Everyone was staring at this gigantic legless ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster, staring at them before snorting and giving the same roar.
"HOLY-!" Everyone instantly scrambled away from the tree as it charged forward at an incredible speed that crashed into the tree, causing them to split as it got its horns into the tree.
"Go, go, go, go, go!" P.T. Boomer shouted as he helped Bernie to his feet as Baz scrambled up. "Get to Diesel 10!"
The gigantic legless ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster struggled to get its horns out of the tree as it snorted and growled, using its hands to push itself out.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!" Diesel urged as the gigantic legless ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster finally freed itself from the tree and saw them heading toward them.
Seeing there was no time for them to just climb into his cab, Diesel 10 quickly scooped Baz, Bernie, and P.T. Boomer before catching by surprise when Sailor John was pushed toward his face when Pinchy went downward.
Said the gigantic legless ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster stormed over to the rails and stood in front, snorting as it prepared to charge as it kicked its hands.
Diesel 10 gritted his teeth before grabbing the back of Sailor John's jacket and sweater with his teeth, startling him before muffling, "Go! Go! Go!" towards Diesel, who instantly wasted no time standing around gawking.
Sailor John was tugged backward quickly as his jacket and sweater were grabbed by Diesel 10's teeth, and the gigantic legless ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster charged forward but kept slipping because of having no legs.
"SLOW DOWN, YE'RE SCRAPIN' THE BOOTS OFF ME-!" Sailor John exclaimed before going over a bump that caused him to yelp.
Whenever the gigantic legless ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster got close, Pinchy would swipe at its snout while Bernie held onto its arm with his arms and legs, and P.T. Boomer and Baz were in its grip.
Pinchy would smack it across the snout, which caused it to snort, snapping its teeth at Pinchy as Diesel 10 picked up speed.
Diesel was speeding backward before flinching when Diesel 10's back buffers appeared and gently bumped him, which Diesel yelped before their coupling link connected.
Not wanting to complain or try to separate, Diesel only continued moving backward with Diesel 10 as he tried to avoid the gigantic legless ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster.
They turned around a bend, and Diesel 10 almost went over as he muffled something, perhaps cursing along with Sailor John as he grabbed his front buffers.
The gigantic legless ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster stormed over, and using its hands, it slammed them against the ground, and like magic, the earth started shifting and split down the middle, causing the tracks to buckle and bend from its powers.
Diesel 10 and Diesel continued moving backward as the gigantic legless ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster did the same thing again, shredding the tracks from the ground as it lifted into the sky.
Bernie wrapped his arms and legs around Pinchy's arm while Baz held onto P.T. Boomer while Pinchy moved backward to keep them from getting hurt, and Conrad clutched onto Pinchy's base while shrieking.
Suddenly, they went down a different line, and the gigantic legless ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster went the opposite way while Diesel and Diesel 10 went down the other line.
"Okay, we lost it!" P.T. Boomer exclaimed.
Diesel and Diesel 10 skidded to a halt before hearing a yelp from someone, and they glanced over, seeing the same blue-haired girl with the cat and a doll on the other shoulder.
"Hmm, nh'h mrr!" Diesel 10 exclaimed.
The blue-haired girl looked confused as the cat instantly puffed while the doll said, "What are you all doing out here?!"
"You can talk?!" Diesel exclaimed from behind Diesel 10.
"Never mind that!" the blue-haired girl exclaimed. "What is-?"
A bellowing moo-like roar happened, and everyone perked up, glancing over as the same monster appeared in the distance.
"That's the Black Zodiac!" the doll exclaimed.
The blue-haired girl instantly hopped onto Diesel 10's buffer on the other side as Sailor John went onto the other buffer as Diesel 10 released his garments from holding onto them.
"Hurry!" the blue-haired girl exclaimed. "Move forward!"
"Don't tell us twice!" Diesel exclaimed as he moved forward, pushing Diesel 10 forward as he descended the line as the blue-haired girl and Sailor John held on.
