Infinity Train Book 2: Emma's Story

by OmegusXIII

When Emma Stephens was brought to the Infinity Train, she considered it more a curse than a blessing. And her bumping into a certain reflection that wanted nothing to do with her didn't help. But when danger strikes at them, they come to realize that the only way out is by working together to die trying.

8. The Lab Car

A/N: Hello. :) Sorry I couldn't post up a new chapter in the Summer like I said. But, I was finally able to post this new one, and just in time for Christmas. Now, taking notes from my last chapter, the love scene took up a lot of time. So, going forward, I decided to shorten them in the sense where you get where it's going with a few examples while also showing the aftermath. There are a few explicit things, but they won't be in view long enough to warrant a warning, so just imagine them in different angles. The full details of said love scenes would be shown in my side story, Mirrored Passion, which I plan to return back to before the end of the year. Other than that, there's a special guest appearance by someone you may or may not know from Johndoe326's story "Cause and Effect". Be sure to read on and keep an eye out. ;)

Chapter 7: The Lab Car

Emma wanted it to last forever. She could feel herself being wrapped in a cold, yet warm embrace. It was just the way she liked it. However, as much as she wanted to stay asleep, it kept prodding her, urging her to open her eyes. It was only a matter of time before she did. And what she saw was a pleasant surprise. It was a clear blue sky with the sun shining overhead.

Emma looked around and found herself in a field of flowers before she sat up. Although, to her surprise, she found herself without her clothes. Emma had a blush on her face as she saw it, and yet… she didn't feel too embarrassed about it. As of yet, there didn't seem to be anyone else. Somehow that made her more worried. Could they have gone missing?

"Jesse? Jack? Alan Dracula?"

Not one peep out of either of the three came out. Emma looked down at her hand, finding that her number had gone missing, too. Her heart began to race at the thought. Did she end up back home? And if so, did she leave the one person she loved behind, too?

"M.T.?!"

There was silence again. Emma held her head down, feeling ashamed that she had left her behind. And after the magical night they had, too. Just then, however, Emma heard a voice behind her.

"Over here!"

Emma looked behind her, having heard that voice before. She turned around and immediately found M.T. by herself in a lake. And what surprised her was something that was impossible for her to do: she was swimming! She was chest deep in the water, and with no sign of drowning, either. Emma also noticed a pile of her clothes out in the water. A smile began to form on her face as she shouted back to her.

"M.T.!"

Emma quickly ran over to the lake before she jumped into it with a dive, putting aside the fact that she was underdressed. Even her secondhand embarrassment was overpowered by her need to be with her again. When she got into the water and came up to the surface, Emma elated her surprise about her swimming.

"How are you doing that, M.T.? I thought you couldn't swim."

"Me, too. But this is pretty fun."

Emma then drew closer to M.T., wrapping her arms around her head as she began to speak softly.

"Well, not as fun as being with you, babe."

M.T. drew closer to Emma, making a smirk as she spoke.

"Hey, that's my line."

The two of them shared a laugh together before they stared into each other's eyes. The moment they did, they began to shimmer silver, as if being placed in a trance. And it seemed to prove effective, for they drew in closer and began to engage in a passionate kiss, moaning into each other's mouths. But while they did so, they were oblivious to what was happening to the environment, mainly the water. The water began to turn grey and silver, matching M.T.'s natural colors. And sure enough, she inadvertently began to pass that same color onto Emma, her white skin color and her red hair both coated into a metal-like skin. But that wasn't the cherry on top.

M.T. and Emma began to melt together, binding themselves to the metal ocean that surrounded them. But neither of them seemed to care. As they held each other close, the two lovers began to completely melt away into the metal ocean just as a big wave was coming at them. Before they could finish, Emma and M.T. were instantly overcome by the wave with a big splash.

---

Emma opened her eyes with a startled gasp. She looked around to see if any of it was a dream. All she could make out was the same bed she and M.T. slept in (along with the snoring sliver beside her), the kitchen to her far right, and the drawer that was next to their bed. Emma then looked at her right hand, seeing her new number of "130". Seeing this, a small smile came on her face as Emma closed her eyes and sighed in relief.

"That was a weird dream. But… it felt really nice."

Emma then got out from the right side of the bed, letting the blanket fall off from her body before she sat up. Emma looked to her right, facing the drawer. She wondered how her little slime companion was getting along. She cautiously opened the drawer to see Visco still sleeping in his little bed. She gave him a gentle smile before carefully lifting him up with her hands and setting him on the top. Afterwards, she gave the little slime gerbil a pat on the head. With that, Emma made her way to the bathroom to get ready for the next day. Although, she was still weary about the Flecs popping up uninvited. So, she made sure to take M.T.'s spray paint can from the top of the drawer before she went towards the restroom again and cautiously opened the door.

Emma peeked through the door, confirming that there was, to her surprise, no mirror to be seen. All that could be seen there was a toilet and a bathtub with a plastic shower head above it, and shower curtains to cover up. The passenger drew a sigh of relief as she stepped in the restroom. From there, she closed the door before she walked into the tub. However, before she could set her leg inside the tub, Emma noticed a startling development: her legs had turned silver! Emma let out a shocked gasp followed by a bloodcurdling scream, instantly urging M.T. and Visco to wake up, the former shooting out of bed as she looked around in a wild daze.

"What was that?! Emma, where are you?! Is it the Flecs?! What's going on?!"

M.T. ignored the clothes on the floor and hurried over to the bathroom, determined to help Emma out of whatever danger she got herself into. But when she opened the door, her jaw dropped. She saw that Emma's legs were chrome, just like hers. The passenger's face turned beet red when she saw M.T., making a quick haste for the door as she shouted in an embarrassed tone.

"Aah! Don't look!"

Emma tried to close the door, but M.T. soothed her as she placed her hands on her shoulders.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down, Emma. We already know how we look by now."

Emma turned away with a blush before she spoke softly.

"Sorry. I just… well, did you notice my legs?"

M.T. gave her a subtle nod before she replied.

"I guess our theory was right."

Emma gave M.T. a nod back, although a bit more scared than hers was. She could tell that Emma has no idea how to go about it, let alone if it was meant to be a good thing for her. As M.T. placed her finger on her chin, Emma still felt worry creep up over her as she inquired to her.

"Can we take a look at them soon, M.T.?"

M.T. then had an idea as she snapped her fingers before she answered her.

"Actually, we can take a look at them now."

With that, M.T. grabbed Emma's hand and pulled her out of the bathroom, making her worried as she spoke out.

"Wait! At least let me wear a bathrobe! And you should get dressed, too!"

M.T. then realized why she'd suggested it. Although Emma and M.T. were used to each other's bodies, poor Visco wasn't. He was covering his eyes with his little paws. And sadly, they weren't having any effect, forcing the little slime gerbil to turn his back on them.

"Oh. Right."

---

Later on, Emma was in her bathrobe, sitting on the bed as M.T. (now dressed in her outfit) looked over her chromelike legs. She poked at her legs, looking to see if she happened to feel anything from the contact she made.

"Do you feel anything, Emma?"

Emma nodded to M.T. as she answered with a worried look on her face.

"Yeah."

M.T. then began to brush her finger on Emma's heels.

"Did you feel that?"

Emma gave her a small nod as she answered.

"Not much, but yeah."

Then, M.T. began to place her fingers in between her toes, making Emma struggle to contain her giggles until she went out in a burst of laughter. Chrome or not, she couldn't help how ticklish she was.

"Oh, please, stop, M.T.! I-I'm gonna burst!"

M.T. took her laughter into account as she removed her fingers from her toes before she replied.

"I think it's safe to say you felt that, too."

As Emma calmed down, she began to get curious about what the answer was for her condition.

"So, what's the prognosis?"

"Well, it's sorta hard like normal mirror people skin usually is, but it's sorta still human, like soft, and squishy, and all that."

"So… what does it mean?"

M.T. placed her hands together before she turned to Emma and formed a smile on her face as she replied.

"It means you get an A+. You're not a full mirror person. So, you're okay."

Emma looked to the side with a nod. It was somewhat of a relief to hear that she'd still be herself despite her situation. And it was even better news to know her number hadn't been affected by the process.

"That's good to hear. But, what are we going to do now? I'm still not comfortable with the idea of becoming a full-fledged mirror person."

M.T. paced around the room as she tried to think of a solution.

"You're right. I mean, it hasn't affected your number so far, but we don't know what'll happen if we keep that up…"

M.T. was lost in thought for a moment, trying hard to think of how to help Emma out. Then, she had an idea as she snapped her fingers.

"I got it! This train has a lot of weird stuff on it, right? So maybe there's a car with a hospital, or better yet a lab, that could, I don't know, help us figure out a cure for this thing."

Emma smiled at M.T., liking the logic of the plan. Weirder things have happened during her time on the train. But she's still worried about what she was going to do about her legs before then.

"Well, that's good, but how am I gonna explain these chrome walking sticks to the others? I don't want them to worry."

To M.T., it seemed to be an easy fix. At the very least, it certainly wasn't rocket science.

"Well, since it's your legs, I think you can cover them up with your jeans easily."

Emma gave M.T. a warm smile. It did make sense for them to be blocked by her jeans. So, that part of the problem was solved, assuming it was even a problem. However, Emma recalled when Jack's cure-all solution helped reverse the spread before the chrome spot on her skin could take over.

"Wait, won't asking Jack for that cure-all make it easier to fix this?"

M.T. only shook her head. She saw how much was left after it was used to save her in the first place. She highly doubted it would help her out.

"Nope. It clearly didn't get rid of whatever you're going through now. It only managed to get rid of the poison from last time, so it's a no go. Besides, we have no idea what it could do to you this time since this is more… biologically intimate. For all I know, it'll just turn you into a pile of goop, so that's out."

Emma found herself agreeing quickly. She didn't like the idea of being a puddle of silver slime. She made a small frown shortly afterward.

"Good point. I just wish there's a better way to handle this."

M.T. saw the worry on her face and sat down on the bed beside her, placing her hand on her shoulder before she spoke softly.

"Hey, of course there is. Letting me help you try to control it is another good option. Right?"

Emma gave M.T. a soft smile in response. Then, there was their destination to consider. There's no telling if it was farther away or closer to them. For all she knew, it could be years before they found such a car.

"Yeah. But what about finding that car you talked about? We don't know how far ahead that thing is, or if it's even close to us. How are we gonna get there without making everyone suspicious?"

M.T. only leaned closer to Emma before placing a gentle kiss on her cheek as she reassured her.

"It'll be okay, Em. We'll just go on about our day like we've always done so far. But until we learn more about your situation, I think we can put love-making on hold for now."

Emma made a casual nod in agreement. Although, she couldn't deny how blissful it was for her. She couldn't just forget about the one night they spent together. And she didn't want to.

"But I liked it, though…"

M.T. rubbed Emma's head gently as she concurred. It's not as though she wanted to forget that moment either.

"I know. Me, too."

---

Meanwhile, Jesse was stretching up out of bed, sighing as he stood up afterwards. He was mainly wearing his regular clothes sans jacket to keep from getting too warm. It was left upon a chair in the kitchen of his own room. The fact that Jesse could have a room to himself still astounded him. In fact, he'd completely forgotten about that fact as he turned to his right.

"Ready to go, Nate? It's probably time for-"

Before he could finish, Jesse stopped himself short and hung his head down. Jesse had just remembered that Nate wasn't with him. And what's worse, Jesse never got the chance to apologize to Nate for how he treated him.

"Oh. Forgot I had my own room…"

Jesse looked back at his own number, seeing that it was still stuck on the number of "11". It was bittersweet for him to say the least. While he was getting closer to going back home, he was still worried about what Nate would think of him after what he put his little brother through. Would he believe anything he'd say to him now? Or would he tell him to go away, or that he hated him?

At this point, he wouldn't be surprised if he said those things. And for that matter, what about his parents? How mad would they be if they ever saw him again, or would they have ever missed him at all? Needless to say, Jesse had barely gotten any sleep at all. Regardless, he got up out of bed and went out the door, wondering how Alan Dracula must be doing.

As expected, the deer was eating the grass out on Emma and M,T,'s front lawn. And as for Jack, he was doing some light jogging around his motel. He figured someone had to keep his guard up and make sure nothing bad happened. He knew that although M.T. can take care of herself if she could, even the Flecs terrified her. And thus far, he's been nothing but helpful, especially to him. In the time he knew him, Jack had excellent advice, and he wasn't afraid to tell Jesse like it is.

"The truth is, you can't be friends with everyone. There are people who actually want to be your friend, the ones who want to stay by your side no matter what, and then, there are people who use you for their own agenda. People who use you never do it once. Their 'favors' pile up, and they hurt other people around them. Hurts the ones you love, too. If you keep giving out more pieces of yourself than what you get back in return, especially to all those groups at school you mentioned, eventually, there won't be anything of you left. And for what?"

Jesse wondered what he had meant by having known this from personal experience. Did he have the same thing happen to him before? He'd ask him, but he wasn't sure if he should block Emma's chance to ask him her own question of the day about his past. She wanted to know as badly as he did, too. But he had to ask him something. As far as he knew, Jack seemed to have figured out his own crisis, despite his long life on the train. If anyone would know where Jesse could go from there, it's him.

"Hey, Jack?"

Jack turned over to see Jesse awake and standing out by the door without his jacket. He had a look that told the man that something must have bugged him.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Jack stopped his jogging for a moment before heading over to the young boy. Jesse seemed to be in a sad mood of sorts. He could only assume that Perry had something to do with it.

"This is about that parasite, isn't it?"

Jesse sighed as an answer. As always, Jack managed to read him like a book. Although, it wasn't all he wanted to talk about.

