It came to my attention how our situation had changed when the head of a flail smashed into the deck beside me. I looked up to see someone I don't know standing on top of the engine. I can see the crew inside, and it looks like they've seen me. It also looks like they're armed. If they make the same mistake the huntress made they'll come out here and get themselves killed by this guy, whoever he is.

Pulling the spiked mass of blades back to himself, he jumped down and landed in front of me. Seeing him up close, I think he's another bounty hunter. If he's here, then that means he's good enough that Adam didn't notice him. That's optimism. The other explanation is that all the other bounty hunters have tracked us down, and I'd rather just one really tough guy.

Instinctively, I covered Jinto's body with my own. Good thing I did, too. The crew opened fire from inside the cabin, shattering the windows and tearing through the bounty hunter's back. I'd take some comfort in the fact that I don't have to deal with him now, but the crew decided to aim at me next. Grabbing Jinto, I shoved myself off the back of the engine. We hit the next car hard, but I don't think she noticed, being unconscious and all.

The hit hurt me as well, and my ears were ringing for a few seconds. When I could hear clearly again I heard gunshots. I assumed the crew was shooting at us, so I started pulling Jinto out of the line of fire. It was only after we were between two shipping crates that I realized the shots were coming from the other direction.

Velvet slid into cover beside me, giving a concerned look at Jinto. On the other side of the car Ruby and Nora ducked behind another crate, jumping out and firing towards the back of the train as much as they could. Adam was walking backwards, firing his rifle in the same direction and dodging out of the line of any shots that got close. Who are they fighting? They're not shooting at Gabe and Sam, are they?

The aforementioned Gabe and Sam appeared next, taking cover as well. That answers that question, but... who's attacking us? We already took out all the security droids, and the bounty hunters haven't... found us... yet? "Oh, baka."

Adam ducked down beside me. "You said it. I think your location was sent out to all of them when they figured it out. I think I got another two or three." He noticed Jinto. "Geez, you didn't have to skewer her."

"She left me no choice. Also, the train crew knows we're here. They took out another one of the bounty hunters."

He grimaced and looked away. "Okay, so... is she gonna be alright?"

I may have scowled at him, but he deserved it. "She'll be fine. I'll make sure of it."

"Are you going to take your weapon out of her?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure. And then I'll let her bleed to death." I was aware that Adam and Velvet were both looking at me with concern... which ironically didn't concern me at all. "How about this? You have two weapons. Give me one."

Adam shook his head, apparently not so sure that that was a good idea. "You look pretty mad right now. I don't think arming you is in my best interest."

I'll give him that. "Fine. I'll deal with these guys on my own." I jumped out into the open. Perhaps not the brightest thing to do, strictly speaking, but I think it's about time to set the record straight on how fighting is supposed to be done.

To anyone reading this, I doubt you know what it actually feels like to be flying through the air on your own power. I'm not talking about falling, or even sticking your head out the window of a moving vehicle. I'm already on the outside of a fast-moving train. This momentum is all me. I can see the enemy ahead of me, and in a second or two we'll be in heated battle. Of course, the first one will never even know what hit them.

The first enemy, standing front and center and charging at me, fired his weapon. I let him hit an afterimage while I slid in under him and knocked him off his feet. I grabbed his gun, really a rather simple rifle, before it fell off the train. Probably still hoping to keep the death count as low as possible, I smacked the rifle into his head and knocked him out. Looking up, I saw the next one was right on top of me. I rolled to the side just in time to avoid being run through. This weapon looked like a rifle with a giant knife running along it, and it just so happened to go all the way through the bounty hunter I had just disabled.

He ripped the blade out of the now deceased bounty hunter and pointed the barrel of the gun at me. Thinking fast, I lifted the weapon I took from the fallen enemy and shoved its barrel into the larger barrel of his gun. Then I rolled to my feet and jumped away just before both weapons exploded, launching him off the side of the train.

I stood up and noticed a burning sensation in my leg. Initially, I was worried that I'd been hit by shrapnel or something, but it turned out to just be exactly what it felt like. My pants were on fire. Laugh all you want. I smacked it out and turned back to the oncoming enemies, only to find the next one was right in front of me and swinging around a very sharp sword.

"Blake! Catch!"

Hearing Ruby's voice from behind me, I reached back to catch whatever she had thrown. I didn't want to look, because taking my eyes off this rapidly approaching enemy would have been a terrible decision. What I felt land in my hand, and I immediately clamped my fingers around it, was Crescent Rose. I pulled it up in front of me and fired into my attacker's chest. He fell back, smoke rising from the crater in his torso.

