A golden rain of fiery sparks descended from the underground abandoned railroad station ceiling as naked light bulbs exploded from the surges sent through them. Ayame's shuriken had started the dominoes, striking the first and sending a wave of fury through the remaining. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of light bulbs still existed within the confines of the railcar grave; the lighting was not prone to go out any time soon. The menace found itself on the floor, on the opposite side of the cars that it desired to be on. Other Jack had leaped to the earth to avoid the electrical precipitation falling from the grandeur roof.

"Ayame! We must make haste!" Jack screeched as he scuttled towards an open railway car.

"I know! The power stone!" Ayame yelped.

Accel turned his back on the young Japanese girl and flocked for what seemed to be a steam-powered crane. He glanced behind him to make sure that his love was making a run for the opposite area.

Jack and Ayame dived into a railway car, sending mounds of dust flying into the musty air. Summoning all her strength, Ayame attempted to close the fifty-year-old door. With an ear splitting creak the door slid shut. Jack through one of his knives on the door lock to try to keep it shut.

"Jack? That's your knife… the most precious item in the world to you…" Ayame was at a loss for the sacrifice that Jack was about to make.

"It will do me no good when I am dead, no? Haha, I'm not about to give it to my evil twin there either!" Jack mused.

The railway car was an elegant one, lighted with swinging light bulbs dressed in lampshades. The overall color was a dusty red. Chairs covered in soft red velvet, and mahogany tables lied about. This could have been the gambling car at one time. Etters, papers, knick-knacks, and assorted items were thrown about, littering the car in a blanket of filth. The windows were tinted black, the carpet invisible under a sea of women's beauty items, and several shining object lied about.

"Shinies! Oh so many shinies! Which one is the power shiny!? Jack wonders so!" Jack rubbed his hands together greedily.

"Keep on task Jack! Accel's out there trying to buy us time to find the stone! Can't you smell it or something?" Ayame pushed over a box filled with junk.

Jack sniffed the air, swaying his head to and fro like a crane would do in the midsts of a dance. He closed his one red eye, trying to lock onto the scent of the fine stone. After a moment, Jack shook his head. "Eh, Other Jack's smell is overpowering the shiny. Jack, I, can't latch onto it…"

Ayame sunk. "Then we better look for it. How big is it?"

"Huh, about as tall as the base of my palm to the tip of my pointing finger and as wide as the length of my thumb." Jack made an "L" figure with his free hand.

"And the color?"

"Deep purple, no red! Wait… purple! Red! Purple!"

"Purple or Red, got it!"

Ayame's ninja skills had taught her to be aware of every aspect her senses could provide. So many polished gems shined in the lighting. She quickly knocked over several cardboard boxes filled with photographs in an attempt to find the one stone. "We could be here for a very long time looking for it, Accel doesn't have that long out there!"

THUD! The whole car shook violently as a powerful object landed on the car's top and bounced off. The lighting flickered on and off as papers and dust exploded in a scene of chaos. The gems scattered about like leaves in the wind. Ayame gripped onto a swinging light to maintain her balance. The shaking soon stopped, leaving a most unfortunate mess. Jack looked towards the door.

"He's on the door side!" Jack pointed out.

Ayame gulped. The one knife might not hold him off! In fact she was sure it wouldn't. She would just have to hold her ground no matter what. But she couldn't stop thinking what happened to Accel.

"What are you doing Ayame?! Help look! Quick like!" Jack practically submerged underneath the litter on the floor, searching for the one stone.

"It's-It's not here." Ayame stuttered after shoving the table out of the way.

Jack looked up from a box. "What? Not in this car? Hahahaha, what an unfortunate mess, hehehe."

"What's so funny? We have to run to the next car!" Ayame asked.

"Them only thing funny is that we have no idea what's going on outside. Hehehe we could walk right into an ambush!"

"Well we can't just stay in here forever! Accel's depending on us! There's gotta be someway out of this car besides the door!"

Jack looked around from his box, trying to locate some sort of exit. The roof was all one piece and the only door was the one they had locked. Jack then dived under the liter, searching.

"Hurry Jack!" Ayame exclaimed.

"Aha! Found it!" Jack's voice squeaked.

"Found what? An exit?"

Jack emerged from a wastebasket by the front of the car. "There's a panel here on the floor. Hehehehe, it's a tight squeeze, but we can crawl along the track to the next car."