"Well, kinda… I just… I didn't realize what Perry was doing to A.D. or… or to Emma. I can't get over how stupid I was to let him toy with them like that. Just like I was stupid enough to sell out my own brother. I should've been there for him, but no. I had to 'fit in'."

Before Jesse could berate himself any further, Jack put his hands on his shoulders.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up, kid. Maybe you didn't see it coming, but that doesn't make you a bad person."

"Yeah? And how would you know?"

Jack bore a sad look on his face before he spoke softly.

"To tell you the truth, I knew a lot of sweet-talkers in my day. They always offer us something, or even make the things they do look like something to prove their point, but oftentimes, it's too good to be true. And everyone always fell for stuff like that. Especially me…"

Jesse looked at him in disbelief. He never pegged Jack to be the type to be tricked.

"Wait, you were tricked, too?"

"Yeah, once. Anyway, you shouldn't beat yourself up over it. It clearly won't change what happened. Just learn from it moving forward, and try not to be tricked so easily next time. That's all you need to do."

Jesse felt the load on him lifted off a little from him. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to make him smile again.

"Thanks, Jack. It's really helpful."

Jack only turned his head as he sighed to himself.

"Well, that's just general advice for you, kid. But at least, it's nice to know you appreciate it."

Then, Jesse began to realize what Jack had told him. It was another piece of the puzzle that is Jack's life. Jesse kept count of the cars they had been through since they first met Perry before leaving him behind. It was three cars. And Jack told Emma earlier that it was one question about his life every three cars. But since he gave out another detail about his life, Jesse began to wonder about something.

"Hey… does this count as a question?"

Jack stopped on the trail, recalling the conditions he made. However, Jack had only told that to Emma. And even if she did pass that on to Jesse, or most likely he overheard it, Jack kept count from the Flower Car to this car they slept in, too. He turned back to Jesse with a smile as he spoke.

"As far as you're concerned, nobody asked me yet. Why? Did you want to ask me something?"

Jesse only turned his head away before he admitted in a sheepish voice.

"Yeah, but I'd rather let Emma ask you…"

At the mention of her name, Emma and M.T. exited their own room with Visco on her right shoulder and noticed Jesse talking with Jack before the former spoke up in curiosity.

"Ask him what?"

Jesse and Jack looked to the ladies of the group and the latter became relieved that she hadn't broken down yet. He assumed it was because M.T. slept by her side that night, which was a good thing because he didn't know how Emma would feel after yesterday's fiasco. He then gave his answer to Emma.

"Oh, hey, Emma. I was just telling him I'd rather have you ask your question to him. You know, about his… past life?"

Emma realized then that Jack had started the one question for every three cars excuse. And it had just occurred to her that it has been three cars since she'd asked her last one. If there was an opportunity to find out more about him, if only to get her mind off her situation until they find a lab car somewhere, then this would be it. Or even better, she'd ask him about the Lab Car herself, assuming he's been there before in his lifetime. But she didn't want to waste it, so she had to be careful about what question to use.

"Oh! Right. Uh, Jack? My question of the day is, uh…"

M.T. caught on to that business and stopped her before she could begin to ask before she interjected.

"Oh. Why don't you ask him about…"

M.T. then began to whisper into Emma's ear. After she was done, Emma's eyes.

"But M.T., are you sure? What if he finds out…?"

Jesse and Jack looked at each other in puzzlement before the former had to ask about his policy.

"So, uh, did you really have to make that policy a thing?"

Jack had a look of slight anxiety and confusion on his face as he replied.

"Yeah, I really should've thought that one through. But what bothers me is why Emma's still worried..."

It was a puzzling thing. She was looking better since talking to the others last night about herself. She should be more open after all that. After a brief deliberation, Emma turned back to Jack with a smile before she began to ask him her question.

"Okay, Jack. I wanted to ask about you and your wife before, but… I'll save that for later. What I want to know for now is… have you ever come across something like the Lab Car?"

Jack raised his eyebrows in confusion. He expected a more heavy-hitting question from Emma.

"That's it? That's all you're gonna ask about?"

"Just until after three more cars. I could always ask later."

Jack lowered one of his eyebrows in slight suspicion. He had an idea about why she was asking about tht car in particular. And he didn't hesitate to call her out on it.

"You want to know if it can help you with your condition, don't you?"

Emma began to blush, worried that he must've found out about her condition that had just occurred to her this morning. Then, she remembered that she'd told the others about her condition yesterday during the escalation with Perry. Emma made a small sigh before she replied while M. up a shot of fresh grass from the ground.

"I'm not doing a good job of hiding that, am I?"

Jack gave her a soft smile before he rubbed her head.

"You could always ask me that. And it wouldn't have cost you anything. After all, you're the one who started to have metal powers."

Emma turned her head away with a bashful look as she replied.

"I guess…"

---

Later, the group was on their way out of the car as Jack was about to tell Emma about his own trip to the Lab Car. M.T. was especially concerned about what he had to say, particularly about the hunt.

"Like you guessed, I have been there. Once. And at this point, we're lucky we found no one else to hunt us besides Backscatter and the Flecs."

"What do you mean no one else? It's always been the Flecs in my experience."

"Yeah. And then Backscatter came along. If anyone else shows up, they're bound to have some upgrades of their own."

Just as Jack said this, he noticed an unfamiliar sight. He saw two passengers up ahead, one old and one young, as well as their companion, a small T. Rex with a red cap on his head switched in reverse. The older one's hair was tied into a French braid, and she wore a gray jumpsuit with a One-One logo on the right breast, a light gray tank top, a wristwatch on her left hand, a black belt with another One-One emblem as the buckle, and a black backpack for holding her gear. As for the younger, she had a similar outfit and hairstyle with her hair being a dark chocolate brown color in comparison to the oldest's light brown color, although her outfit was a light purple color, her dark purple jacket was tied around her waist, and her silver chrome-like boots had a green button on the ankles. Jack noticed that upgrade and became weary as he whispered while they stood near their own door, appearing as though they were tinkering with the car.

"Just like that."

Emma, Jesse, and M.T. became puzzled by their appearance, the third especially more so. The closer she looked at their faces, the more she began to recognize the younger one.

"Wait… that girl looks familiar…"

Emma looked at M.T. in puzzlement, as did Visco and Jesse.

"You mean you know her from somewhere?"

"Is she a friend of yours?"

M.T. put her fingers on her chin as she tried to recall.

"I don't know…"

It seemed easy enough for Visco to figure out, for he suddenly leapt off of Emma's shoulder and onto the bridge, making Emma and Jesse call out to it in a whisper-shout.

"Visco…!"

"Get back here…!"

Visco only continued to hop towards the group on the other end of the train. At the other end, the older woman was looking at a silver tablet of sorts while the younger was opening a side panel of it near the door.

"Where does it say the reset function is, mum?"

The girl's mother looked into the tablet, scrolling across it as she answered.

"It should be… a few clicks to your right."

"Got it."

As the girl tinkered with the panel, the mother began to hear faint squeaking coming close by. The miniature dinosaur became baffled as he looked around.

"Anyone else hear that squeaking?"

The girl ceased her work for a moment to turn to her companion.

"What are you going on about?"

Sure enough, she got her answer. When it got close enough, the trio noticed Visco hopping over to them before stopping to meet them and looking up. The little slime creature looked over to the girl who looked curiously back to it as she knelt down to it.

"Oh, hello. And what are you?"

Visco looked up and gave a squeak back in response. Although, the girl didn't appear to need to understand it to know the answer. The shape it took already told her.

"Ah. So you're a slime gerbil."

Visco made a confused squeak, as if puzzled that she could somehow understand it. The dinosaur felt the same way.

"Wait. You can understand that thing, Ava?"

Ava made a slight laugh as she shook her head before she answered.

"Not really. I can just tell from the look of it."

She held out her hand to Visco before it hopped onto it and she lifted him up and began petting it on the head with her finger gently.

"What are you doing all the way out here?"

Just then, M.T. called out to the group.

"Hey, get away from him!"

Ava looked up in alarm while Rexy and the older woman turned behind them to see M.T. come charging at them, only for a green barrier to suddenly appear where M.T. would've ran into them. As the shield rippled, M.T. was launched backwards on the bridge. M.T. landed with a hard thud before Emma, Jesse, Jack, and Alan Dracula came up to her in worry as the first two shouted in unison.

"M.T.!"

"Kid!"

M.T. grumbled as she sat up, though surprise was completely evident in her face.

"What the heck was that?"

The older woman only went up towards M.T. before glaring down at her.

"I think the better question is, what exactly are you doing here?"

Before either side could respond, Visco hopped up and down, as if trying to break up the fight before it could start. Ava had an idea about where it was going with its squeaking.

"Wait a moment. Are they with you?"

Visco nodded with a squeak before she looked at the group. Upon closer inspection, Ava noticed someone familiar among them, as did M.T. on her end. The both of them widened their eyes in a gasp when they laid eyes on each other. Meanwhile, both Emma and the older woman became puzzled about this meeting that was taking place, the former waving her hand in front of her eyes.

"Uh… M.T.?"

"Do you two know each other or something? Because it's rude to stare."

In a few seconds, Ava put all the pieces together. The last time she saw her, it was in the Pencil Bank Car after their escapade in the Mirror World. To see her after such a long time was a sight for sore eyes. Her eyes practically beamed from seeing an old friend. At the same time, M.T. recognized her from the same destination. Her look had hardly changed at all since they last saw each other, apart from the jumpsuits. The both of them spoke up in complete awe simultaneously.

"It's you! What are you doing here?"

First up, M.T. gave out her short version of what she had been doing since she last saw Ava.

"Oh, well, I was just exploring the train, and then I met these guys."

Emma made a wave to her with a slightly puzzled look on her face. She didn't quite know who it was, but she had a feeling that she must have been one of her old friends.

"Uh, hi."

All the while, Jack was puzzled. He hadn't seen these faces before, even in his own time on the train from the moment he started. Or at very least, he couldn't recall.

"You mean you know this girl, M.T.?"

M.T. turned back to Jack before she explained.

"Sure. Ava, Rexy, and I go way back."

To prove her point, Rexy walked up to her and held out his little hand.

"Hey, how are you doing, uh… you?"

Rexy didn't know what to call her. Last he remembered, she didn't like to be called Tulip or Mirror Tulip. M.T. only shrugged her shoulder with a slight smile before rubbing his head.

"Just fine. And you can call me M.T. for now."

Rexy made a small smile before he spoke.

"I like it."

Ava also noticed Alan Dracula behind them and went up to him with an eager look on her face.

"You're here, too?! What are the odds?"

Ava stroked the deer gently under the chin, making him huff before she spoke to herself while she made sure the deer was content.

"If I'd known you'd be here, I would've brought some grass with me."

Jesse looked at her with a surprise expression.

"You know Alan Dracula, too?!"

"Yes. He's actually helped me and Rexy out in the Paradise Car. And also, is that what his name was?"

Jesse nodded enthusiastically as he replied.

"Yep. That's the name I gave him."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense."

However, the older woman only crossed her arms, having had quite enough of being out of the loop.

"Alright, I'm sure everyone's enjoying their trip down memory lane, but can one of you please explain how you could possibly know each other?"

As it turned out, Jack was of the same opinion.

"Yeah, I think we'd all like to know at this point."

Ava began to have a small blush on her face as she spoke a bit nervously at first.

"Right. Sorry."

With that, both M.T. and Ava turned to the two older people behind them before the former started off first.

"Everyone, meet Ava. She was one of the people I met in the Mirror World when I became my own person. She helped me out with that, too."

Jesse couldn't help but become as impressed as he was grateful.

"Wow. Thanks, Ava."

Ava made a brief smile before she explained things on her end.

"You're welcome, Jesse. And M.T.'s actually someone I helped in the Mirror World when Rexy and I were looking for you, mum. We started out as enemies at first, what with her trapping the original Tulip and all. But we came to terms with each other, and she got to live her own life, and we got to have our Tulip come along with us. As for the rest, well… I'm not quite sure I've met them before today."

Emma then piped up behind Ava with a clear of her throat.

"Uh, if you don't mind, can we, uh… have Visco back, please?"

While Emma held out her hand for her companion, Ava held her palms out to it before Visco went back onto Emma's hand. While the exchange was made, Emma looked over behind Ava to meet her gaze with the older woman's.

"And who's that lady behind you?"

The older woman made a small scowl, all too reminiscent of her disapproving aunt before Ava answered, though she paused to try to avoid saying anything offensive.

"She's my mum, but her name is Amelia Hughes. I know it's confusing with how… wise she is."

Amelia caught on to what Ava was trying to say and didn't quite approve of her avoiding the subject.

"If you're trying to tell them I'm old, you could've said so."

Ava then began to blush as she spoke nervously.

"What? You're not that old, mum."

Jack thought it best to cut to the chase as he cleared his own throat before he spoke up.

"Uh, look. I'm sure we all know each other by now, but what the heck are you doing here exactly?"

Amelia only turned her attention away from Jack before she got back to the opened panel and tinkered with it like Ava was prior to the interruption. However, she didn't leave the question unanswered.

"It's not really any of your concern, but we've been tracking unnatural codes on this train and wiping it clean of them."

Emma became puzzled as she raised an eyebrow.

"Unnatural code? What are you talking about?"

Amelia didn't stop her tinkering to answer, but she answered nonetheless.

"It may behoove you to know that this train isn't like any other train you know, and for good reason."

When Amelia pushed the button, the car they were working on began to glow bright green in streaks of wire, astounding the group as they widened their eyes in awe. The spectacle lasted for a few seconds before the wires went away. Jesse had a bizarre theory as he spoke in awe after a gasp.

"This train is alive…?"

