A/N: And here, this is another chapter of "The All-You-Can-Eat Car". Now, this is where Tulip learns more about Amelia, as we all know. :)

Infinity Train: The All-You-Can-Eat Car

Chapter 3: The Past Car

A few minutes later, the group were setting the TV input to VCR and turned the VHS player on.

"Now, then, shall we?", the cat spoke before placing the tape inside and watching it first as Tulip looked away for a moment before noticing how entranced the cat is and growled a bit.

"It looks like we'll have to go in.", Atticus spoke before he and Tulip looked at the TV and gasped at the same time.

The next thing they knew, they were now in front of a tv screen which showed how Tulip, Atticus, and the cat looked right now in the ball pit car before then turning to notice the cat sleeping before heading over to her and stopping near her. When they did, the cat woke up as one of her eyes opened first before the other did.

"Took you long enough. Luckily, I was in dire need of a catnap.", the cat spoke as she then sat up.

"Sleeping's creepy.", Glad One commented, surprising Tulip and Atticus.

"Aah! One-One! How'd you get here?", Tulip puzzled.

"I followed you.", Glad One responded.

"Yeah, but...how?", Tulip puzzled.

"How did you wind up in here with us?", Atticus puzzled.

"I don't know.", Glad One responded.

"So, the dog and the glorified wind-up toy will be joining us.", the cat spoke as she started off.

"I am glorious.", Sad One responded before Tulip, Atticus, and One-One started following the cat through a corridor of slight static on the rips.

"So... what exactly are we looking for here?", the chubby girl asked.

"We'll know it when we see it.", the cat only assured.

"Very well, then. If we must...", Atticus responded.

"But if you hated the conductor so much, why'd you help him?", Tulip puzzled as the group of four turned right on the corridor.

"Je suis dÉsolÉ. I thought if I found you, I'd be left alone.", the cat responded.

"That's funny. That didn't work at all!", Glad One responded before laughing the same way he did back when Spinel tried to cheer Steven up while cracking himself up before calming down.

"No. It didn't.", the cat responded before she heard a static noise and noticed a wall of static behind them as it made itself known and grew into a wall with the cat going through it before Tulip and the others eventually followed the cat towards what appeared to be a classroom on a rainy day.

"Excellent work, Alrick.", the teacher spoke while handing him his paper with a grade on a red marker saying, "A+ Great job!" on the right of it while on the left, it showed the name "Alrick Jimmens" with the date below saying, "25/03/1963", which meant the 25th of March 1963 while the topic below them on paper was concerning the themes of "Alice in Wonderland", before the teacher hands the girl her results, which was apparently lackluster as far as she can tell.

"Perhaps you should spend less time with your toys, Amelia.", the teacher spoke.

"It's not a toy. It's a crystal radio.", Amelia retorted.

Then, just as Alrick felt bad for Amelia, Tulip walked over to him and grew curious about him as Atticus had thoughts.

"Well, he seems like a fine gentleman.", Atticus commented.

"Who's this goof?", Tulip puzzled.

"Someone very important.", the cat responded just before the teacher then sat down on her chair, which apparently had a whoopee cushion on it, alarming, if not disgusting, her, causing the children to laugh as Alrick grinned a bit giddily before Amelia gave a warm grin to him.

"Mark, I know it was you.", the teacher spoke to someone.

"Hahahaha! Again!", Glad One laughed before the memory apparently got rewound as she even went in reverse, puzzling Tulip, and Atticus before the scene played out again with the same results.

"One-One, did you do that?", Tulip puzzled.

"Yeah! I did! Again!", Glad One spoke.

"Ball! Cease this foolishness.", the cat urged.

"Fine-uhhhh.", Sad One groaned on response.

"How did you rewind the memory back to that point?", Atticus puzzled.

"I dunno.", Glad One responded.

"Wha...?", Tulip puzzled just before the bell rang, prompting the students to get off their seats and then leave in an orderly fashion with Tulip following close by.

However, the memory quickly advanced to another one 13 years later, leading to graduation.

"Engineering. Derived from the Latin words 'ingeniare', to contrive.", the man spoke through the microphone.

"It looks like some sort of formal gathering.", Atticus guessed.

"This memory better not be another waste of time. I'm even kinda cramped enough as it is right now.", Tulip responded.

"I can't do this. There are too many people.", Alrick spoke nervously.

"You wanna make a run for it? Bunk off before they hand us diplomas?", Amelia asked jokingly, making Alrick laugh nervously.

"Here.", Amelia offered before she then got out her handkerchief to dry out the sweat on Alrick's face, much to Tulip's surprise just as the man on the microphone then finished his apparent speech.

"Congratulations, Class of '76.", The man finished before everyone then tossed out their hats in the air.

"Wait... Is that...?", Tulip puzzled as she noticed Amelia wiping the sweat off Alrick with her tissue.