More bounty hunters appeared on the train, some running toward us from further back while others jumped on from the sides of the ravine. Adam rushed past me, his gun flashing and knocking another one back. He did a rather nice bicycle kick, hitting someone who had been trying to jump onto the train and sending them flying back into the ravine. I'm sure it hurt.

You know, come to think of it, I know Adam's weapons are called Wilt and Blush, but I have no idea which one is which. A similar problem with Crescent Rose, although this one is actually hampering my progress.

"Ruby! How the heck do I reload this?"

Ruby appeared beside me and took her weapon back. "It was out of ammo. All you needed was one shot, so I gave you one." With that, she rushed forward at the enemy. Nora followed her... and now I have to save them.

Seriously, Ruby and Nora are rushing into this pile of bad guys. These are bounty hunters, may I remind you. Those two will not use lethal force on sentient beings, and that is going to get them killed. I was about to go and stop them, and tell them exactly what their situation was, when Gabriel and Samantha appeared on either side of me.

Gabriel put his hand on my shoulder. "I just want you to know that I was moments away from pitching your sister off the train."

Samantha added to what her said before I could think of how to respond. "I wanted to stab her in the face first, but..."

I'm guessing, and hoping, that by 'but...' they mean that they didn't. "And what happened instead."

Gabriel shrugged. "She was gone when we got there."

Gone when they... no!

I wasn't abandoning the fight, but it probably sure looked like it when I turned around and ran back toward the front of the train. A lone bounty hunter stood in my way. I slid under him, right between his legs, and gave him a punch on the way. I... may have been a tad cruel with the placing of my hit, but this guy wants my head for money. He totally deserved it.

Reaching the spot where I had left Jinto, I found that she was indeed gone. Come to think of it, Velvet was missing too. I started searching, naturally. My little sister is heavily wounded on a hyper-fast train. She could be in serious danger, or possibly causing serious danger for others. It also occurred to me that I was once again unarmed. Baka. Baka everywhere.

It seemed the train crew had decided to stay at the front, not wanting to get into the fight behind me. It was down between the engine and the first flatbed car that I found Velvet, clutching Gambol Shroud in her hand, crouching on top of the connector. Before I could stop her, she severed the connector. The engine started to pull away from the rest of the train.

So I called down to her. You know...to find out what in the blazes she thinks she's doing. "Velvet!" She looked up. "What the hell are you doing?"

She responded by jumping to the engine and grabbing hold of the ladder on the back. She turned to look at me, holding on with one hand. "She told me to! She said if I didn't separate the engine we would all die!"

The engine was too far for me to jump now. I watched Velvet get farther away, but she was still close enough that I could see where she was looking. She's looking down. At the side of the train. Down beside me? I pointed to the edge of the car. Come on, Velvet. Is that where Jinto is hiding? She answer by saluting with her free hand, the one holding Gambol Shroud, and then throwing my weapon back to me.

So that's where she's gone of to... I caught my weapon by the handle. What are you doing, Jinto? I climbed down the front of the car. If she was on the side, she shouldn't be able to see me yet. According to Velvet, she said that we would all die if the engine wasn't separated... Engine is combustible and would explode if, say, the train were to crash. No, idiot, the train is full of dust. If it crashes, we'll probably level a few square miles. She can't be that stupid. If she was that stupid, there would be no other explanation except for genetics.

Making sure I had a tight grip on the car, I peered around the corner. I saw Jinto, hanging onto the train-car with one hand and fiddling around with a small device attached to the side of the train. She seemed to be having some difficulty, as she was attempting to press buttons with her nose. The device beeped and blinked green, and Jinto laughed in response. What did she just do?

Ducking back around the front of the train-car, I took a moment to realize she really did intend to blow up the train or crash it. She didn't have that device on her when we fought, so she must have planted it beforehand. Easy enough, considering all the swinging around the train she was doing before the fight. But I'm still not sure whether that's an explosive, or just the timer for one. If it is a timer, then where's the-

"Oh sh-"

We came out of the ravine suddenly. Out of Forever Fall altogether, actually. In fact, we were no longer over land.

"Ocean." Why, what did you think I was going to say?

And then I saw, off in the distance, an explosion on the tracks. The engine was past that spot already, so Velvet was safe, but there is no way we're safe now. A large section of the tracks collapsed into the water. She's crashing us into the ocean.

And I'm on the very front of the train.

Baka.

Author's Note: So, this chapter felt good. I was supposed to crash the darn train in chapter six and I've been pushing it back every chapter since then. Well, it's definitely gonna be next chapter. I promise.