Amelia didn't consider it much a surprise as she made an exhausted sigh, like it should've been known in the first place.

"Of course it is! How else would you lot get here at all?"

Emma could only think of one theory behind that.

"I just thought One-One picked us up. He is the Conductor, right?"

Amelia put her fingers on the bridge of her nose and drew out a soft sigh before she spoke to herself and then to Emma.

"This is getting tiresome… Yes, One is the conductor. But the train itself has a will of its own. It operates in a capacity you can't even begin to imagine. One just regulates it and does what he's programmed to do. So if anything goes wrong with it, like unnatural coding for example, it's his job to fix it. Or rather, it's our job now."

Emma's mind was utterly blown. It never occurred to her that the train would be a living entity of some sort. Looking back on it, though, it did make sense. How else could she have gotten her number that seemed to operate depending on how she progressed? No other thing could've done that. Then, she remembered what she was doing prior to even setting foot on the train in the first place.

---

Emma was walking by herself in the middle of the night. She had long since left her Aunt Edith's house. She was simply given no choice. It didn't matter how far she had to go. She just wanted to find her mother, get back together again, and live the rest of their lives as they should be. Emma wished that more than ever now.

She got out a small picture of her father and mother again, one of the only things she could take with her. If her father was still around, he would've defended her and her mother. She was certain of it. But he wasn't here. And neither was her mother. She had to be on her own… She began to cry as she held the picture to her chest.

"Why can't anyone just let me be me for once…?"

As if to answer, Emma was met with an old-fashioned train that glowed bright green as it zipped by her. Emma was so focused on moving ahead, she never realized that she had almost gotten run over by the train herself. Thank goodness for the train's courtesy to warn her. When it came to a full stop, the train opened up the side of itself. Emma didn't know where it would take her, but anywhere was better than here.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to ride to Arizona on separate trips… I could use the rest, anyway."

But when she took a step inside the side car, it began to glow brightly into a swirl and it came right at her as she gasped in terror and astonishment.

---

"Wow… You know, I… I actually almost forgot how I ended up here for a second. I was all by myself, all because nobody could accept me for who I am."

M.T. went next to Emma before holding her hand and holding her close, making her smile a bit as the both of them blushed. Amelia had a small look of sympathy on her face from hearing this, as well as the affection M. Emma showed each other. She knew that look all too well. It was the same one she and Alrick had before.

"I… suppose I know the feeling. But you'll have to tell me about it later. We have other cars to get to and analyze."

Jack took notice of the tablet that Amelia went back to. She didn't seem aware of Emma's situation, and that may be for the best. Still, it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Would the Lab Car be one of them?"

This caught Ava, Rexy, and Amelia's attention quickly. The last of the three found it highly suspect for him to mention it.

"Yes, as it so happens. But why do you ask?"

Amelia went close to Jack, forming a suspicious look on her face. Jesse didn't consider it a need to keep it a secret from her, especially when she was just doing her job. If anything, he knew she could help Emma out with her situation.

"It's for Emma. She's kinda coming down with something, and we're trying to figure it out somehow."

Amelia turned to the young man while Emma grew worried for a moment. She was afraid that she'd find out about her current situation with her legs. Although, Jesse didn't seem to know about it; all he knew of was the infection on Emma's left forearm.

"Figure what out, exactly? Why is it so important that you get to the Lab Car?"

Emma wasn't sure if she should show off her infection. Truth be told, she didn't know how bad it was getting since her exposure in the Food Pyramid Car, and she was afraid to find out. But M.T. snapped her out of her fear as she reassured her with a gentle whisper.

"Hey. You're gonna be okay. I'm right here with you."

It felt comforting to hear her say that. She was one of the only other people in her life who accepted her. This allowed Emma her deep breath before she opened up her jacket wrist and revealed her spot. It had grown a little bit since she last saw it, but it wasn't anything significant. When the new trio saw that, however, they were completely in awe, Ava and Amelia especially.

Neither of them had seen this kind of activity on the train before. To see a metal spot on a living passenger was a bizarre thing, to say the least. Ava examined the arm as she went close to it.

"That texture… it looks just like your friend's doesn't it?"

Ava gently rubbed her finger on the spot, inadvertently getting a reaction from Emma in which she felt like she was being touched somewhere sensitive. Ava took notice of Emma as she drew a breath in before she ceased her rubbing.

"And yet, it felt just like your skin would, albeit a little bit sensitive. Other than that, though, I can't seem to crack this. It's unheard of, a mirror essence being in a passenger…"

M.T. already made that diagnosis on her own with her feet. But she knew better than to blurt it out at the risk of exposing their night together. Ava turned back to Emma before she inquired to them about their situation.

"Do you mind if I ask what happened?"

Emma knelt down closer to her before she spoke, recalling the dreadful event that almost killed her.

"We were attacked by a mirror bounty hunter. Said his name was Backscatter. He laced his essence with poison. If it wasn't for Jack's cure-all, I wouldn't be breathing, but… it couldn't take care of that spot. And it's still growing."

Ava's eyes widened with worry over what it could mean. She turned to her mother before she spoke.

"We have to help them, Mum."

Amelia looked at her daughter with a surprised look. How can she be so quick to say that amidst this kind of revelation? But then again, this event is unprecedented for her. The fact that it was shouldn't be keeping her from heeding their request, if only to study the essence's effects on passengers for future relevance. Anything could happen on the train, after all.

"Well, I suppose she might be worth studying. But after that, we wipe this car clean of its corrupt coding."

Ava nodded to her in understanding. At least she was giving her friends a chance to look into it. With that, Amelia went back to the tablet before she spoke to the group.

"I suggest you all get off the bridge. It's going to eject very soon."

Jesse became confused while Emma and M.T. had a feeling about what it meant. They remembered it happening from when they first met each other.

"Uh, what do you mean eject?"

Jack was just as aware of it as he pushed the group towards the car and Alan Dracula along with it.

"You're about to find out, and I suggest you don't do it the hard way."

A moment later, the bridge began to split apart and sink into separate cars, with their half of the bridge going to the car they stood on and the other half going to the car that was in front of them. When the bridge was gone, the cars drew closer to each other before the car's wheels went onto the side and went upwards. The pace was going slow like a roller coaster preparing to drop down. Jesse was getting anxious as he got the jitters.

"Uh, shouldn't we buckle up or something?"

As if to answer, Visco reacted by transforming into a seat belt of sorts before wrapping himself around Jesse, Emma, Jack, and M.T. before connecting himself to Alan Dracula, who made his hooves magnetic with a short blue electric spark while Amelia and Ava activated their boots with Amelia's having a dark purple effect while Ava's was light green before she picked up Rexy. A moment afterwards, the train car stopped before suddenly taking off like a bullet. Most of the group of passengers were almost flung straight off the car. At least, they would've been if it weren't for Visco's quick-thinking. But that didn't stop them from screaming at the top of their lungs from the high-speed they were catapulted in.

As for Alan Dracula, he made no sudden movements while his ears flapped from the high gusts of wind. Ava and Amelia, on the other hand, were simply watching the scenery behind them fade away. It was almost as if they were watching a looped video. Ava shouted to the group secured by Visco as the wind blew on her hair.

"It was unsettling for me the first time, too! But you'll get used to it!"

Alan Dracula moved closer to Amelia and Ava, the latter of which smiled before she gave him a pat on the head while Visco constricted the makeshift belt, pulling the passengers away from the edge and closer together, much to their relief as they sighed while Amelia looked into the tablet. According to it, the monitor was showing their destination beeping every ten cars that it passed, which was about every second that it happened.

"We're getting closer…"

When the tablet showed that they were practically on top of it, Amelia pushed the button, forcing the train to slow down before coming to a complete stop. Following this, two cars split apart before the car they rode in filled the gap and came down before planting itself and restoring the bridge. When it was over, Emma and Jesse's hairs were a disheveled mess, their eyes wide open as if they'd seen something terrifying. Jack and M.T.'s eyes were the same, but their hairs were more or less the same from before they were catapulted. All the while Alan Dracula only shook his head while Visco detached the belt and made a weak squeak of relief before Ava and Amelia only straightened out their ponytails as the former set Rexy down afterwards before the dinosaur spoke.

"Whoo! Who's up for round two?!"

M.T. only grumbled before she felt Emma's hand on her own, making her stop her grumbling before looking at her. At the time, though, she was just holding onto her hand because she was still in shock over something that perilous. Still, it made M.T. rethink her feelings for the time being before she made a small blush and smiled up at her. Emma noticed the smile and began to ease up her grip as well, returning the grin on her face. All the while, Amelia looked back at the tablet before enlarging the radar. When she did, the tablet showed that the car they were looking for was just in front of them.

"Good. We're right on the mark."

Not long afterwards, the group opened the back passage of the car and found a sight to behold. It was a big, pure white sterile place with a line of long lights beaming down illuminating the big room. Everything was white from the walls to the floor, and there were weirdly curved computer screens that floated around showing data and numbers and code on their screens. There were also Art Deco-like machinery that's gold and silver, as well as big. And the machinery was just as slick. Their wires were connected to the walls as each piece of the machines glowed different colors ranging from green to blue to red.

Above them were floating U.F.O.-like trams carrying human-sized mice wearing lab coats that go about tinkering with machinery and looking over printed data that came out of silver printers attached to the big machines. There were also slick, soft pink colored tube-like elevators that go up to floating amoeba-like platforms holding other slick machinery. And the door to leave the car, which was the place they just came from, was attached to a big glowing golden mechanical archway with various Scientific phrases from famous scientists that flash on the screen on top of it. For instance, one of them was from Albert Einstein with one of his famous quotes: "Imagination is more important than knowledge". Emma was completely awestruck by the whole scenery.

"No way…"

As the group walked in, Jesse made an audible gasp of excitement as he looked all around while Ava did do with astonishment.

"Wow! This is like some kind of science fair!"

"More like a science expo. But I'm good with either one."

Jack and Amelia only crossed their arms, sticking to his goal. The sooner he got it done, the sooner they could move on, he thought.

"Well, we're not here to sightsee, you guys. This is for Emma's sake, remember?"

"And we also have to rid the car of its corrupt coding after that."

The concept confused the young man. He never thought the train cars here could be dismantled. Somehow, it made him worried.

"About that… what happens if it gets dismantled?"

"Normally? The entire car would be reset, and everything would be as they were before, like they never met a passenger."

Somehow, that came as a relief to Jesse. It certainly was less horrific than the scenario he thought of.

"Oh. That's a relief. I thought they'd all disappear and… cease to exist."

Emma caught on to Jesse's tone. She could tell something was worrying him. But it was debatable whether or not Amelia actually helped by answering him. And now that she thought about it, what would happen if M.T. were to suddenly… disappear? She may have reflected Tulip before, but the train was what made it possible. If her train car was to disappear, would M.T. go down with the ship?

The very idea was enough to make her nervous. How far would she have even gotten without her…? Visco noticed her worried look before he squeaked in a puzzled tone, shaking her off the morbid train of thought before she smiled.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, I'm alright, Visco."

Her reassuring smile didn't quite last long, however, as her face made a small frown. M.T. saw the frown herself before Jack spoke aloud again.

"Okay, I suggest we handle this in groups. M.T., you'll go with Emma and Jesse. The deer and I will go with Amelia, the mini-dinosaur, and her kid."

Amelia had a suspicious look on her face as she stepped closer to him.

"And what makes you think I'll agree to that?"

Jack looked back to her with a pragmatic look on his face.

"Because between me and them, I'm the one who knows what's what around here. And besides…"

Jack then pointed to Alan Dracula as Ava petted it gently, making him bend his head down as he appreciated the gesture while Rexy looked at him in surprise as he felt Alan Dracula's fur with his nubs.

"I don't exactly trust that deer not to chew anything without someone keeping an eye on it."

"How is your fur still so soft?"

Amelia made a sigh. He clearly wasn't lying about knowing what's what.

"I suppose that can work. We'll have our own goals to achieve anyway, so if anything, it'll get done faster."

"Yeah. That's the idea."

Jack turned back to the group as he spoke up.

"When we're done, we'll all meet by the exit, okay?"

Everyone nodded in agreement before they all went their separate ways. Unbeknownst to them, after they all left, a man wearing a black cloak suddenly appeared out of thin air. Under the hood, he didn't look too pleased.

"Drat. That doesn't leave much time for me to find what I came for. And to see her of all people again…"

Beneath the hood, he had an almost nostalgic look before snapping himself out of it.

"No matter. I need to focus on the objective. Let's just hope I have the time."

---

Meanwhile, Emma, M.T., and Jesse were walking in one aisle of the car. The whole place was like a mall, only with veritable science experiments that had whole rooms dedicated to them. But with so many to choose from, the group of three wondered which one would possibly help them.

"There sure are a lot of rooms, huh, guys?"

M.T. was a bit peeved by this as well.

"Ugh. More like too many. How are we supposed to know which one would help you?"

It was a good question. Looking around, it was more of a Lab Mall than a Car. Ever the optimist, however, Jesse had one idea how to go about it.

"Well, we can start looking around and see if we can find something that'll help. There's a lot of those scientists guys in those rooms. Maybe we can find one who'll know what to do."

Emma felt as though it was an obvious solution, but she was grateful that he kept a cool head about it. He always did.

"Well, yeah, but the question is, where do we start?"

Jesse looked at one room far ahead and saw a group of Lab Rats testing a machine with a green scanner over a black arm rest. One of the scientists, who had an orange fur coat while the other had a silver color, had his arm scanned before the machine beeped positively. When it did, the scientist turned to his partner and spoke up.

"Well, I seem to be healthy."

The scientist wrote the result down on the notepad. Seeing this, Jesse began to suspect he knew where to start.