Ayame hopped over to the panel. It was, sure enough, a very tiny metal grate. Jack pried it out of place easy enough, letting the dust fly into the tense air. Dark tracks ran a little over a foot below. Ayame glanced down, deciding if she could wriggle down there.

"I'll go first. I'll be faster than you!" Jack slowly slid into the panel and onto the tracks. Breaking every bone and popping every joint, Jack managed a very strange insect like skitter below the cars. Light only poured in by the sides where the inch wide gap rested. There was no sign of action to disturb the lighting. It took even Jack a slight bit of uncomfortable time to reach the panel in the next car.

He looked up at the panel. Thankfully there were no screws or nails to hold it in place. Jack sighed relief and placed his hands firmly against the metal rectangle. Ever so slowly, he pushed the lid up, giving him light from the car above. No shadows or moving obstructions blockaded the light. This was good. Working like an acrobat, Jack slid himself into the car in a very slow and cautious manner. The car looked like the one before, almost exactly. Except the door was wide open. Jack instantly leaped for it and without a second looked pulled it shut and placed his remaining knife on the door's handles.

Twenty odd minutes passed before Ayame judged that the Frenchman had reached the car. The sounds of battle did not reach her ears. Taking one last look around, Ayame crawled into the hole. For Ayame the trip was painful and slow. Being a natural human she found it extremely difficult and close quartered. It took her an hour or so before she reached the other car. Fortunately only one car was ahead of this one, and that was the engine. When she popped her pretty head in she found Jack digging through a purse.

"Ah yes. Perfect shiny! Hehehehehehehe!" Jack laughed.

Ayame raised an eyebrow. What was Jack doing? "Jack! Help me up." Ayame called.

Jack leaped up nervously and stuffed the purse under a chair. Quickly he turned back to Ayame and scuttled for her. He reached out his bandaged hand and helped her in.

"Have you found the power stone yet?" Ayame asked.

"Uh no! It's still in here somewhere, I'm sure!" Jack said.

Ayame hesitated a moment before replying, but decided to skip her thoughts and get to work on the real problem. "…Right. You look over there and I'll jump over here."

Ayame placed her hands into a box and dug around. The crate was full of gems of every kind, but not the one she was looking for. That stone could be anywhere. She spun around to hear Jack laugh.

"Haha, I think I've caught onto it! Hahahaha! Somewhere in this half of the car." Jack laughed.

Ayame wiped her brow and smiled. Her thoughts wondered off to Accel and Other Jack. Why hadn't anything happened yet?

** *

The steam lift was near a tunnel entrance, where the front of the train lied. Mounds of coal dozens of feet high surrounded the monstrosity. Its metal claws resembled a dinosaurs head, ready to grab into a mouthful of coal and drop it into the trains resource cars. It lied dead silent.

Accel sat quietly behind a small pile of black coal. Other Jack was stalking him, crawling around the ticket office for over an hour and a half. Accel was doing his job, luring the beast away from his friends. However his calves were falling asleep from staying on his haunches for so long.

"Damned legs." Accel muttered to himself. If he didn't move, he'd soon go crazy from the tingling sensation running through both of his legs.

Slowly, Accel raised his body in an awkward attempt to bring feeling back into his legs. One leg stretched out unseen and silent, then the other. Slowly feeling drained into his body again. Sitting down on his bottom to stretch his legs out brought a painful reminder back to Accel. The spurs were still in his pocket! He clenched his teeth together to stop any noise. He reached for the metal spikes and drew them into his palm. Now was a better time than ever, he supposed, to put them back on. He clipped a spur onto his right leg as the feeling came back. But as he clipped it back onto his left a spasm from the feeling caused the spur to go flying off and into the coal pile. Accel gasped.

THUD!

The spur struck a piece of coal lying near the surface of his five foot tall pile to topple over, striking the next piece of coal and then the next one, creating a miniature rockslide. The noise was unbearable. Accel quickly picked himself up. Other Jack was already on his way.

"Shit!" Accel spat. He turned tail and started into the coal maze, heading for the mechanical beast ahead. "Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit!"

The trail between the mountains of coal was small and unfortunately winding, causing the cowboy to lose his way several times. Accel knew he had to escape and escape fast! Other Jack was leaping from the summit of a coal pile to the next, quickly catching up to his prey.

Accel made it to the foot of the machine. Like a metal hill it rose upwards at a slant before the operating booth could be reached. Accel smiled. "This should help!"