They went near a ledge, and the Black Zodiac ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster stomped its arms, and the line started buckling a little as Diesel 10 and Diesel crossed them.
Diesel 10 winced when he saw one of the bumps on the rocking rails moves upward before clang!
Diesel 10's eyes crossed after feeling something hit the back of his gears, but he shook it off as Diesel continued pushing him back as the Black Zodiac ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster continued chasing them.
"Quick!" the blue-haired girl pointed as they stopped as she hopped off from Diesel 10's buffers. "Keep moving forward!"
"What about you?" Sailor John asked.
"I got this!" The blue-haired girl smiled, taking her cat and doll off her shoulders as she opened Diesel 10's cab and quickly placed them inside.
She removed the same object Diesel saw from her blue jeans pocket and zapped the top, transforming into a half-bird, half-human hybrid.
Once she transformed, the blue-haired girl took off into the air as Diesel 10 and the others watched in shock before shaking it off and going down the line fast.
The Black Zodiac ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster appeared and started attacking, missing her as it swung its arms around and missing her at every swing.
She could not get close to its pendant and thought of another way as she went backward, missing another swing of its arms as it roared.
Meanwhile, Diesel 10 and Diesel watched the battle between the blue-haired girl and the Black Zodiac ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster as Diesel exclaimed, "We got to do something! That was a child!"
"I know, I know," Diesel 10 exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me she was a child?!"
"Again, I didn't realize she was a child!" Diesel snapped back. "Besides, she looked much different from afar!"
"Enough snappin'!" Sailor John exclaimed. "We've got t' do somethin' about that huge thing!"
The cab's door opened, and the doll the blue-haired girl was holding exclaimed as she was on the cat's back, "We can lead it somewhere further in the woods! That can try to weaken it a little!"
"Are you sure that's going to work?" Bernie asked, still holding onto Pinchy's arm.
"It will!" the doll nodded. "Stephanie has a special ability to help defeat the Black Zodiac!"
"Let's do it then!" Diesel 10 nodded as they switched lines and headed toward the battle.
Meanwhile, the blue-haired girl named Stephanie avoided the earth powers of the Black Zodiac ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster but slammed against a tree and headed toward the ground.
The Black Zodiac ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster was about to grab her with its clawed hand when Pinchy went into view and slammed it into the face, causing it to fall backward on its back with a pained bellow.
Stephanie landed on top of Diesel 10 as her necklace snapped, transforming herself back to normal as she pushed herself up before scooping the pocket watch and placing it into her blue jeans pocket.
"Need a hand?" Diesel smirked.
The Black Zodiac ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster stood up and was angry, as its nose was bleeding with what looked like pitch-black blood.
It roared as Diesel 10, and Diesel went backward, leading it through the woods as it stormed through the woods.
"That's it!" Diesel 10 smirked. "Keep following us!"
The Black Zodiac ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster continued to storm through the woods and crashed through some trees with ease as Stephanie looked around, coming up with a new plan.
When it was close, Stephanie lifted her hands, and gold-like threads suddenly came from her fingers, wrapping around the trees and the Black Zodiac ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster's limbs.
The Black Zodiac ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster soon stopped as it bellowed in anger, trying to free itself from its binds.
Stephanie pulled back with her hands, tightening the strings as the Black Zodiac ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster moved back, trapped in a web of gold strings.
"Hey, you got it!" Diesel 10 perked up as Stephanie smiled.
The gold strings were tightening around Stephanie's fingers as they started to leave marks, but Stephanie was focused on getting the Black Zodiac ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster's necklace.
But something landed on her back, and she yelped as Nightmares suddenly came from different directions in the darkness and started attacking them.
"Hey!" Diesel 10 snapped as Pinchy went around, smacking the Nightmares off as they scratched at everyone.
Sailor John started punching and kicking at the Nightmares with his hands and feet, causing them to shriek in pain and return to attack, but he was pushed back.