"How about that one? Maybe it can tell us what's going on with Emma."

Emma saw the scanner up ahead and saw his point. If there was a chance it could help figure out what was going on with her, she had to take it.

"Well, it could be worth a try."

The group headed to that room up ahead, where the scientists turned around to notice them. One of the literal lab rats greeted them with a smile.

"Oh, hello. Is there anything we can do to help you?"

Emma made a slight blush on her face as she tried to answer.

"Well, yeah, actually. I'm wondering if you guys would know anything about… this?"

Emma pulled up her sleeve to reveal her metal spot. The sight of it astounded the lab rats as they made an audible gasp. The silver spoke up in surprise before the orange one became intrigued.

"What kind of spot is that?"

"I'm not sure. We'll need to take a look at it right away."

Emma sighed in relief. The sooner she finds out what it is, the sooner she could move on to her number.

"Thanks. I appreciate that very much."

Emma sat down in the chair and laid down her back against it before the silver rat leaned down to her.

"Just be sure to place your arm on the scanner pad."

"Okay."

While the process happened, Jesse felt as though he found a good room.

"Well, looks like our mystery's gonna be solved any second now."

M.T., however, had her personal doubts.

"I don't know. Something tells me it might be too easy…"

The orange lab rat positioned the scanner to just above her right shoulder before he spoke aloud.

"Commencing scanning now."

With that, a green scanning light shot down before it went over her arm, dragging the light with it. It seemed to be working fine. However, the instant it went over her metal spot, the scanner beeped out an alarm, making the group gasp out in alarm while making Emma incredibly nervous, almost enough to stop her from asking. But she knew she was bound to find out anyway.

"What's wrong?"

The orange lab rat looked at the scanner's results on the adjacent monitor and became shocked.

"This isn't good. The results said it picked up an unknown material."

M.T. didn't find that piece of news anything new. She already knew what it was.

"Uh, yeah! We know that! But what we don't know is how to fix it!"

The silver lab rat tried to check over the monitor to determine it. But unfortunately, it hasn't changed much from the description of an unknown material.

"That's just the problem. Not even our monitors know how to fix it."

It seems as though M.T.'s suspicions were proven correct.

"I knew it was too easy… Why am I not surprised?"

Despite it, however, Emma wasn't one to give up hope so quickly, especially when faced with the alternative.

"Well, do you know anyone who might know, then?"

The orange lab rat spoke up about a possible solution.

"There's one person who might know the answer. If anyone could figure it out, Nicodemus can."

Jesse still tried to maintain his optimistic outlook as he spoke up to the lab rats.

"Great. Is he somewhere around here?"

The silver lab rat formed an uncertain face as she answered Jesse. The look on her face alone was enough for Emma to know it wasn't good news.

"Of course. But he never lets us know where he is. He could be anywhere in this car. But if you find him, I'm sure he can help you with your situation."

M.T. was quick to grumble. She would've preferred the search for a cure to remain exactly that, but instead, it turned into a needle-in-a-haystack situation. And that wasn't even for the cure itself. Ordinarily, she'd leave and call it quits, but she knew Emma needed it if she wanted to go back to normal. She can't possibly ignore that.

"Okay. What does he look like?"

One of the scientists spoke up to answer her.

"He's wearing a lab coat, has red-orange fur, and a long beard. You can't miss him."

"Gotcha. But this Nicodemus guy better know what we're talking about."

With a huff, M.T. left the room as Jesse and Emma followed suit. Of course, the orange lab rat had one more thing to say.

"Actually, it's 'better knows' what you're talking about."

M.T. shouted from far away, clearly not in the mood for his grammar session.

"Nobody cares!"

Then, the orange lab rat realized something else before he spoke up.

"Oh, wait! I got it all wrong! The person I told you about isn't Nicodemus, but he could–!"

By the time he got around to it, the trio was already gone.

"Oh. They're gone. Well, they'll figure it out eventually."

---

Meanwhile, Jack, Amelia, Rexy, Ava, and Alan Dracula were walking into a strange room with a large machine at the center. The bio room itself was a spacious, white metal room with a shiny grey floor. The room was also full of big white machinery connected to a metal pod that is split in the middle on the right side, and on the far left side of the Machine was a flat box like Machine with a mail slot in the middle of it and a drawer of files just underneath it. A computer terminal was on one wall with wires connecting it to the Machine and the door to the room, which slid shut with two metal slabs perfectly fitting each other. And like the others in the Lab Car, the scientists there had white fur as well as lab coats. Ava looked at the whole scene in total awe as her eyes widened.

"Okay, this is wicked brilliant."

Suddenly, one of the scientists held up a thin bar with neon green light before she waved them up at the Passengers and Alan Dracula, making Jack puzzled.

"Hey, what'd I do?"

Amelia only crossed her arms as she explained.

"It's just a routine inspection. It's just to make sure we're not 'infected'."

Jack had a look of disbelief as he crossed his arms.

"More like doing a full body search."

The scientist who scanned them replied otherwise.

"Actually, your friend is right. And from what I've seen, you're actually clean. You can go on ahead."

As the group walked forward, Jack looked at Amela with a puzzled expression, making her look back at him with an annoyed look.

"What?"

"Well, nothing. I'm just… surprised is all. You knew that, like it wasn't your first time here."

"And you come off like it was your first time here. I thought you were the one who knew what's what around here."

Jack had a brief look of embarrassment on his face for a moment. As Ava took notice of it, he quickly replied back to cover it up.

"Well, yes. I am. And I have been here before, but just not in this room."

Amelia saw how quickly he tried to hide his embarrassment. She began to make a gentle laugh from seeing him so flustered.

"Right. I doubt that."

Jack shook off the embarrassed look before he cleared his throat.

"Let's just do what we came here to do, okay? The sooner we do that, the better."

Ava seemed to be on track with that. While Jack was talking with Amelia, she and Alan Dracula noticed one of the scientists near the machine had a sample of a small hair in a small plastic bag. Even she could tell what it must mean.

"Mum, is that it? The device you were telling me about?"

Amelia and Jack turned to where Ava pointed and the former had a look of almost instant regret looking back.

"Yes, Ava. It is."

Ava noticed the look of guilt on her face and became puzzled as the scientist spoke to himself.

"Cloning experiment number 1697 is a go."

The scientist put the hair into the slot, which began to glow neon green before the room's lights turned off, replaced by that of the machine that began to glow brightly through the two doors' windows. That same scientist looked back to the computer terminal to analyze the contents of the machine.

"Okay, body systems look healthy. No accidental splicing, that's good. Starting age: 30."

Amelia saw the scientist checking on the terminal and made a light chuckle before she spoke to herself.

"You haven't changed a bit, have you?"

Jack looked at Amelia confusedly. She hadn't seen a smile on her before. Granted, today was his first time meeting her, but his point still stood. A moment later, the machine had finished its work, the room's normal lights turning back on as the scientist noticed on the terminal that the cloning process was finished.

"Cloning process complete. Let's see how you're coming along."

As if to answer, the machine opened up to expel the fog that built up from inside the machine. When it was gone, a new being stepped outside of the machine and it was none other… than the scientist himself! Ava, Jack, Rexy, and even Alan Dracula were surprised to see this while Amelia made a soft smile. The scientist clone walked down from the machine and waved to the original.

"Hello, me."

The scientist picked up a spare lab coat and put it around him as he welcomed him.

"Hello, me. Welcome to the Lab Car. Please head on over to your assignment."

The clone then began to walk around the room, as if he knew ahead of time where to go. The original made a smile to himself before Amelia spoke up from behind.

"Don't tell me you've got them doing all your work for you, Travis."

Travis made a surprised gasp from hearing her voice, making him turn around to see Amelia, Jack, Ava, Rexy, and Alan Dracula. Travis didn't quite know the other 4, but he certainly recognized one of them. His face immediately bore a happy look before he ran over to her.

"Amelia! What are you doing here?"

As Amelia and Travis shook their hands, Jack felt out of the loop.

"Wait. You know that rat?"

Travis frowned at Jack's comment as Amelia corrected him.

"Yes, actually. But he's not a rat. He's a mouse. In fact, he's the one who helped me make Ava in the first place."

Ava and Rexy walked over to him, each of them looking at Travis as the former became curious. All she knew about her creation was that she was made from a blend of her mother's DNA and Alrick's. She didn't realize that Amelia had a partner to help with that.

"Wait. You're actually the one who helped my mum create me?"

Travis looked down at the young girl and made a soft smile as he gave her a soft noogie.

"Yes, I am. And I can't believe how big you've gotten. Last time I saw you, you were a baby. How long has it been? 12 years? I-I'm seriously asking here, is it 12 years?"

Rexy was confused as he scratched under his chin.

"Well, Ava is actually 12 years old. But how come you don't know that?"

"Sorry, I haven't kept much track of time since I've been pushed through a time machine a lot of times. It wasn't as fun as I thought…"

At that moment, Alan Dracula began getting closer to the machine with Jack placing his hand on one of his antlers.

"Hey. Stay. Stay."

The deer persisted in going forward, struggling to get out of his grip for a while before it only grew bigger, forcing Jack to hold onto his antler like it was a set of monkey bars. The deer then went towards the machine as Jack grumbled while Amelia and Travis looked on in surprise. They hadn't seen a deer do anything of the sort like that.

"What the deuce?!"

"What kind of deer is that?!"

Ava brushed the back of her head with an embarrassed look on her face.

"Yeah, that's not the only thing it can do."

Being left to hang around, Jack knew that if it went any longer, Alan Dracula would damage something, even if by accident.

"Well, it's a good thing I didn't leave without a little something."

He dug into his pocket and got out fresh leaves from the Sunflower Car and whistled at him.

"Hey, A.D! Your snack's over here!"

The deer turned its eyes to see Jack holding the leaves in his hand before shrinking back down to where Jack could let go of his antler and get to the ground safely before giving them to him. As Alan Dracula enjoyed his snack, Amelia looked to Ava, surprised that she was able to call upon his help during her search. Though, she didn't recall seeing it with her in the Ball Pit Car incident.

"You actually had that thing with you?"

"Well, just for that one car. Alan Dracula helped us against those Scarecrows that took over the place. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have been alive long enough to find you."

Amelia looked back at the deer as it came near to her. She wasn't certain if it could ever understand her due to it acting like… well, a deer. But even so, she felt it best to give it her thanks. She began to pet it softly, uncertain about how Alan Dracula would react.

"Well, um… thank you, Alan Dracula."

Alan Dracula gently closed his eyes as Amelia gently stroked it. Then, Travis spoke up to the group, mainly to Amelia.

"So, what brings you back here, Amelia?"

Amelia turned back to Travis, beginning to bear a guilty look as she explained herself, making the scientist confused. She hadn't seen that look on her face before since the last time.

"I'm just… making amends."

"For what?"

Amelia looked back at Travis with a guilty expression before she replied.

"Everything."

---

Meanwhile, M.T., Jesse, and Emma were looking for Nicodemus, whoever he was. They were told he'd go everywhere, never staying in one place. It didn't really help their situation in the slightest. What could a lab rat be wandering about in the Lab Car anyway? If there were any other way to get to the root of Emma's conundrum, M.T. would've taken it in a second. Sadly, there wasn't. But as angry as she was over how it turned into a wild goose chase, she had to stow her temper, especially when it mostly concerned Emma.

"Alright. This Nicodemus guy wanders around in the car, right? So, maybe if we wait in a certain spot, we could find him."

Jesse, Visco, and Emma nodded to M.T., the both of them seeing the merit of the plan. Although, the latter had some slight hesitation. She knew M.T. can be pretty impatient at times. If there wasn't something to occupy her, she'd bail on it within the first minute. And besides that, she didn't know if waiting would make the spot spread even worse. She held tightly onto her right arm, making Visco notice as she looked up to M.T. with a worried look.

"Yeah, that can work. It'll save us the trouble."

"Maybe, but can we try something else first? Like maybe asking around for Nicodemus? At least for a while…"

M.T. saw the look of worry on her face. It was enough to remind her that there was a possibility of a time limit. The metal spots on Emma grew at a devastating rate thanks to Backscatter in the Toad Car. Who was to say the same result wasn't happening to her? Rather than chance it, M.T. decided to abort her initial plan.

"Okay. I guess we can start looking for Nicodemus ourselves for a while. But where should we even start?"

Jesse took notice of a room far ahead and saw a strange machine with a portal. The young man formed a grin on his face.

"How about we try that room?"

Emma and M.T. took notice of the room themselves and became astonished. The trio then walked into the room as the portal still fluctuated. It had a bright green glow that circled about like a whirlpool. Emma looked to Jesse in puzzlement.

"Okay, there's a portal, but how exactly would that help?"

Jesse had a slight blush on his face, almost as if he was embarrassed.

"Well, I just figured that maybe we can just use it to find Nicodemus ourselves. It seemed like something that'd take less time."

Hearing this, Emma made a surprised gasp. She began to see his point right away. If Nicodemus was around here somewhere in the car, there might be a possibility that the portal would take them right to him. And it would save them the whole hassle of the wild goose chase altogether. And more importantly, they'd be able to help Emma sooner.

"Jesse, you're a genius!"

Emma quickly went over to the portal and looked at the control panel. She was hoping it would function the way she hoped it would. It was odd that there wasn't anyone in this room around the portal, though, which M.T. began to notice. In fact, she noticed that the whole room itself looked as though it was abandoned. There were dust and spider webs all over the place, some of them even around the portal itself. Given that the portal seemed to work just fine, it was a strange contradiction. Almost as if something seemed… off.

"Alright, which one takes us to Nicodemus?"

