(Hello. Once again, thank you for the reviews. I don't want to waste your time, so here is Part 7 of the mini-series-within-the-series-which-is-actually-technically-at-part-13!)

After resting for the night, Miro's company once again begins travel. It was nearing Summer, and the sun was getting a bit warm.

"Whew... I'm boiling..." Anna says, fanning herself.

"It's nine o'clock," Miro reminds her. "The wind's still chilly, what're you talking about?"

"Oh... I guess you're right." Anna says, shrugging and proceeding normally. Miro looks at her strangely.

"...I'd like to find out just how that brain of yours works, that you can think it's hot, and actually believe that so completely that you sweat."

"Ladies don't sweat." Kate informs him.

"Oh, then what do they do, produce bacon grease?"

"Actually," Matthew begins. "It's been proven that in areas of little or no perfume shops, a female will naturally produce brand-made perfumes from their skin, the type depending on their attitudes. Anna would be cherry,"

"Kate would be violet," Miro continues.

"And Ricca would be..." They both say, pausing to think for a moment. "...steamed onion." They grin and high-five one another.

After delivering a well-placed elbow on the jaws of both of the guys, Ricca looks at them.

"And why's that exactly?"

"Err..." Matthew begins, not wanting to say anything.

"Since you asked..." Miro says, rubbing his jaw but still brave enough to continue. "It's steamed because of your obvious attitude, and it's an onion because-" He's cut off suddenly by 120 pounds of ankle force coming down on his foot at mach 8, which caused him to lose the desire to continue his scentence very, very quickly. Instead, Kate and Anna finish in his place.

"-she can make boys cry!" The three of them laugh and give each other high fives like the guys did. Miro just limps on and tries to keep his eyes from watering.

"That has to be the worst line that any female has ever invented." Matthew says, sighing. "It has no humor or meaning, it's just a positive buff for females who believe in their own superiority to males."

"...What he said..." Miro says, sounding like he was still in a reasonable amount of pain.

"You just say that because you lost the argument." Ricca says, the other two girls nodding.

"...So?" Matthew says.

"Besides, you cheated." Miro says. "Do you see me stomping your foot an inch into the ground?"

"Can we just focus on the mission?" Kate says. "Ricca, where are we on the map?"

"Let's see..." Ricca says, taking a look at the map she had drawn out. "We're in the plains, so we should be... here. Now, there's supposed to be a railway nearby but I don't see one... it may have been removed a while ago, the map is kinda old-"

"Hey, look, a railway!" Anna says, pointing out in the distance.

"...Oh. Or not." Ricca says. "Anyway, this is helpful."

"How?" Miro asks.

"I'll show you once we're there." Ricca says, and they continue their walk until they had reached the tracks and were standing beside them.

"Now, it says to directly follow the tracks." Ricca tells them. "So at least there won't be much of a chance of us getting lost for the next while."

"Yeah, I guess so." Miro says. "Not that we had that problem in the first place, but I guess it's a nice precau-"

"Shh." Anna says suddenly, the rest of them quieting down. "I thought I heard something..."

"What?" Matthew asks in a whisper.

"Kinda like a hiss or a pop or something between that." She says.

"It might be a train." Ricca suggests.

"No, it didn't come from the tracks..." Anna says. "And it didn't sound like a train..."

"Just forget it." Miro says. "You were probably hearing things. Let's get go-"

Suddenly, the sound was heard again behind them,within hearing range of everyone. It had happened twice before they had fully turned around to see what it was, and then it stopped. There was nothing nearby, but there was an odd wisp of smoke about twenty meters away.

"What was that?" Miro says, looking at the smoke.

"It seems to be what I like to call an etheral residue." Matthew says. "It's just fade-away smoke from some sort of magical... poof."

"Magical?" Miro says, laughing. "What can there possibly be here that's magical?"

The others, minus Kate, remain silent, knowing a couple of things from their town that could do that.

"...Well, anyway..." Miro says, him and the others turning around slowly. "We should mo-"

Suddenly, the sound sounded behind them again, only this time directly behind them. Miro and the others whip around quickly to find another wisp of smoke, only this time it was filled by...

"...Crap." They all mumble, as they see their parents directly in front of them, a hat-wearing man with Miro's father's face holding a stone and the majority of them coughing due to the smoke.

"Oww!" The man says, dropping the stone. "Jee, that thing gets warm after you use it a lot!"

"Yeah, yeah, cough anyway," The man that Miro immediately recognizes as his father says, looking over to Miro's group. "It's high time that you guys came home."

"Ugh, it's not getting through to you, is it?" Miro says. "I'm not going home, not yet. I've got a mission and I'm completing it no matter what you try!"

