Nick woke up. "Ow...where am I?" He was resting on a set of tracks in a gray, cloudy void. Behind him was an inky black nothing, while in front was a brilliant white light. "Am I dead?" He sighed. "Guess it was going to happen eventually." He began moving towards the light, trying not to think about the friends he'd be leaving behind...

When all of a sudden, halfway to the light, he stopped moving, as if an invisible set of chains had suddenly grabbed his rear wheels. "Huh? What's going on?"

"It's quite simple. You're not dead, just unconscious." Nick's jaw drop. He knew that voice, and he knew who the silhouette emerging from the light belonged to.

"...Cressida?"

There she was, Cressida's ghost. Her livery was now black, with a thin stripe of maroon ringed around her frame a few inches below the top, two fluorescent yellow-green stripes shaped like Z's rotated 45 degrees on her side.

"Hello, darling. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yeah." Nick sighed. "Oh, Cressie...I failed you."

"Failed? Hardly." He snapped to attention. "You were in a rough patch for a few years, yes, but would you expect something different from someone who'd just lost their wife and was never allowed a chance to properly grieve? But you rose above and beyond that, especially in these last few months.

"By continuing to protest, you have successfully brought to public attention the discrimination that diesels face. By fighting Boomer when he attempted to send far more to what lies beyond life, you have avenged me. And..." She smirked. "You have found love once again. Tell me, Nick. Is there a woman you love?"

Nick gulped. "I...don't want you to be jealous, but...it's Lady. She...she knows, what it's like to be me. It's just so...relieving to have someone who understands."

"I'm not mad at all. In fact, when I was alive I realized that, had you and her met then, you would've forgotten about me." She sighed. "Truth be told, I shouldn't have let my jealousy cloud my judgement. She would've been a fine friend to you, and perhaps she would be a better fit with you than with me."

"Don't say that. You both complete me in different ways. You taught me the world and held me back from going too far. Lady pushes me further when I still have room to go."

Cressida nodded. "Your time is not due for several years, Nick. You have much to live for, so go out there and live it." She scooted forward and kissed him, for the first time in their life since Crana had improved their mobility. "And tell Lady that kiss was for her as much as it is for you. I'm not into women like she is, but I do feel somewhat bad for not letting her at least work up the courage to tell me how she really felt."

Nick blushed. "S-sure. See you on the flipside." Cressida smiled and reversed into the light, then he reversed into the darkness.

"Time to wake up."

Lady trembled, sobbing. "What happened?" Billy asked, approaching her.

"Nick...he–" She hiccuped. "He's gone."

"Oh..." Billy began crying too.

A claw suddenly burst from the bay, and rising up, wet and battered like a sea monster who'd fought a cruiseship and won, was Nick. A fiery glint was in his grass green eyes as he clambered out of the bay and onto dry land, then into the arena above. He summoned his hands and pulled out a rock and a clam that'd gotten stuck in his undercarriage, then tossed them aside. "Takes more than a few rocks to take down the ultimate diesel, guys."

"NICK YOU BUTTHEAD!" Lady screeched, slamming into his front. "You freaked the crap outta me! Don't DO that!"

"I know, I know, I love you too much to do that willingly."

Lady flushed as purple as her paint. "Uh...you do?"

"Yeah, I'll admit it. I've fallen in love with the grape."

Lady sighed. "You and your dumb nicknames..." She smirked. "And I fell in love with the butterstick." She wheeled up to him and blushed. "May I?"

"Yeah."

They closed the gap between them and kissed. It was perhaps the most magical thing any Lifer had ever seen.

"Awwwww," Rosie and Caroline cooed, then looked at each other in shock.

Billy chuckled. "What a sap."

"Wow," Lady said when the kiss broke, somewhat catatonic. "I love you too, you big oaf." Nick laughed.

"Nick! You're hurt!" Dart exclaimed. He rushed over and inspected his injuries. "Okay, it's not too bad, but no speeding until I get all of these smoothed out."

"Wouldn't have it any other way, old friend."

Boomer was trembling in fury. "NO! I KILLED YOU!"

Nick glared at him. "May I?" Lady asked.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Boomer, a word." Lady approached him, then proceeded to fill the air with more blue than Gordon had ever been painted with in his entire century of life. Those in the audience had to censor her outburst with strategically-timed whistles and honks. "Okay babe, you're up!"

"Gladly." Nick approached Boomer himself, Pinchy laid flat on his roof. "Boomer, you've done a lot of good for me. You got me out of a toxic living space, introduced me to some of the best friends I've ever known...but it doesn't excuse what you did to get me there."

He summoned the Deep Voice, this time willingly, and snatched Boomer off the ground with his claw, lifting him so the diesel could stare him in the face. "You slaughtered hundreds just because they were living beings different from yourself. You ruined entire ways of living to satisfy your cravings of genocide. YOU KILLED THE FIRST WOMAN I LOVED, AND ALMOST DID THE SAME TO THE SECOND. YOU HAVE BROKEN ME SO BADLY THAT THERE ARE TWO AND A HALF DECADES OF MY LIFE THAT I AM NEVER GETTING BACK. YOU BROKE ME, BOOMER...SO NOW I'LL RETURN THE FAVOR!" He threw Boomer into the air, and when Boomer was about twenty feet off the ground slammed him down onto the rails with the bucket of his claw.

"Is he...dead?" Thomas asked.

"He'll live. But judging by how his legs are bending, he's not going to be able to walk ever again." He paused. "Now what? I've defeated the bad guy and got the girl. What's next?"

"Well, a lot of engines don't have homes anymore," Thomas said. "Where will they go? Half of them are too big to fit on Sodor or on England." He gasped. "I have an idea!"

End of Act Three.