When she looked at the panel, however, M.T. noticed that it wasn't quite what she hoped for. The panel itself showed a date placeholder that showed blank lines above the letters "D", "M" and "Y". Emma didn't need to be a scientist to figure out what that meant.

"What the…? A time machine?! Come on! That's the opposite of what we wanted!"

On one hand, however, Jesse began to see the bright side to it.

"Hold on. Maybe we can still use it to find that Nicodemus guy."

M.T. knew he wasn't wrong, but she was also aware of the situation that came with the time machine.

"Yeah, if we knew when and where Nicodemus was."

This made Jesse begin to frown as he held his head down, to which M.T. replied with a slight smile as she put her hand on his shoulder to reassure him.

"Oh. Yeah…"

"It's fine, Jesse. It was a good try, though.

Emma was about to take her anger out on the panel, but she restrained herself as she held her fingers on the bridge of her nose and grumbled. While Emma was getting frustrated, M.T. and Jesse walked over to her and tried to comfort her.

"Hey. It's gonna be okay, Em."

"Yeah. We can just look for him the old-fashioned way."

Emma only sighed dejected before she inquired to them in a deadpan tone.

"Yeah, but… how long would that even take?"

As if to answer, M.T. took notice of a certain rat of interest. Much like the first scientist said in the genetic analysis room, he was wearing a lab coat, and he had red-orange fur, and a long beard. Granted his back was turned to them, but if there was a chance this was the guy they were looking for, odds are, he might be able to help her.

"Shorter than you think."

M.T. pointed at the lab rat in particular, making Emma turn around to see him. The young girl widened her eyes in surprise as she saw him. She wasn't expecting him to be so close by. Before anything else could be done, Emma quickly took off after him in a fit of desperation.

"H-Hey! Excuse me!"

Her sudden dash nearly forced Visco off of her, making the little gerbil hold tightly onto her shoulder as Jesse and M.T. ran after her.

"Hey, Emma!"

"Wait up!"

Emma couldn't stop. She wouldn't. Not when the one who could help her with her situation was right in front of her.

"Excuse me!"

The scientist in front of her turned around, puzzled by what she had to ask of him before she stopped just a few feet from him.

"Hmm?"

"I need your help with something. I-If it's alright with you."

Despite a surprise visit from Emma, with M.T. and Jesse having just caught up to her, the scientist seemed more than willing to help.

"Well, sure. What can I do for you?"

Emma felt as though her prayers were answered as she quickly pulled one of her sleeves down to show a silver, metal spot.

"I've been getting these all over my body lately. I'm trying to figure out how to go back to normal. Any chance you can help?"

The scientist looked closely at the spots, as if trying to examine them. As he did, Jesse felt optimistic about where it was going whereas M.T. was cautious.

"How about that? Looks like our problems are solved."

"Well, let's see…"

When the scientist was done looking at the spots, he moved his glasses up a little as he replied.

"I'm sorry, but… it doesn't look like I can help much."

The answer threw Emma off guard as she stammered.

"What…? B-But you're Nicodemus, aren't you?"

The scientist only shook his head gently. Emma began to hold her head down as she placed her hands over her face.

"Right… Of course, you're not. I'm sorry for wasting your time…"

Visco waddled over to her head before he gently tapped on it to comfort her as he squeaked softly. However, the scientist wasn't done with her answer just yet.

"But I do know where his usual spots are. I can take you to them."

Emma looked up to the scientist, beginning to feel her heart being lifted up as she spoke up.

"Really? You'd do that?"

"Of course. Why, he actually happens to be a buddy of mine."

Emma made no hesitation to hug the scientist as she profusely thanked him.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Given their luck, however, M.T. had some skepticism. As much as she wanted to find him, something told her that she'd have to get used to the chase for a while.

"Wait. Are you sure you can actually take us to him? We've been told he wanders about everywhere."

The scientist nodded in agreement with her as he stroked his beard.

"Yeah, he does that a lot. He's always trying to come up with a breakthrough unknown to science. He hasn't done it yet, but he's still trying."

After a brief curious look from the trio, Emma spoke up to him and got back to the matter at hand.

"Well, that's good to know, but what rooms would he go to for that?"

The scientist looked back to Emma with a smile as he replied.

"I'll show you. Come right this way, please."

As the scientist walked away, Emma followed him with a smile on her face as M.T. and Jesse followed. Needless to say, Jesse felt things were coming their way.

"Isn't that nice? We actually find someone who can take us to who we're looking for."

Jesse looked at M.T., but instead of a smile, he saw a look of worry on her. It was the same look she had when Perry was taking over Alan Dracula's body. The feeling didn't sit right at all for him. Could something be wrong…?

"Hey, M.T. Are you okay?"

M.T. turned back to Jesse, seeing that he had a look of concern for her himself. He must've learned to take that kind of look more seriously since the Parasite incident, especially with how much Emma suffered in silence because of it. It was nice to know he's learning.

"I guess. I'm just hoping Emma isn't getting her hopes up too soon."

Jesse looked up ahead at Emma, seeing how relieved and happy she was. It was almost like she's taking any chance she could get at finding a cure for her situation and going along with it like it's no big deal. It would be worrisome if it were someone like Perry, but so far it's working out. Although, it could be subject to change later. He learned that the hard way with Perry, and he's not going to repeat that mistake again.

"Well, he does seem like he's happy to help Emma out. But listen, if he turns out to be anything like Perry, I'll go ballistic on him for ya."

Jesse then did a soft punch on M.T.'s arm, making her laugh a bit as she smiled before she replied gently.

"Thanks, Mr. Muscles."

Jesse made a small laugh himself. It certainly was an improvement from "Casanova". M.T. then looked back to Emma with Visco on top of her shoulder. It was hard for her to believe that there was any passenger as good as Jesse. True, he made a fair share of mistakes, but he still does his best to be friends with everyone. Maybe she had it all wrong; maybe she was lucky to bump into him.

"Seriously, though. Thanks. You have no idea how much it means to Emma that you're helping her out."

Jesse looked back up to Emma, seeing her smile as she walked with the scientist. The last thing he wanted was to see it go away, especially not after what Perry put her through. And even back then, she had trouble with making friends herself. Something he can relate to.

"I think I have some idea…"

But little did the group know that as they walked by, the black-cloaked figure was watching from above on the second floor, tapping his fingers on the balcony. He saw the room that the trio just left behind. He almost seemed quite anxious about it.

"Hmm… perhaps I should browse elsewhere for a while. Mustn't linger for too long here. There's other places to find the thing, anyway. And other times, for that matter."

Then, he looked down to the other room and noticed Jack, Ava, Rexy, Travis, and Alan Dracula watching as Amelia looked into the mail slot before stroking his chin.

"But first… it's time to pay a visit to an old friend of mine."

---

Meanwhile, the trio was walking with their guide. First up, he took them to a white, glowing, spacious room full of damaged robots on flat, floating steel beds with flying drones that used blue layers, golden goop and other tool devices to repair the robots. There was also a big green computer screen with a counter of numbers and digits with each robot repaired and sucked up by a plastic tube that lowered itself onto a bed before sucking up the robots. The whole process made it seem like an assembly line.

"Here is the Robot Repair Station. He tends to pick up a few spare parts here and there."

As if on cue, Emma found a small bolt on the floor and picked it up before showing it to her guide.

"You mean something like this?"

The scientist looked at the bolt that fell out and stroked his beard before he answered.

"Yes, but whenever he's around, those parts won't be on the floor. He must've gotten what he needed."

"So, what else have you got?"

The answer, of course, was a small golden room with one blue see through tube next to a long metal computer like desk. The scientist was especially proud of it.

"This right here is the teleportation room. Not only can it send you anywhere on this car, but the whole train itself, too."

Emma, Jesse, and M.T. were struck with awe at the premise, the second of the trio more so.

"Can it really do that?"

"Observe."

To showcase the machine, the scientist placed a handkerchief that was in his coat pocket onto the flat silver disk at the floor of the tube, making it glow bright blue. Then, the computer had a ton of glowing buttons with a hologram of the train itself and a section of it that lit up green before a button on the desk glowed in the same color as well. Once he pressed it, the tube flashed a bright green, after which the handkerchief disintegrated into bright green particles, making the trio widen their eyes. Seeing the amazement on their faces, the scientist grinned before he replied.

"And that's not all. It also has a recall function."

He typed down the word "handkerchief" into a bar before a section of the train lit up showing the location before he pushed the button again, and the handkerchief arrived, thankfully in one piece. The trio was further dumbstruck by the success before Jesse showed his elation. Emma, on the other hand, had a theory to be certain.

"That was so awesome!"

"Wait. You don't think Nicodemus is out of this car, do you?"

"Well, let's see. He did like to travel to other cars to get the other ingredients. Especially from the Mirror World."

M.T. was surprised. She never heard of anyone visiting the mirror world constantly, let alone via teleportation room. Emma was just as astounded, too. If he had been visiting the Mirror World, then that made it all the more certain he'd know what was going on with her.

"Wait. He was traveling to other cars?"

"And to the Mirror World…?"

He typed down Nicodemus on the search bar for the recall function, only to find that the section of the car that popped up was the very same car they occupied.

"Nope. It says he's in this one."

Emma drew a sigh of relief when she heard this. It didn't quite help in finding out his exact position, but tired as she was from the wild goose chase, at least she knew he was somewhere in this car. Then, Jesse spoke up to the scientist next, beginning to feel just as anxious.

"Well, is there anywhere else he'd be?"

"Actually, there is one more place."

For this third place, the trio walked into a strangely normal lab room with glass tubes of bubbling chemicals on several desks. It reminded Emma of that one science class she took in Middle School. Of course, the main difference was that there were actual Lab Rats that worked as scientists, but it's nice to have a room with some sense of normalcy, even for the train.

"This is the Periodic Table Room. Lately, he's been to this one more than the others. If anyone would be in this place, it's Nicodemus."

To be certain, Emma looked left and right around each row, finding no sign of the person she was looking for. M.T. tried to stop her, at least from getting her hopes up.

"Emma, I know how badly you want to find that guy, but let's not–"

But before she could finish, they heard a strange voice up ahead. From what Emma could gather, he had an accent that was Pakistani.

"Okay, now. One pint of acrylic acid. A dose of Calcium Carbonate."

Emma's eyes lifted as she began to realize who it must be.

"That's gotta be Nicodemus! Right?"

She turned to the guide, hoping he'd say yes. And as luck would have it he did just that. However, he seemed to be cautious all the same.

"Well, yeah, but… it's best not to interrupt his 'zone'."

Emma and M.T. became confused as they spoke at the same time.

"His zone?"

"Yeah. Just try not to surprise him."

Emma nodded cautiously as she, M.T., and Jesse stepped forward, closer to the source of the voice. Just then, the scientist spoke up before they could go one step further.

"Oh. And you better take some lab goggles and coats. Part of lab safety."

The trio noticed the lab gear and put them on. Emma looked at herself in the lab coat as Visco went to the top of her head before M.T. grumbled as she put on the goggles. When they were done, Jesse turned to where their guide was.

"Thanks for the tip."

However, when they turned around, he was already gone.

"Huh. That's weird."

Be that as it may, they still needed to get Emma's situation figured out. As the trio walked closer, the lab rat that was supposedly Nicodemus was adding a liquid silver metal into a tube before getting out a small tube of sand inside.

"A hint of Sodium Carbonate, and finally… a dash of Silica Dioxide, extracted from the sands of the Tropical Car. Ah, I missed that place."

Then, he tapped the tube with the edge just over the chemicals. Once it got in, the chemical bubbled up, almost to the point of overflowing as the color began to turn bright orange like molten lava.

"Now, to supercool it."

The scientist picked up the chemical reaction before gently holding it over a flask of water and pouring it in, instantly engulfing the room in a deep fog of steam. Once it cleared away, the lab rat stared in awe at the result. It appeared to be the same material that coursed through Emma's and M.T.'s bodies. The very idea itself was enough to make him anxious.

"Can it be? Have I done it?"

To be certain, he gently poured down the result into a bowl beside the flask. It poured down smoothly just like water. Then, he took a look at the reaction and saw his reflection. The lab rat had a grey fur coat with a beard just as long as the guide's, though it was more puffed up than usual, and he had a thin body type as far as rats go. He began to grin and laugh as he spoke with pride, holding up the bowl of liquid metal inside.

"Yes! I've done it! I have created an Acrylic Liquid Mirror Essence!"

M.T., Emma, and Jesse both became astonished by what he had created before the second of the trio spoke up.

"So it is you!"

Unfortunately, that made the lab rat panic, making him fall backward while also tossing the bowl inadvertently into the air. Seeing this, Emma gasped in shock before she reached her arms to grab it. As she did, her arms began to stretch over to the bowl and caught onto it before anything could spill out. With the bowl safely caught, Emma drew a deep breath of relief before the briefly surprised Lab Rat looked at her, starting to get angry over the surprise.

"You! What do you think you're doing with that, young lady?! You almost ruined my…!"

Before he could finish, he took notice of the metal spots on Emma's long arms. And he also noticed how they were growing. With that, the old lab rat stood up and retrieved his bowl of makeshift Mirror Essence from Emma as he replied.

"I mean, thank you. That was a close one. Just don't break me out of my zone again."

M.T. crossed her arms, confused by the lab rat's sudden change in behavior.

"Huh. That's a funny way to say hello."

"Yes, it is."

Emma then looked in the bowl and noticed the reflection, making her gasp in horror before holding the bowl away from her, hoping the Flecs and Backscatter didn't see her. Incidents saw this and spoke up.

"Don't worry. This is an Acrylic Liquid Mirror Essence. It functions like a mirror, but you won't be able to invite the Flecs, if that's what you're worried about."

Jesse became puzzled. The boy may have had a science class before, but a lot of its studies eluded him. Even so, he tried to get a good understanding of it.