Baz and P.T. Boomer used their feet to kick away at the Nightmares as Stephanie struggled with one on her back, attempting to snap at the strings around her fingers as she kicked at the Nightmare with her legs.
"Shoo! Shoo!" Bernie exclaimed as he swatted at them with Conrad but held on to Pinchy's arm as it swung around, smacking them like flies.
Notches and Lucy noticed and instantly hopped out of Diesel 10's cab as his driver quickly closed the door to keep the Nightmares from attempting to get into the cab.
Diesel blew fumes into the Nightmare's faces as they huffed and gagged from the smell while they went to Diesel and Diesel 10.
The Black Zodiac ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster was slowly being released from its binds as some of the gold-like strings were snapping, and Pinchy noticed while Diesel 10 was snapping at the Nightmare's clawed fingers to keep them from getting close to his face.
When one of the strings snapped, Pinchy grabbed one of the strings, tugging backward to keep it from being freed as it tugged its limb.
Diesel 10 was slowly being dragged forward as Pinchy was holding onto the string, and Diesel noticed and quickly started up, moving backward to keep Diesel 10 from being pulled forward.
"Get off!" Stephanie snapped at the Nightmare as it tried to get the pocket watch from Stephanie's pocket and kept scratching at her body and the strings around her fingers as it was using its claws to snap them.
Fortunately, Lucy and Notches arrived just in time, and Lucy swung her key at the Nightmare, smacking it across the face as it hissed before Notches tackled it as it fell over Diesel 10's roof.
Stephanie stood up and tugged forward suddenly, seeing the Black Zodiac ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster slowly being freed and reaching a hand toward Diesel 10.
Diesel was losing the tug-of-war as he huffed and puffed, using all his might to keep it from grabbing Diesel 10.
Stephanie gasped as she switched the strings to her left hand and held on tightly before summoning her bracelet, transforming it into her staff.
She drew a circle from the tip and inserted her crystal into it, emitting a sound wave that caused it to be launched backward from the sound.
Once the Black Zodiac ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster was lifted into the sky from the sound wave, Stephanie was suddenly lifted with Diesel 10 and the others on his roof because Pinchy and Stephanie had strings on them, and Diesel watched with worry and horror.
Stephanie quickly removed the strings and transformed her staff into a sword as the Black Zodiac ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster approached her with its hands.
But Stephanie suddenly surprised it with a single swing of her sword, slicing its collar around its neck as it snapped off.
The Black Zodiac ox-beaver-cat hybrid monster poofed into thin air after the necklace was sliced off, and the group fell back down to the ground before she used her string ability again.
Strings created a trampoline underneath Diesel 10, and he landed safely on top of it in front of Diesel as everyone else landed on his roof along with Stephanie.
After everyone landed, the strings disappeared as Diesel 10 landed safely on the rails, and everyone collapsed on his roof.
Diesel sighed in relief as the Nightmares scrambled away after seeing that Stephanie had defeated the Black Zodiac.
"Are you alright?" Diesel asked.
"We're fine," Diesel 10 nodded. "But that was a close one."
Stephanie gingerly pushed herself up as she winced, hissing through her teeth as she looked at her hands as her crystal sword transformed into the bracelet around her wrist.
Burn marks were wrapped around her fingers and half of her palms from the strings, giving her some pain but not enough to bleed.
"Blimey," Sailor John remarked as Stephanie looked up at him from her hands, and he was gingerly pushing himself up as his hat had fallen off.
"You okay?" Stephanie asked.
"I'm fine." Sailor John nodded as he put his cap back on before glancing at her. "How did ye do all that?"
"Yes, and what was that huge thing that chased us?" Bernie asked, a little shaken up from their close encounter.
Stephanie sighed as her doll and cat walked up to her, and she gently scooped them before perking up when a star lifted from where the pendant had shattered.
The star went towards Stephanie as everyone watched before going up into the sky, disappearing with the stars as Stephanie glanced back at the group.
