in her side. She tried to breathe in in shock, but the instant afterward she had the air forced out of her by a powerful blow to her other side. Sending her flying. She had gotten a concussion from the impacts, the distinct ringing tingled her brain. She had gone numb but she knew that DIO had hidden himself, undoubtedly to play another game and use her to lure Thomas in.

Thomas gasped and charged forward "Lady!"

"It's no use Thomas, run away before it's too late." She whispered.

Thomas stopped. "But I can't just leave!"

"You have to, if you ever want to win against him you need to go back to town and regroup." She grunted, the pain was starting to make her fade away.

."Regroup with who? You were the last steamie we had!"

"I'm bringing-huff-I'm bringing them all back, I'm going to use the last of my magic to bring everyone back. If you go and meet them you will be safe."

"But can't you use your power to heal yourself? Please don't die!"

"I'm sorry, I don't think it works that way, I'm already using all my remaining energy to bring everyone else back, just go, show them the arrow so they may get their own abilities to fight him."

Before Thomas could say another word, DIO appeared between the two engines, arms crossed, The World looming over his shoulder.

"You've piqued my interest."

"Go Thomas!" Lady shouted, starting to glow. "You won't want to see what happens next!"

Terrified, Thomas turned a chugged away as fast as he could. Every fiber of his being told him to go and fight for Lady, but he had to listen to her, for the sake of everyone else.

He didn't hear footsteps behind him. DIO wasn't bothering to chase him, undoubtedly he was finishing Lady off. Behind him the once faint glow that encapsulated lady had grown brighter than sunlight, and it was beginning to form a pillar in the sky, despite this spectacle, Thomas refused to look back, chugging all the way to tidmouth.

Later.

The light in the sky had dispersed and the sun was beginning to rise. DIO had seeked refuge in his old castle lair from his first trip to the little island, but this time the building had been modified greatly for tourists.

The chair that he once sat in had been given a "Once sat in by a vampire" sign, and it had been blocked off by a little rope, and the history book that he once read through had been put in a glass display case.

While this place normally would be a tourist trap, meaning that DIO wouldn't be able to stay here, the whole island was closed, giving DIO some time to recuperate after his previous battle. He threw himself back into his chair, holding his new prize.

He inhaled and exhaled, staring at the ceiling, he ran 15 miles to make it to this little castle, and he was prepared to spend the whole day there, he may consider reading through that book again.

But first he wanted to admire his prize. A piece of metal, stating the name of the engine he had killed.

Lady, a lovely name, such a shame that he wasn't able to convert her, but her last words did give him some hope for a potential minion, somewhere on this island.

She had mentioned a diesel that had previously attempted to kill her, that may be somewhere on the island. Granted she was saying that DIO was scum lower than him, but he takes what he can get.

DIO knew that there was going to be a lot more engines to fight soon, so he might as well hire allies of his own. Perhaps his souvenir will be useful.

He began to scheme, there was no way he would let this island go to waste this time.

To be continued