"Oh, c'mon," The tanned man that they had met earlier says. "I'm tired of this, besides, there's nowhere you can go that we can't follow you with this in our hands." He points over to the Teleport Stone that was dropped.

"You think that we won't find a way to escape like we did last time?" Ricca says. "We'll fight all of you if we have to, and we won't lose."

"Yes, you will." Another man with a hat says, only his hat was turned forward. "You're hopelessly outnumbered, it would save some time if you just gave yourself in."

Suddenly, Miro hears a noise that gave him new hope fo the situation. A train was coming in their direction. He looks over to the others, who all nod, knowing what he had planned.

"Go!" Miro says, him and most of the group running to the tracks. Ricca stayed for a second, though, to run up and kick the Teleport Stone a distance away, into some tall grass. She then runs across as well.

The plan had one snag, however. Most of the group made it across, but Miro had managed to get his shoe caught between the boards of the track. He pulled as hard as he could, but couldn't free himself.

"Oh, dammit..." He mumbles. "Hey! Hey, help!"

"Just take your shoe off!" Kate says, rolling her eyes. "Those people in movies never think of taking their shoe off, but really, it's a good idea."

"Oh, yeah..." Miro says, bending down to his shoe.

"You'd better hurry, too, Miro!" Mathew warns him. "Or you'll be crushed flatter than Kai's seaside quad-cheese pizza with pepperoni and extra sauce!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm... Wait," Miro says, standing up suddenly. "They come in quad-cheese AND extra sauce?"

"Yeah, it's great stuff, you should really try it!" Matthew replies.

"I will, man. I've been waiting to try a combination like that since I was four! I mean, seriously, the gooey satisfaction of quad-cheese alongside the tangy tomato flavor of extra sa-"

"MIRO!" Everyone, including the parents, yelled.

"Oh, right, the train." Miro says, returning to his shoes. "Let's see... If I pull this string, and them undo this knot, I should-"

SMASH!

As Miro collided with the train, the entire group squint their eyes at the sight and let out a resounding "Ooooooooohhhh...."

"Well, he got his shoe unstuck..." Anna says.

Noticing something, Ricca turns to the others.

"Guys, now's our chance! The train is moving in the right direction, and Miro's going that way anyway, so let's jump on before the others notice!"

"Yeah, let's go!" Matthew says, and with a running start, they all jump at the train, managing to grab on despite the speed and stay hanging on the sides.

On the other end of the train, Nami thinks of something.

"...They're going to jump on the train!" She says.

"We've got them!" Jack says as he, the other Jack, Gray, Cliff, and Kai, with a running start, jump at the train and... bounce off of it, landing in injured heaps on the ground.

"Try again!" Popuri yells.

Groaning, they get up and jump at the train again, this time grabbing onto either the train or each other and hanging on for dear life.

"So... What should we do?" Mary asks as she watches their husbands carried away by the train, scrambling to get on the roof.

"Well, we should look for the Teleport Stone that Ricca kicked away." Popuri says, shrugging.

"And then maybe we could have a round of Parcheesi." Nami suggests, the others nodding at this.

Meanwhile, back at the train, Jack (from the Valley) and Kai, who had clung onto him, clambered up on the roof of the speeding machine.

"Okay, where are they?!" Jack yells over the wind.

"I don't know! Hey, wait, there's one!" Kai says, pointing forward and spotting a pink-haired girl climbing to the roof right in front of them.

"It's Ricca!" Kai informs Jack. Ricca, hearing Kai's voice, turns to him.

"Oh." She says. "I suppose that you'll try to take me back, then?"

"Well, yeah, that's basically the plan!" Kai says. Jack nods with him.

"Keyword is 'try', Dad." Ricca says, walking to them calmly, her hair blowing in a fierce fashion in the wind.

"Oh, so you're gonna fight us? Alone?" Kai says.

"Yes." Ricca replies. "And I plan to win. What can I say? I'm stubborn."

"That kinda thing'll get you in trouble, Miss." Kai says, pulling out his latest weapon, a two-handed swordfish, and pointing it to her. Jack looks around for a weapon as well, but decides to just stick with his fists.

"Try me." Ricca says, beginning the fight by jumping up and, using the wind to her advantage, performing a... flying clothesline by holding both of her hands out and letting the wind blow her at them, striking them both to the ground. She then lands again and crosses her arms, waiting for their next move.

"Ugh... Your kid's got skills..." Jack says as the two of them get back up. "Hmm... let's go at her at the same time. On three, ready? One, two, three!"

They both run at her, Kai reaching her first and swinging the swordfish, which she effortlessly dodged. Jack jumped at her, but while she was in her lowered position from the dodge, she just used his momentum and the wind to her advantage, pushing him up with her feet and watching him fly down the back of the train. Now it was only her and Kai. Kai lunged at her once, which she also dodged, but then the two pulled back from each other.