"So… it's a fake mirror?"

Nicodemus nodded to him as he replied.

"Yes. It is a fake mirror gel."

M.T. raised her own eyes in suspicion as she held her fingers to her chin.

"Wait. How do you know about the Flecs?"

"Long story short, my constant traveling to their realm violated several peace agreements. But as you can see, it is all worth it. Now, who are you, and how did you make off with that Mirror Essence?"

The older lab rat had gone up closer to Emma's face as he asked those pressing questions, quickly making her nervous as she tried to answer.

"Uh…"

Before she could answer, however, M.T. spoke up, backing him up away from Emma as she asked a question of her own.

"Excuse me? I think the better question is, who are you?"

Though M.T. did succeed in making him back away from Emma, his inquisitive look hadn't changed. If anything, he appeared to be even more curious. He even began to look all around M.T., starting with her arms, then her legs, and finally her feet.

"Yes, quite right. You shouldn't have been able to escape the Mirror World. How did you manage to…?"

As if to answer, the lab rat noticed a small red mirror stuck on the bottom of her right foot. That was more than enough for him to figure it out.

"Oh, yes. That would explain it. You needed your own reflection to escape. Your Prime must be very thoughtful to help you."

It was Jesse's turn to ask the lab rat. Though he seemed to know all about the Mirror World, he needed to be sure.

"Okay, before you say anything else, who exactly are you?"

The lab rat made a light scoff, as if he was almost offended by that. He even began to list his accomplishments.

"Who am I? Why, I am the great Nicodemus. Denizen of the Lab Car, Top Scientist of the Lab Car, and just now, the creator of the first-ever Acrylic Liquid Mirror Essence. Why do you ask?"

Happy as Emma was to know that she found who she was looking for, she felt a bit awkward with his mannerisms.

"Well… we were hoping you could help us with something."

Emma held up her arm, showing the numerous spots of mirror essence on it. As Nicodemus looked at it, he began to rub all over the spots to feel the texture as he looked at her. Then he noticed her hand, which had a glowing number of "130". That was more than enough for him to know she must be a passenger, which made him even more intrigued.

"Interesting… how did you experience this kind of phenomenon?"

Emma gently rubbed the back of her head with her other hand as she replied, not quite sure how to put it. To be safe, she went with the short version.

"Well, we were attacked by this Mirror Bounty Hunter a few days ago. I just got a scratch on my face, and it… seeped into my body, I guess? Anyway, I was poisoned, but then I got cured, but the mirror essence didn't go away, so… is there any way to fix it?"

Nicodemus gave her a look of disbelief. Somehow, he had a feeling he wasn't telling her the whole story.

"Are you sure there isn't anything else?"

Emma nodded nervously, trying to avoid it. She may be fine with Jesse and Jack knowing that M.T. was her girlfriend, but it didn't mean she was okay with anyone else knowing about it. The last time people thought she and Charlotte were girlfriends, they ridiculed and harassed them for it. She didn't want to imagine what Nicodemus would do about it.

"Uh, nope! That's about it."

Nicodemus still wasn't convinced.

"Speak honestly. I can't figure it out if you don't tell me the truth."

That was a heavy dilemma for Emma. She can't deal with people hating her for who she is again, but she still needed help with her Mirror Essence situation. M.T. saw the look of discontent on her face and immediately grew defensive.

"Hey, she doesn't have to tell you anything!"

While Emma appreciated her stepping up to her defense, she knew she had to get help sooner or later. And in the case of her number, she'd rather get it figured out before it got messed with. Still, that didn't mean she wanted Jesse to find out.

"Hey. It's okay, M.T. But can you cover Jesse's ears, please?"

M.T. nodded to her before she blocked Jesse's ears with her hands, confusing the boy.

"H-Hey! What's that for?"

M.T. lifted one hand open to answer him.

"This is something you don't need to know yet. Trust me."

With Jesse's ears covered, Emma took in a deep breath, beginning to blush deep red in her cheeks before she leaned into Nicodemus' ear and whispered into it. His eyes widened in surprise before he made a wolf whistle with a smile.

"You are quite a lucky young lady, you are. No wonder she's so protective of you."

The reply wasn't anything Emma expected. She expected him to call her a freak, but in return, she got his understanding tone of interest.

"Wait… you mean you don't mind that?"

Emma turned back to M.T. before she signaled him to let his ears go free.

"Of course not. It's perfectly natural to love someone of the same gender, just like it is also acceptable to love someone who is transexual by nature."

The last piece of news puzzled M.T., Jesse, and Emma, though M.T. and Emma were the most shocked as the latter spoke first.

"What the…?"

"How did you know that?!"

Nicodemus turned to M.T. as he replied.

"I could tell from the mannerisms and attire. Also, you don't have boobs."

This made M.T. flustered as her cheeks turned dark grey. This made Jesse just as flustered as he spoke up.

"Hey, leave M.T.'s boobs out of this!"

M.T. puzzled by what he'd said. And it wasn't long before Jesse realized what he'd said and began to blush dark brown spots on his face as well. In an attempt to move on from the brief anxiety, Emma pressed back onto the matter of her condition.

"So, you can be able to help me get back to normal, right?"

Nicodemus was quick to answer her as he spoke up. However, the answer wasn't what she hoped for.

"No."

Emma's face immediately sank into a frown. She'd come all that way for nothing.

"What? But… but I thought that—"

"I only know how to make artificial mirror essence, not how to remove it from your body. You know, excluding surgery."

The very idea made Jesse shudder. He didn't much like seeing people's insides being ripped open.

"Why'd you have to say that?"

Trying not to give up too soon, Emma tried to look at the bright side.

"But you can at least get started on figuring it out, right? I-I mean, there's no way it's impossible…!"

Fortunately, Nicodemus concurred with her.

"Of course. I just need to have a comprehensive knowledge of extracting mirror essence safely from the human body. Which would take… about 6 to 9 months."

The trio widened their eyes in aghast surprise. Emma wasn't counting on waiting that long.

"69 months?!"

"No. 6 to 9 months. In fact, I'm gonna get started on it right away."

As Nicodemus went to a nearby door and went inside it, Jesse let out an odd sigh of relief and frustration.

"I don't know if it helps at all…"

However, that didn't do anything to help Emma. If anything, it appeared to be worse. So much so that she began to have a relapse.

"No… No, no, no, no, no...! I can't wait that long! My mom wouldn't even recognize me by then!"

M.T. saw the panic beginning to overtake Emma. She tried to help her not get her hopes up, but she couldn't.

"Emma…"

"A-And what about my number?! What's gonna happen to it if my whole body goes metal?! What then?!"

M.T. tried to put her hands on her shoulders to keep her panic from reaching fever pitch.

"Emma."

"There's no way I can live like this! I'm a human girl with a Mom who needs her, not some mirror-hybrid freak!"

The instant those words left her mouth, M.T. became shocked. In her moment of surprise, Emma looked straight at M.T. in the eyes as tears streamed down her face. She was already beginning to regret what she'd said.

"M.T., I… I didn't mean it like—"

Before she could continue, M.T. turned her head away with a hurt look on her face. After a second or two of silence, she spoke bitterly.

"I know. I just… need some time alone."

M.T. then began to walk out of the room with an upset look on her face as Jesse and Emma looked on. After a moment, Emma looked down in shame before Visco looked up at her, feeling sorry for her.

"I can't believe I did that to her…"

Jesse saw the look on her face and began to feel just as sorry for her. That look was the last thing he wanted to see on her.

"Hey, it'll be okay. You know M.T.'s tougher than that."

Emma's look didn't change as she kept her gaze to the floor.

"I thought the same thing about Charlotte… Look how that turned out."

Jesse looked at her puzzledly. He wasn't quite aware of how her past went, especially when it came to making friends. He was aware she had a hard time, but the poor boy didn't know all the details. Suddenly, Emma tensed her hands. She may have let Charlotte slip away from her, but she couldn't afford to make the same mistake with her.

"I've gotta go after her!"

In a hurry, Emma dashed out of the lab room, trying to look for M.T., much to Jesse's concern.

"Hey! Wait, Emma!"

Just as Jesse took off after Emma, Nicodemus popped up out of the door, having a smile on his face.

"And I'm back! These 6 to 9 months do fly fast."

However, to his surprise, he found out that nobody else was in the room, making him frown a bit.

"I should've known. If I had to wait for 6 to 9 months, I wouldn't wait here, either."

---

Meanwhile, Amelia was rummaging through the files in the mail slot before she stopped at one and pulled it out.

"There it is. The thing that started all this."

At the same time, Jack was confused about how Amelia planned to "make things right". Even Ava and Rexy were out of the loop.

"I don't get it. How's that supposed to make things right?"

"What is that, mum?"

"Yeah, is that supposed to mean anything?"

Amelia then handed the file over to Ava as she answered, her face full of regret.

"It should. It's the same one that brought you to life."

Ava took a look at the folder tab and saw the inscription: "A.V.A." She couldn't believe what it said. The way it was spelled, it appeared to be an acronym.

"What… what does that mean, mum?"

Amelia looked back at Ava sadly as she answered.

"It's an acronym. It was meant to stand for Alrick's Vivification Assemblage. My attempt to bring him back to life."

Jack was utterly dumbfounded. He couldn't imagine a girl like her being cloned. True, it explained why she called her "mum" instead of "grandmother", but Jack couldn't believe it nonetheless.

"So you're saying your kid isn't really your kid?"

Amelia turned to Jack with her frown getting worse.

"In a literal sense, no. She was… one of my attempts to bring back someone I lost."

Jesse had a reasonable suspicion as he looked at Ava. The only thing he could come up with given her appearance was someone her age.

"Was it your daughter?"

Amelia widened her eyes from hearing this before she quickly retorted.

"What?! You think—?! No! I didn't lose my daughter! I never had one."

Jesse began to blush dark spots on his cheeks as he brushed the back of his head.

"Oh. Then… who did you lose?"

Amelia put her hand on her right elbow, maintaining her glum look as she turned away before Jack put it together, beginning to frown in sympathy as well.

"You lost your husband, didn't you?"

Amelia nodded in confirmation before Ava opened up the file. When she looked at it, it showed Amelia and Travis together in the same photo. Back then, she had a look of hope and excitement, though Travis was more excited. And the machine itself was glowing brightly as it was in the process of creating something, or more accurately, someone. Travis took notice of the picture and smiled.

"Oh, look. That was when we were bringing you into the world. Or train, but you know. She looked so happy back then."

Then, Travis began to realize what came after as his smile receded. Ava was already aware of the truth herself, but it didn't make it any easier.

"Well, except…"

"She must not have been very happy about how I turned out."

Rexy saw the dismal look on her face before he tried to uplift her. It wasn't news for him either, but he could tell how it was affecting her. The dinosaur held onto her hand with his claw, to which she returned the favor. Amelia wanted to do the same, but she couldn't. Not after what she put her through for those 12 years. As Amelia held her head down, Ava saw a little tablet (most likely similar to Jesse's phone) beside the picture and became curious.

"Wait. What's this?"

Ava picked up the tablet, making Travis look at her in wonder. He almost seemed excited.

"Oh, right. I was hoping you'd be able to see it. Can't believe I almost forgot about it. Here, let me show you."

Travis pushed the button on the tablet. And the instant he did, the tablet began to show a large image in front of her. As the imagery pieces itself together, Ava, Rexy, Travis, and even Jack and Amelia widened their eyes in surprise as it seemed to resemble an older woman. She had long brown hair with a look that showed a warm smile on her face. Ava was utterly astounded.

"Is that… me?"

Travis gave her two thumbs up as he spoke excitedly.

"Yes! Well, sort of. It's actually you in the future. This is who you'll grow up to be. You actually look just like your mom, too."

Jack had a look of surprise considering the current age factors.

"Really?"

Jack took a look at the picture then back at the hologram. Seeing the similarities, he began to see his point.

"Oh. Oh, yeah. You-you do look a lot like her. I see it now."

Ava looked back at the picture, seeing Amelia's excited and hopeful face as she was standing beside Travis. Maybe it was because she thought she'd get Alrick back, but she honestly felt it was the only time she'd ever smiled. Ava looked back to Amelia, seeing that her face was still turned away in shame. Then, Ava looked back at the file folder and saw something taped near the photo and the tablet: it was a single hair. It was simple enough for her to guess who it belonged to. But she needed to be certain. She walked over to Amelia before she took out the lock and showed it to her.

"Mum, is this hair from… my dad?"

Amelia only moved her eyes to see the hair before closing them as she replied.

"The very same. I figured if the train couldn't bring him back, then perhaps it could… recreate him. But, I didn't take into account what my own contact with the hair could've done. As a result… you were born in his place. But that wasn't your fault. I just… I couldn't live in a world without him in it. What'd be the point if nobody else could be like him?"

Ava set the hair down and put it in her pocket as she looked up sympathetically. After learning the truth the first time, she was already shaken by the fact she wasn't born naturally like she believed. But this time, Ava felt… closure. Or perhaps something similar. Either way, she couldn't be mad at her for trying to be with someone she loved.

"You really loved him that much?"

"How couldn't I? Alrick was the only one who accepted me for who I am."

To her surprise, she felt Ava's hand hold tightly onto hers. She looked down in surprise to see Ava smiling at her softly.

"You know, it's a little bit weird to think I was born from my dad's hair. But honestly… I don't care one bit how I'm here. Not anymore. I'm my dad's daughter. And if he can accept you as you are, I don't see how I can't."

Amelia then made a soft smile back at her as she rubbed her head gently.

"No wonder. You even sound just like him."

Ava and Amelia then gave each other a hug before Jack and Rexy each had a smile, the latter on the verge of crying. After a moment, Jack cleared his throat before he got back on the topic.