Then, before long, another memory took place on yet another rainy day with Amelia and Alrick running across the sidewalk and the street with the two lovebirds laughing before they went in the phone booth.

"Quick, in here.", Amelia spoke to Alrick, who then noticed that he had no change.

"No change to call a cab, love.", Alrick stated.

"Wait, there's a new trick I learned. If we play the right tones into the receiver, we can control the network.", Amelia spoke before playing said tones, patching her through to the phone.

"Hello?", the operator puzzled.

"Whoa!", Alrick spoke in surprise.

"It worked! Hi. Y-Yes, we need a taxi.", Amelia spoke.

"Tell 'em we're sopping wet!", Alrick responded playfully.

"Shush. Shh. Shh. Shh. No, no. No, not you.", Amelia responded.

"Yes, you!", Alrick spoke.

"We're very dry. 100% dry. Very dry.", Amelia assured as Alrick wrung out the water in his hat on top of his head before both laughed.

"Well, that wasn't much help. It's kinda weird how some of this rain is bouncing off on me, though.", Tulip responded.

After arriving inside another memory inside the house, Tulip noticed the rain still on her.

"Can't believe I'm doing this but...", Tulip began before she shook the water off her body, shaking her folds enough to get the water off, briefly alerting One-One, Atticus, and the cat to back away from the water spouts being launched.

"Geez. Why don't you try using a towel?", Sad One suggested.

"That is what I was going to say.", the cat spoke up.

"Sorry. But I didn't see any towel here. And I didn't want to use someone else's towel without asking.", Tulip explained.

"Perhaps it's best left to the dogs. Literally.", Atticus responded.

Then, Tulip spotted Alrick playing a video game of sorts with a new pair of glasses before Amelia walked up to him before Alrick put his hood on turned around, stood up, and held a sort of voice changer near his mouth before speaking in a robot voice.

"A-mel-i-a.", Alrick spoke to Amelia, surprising Tulip.

"The conductor?!", Tulip exclaimed.

"Mm-hmm.", the cat responded.

"He was the one who attacked us with the steward?", Atticus puzzled.

"D'une certaine façon.", the cat responded.

"It is I, your normal boyfriend. I am a hu-mon. This is how I sound now. I do hope that it's acceptable.", Alrick continued in a robotic voice.

"Oh, very acceptable, but you're obviously a robot.", Amelia responded, making Alrick gasp in surprise.

"And me? I'm just a simple hu-mon. But perhaps we can bridge the gap between our two civilizations.", Amelia finished as she walked toward Alrick and presented a sort of container with a perfectly cut, pink Spinel gemstone on top before opening it to show two engagement rings inside.

"So...what do you think?", Amelia asked before Alrick took his glasses off in surprise.

"Oh.", Alrick sighed while also taking off his hoodie before tearing up out of joy with Amelia and Alrick kissing each other on the lips a bit before they then hugged.

"A touching love story. But what could've happened that drove him toward that dark path?", Atticus puzzled.

"Plato says love is a serious mental disease.", Sad One commented.

"That, we can agree upon, ball.", the cat concurred.

"So, this is the conductor's tape? He's just some...British guy? What happened to him?", Tulip puzzled.

"So impatient. Just watch.", the cat responded as One-One caught up to the others.

"And we're getting to that, aren't we?", Tulip guessed.

"Could be, Ms. Tulip.", Glad One responded before both suddenly fell through the floor while being surrounded by a cylinder of memories inside and landed outside the house at night in the rain. Outside, four people close to both Alrick and Amelia were near the entry with one of them at the door before Tulip, Atticus, One-One, and the cat both went through the door (literally) and then saw the conductor overcome with despair.

"Hey. C'mon. Please, open up. Look, I know it's hard, but it'll be good to go. We're all here for you.", the man assured.

"Uh, where's Amelia?", Tulip puzzled.

"Gone forever?", Sad One guessed.

"I see. So, that's what became of him. He must've suffered so much untold grief that he now treads the very dark path he currently walks.", Atticus guessed.

"Well, the service... it's starting now.", the man spoke before the static then went all over the memory and altered it to a point that they are now in a new memory.

"Wha!", Tulip exclaimed in surprise before she noticed the cloaked being walking away on the street past the burger and pizza restaurant, especially past the engineering building and Kelly's Market.

"Ooh. Looking at all those restaurants is making me hungry. But it's gonna have to wait.", Tulip spoke before before trying to catch up, only to find out that she couldn't even move any further than where she is now.

"Why can't we reach him?", Tulip puzzled.

"The tape reflects how each memory was stored and the conductor keeps this memory at a distance.", the cat explained.

"He's not exactly cooperative, is he?", Atticus commented.

"Beaten by the System.", Sad One stated.

"One-One, you rewound this tape earlier and you made us fall. Can you get us a better view?", Tulip asked.