"Give up yet?" Ricca asks, yawning boredly.

"Ha!" Kai says. "I know all of your tricks, if anyone should give up, it's you!"

"If that's what you think..." Ricca says, pulling a bar from the side of the train and holding it out like a weapon. "It's your funeral."

Kai once again slashed at Ricca, which she blocked with her weapon. They continue to trade blows like this until finally Ricca disarms him, the fish flying and bouncing away.

"This is for trying to stop me,"

She then strikes Kai with the bar, barely pausing.

"this is for cooking fish every day for dinner,"

She strikes Kai again.

"and this is for throwing out MY DAMN DIARY!"

She hits Kai with a huge force, sending him flying clear off the train.

"THAT WAS AN ACCIDEEEEEENT!" Kai yells as he fell, finally landing in a fashion best left undescribed.

Throwing the bar away, Ricca cracks her neck, smugly sitting down on the roof.

At another section of the train, Anna looked around on the roof, enjoying the passing view. Suddenly, a man climbs up right in front of her, panting for breath.

"Oh. Hey, Dad." Anna says, giving him room to stand up.

"Hello, sweetie." The hat-equipped Jack says, looking over to her. "Time to come home now."

"Sorry, but I can't." Anna replies. "The rest of us are gonna go looking for a very special place and I don't wanna miss out. You told me about it, remember?"

"What?" Jack says, scratching his head. "But... wait, THAT place? Well, I'm afraid you're not gonna see it."

Anna looks ahead of them, and then smiles. "Yes I am."

"Oh, so you're going to act like that, are you?" Jack says, beginning to walk at her, but interrupted by the flailing body of the second Jack colliding into his own, hitting him to the floor. The second Jack, finally, fell over the side and onto the ground.

Getting up, Jack streightened his hat and looked at Anna.

"You thought that was gonna be enou-" He is suddenly interrupted again by a large swordfish colliding into his face, staying on for a few seconds before Jack pushed it off of him.

"Okay, that's it, I'm gonna-" But he is interrupted for a third time by a solid steel bar smashing into his skull, bouncing off and leaving Jack in a state of much pain.

"Uuugh... Where's the hospital...?" He asks, obviously in a daze.

"Right over there." Anna says, pointing over the side of the train. Jack follows her finger and walks right over the side, lost to sight.

"Wow, that was easy." Anna says, laughing.

Meanwhile, Matthew had climbed up on a different section of the train. He also looked around and immediately spotted Gray staring at him, waiting for a response.

"Oh... Hey, Dad." Matthew says. "So we're gonna fight?"

"Yep." Gray says. "Unless you give yourself in, which would be much easier."

"Sorry, Dad, but that's strategically impossible." Matthew informs him. "Since that would mean that I give up, which would mean that I lose. I don't like to lose."

"Sometimes you have to take a loss." Gray says.

"Sometimes, but that's not now." Matthew says, getting ready to fight.

"...Heh, you're not going to win like that." Gray says. "How about this: You're my son, so I'll give you a headstart. I'll be hanging onto the side, and when I say go, we begin."

"Fine by me." Matthew says, shrugging. Gray nods and lowers himself to the side of the train, only his hands visible on the top.

"Oh, and Dad?" Matthew says.

"Yes?" Gray replies.

"How about this: You're my father, so I apologize for not telling you about the mail bag."

"What? What mail-" But Gray is quickly cut off by a face-level mail bag, left behind from some old train station that must have been there before to let people mail things from the windows of their train, striking him. Matthew couldn't see what exactly happened, but Gray's fingers weren't hanging onto the sides anymore.

A distance away, Mary, using binoculars, could see quite clearly what had happened as Gray rolled and tumbled himself to a stop.

"Idiot..." She mumbles under her breath.

At around that time, Kate and Cliff clambered up to the top of the train at the exact same time, noticing one another once they had reached the roof.

"...Who are you?" Kate asks, looking at him.

"Me? I'm... Wait, who are you?" Cliff asks back, looking at her as well.

"I don't think I need to tell you." Kate replies. "It would probably be better that way, anyway."

"How do you figure?"

"Well, if you don't know my name, it'd be harder for you to track me once we've escaped."

"Who says that your group's gonna escape?"

"Who says we aren't?"

"Well... Okay, Y'know what? I don't care about you, I'm just looking for my friends' kids. Do you know where they ended up on this train?"

"Probably that way." Kate says, pointing to the train cars ahead of them.

"Oh... Well, thanks." Cliff replies, beginning to walk across the car and stopping when he was at the gap between it and the next one.