"So, uh… now that we got that covered, shouldn't we get down to business?"

Amelia and Ava turned back to Jack before the former walked up to him.

"Of course. But it's not just the dark code we're looking out for. It's also my handiwork that I've made on the train's cars. For example, Ava's file."

Ava closed the file as she looked up to Amelia.

"What exactly are we going to do with it?"

Amelia knew what her job was. It's to scrub the cars on the train clean of lines of code that didn't match its original. Her line of code. She had to do it one way or another. But this was different.

She didn't have to alter the car to attempt to recreate Alrick. In fact, she rather used it for what it was supposed to do, even if it didn't turn out how she'd like. This, of course, provided her with an answer.

"You can keep that, if you want."

Ava held tightly to her folder with a warm smile. As she did, she was unaware of someone watching from afar, bearing a devilish smirk on his hooded face before he heard shouting from Emma and Jesse, making him turn his eyes to them.

They were walking out in the middle of the Lab Car, searching for their friend. Unfortunately, they didn't see where she was headed after she walked out. So, they were left with no choice but to call out for her.

"M.T.! I'm sorry about what I said!"

"M.T.! Alan Dracula misses you!"

Sadly, there wasn't any response, except for a few onlookers speaking amongst themselves in murmurs. The cloaked figure was annoyed by this as he spoke to himself.

"Drat. Looks like I'll have to reschedule…"

With that, his whole body disappeared as he let the cloak come over his whole body. And it was just in time, too. Because among the first ones to respond to their shouting was Jack. He was running out of the cloning room to see the two youths searching for her.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?"

Upon seeing him, Emma immediately ran over to Jack, tears beginning to return to her face.

"Jack!"

Emma quickly hugged him, catching the old man off-guard.

"H-Hey, what's going on here?"

As an answer, he received her soft sob in response. He hadn't seen her this sad since Perry made her keep a secret. So he could tell it was obviously bad news.

"I… I need your help. I messed up so badly with M.T…"

While Emma began to sob, Jack gently stroked the back of her hair as he spoke just as softly.

"Hey, hey. It's gonna be okay. Just tell me what happened."

Emma sniffled a bit, trying to work up the nerve to stop crying.

"I… I couldn't find anything to help me. Then I got angry, and I called M.T. a mirror-hybrid freak…!"

After finishing the sentence, Emma began to sob even worse, but Jack clearly wasn't in the mood for it. Especially not when it reminded him of how badly she was hurt last time.

"Hey, hey. Don't cry, okay? Did you actually mean any of what you said?"

Emma sniffled as she looked up to him.

"No… Of course, I didn't…"

"Then you can still make it up to her. Do you know where she is?"

As if to answer, Jesse spoke up.

"That's the thing. We were just out looking for her. Can you help us out?"

Jack had an idea as he gazed over to Alan Dracula. If what Perry said before was true, which may have been used to justify his stay with the deer, maybe he could help track down M.T. He had the nose for the stuff around her by then. He got out one of the leaves from the grass and held it up to his nose.

"Alright. Alan Dracula, M.T.'s gotta have a supply just like this with her. Can you take us there?"

After getting a good sniff, Alan Dracula chewed up the grass from his mouth and swallowed it. After which, he turned into a sort of metal detector with his eyes on the top of the plate that "scanned" for any grass signatures. Jack held onto him before he turned to Amelia, Ava, and the others.

"We'll be back in a minute. With a nose like his, it shouldn't take too long."

Jack walked over to Jesse and Emma with Alan Dracula in hand. As they left, Ava spoke up to Emma, seeing how particularly worried she was.

"Emma."

Emma turned over to see Ava, having a sympathetic look on her face as she replied.

"I hope you will be able to make it up to her."

Emma smiled sadly as she spoke back to her.

"Me, too."

The group all took off in a hurry to find their missing friend. As they went off, the cloaked figure's face parted itself slightly before he made a brief smirk.

"Well, what do you know? A deer that can shapeshift at will. I'm sure that would be very useful…"

---

As they searched for M.T., Jack and Alan Dracula were leading the search while Emma and Visco walked with Jesse. Jack was holding the deer-like Grass Detector over the floor as it beeped.

"M.T. should be around here somewhere, assuming his nose isn't picking up on a different grass…"

Emma turned to Jesse, feeling grateful for his help. Looking back, she began to notice how hard Jesse was trying to help with her situation. He must've been trying to make up for the previous lapse in judgment involving Perry. It really showed how hard he's trying to make up for it.

"Hey, Jesse?"

"Yeah? What's up?"

"I just want to say thanks. For helping me out."

Jesse only took it as a well-meaning thanks for helping find M.T. as he smiled.

"Well, sure. M.T.'s my friend, too."

"Yeah, but… that's not what I meant to thank you for."

Jesse looked at Emma with a puzzled expression as she went on.

"Huh?"

"Not many people would actually help someone like me. If it were anyone else, they'd tell me to go f…"

She was about to say something mean that's been told many times, but she didn't know how Jesse felt about it personally. So, she kept it to herself.

"Well, they'd tell me to do it myself, and that there are people who had it worse than me. After how they treated me for being the way I am, I just find it so impossible to believe. And I still do…"

Jesse then recalled what Emma told him before back at the Family Tree Car.

"My mom got into trouble more times than I should count. And I wanted to help her through them, so I stayed by her. I just wanted to help her. And then, I ended up here. After that, M.T.'s pretty much the only friend I have."

Jesse had a theory as he inquired about her situation.

"Was it about your mom?"

Emma only shook her head sadly before she spoke with a heavy tone.

"No, it's… it's more than that. I didn't have friends, but that didn't mean I never tried. M.T. wasn't my first girlfriend. Before her… there was Charlotte."

Jesse had a dark blush on his face. He remembered her mentioning the name before. Now that he knew, Jesse was starting to wish he didn't. Emma assumed it was because he was anxious about how M.T. would feel about it. Though when she reassured him, Emma began to blush herself.

"You don't have to worry, Jesse. It was more of a crush than anything. Plus, I told her last night. When we… slept together."

It was reassuring for him to know. All the same, he was still curious.

"So… what happened? Was it anything like M.T.'s story? About her and Tulip?"

Emma put her hands in her jacket pockets before she answered with her own question.

"Which one?"

"The first one she told. Like how her parents thought Tulip was perfect and everyone wanted M.T. to be like her?"

Emma made a small frown before she replied sadly. Little did she know that as she talked with Jesse, Jack was overhearing the conversation himself.

"No. It's… actually the opposite of that. Or maybe not…? I don't know. All I know is we met when I was 13. The more we hung out, the closer we got. I honestly didn't know how she felt, but whenever I was with her, I… I was happy. For the first time in a long time, I was actually happy. I didn't even know I was becoming a lesbian."

Emma made a solemn smile at the memory before her frown returned. As she went on, Emma's tone grew bitter and bitter.

"But, then, someone caught us together. The next day after, everyone started harassing us. Especially Charlotte. They even told us to go kill ourselves."

Jesse's face was shifting from concern to fear and worry. No wonder she didn't like him talking about how well he blended in at the Family Tree Car before. He was practically rubbing her face in it! But her story only got worse.

"And Charlotte, she… didn't want to be my friend anymore. She never said anything, but I could see it on her face. If we never met, her life wouldn't have been ruined…"

Jesse could only assume the worst-case scenario from there.

"So, Charlotte hated you for just wanting to be her friend? T-That's so... wrong!"

Emma's eyes widened from hearing that. She clarified immediately what she meant by that.

"What?! N-No, Jesse! It's not like that. Charlotte did like me. I think. It's just… all those people hated us for no good reason, other than being lesbians. I-I was fine with being the way I am, but that's just not who Charlotte was, apparently. And I… I just didn't want her to suffer just for being around me anymore, so… we had to stop being together."

After a brief silence that followed, Emma turned back to Jesse before she spoke sadly again.

"And before you ask why I'd do that to my friend… it's not like I wanted to. Nobody gave me a choice. Sometimes, I wonder if I even had one…"

Emma's hands tightened against each other in her jacket pockets as Jesse walked over to her and hugged her.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you, Emma. You never deserved that."

Emma then closed her eyes and softly sobbed as she hugged him back with Visco hugging her, too, though he could only hug her neck. As she did, Jack saw the whole thing and sighed to himself. He never knew how deep her scars ran. But on the bright side, he made sure that Perry paid for it with his life for exploiting it. Still, he doubted it'd even be enough to help her through the pain. Just then, he heard a rapid beeping from Alan Dracula. That could mean only one thing.

"Hey, guys! I think Alan Dracula's found M.T.!"

Emma and Jesse immediately looked to Jack and hurried over to him before the trail got warmer and warmer.

"She's getting close. Five yards. Four. Three…"

When the trio looked up, they noticed that M.T. was apparently inside of a glowing, green room. It was a big room with four neon green shelves, one of which was pulled out, revealing a long rack of plastic square cases with white disks in them. One of them was pulled out by a long, thin, Chromelike robotic arm with a long spinning metal hand with wires connected to the ceiling and floor in the middle of the room. It stored the disks into a reappearing and disappearing thin slot in its metal body. Jack released the deer as Alan Dracula morphed to his original form.

"Well, let's go in, shall we?"

However, Emma had a feeling the nose might've been off. After all, Alan Dracula was sniffing for grass. She couldn't figure out how, but she felt something nudge inside her. And it was telling her it was the wrong room.

"Jack, I don't think M.T.'s in that room."

Jack turned back to Emma in confusion.

"How can you be so sure?"

"I don't know. I just… I really feel like she's not here."

Jack found it hard to believe since M.T. was bound to have grass on her. Then again, there was a chance she might've dropped it. Still, he felt it too soon to say.

"Well, we'll see if the nose knows, regardless. It's our best lead so far. Let's go, Alan Dracula."

With that, Jack and Alan Dracula walked inside the room, taking a look around. While they did, Jesse looked over to Emma as she did the same for him.

---

Inside the room, Jack followed the deer's sense of direction. It was really bizarre to see that many disks compiled in one place. Some of them even stacked as high as the ceiling.

"Pretty odd place to keep disks, huh, Alan?"

The deer paid him no mind and stuck to his tracking. Jack rolled his eyes at the lack of response.

"And you're walking away. Don't know why I'm just talking to a deer."

Suddenly, Alan Dracula felt something plucking at him, making his eyes widen before he brayed out in terror. Jack tried to val down the superpowered deer before he could do any damage.

"Hey, boy! Heel! Heel!"

Before Jack could manage, a chrome-like mechanical arm reached out just in front of him, making him jump back in surprise as he exclaimed. It got worse when he realized that the arm was reflective. By instinct, he got down, bracing for the worst with his hands behind his head. A few seconds later, however… nothing happened. Jack looked back at the arm, cautious not to let his face be shown. After a while, the arm went away, having retrieved the disk before he drew a sigh of relief. A moment later, Emma's voice called out to him.

"Jack! Are you guys okay in there?!"

After a moment, which he took to process the event, Jack shouted back.

"I'm fine! Just… had a bad fall!"

Jack looked ahead to see Alan Dracula in front of him. Apparently, he didn't have to go too far.

"Oh. You waited? Well, that's nice of…"

But when he walked up to the deer, Jack saw that Alan Dracula was chewing on a leaf.

"Oh. You were just following the grass. Well, that's not good. That means you acted stupid for no reason."

However, Jack did notice something by Alan Dracula's hooves. It was a disk in a small plastic case. But what really surprised him was what the disk had. The writing had the same green glow on the tapes, and what it said was something he never expected to see: "Jack Stephens".

"What the heck…?"

---

With the two of them alone, Emma wanted to know how Jesse felt about their being together. He knew their story, and he did sympathize with her. But that would have meant anything. She needed to know how he truly felt.

"So, Jesse… what you said about me and M.T. being cute together. Did you… did you actually mean that? Or were you just saying that because you felt sorry for me?"

Jesse reached his hand out to Emma and put it on her shoulder before he replied.

"Of course I meant it. I said before that I'm able to be friends with everyone. What makes a lesbian any different?"

Emma smiled a bit at Jesse, feeling reassured by his words as she looked back to the room. A short while, however, Emma began to frown a bit, knowing how awful Jesse's "friends" were.

"What about Troy?"

Hearing his name, it was Jesse's turn to frown. His name was the last thing he wanted to hear after what happened to Nate.

"He made you hurt Nate before. Did he… make you do anything else?"

Jesse held his head down, starting to feel guilty as he answered meekly.

"Yeah. Before Nate, though, it wasn't anything major. One time, I had to eat a piece of gum on the street for ten dollars."

Emma wanted to laugh at that, but after seeing what he did to Nate, she found it best to hold it in.

"And that's got me thinking. If Bryce hadn't called me out on my crap, who knows what I would've done? Like, would I have been forced to treat people like garbage just because they weren't like us? Or would I have done something for them, but only made it worse? I… I never really told anyone this, but I'm actually glad the train took me away. Maybe Nate deserved better than a coward like me. Some brother I turned out to be."

Emma saw the sad look on his face. Maybe it wasn't just how he failed to notice her pain and Alan Dracula's in time. It was because he was responsible for Nate's pain. Emma held up her arm around Jesse's shoulder before she spoke with a gentle tone.

"Jesse, you're not a coward. You're just learning to stand up for yourself. You even helped us against Backscatter and the Flecs. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even be alive right now. I mean, sure, it was Jack's cure-all that helped me with the poison, but you gave us that time by taking that toad out of the car. You were even willing to kick him just to save me. If anything, Nate's lucky to have a brother like you. You just need to be that kind of person for him moving forward. That's the best thing you can do for him."