Other Jack landed right behind, swinging both of his daggers in an expert fashion. "Hahahahaha! You dare come into my lair?!"

Accel didn't respond. He leaped bounds up the metal hill towards the dusty booth. Other Jack was right on his tail, striking the one spur with his nasty daggers. After the perilous climb, Accel launched himself into the booth. He quickly slammed the metal door shut and did his best to lock it.

"Ah hell! How do you turn this damn thing on?!" Accel pressed every button and turned every dial he possibly could.

Outside Other Jack pounded against the steam shovel's frame, trying to get in. Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Needless to say it did little to help Accel's position.

VAROOOOOM! With the turn of a key, Accel got the machine started up. Steam erupted in great clouds from the machines old pipes and the whole frame rattled like it was going to fall apart. The start up was such a shock that even Other Jack fell of the shovel and into the coal and steam below.

Accel grabbed a lever and pulled it as hard as he could. The great mouth of the shovel opened. "This should slow you down you filthy bastard!" The pull of a couple levers sent the crane's head crashing into the coal below. Other Jack emerged from the steam rolling like mists. Accel made it his priority to chase the enemy no matter what. The yellow head of the machine swung through the maze, making for the ever-elusive Other Jack.

"Hahahahahaha!" Other Jack laughed as he darted around every crash of the machine. Accel's eyes narrowed.

** *

Ayame placed her hands between the dusty cushions of a crimson velvet couch. He searching hands made contact with crystalline form. She smiled. She pulled it but it was stuck. "Jack! Come here I think I found it!"

Jack dropped the chair he was holding and leaped over. "Pull it out! Pull it out! My shiny!"

"It's stuck! You'll have to help me!" Ayame told him.

Jack's powerful hands grabbed the stone, and together they pulled with all their might. After a moment they both fell backwards with a power stone in there hands.

"This is it! My shiny!" Jack laughed.

"The power stone!" Ayame screamed.

** *

Other Jack stopped right in his tracks on top of a coal mound. His red eye twitched. "My shiny! Someone has my shiny!"

The moment taken by the distraction was all Accel needed. With a grin and a lever, the machine's steam shovel plowed down on top of the creature, crashing right through the black rocks. Steam erupted all over as the shovel crashed into the station floor below the pile. Coal flew everywhere as well as bolts as the force was so immense. The crane leaned a sick way to the left. The machine had broken from the force exerted.

"Accel!" Ayame called. She stood near the car's entrance, it's door unlocked. "We have the power stone!"

Accel leaped out of the machine and slid down the coal piles. Steam was still billowing from the steam shovel. He strode through the mists until he came near the train.

"Accel we got the stone!" Ayame said with glee.

Jack emerged with his one knife. "What happened to Other Jack?"

Accel pointed to the rubble behind him. "He's under all of that. That should hold him for a while!"

CAREEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAKKKKK! The sound of metal twisting and turning reached the three's ears.

"It's-it's impossible!" Ayame stuttered.

"Quickly! Into the engine car!" Accel grabbed Ayame by the shoulder and shoved her into the front. The engine car was open to the outside. The furnace stood ready. Accel grabbed a shovel and started shoveling coal into the furnace. "Come on people! Shovel!"

Ayame grabbed a shovel and threw some coal in as well. Jack looked out side. "Other Jack is at the top of the coal pile! No time! Start train now!"

Accel grabbed a lever and a flame burst into light. Steam erupted once again into the station as the trains wheels started to move. The train started pull into tunnel ahead. Soon the station was completely gone and the train raced down the dark dusty rails of an abandoned tunnel.

"Is he still there?" Accel asked as he manned the levers.

Jack looked out once again. "YEA! HE STILL THERE! RIGHT BEHIND US!"

Other Jack was racing by the side of the train, gaining distance as he closed in.

"Damnit! Ayame! Use the stone to wish him dead or something!"

"I can't! You can only have one wish on the stone and I already made mine!" Ayame gasped.

"You told me that your father took it from you!" Accel gritted his teeth.

"I know but I lied. The truth is I actually wished for something when I received it. It… it just took time to reach me." Ayame's voice trailed off.

"What are you talking about?!" Accel asked.

"He's gaining!" Jack interrupted.

"I – I wished I'd meet the love of my life! I met you!" Ayame confessed.

"…Ayame…" Accel was at a loss for words.

** *