"That you all witnessed was a Black Zodiac," Stephanie explained as Pinchy looked down at her. "They are the dark version of the original Zodiacs but are mashed together with others that resemble the same thing. Like the Western and the Chinese version of the Ox with the Beaver from the Native American Zodiacs and the Cat from the Celtic Zodiac."
"Then that was one of them?" Diesel asked.
"Yes," Stephanie nodded. "One out of eleven I needed to destroy."
The group instantly looked surprised after Stephanie told them as she added, "But I did defeat the Black Aries Zodiac a while ago, so that's ten I needed to destroy."
"How are you so calm about this?!" Bernie exclaimed as Stephanie stood up from Diesel 10's roof and brushed herself off. "You're, what, eight years old?!"
"Ten, but close." Stephanie nodded as she scooped the cat and doll into her arms.
She winced when her fingers started stinging again but ignored it as her cat climbed into her hood and the doll sat on her shoulder.
"I need to find something," Stephanie spoke as she slid off Diesel 10's cab and onto the ground.
There were scratch marks on some parts of her body left behind from the Nightmare attacking her, and the one on her cheek was bleeding blue blood.
Diesel 10 instantly noticed her blood as she reached up with her fingers, feeling the mark before looking at her fingers as they were stained.
"Stephanie," the doll spoke. "You're bleeding."
"I-I know," Stephanie stammered. "But that doesn't matter. It'll-"
"Now, wait one minute." Diesel 10 scooped Stephanie into his claw, and she flinched. "You aren't walking away without being mended."
P.T. Boomer gently took Stephanie out of Pinchy and onto Diesel 10's roof, seeing Stephanie's scratches and fingers with burn marks as he gently looked at them by her wrists, and Stephanie was confused.
He reached into his bag and took out a container of bandages, repairing her injuries as Stephanie asked, "Who are you all?"
"P.T. Boomer," P.T. Boomer responded. "Don't move around too much."
Stephanie nodded as she allowed P.T. Boomer to mend her injuries, and Sailor John responded, "I'm Sailor John," then he mentioned to Baz and Bernie, "And these two are Baz and Bernie with Conrad."
"And I'm Diesel 10," Diesel 10 responded. "The claw attached to me is Pinchy, and Diesel is behind me."
Pinchy clacked a little in response as Stephanie looked up at Pinchy, who was hovering over her as Notches gave little growls.
"What about you, kiddo?" Diesel 10 asked.
"I'm Stephanie," Stephanie responded. "Stephanie Allen. I'm a friend of Sir Topham Hatt."
"Make sense," Diesel nodded. "But what are you doing out here?"
"Searching for something," Stephanie responded as P.T. Boomer finished mending her injuries, her fingers and palms wrapped in bandages and some on her cheeks. "I can't tell you it all since… I don't trust you all."
"Speaking of which," Diesel responded. "Are you looking for a gate of some sort?"
Stephanie flinched after Diesel mentioned the gate, and Stephanie's doll asked, "How did you know that?"
"Welp, we found it." Diesel 10 paused a little. "One of them that you had already unlocked," Diesel 10 responded as Pinchy moved a little. "So we sort of know what you are planning."
Stephanie looked worried as the doll said, "If you plan to destroy the gates, you can't even destroy them."
"Huh," Diesel 10 remarked as he started moving forward, and Stephanie flinched while P.T. Boomer held her from sliding off his roof. "Then how come that Black Zodiac crashed into it?"
A bad feeling sat in Stephanie's gut as they arrived at the scene where they found the gate, but they were stunned when the tree it was in was magically repaired.
"Well," Diesel 10 spoke. "That's… new."
After arriving at the scene, Stephanie slid off Diesel 10's roof and said, "Thank you for helping me. Ah, I hope you all learned your lesson of attempting to fight against a Black Zodiac."
"It's not our-!" Stephanie took out a whistle from around her neck and blew into it, erupting Gold Dust from it as it swirled around Diese 10 and the others before disappearing.
They soon arrived back at one of the stations, a little startled that Gold Dust suddenly came out of the whistle as they were in the same positions.
"That was also new," Diesel 10 remarked.