"I think so.", Glad One responded before he, Tulip, Atticus, and the cat both flew up as Tulip screamed before they stopped going up and stopped at a point where they saw a sort of brain-like maze.

"Huh?", Tulip puzzled before she then saw a certain memory that needed to be seen.

"There! Take us in.", Tulip spoke to One-One before the four started going down.

In the memory at night, though, the top of the campus suddenly disappeared before the conductor then moved in with Tulip, Atticus, One-One, and the cat just behind him.

"Let's follow him.", Tulip suggested before they all moved in and were now in top of the campus where the train tracks were.

However, that was when the train first arrived, it blew the hoodie off her before it turned out to be none other than...

"Amelia?", Tulip puzzled in surprise before a door opened with a portal inside in front of Amelia, who started walking toward it before the tape stopped, bringing Tulip (who gasped), Atticus, One-One, and the cat back to reality.

"Amelia...she's stuck here like me.", Tulip realized.

"I never thought that she'd be so much like you and yet..., so different at the same time.", Atticus spoke in surprise.

"Oui. Once upon a train, there was a different conductor. Until Amelia arrived and ousted them for her own purposes.", the cat replied.

"And not for nothing, but how are we to know who the real conductor is?", Atticus asked.

"Well, there was a reason I wanted to take that ball One-One with me when we first met.", the cat responded.

"Wait. Are you saying that...One-One's the real conductor?", Tulip asked in shocked surprise.

"Ta-da.", the cat grinned.

"Well, that was surprising.", Sad One stated.

"So, you dragged us through a tape when you could've just told us that in the first place?", Tulip puzzled.

"Oh. I guess I should've just told you he was the conductor this whole time?", the cat spoke sarcastically.

"Yes, you should've just told us.", Tulip retorted.

"It would've made a lot of sense if you just did that.", Atticus responded, causing the cat to gasp.

"But where's the showmanship?", the cat responded before Tulip sighed and then realizing something else.

"Well, now, I know that she's a person named Amelia who was in love and...she's hurt. And she's running away from the changes in her life...because she's afraid. Like me.", Tulip sighed as she knelt down a bit before Atticus and One-One went over to Tulip and then gave a sad look.

Suddenly, her hand started glowing brightly, prompting Tulip to look at her hand and notice her number changing as One-One gleefully up and down before Tulip's number finally reached 0. At that moment, her hand then shot out green rays of light, temporarily blinding her before it dimmed down, making her gasp before a green light went down on the floor next to the gem door and formed a similar transparent door before the lever turned and opened, revealing a dimensional portal back home as it turned out that whatever happens to that person Tulip saw from the Grid Car was actually him getting back home.

"What in the name of mustard and stink-tail is that?", Atticus puzzled in surprise.

"Home...", Tulip responded.

"Hooray! Now, you'll be gone forever!", Glad One cheered.

"To be clear, that's a good thing.", Sad One spoke before Tulip looked back at her number and closed her right hand.

"No. I can't leave while Amelia needs help.", Tulip responded as she then went downstairs.

"But what about your door?", Atticus puzzled.

"I'll just have to take it with me. If the conductor is just a person and the train is just a machine, then what's stopping me from doing what she did?", Tulip pondered before noticing one of the steward's severed tentacles nearby.

Later, Tulip and Atticus were foraging through the wreckage, even unearthing Khaki Bottoms.

"Oop. Pardon me.", Khaki spoke before jumping off with One-One moving a ball away in the meantime before Tulip rolled the cat's carrier toward the exit.

"All right, Tulip, what's the plan?", Atticus asked.

"It's like programming. We're gonna use the cat's shuttle as a controller. I saw that the train had some kind of input socket next to the door.", Tulip spoke as she then looked at her notebook before getting out one of the steward's severed tentacles and then moving it close to the exit door, causing the tentacles to tap certain keys which then revealed said, panel, making the obese girl grin.

"How do we connect the shuttle and the input?", Tulip asked before One-One spoke up.

"I can help.", Glad assured before removing a sort of wire from the shuttle.

"Did you just break my shuttlecraft?", the cat asked.

"Depends: who's asking?", Sad One smirked.

Then, Tulip got out her multi-tool from one of her fat folds and then tweaked the wires together in order to successfully connect the shuttle to the input before the shuttle started up successfully after connecting the tentacle to the input with the cat leaping into the shuttle.

"My paws are your paws. Where to, kitten?", the cat asked.

"Take us to the engine.", Tulip responded.

"And posthaste, if you will.", Atticus added before the cat then pressed a button, causing the car to disconnect from the others and then go up as purple lightning struck before the car went forward rather quickly with Tulip looking to Atticus, who looked back at her before with a determined nod before Tulip looked back ahead of her with similar determination as the trio, and the cat, rode across the top of the train for the confrontation ahead.

A/N: Looks like there's a confrontation coming. And while things would go a bit differently, it'll still be similarly happy in a way. That's all I could say right now. Until next time. :)