"Hmm... Now, how am I gonna get across here?" He says to himself. Kate, finding the opportunity, dashes up to Cliff silently and clears her throat.

"HI MISTER!" She yells. Cliff, shouting in surprise, stumbles and falls down the train. After landing on the tracks, his yells of considerable pain from being hit by every single car that passes over him after that point is heard quite clearly over the noise of the machine.

Kate, proud of herself, laughs a little and realises that she now has something to tell Miro if he ever complains about her doing that again.

Meanwhile (again), Miro was lifting his seriously bruised body up the front of the train, to the surprise of the driver, and eventually made his way to the solid roof. Breathing heavily, he remained on the ground for a few minutes. Finally, he lifted his head up and looked ahead of him, suddenly gasping.

Directly in front of him, looking away from him and seemingly unaffected by the wind, was a young man that looked to be Miro's age, with silver-white hair and a strange look about him, even though Miro han't yet seen his face. Pulling himself to his knees, Miro spoke.

"Who are you?" He says. Despite the wind, the young man seemed to hear him and turned around, gazing at him with a cold, expressionless face. Miro was correct with his hunch, he was definitely around his age.

"It is time for you to go home." The person says plainly. Miro stands up on his feet and laughs a bit.

"Oh, not another one of you!" He says, suddenly looking at him seriously. "Listen, bud, and tell this to everyone else, We've gone too far, I'm not turning back now!"

"Turning is not a necissary movement." He replies. "If necissary, you may be dragged."

"Ha! Good!" Miro replies. "Because that's the only way you're going to bring me back!" He then reaches into his rucksack and pulls out a baseball bat, brandishing it like a weapon.

"You have been hit by a train, yet you still believe that you could face me and come out victorious." The person says, still without much of a tone to his voice. "The chances of you defeating me in these conditions are 0/1."

"Then I'll take that chance!" Miro says. He pauses for a moment to think about what he just said. "...Wait, that's not very good, is it?"

"No."

"Oh... Well, whatever!" He yells, running at him and swinging the bat. It was dodged at a supernatural speed, though, and the man punches Miro directly on the chest with a colossal force, sending him flying back... or it would have, if the train weren't moving. In truth, he ended up landing behind the person due to the wind.

Remaining on the ground, Miro pulls his head up to see the person facing away from him again, looking out as though Miro wasn't even there.

"Wh...What... are you?" Miro says weakly, gasping for breath.

The person waits for a moment before answering, turning to face Miro again.

"...Gifted."

Miro realises now that this person was far above his ability, he couldn't win the fight without aid. He didn't even have a proper weapon, the bat was knocked out of his hands when he was hit by that punch.

"Wait... Hmm..." Miro says to himself, slowly reaching his hand into his rucksack. "Well... it worked before..."

Suddenly, Miro yanks out none other than his trusted Goat Milker and launches it to the person's face.

"Not quite." The person says, grabbing Miro's wrist just in time, although it seemed that he could have stopped him earlier. With a swing of his arm, he spun Miro and slammed him back on the roof of the train, letting his arm fall limp afterward.

"Have you been taught enough for one day?" The person asks.

"Heh... you know..." Miro says, slowly rolling from his back to his front. "It may look like you're winning this... but I know something... you don't know..."

"What you know is not of my concern, there is no possible route out of this situation. Give up this folly of a journey and come with me." The person says.

"Heh... Goodbye, Mr. Gifted..." Miro says, laughing a bit. The person looks confused for a second, then turns behind him. A tunnel.

He turns back to Miro.

"...For now." He says. Miro, smiling, suddenly turns on the goat milker and throws it in the air, making it hover for a second at eye level with the person.

Miro went under the tunnel, the other wasn't so lucky. Thankfully, Ricca, Kate, Matthew, and Anna all saw the tunnel coming.

"Duck!"

"Duck!"

"Duck!"

"Where? ...Oh- DUCK!"

Miro remained lying on the ground, not like he could do much else anyway. As they cleared the tunnel, he let out a sigh of relief. It was a good thing that the general public was too lazy to build the tracks around small mountains like that, or he would've been toast.

Meanwhile, planted quite solidly against the rocks, the person remained still for a moment. The goat milker was attatched to his face, which he found a bit displeasing. Tearing his right hand from the rocks, he flicks off the suction, catching it in his hand as it fell off. He looks at it for a moment, then puts his face close to it and smells it. His eyes narrow.

"Demon..." He mumbles, throwing it aside. He then pulls the rest of his body from the stone, seemingly unharmed, and falls to the ground with a graceful landing. Turning, he proceeds into the tunnel at a relaxed walking pace, until he was completely covered in the shadow.