Jesse smiled softly at Emma. He heard those words before, but they all sounded the same to him.

"You know, it's funny. Jack said the same thing to me this morning. About moving forward. I don't know how you guys do it."

Emma looked to the room where Jack entered as a look of puzzlement came on her face. She hadn't known that Jack gave him similar advice. Then again, he told Jesse about how friendship actually worked at the Family Tree Car. And then at the Toad Car when they were caught in a trap. At the very least, she heard him say something close to it. She began to wonder. If he had such great advice, why couldn't he get off the train?

"Me neither…"

Just then, Jack and Alan Dracula got out of the car. The latter was eating a bunch of grass from the floor.

"Well, Emma, you were right. M.T. wasn't in the room. All we found was a piece of grass, as you can see."

This made Jesse worried as well as flustered. Without the piece of grass, there was no way to find M.T. now. She could be anywhere doing who knows what. And after seeing the mood M.T. was in, he didn't want to think about what she could do to herself.

"Come on, A.D.! Now's not the time to eat grass! We need to find M.T.!"

While Jesse was telling off Alan Dracula, Emma began to feel the sensation again. Something in her body was practically calling her like a signal as her focus drifted off to a faraway room.

"Actually, Jesse… I think we already have."

Jesse and Jack became puzzled as they looked to her.

"Huh?"

"What are you talking about?"

Emma held her hand over her chest as she spoke softly.

"I can't really explain beyond that, but… I have this feeling that M.T.'s over there. Like she's calling to me…"

Jesse looked around as he stayed silent for a moment. Contrary to what he believed Emma was getting at, he couldn't hear a thing.

"But I don't hear anything."

Then, acting on her new impulse, Emma began walking up to the room, making the group confused as Jack spoke up.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm just gonna go look in that room up ahead. Can you guys wait here, in case she comes back?"

Jack was about to object, but Jesse placed his hand on Jack's making him look at the young man. He had a look that told him to go along with Emma's sudden feeling. And he did.

"Alright. But you better come right back if it's too much for you."

Emma nodded with a small smile before she replied.

"Thank you."

Emma then began to walk towards the far-off room, almost as if in a trance. Once she was out of earshot, Jack turned to Jesse, wondering if he knew something about it.

"So, did she tell you anything about her feelings before?"

Jesse crossed his arms as he answered. To some extent, he was right. But those feelings weren't the ones he was thinking of.

"No. But… I think she'll be okay."

Little did Jesse know that as he looked on, his number was shifting to a number "7". However, he did notice something else. Far off in the distance, he saw a silver-furred wolf with blue eyes staring at the group. Jesse was surprised for a moment before he rubbed his eyes, just to make certain he wasn't imagining it. But when he opened his eyes again, it was gone. Jack took notice of Jesse's surprise and became curious.

"You okay, Jesse?"

"I… think so. For a second, I thought I saw a wolf around–"

The instant the word left his mouth, Jack became startled and looked around as he interrupted in a concerned tone.

"Wolf? What wolf?"

As Jack looked around, Jesse was puzzled. He never saw Jack act like that before. That was the same way M.T. acted about any reflection that could spawn the Flecs right on their tail. After a while, though, he dropped the tone of concern.

"Nothing? Never mind. Let's head back to Amelia and Ava. Emma seems to have it covered, anyhow."

As Jack headed the other way, Jesse was left feeling more confused than before, especially with what Emma asked them.

"But Emma asked us to wait here."

Jack suddenly stopped in his tracks before he retracted his earlier suggestion, stopping in his steps and going back.

"Oh. Right."

Jesse looked at him in befuddlement before he looked back to where Emma walked off.

---

Emma was walking closer and closer to the room, her slime companion looking at it in awe. When they got to the entrance, they noticed that the room was a dark neon lit data processing computer room. It was a big, spacious white room with lined up box-structured data drives with low-lit neon lights along its sides. Both sides of the room were connected to a big screen taking up the middle wall with a small box-structured keyboard built into the wall under the screen, and the keys were glowing a light green neon color. The floor was a light red neon color, as well as the ceiling. And at the front of the big screen was someone Emma hoped she'd find. It seemed her gut feeling had proved her right once again. But as she got closer, she sounded worried.

"Come on. How hard is it to find a cure…?"

Emma heard the tone in her voice. It sounded… agitated. And beneath that was worry. Emma could already guess why M.T. must've left in a hurry. She must've been trying to find a solution herself since Nicodemus said it'd take 6 to 9 months. Of course she couldn't wait that long.

"M.T., is that you?"

To answer her, M.T. turned around to see Emma, the red neon floor and ceiling reflecting off her body like… well, a mirror. Perhaps it was because of the lighting, but Emma had to admit she looked so much more beautiful than she expected, even if she was worried. M.T., on the other hand, seemed almost guilty around her.

"Oh, hey, Emma. I'm sorry I left you like that…"

While she was upset about how she walked out, Emma felt it was more on her for what she said. In fact, as she tried to apologize, she was scared M.T. wouldn't accept it.

"No, M.T… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I said back at the lab. I was just so stressed out about what'd happen to my number that I… But you know I wasn't trying to say that about you, right? And if I did, again…"

Before she could finish, M.T. cut her off gently.

"Emma. It's okay. I know you weren't trying to say that about me. It's just… I thought back to what we talked about before. Back at the bridge, when we started being girlfriends?"

There were a lot of bridges that she and M.T. have crossed before, but this one, she remembered. She recalled what M.T. warned her before.

"Yeah. You reminded me that I'm not meant to stay on the train forever. And if I left, it'd break both our hearts."

"And then you told me we'd cross that bridge when we come to it, but… what if that bridge gets cut off before we even get there? What then?"

Emma saw where it was going as she held her head down while she continued.

"Seeing you stress out about your number going away made me realize I've been getting too close to you. And I'm scared that if I don't do something about it, you wouldn't be able to go back home. And it'd be all my fault. And then there's your mom. Even if it doesn't affect your number, what if you came back and everyone just hated you all over again just because of what you can do? What if… what if she hated you? And I made that happen?"

Emma took in every word M.T. said and recognized each and every one of them. Those words had been said before. It was back when she had to make a sacrifice of her own just to keep Charlotte safe and happy. M.T. then turned away with a frown on her face as she spoke bitterly, yet the words were enough to make her choke.

"That's why… I-I don't think we should–"

Emma cut her off with a hand on her shoulder. She was expecting to hear her react, "How could you do that to me?!" Or "I thought we were friends!" But what she got was something more along those lines, yet it was more understanding than hateful.

"Please don't say that, M.T. I don't need to hear myself say it again."

M.T. looked back at Emma, befuddled by what she'd said to her.

"What…?"

"Remember what I told you before? About me and Charlotte? She may have been a crush for me, but when somebody saw us, we actually were starting to go out. And when it got so bad, I could tell Charlotte didn't want to be hurt anymore, so I talked with her about it, in those exact words."

M.T. showed an odd blend of sympathy and empathy as she looked at her. She could already get the feeling that Charlotte was quick to abandon ship.

"And I guess Charlotte agreed?"

"Not at first. But she looked back on what I was talking about, and she let me go. So both of us could be free. And you know what?"

Emma began to tense her fists as she struggled not to cry, remembering the heartache she had to endure ever since.

"I hated it. I hated it more than anything or anyone. Even my self-righteous aunt. Because I had to break the one connection I ever had in my life besides my Mom. So please don't do this, M.T., because I promise you. It won't make you feel any better than I would. And besides, the whole reason I was flipping out about my condition before is because I wanted to..."

Emma couldn't bring herself to say it. She knew nobody else was around but the two of them, but it was still hard for her to say, under the threat of anyone overhearing it. All the while, M.T. looked confused.

"I wanted to…"

She saw how hard Emma was shaking. M.T. couldn't take the suspense anymore and urged her into it.

"What is it? What did you want?"

Emma began to blush deep red in her cheeks as she closed her eyes and shouted in a flustered tone.

"I wanted to have sex with you again, okay?!"

M.T. widened her eyes in surprise as dark grey blushes appeared on her cheeks, too. A short moment passed before Emma explained as she held her hands on her arms.

"The first time we did it together… I was so warm. And happy, for the first time in a really… really long time. I pushed away everybody else because they never understood me for being me. But you? You and Jack and Jesse were a few of the only people in my life that ever understood me, that made me feel… normal. Was I worried about my number? Yeah, of course I was. And I do want to go home, but… I just didn't want it to get in the way of us being together like that anymore. So, please don't make me go through that, M.T. I just can't. Not again…"

M.T. began to frown sadly for Emma as tears began to fall down her face again. She walked closer to her before she gently wiped them away and cupped her hands on Emma's face.

"Hey. I'm sorry. I had no idea you felt that way. Well, I did, but not like this. If I knew that was all you wanted…"

M.T. then gently pressed her forehead against Emma's softly before she spoke to her.

"Don't worry. I'm not gonna leave you."

The instant she heard this, Emma opened her eyes and quickly kissed M.T. on the lips, catching her by surprise for a moment before she returned it with her own, her hands trailing down smoothly from her head along her waist, where she gently groped her bottom. The sensation was enough to elicit a moan from Emma before they withdrew their kiss and looked each other in the eyes, their smiles having returned as Emma spoke under breath with a smile.

"Thanks, M.T."

"Hey. Anything for my girlfriend."

The two of them hugged each other again as Visco traveled down from Emma's shoulder to her jacket pocket, as if it knew what was going to happen next.

"So, can we do this again?"

M.T. made a gentle and erotic laugh before she answered.

"Yeah… maybe one more wouldn't hurt."

With that, M.T. and Emma went close to kiss again as their hands trailed all over their bodies. While they kissed, their eyes began to glow bright silver again, both of them moaning blissfully as they stared into each other's eyes and fell into a trance-like state. However, that didn't last long. To their surprise, they noticed each other's eyes and gasped in alarm.

"M.T.! Your eyes…! They're… glowing silver!"

"Yeah? Well, so are yours!"

Emma looked in M.T.'s reflective skin and became astonished. She was practically speechless.

"Oh, my gosh, you're right. They are glowing."

Emma had a theory creeping up as she looked at her girlfriend's face.

"You don't think your essence might have something to do with that, do you?"

M.T. began to realize the same thing. She gave her a nod as she replied.

"Maybe. They weren't glowing before so…"

Emma had an uncertain look for a moment before her smile came back. While she felt scared before, those eyes were beginning to work their charm again, as if telling her there was nothing wrong.

"That's good. At least I get to look at them this time."

Emma and M.T. laughed again before holding each other close, the neon lighting shiny on M.T.'s reflective body as the former spoke softly.

"Hey, M.T.?"

"Yeah?"

"This is… gonna sound ridiculous, but… is our love life gonna get boring like this? Or is it just me?"

M.T. made a gentle smile as she gave her two cents.

"I don't think so. The way we are, we can spice things up if you want."

Emma made a gentle laugh before they went back to their passionate kissing. Then, M.T.'s shirt began to bulge out slightly, catching the group's attention. The two looked surprised at the bulging as it became more frequent until it grew longer, practically to the length of a tentacle, and emerged from the open neck of her shirt. Emma and M.T. stared at it in utter surprise and fascination as the long tentacle wrapped itself around her and Emma before pulling them closer to each other. As it held the two of them captive, Emma made an anxious, yet eager smile. While it did surprise her, it ended up making her more excited than before.

"Well, that's one way to spice things up."

---

After that, the moments seemed to fly by between them as they embraced the ecstasy of it all. It lasted far longer than the first time they made love with each other. But at the end, Emma began to get tired as she let herself fall onto M.T.'s chest, cradled by her partner as she was relentlessly filled with her mirror essence before, her half chrome-coated body being proof of that.

It reached from her feet to where her bellybutton was. Since their first time, it became something of an addiction to her, one that she would begin to regret. Within mere moments afterward, something strange began to happen. Their legs began to melt together, forming a chrome-like puddle. Emma was too hazed by pleasure and exhaustion to notice. However, M.T. saw it, and her eyes widened in worry.

"Uh, Emma?"

Emma gazed at M.T. with a lustful look on her face as she inquired to her.

"Yeah, babe?"

Then, she noticed the scared look on her face. The moment was starting to unsettle her quickly.

"What's wrong?"

"Uh, don't look down now, but…"

Emma looked underneath her, and to her horror, she began to see that her entire lower body was melting all over M.T.'s. It was a quick way to change the mood, and it certainly wasn't for the better.

"AGH! What's happening?! Is my whole body gonna melt?!"

As Emma flailed about, her melted lower body ended up dragging M.T.'s body with it. To stop her panic from getting worse, M.T. held her hands up to her face and spoke firmly to her before easing her tone.

"Emma. Look at me. All eyes on me. Okay?"

Emma was still more than rattled by the event, but she had a feeling M.T. had a plan. It was the same feeling that helped her find M.T. in the first place. And it was also the only reason why she wasn't still screaming.

"Okay… W-What should I do?"

M.T. guides her hands gently to her back and sat up as she spoke softly.

"Just close your eyes, and take big deep breaths."

M.T. then took a deep breath before Emma followed suit, shutting her eyes. While she took those breaths, Emma's lower body formed back to normal, separating themselves from M.T.'s legs. When it was done, Emma and M.T. looked at each other, the former beginning to have tears forming in her eyes again as she started to break down, her deep breaths failing her. It was a terrifying experience for her to have melted on top of her girlfriend, but what scared her was what would've happened if she had melted all the way. M.T. got that sense from her petrified face as she pulled Emma closer and shushed her gently.

"Hey. You're okay, now. You're okay."

In M.T.'s safe and secure arms, Emma began to calm down again, though her breathing was ragged from the verge of crying. Eventually, however, the fear died down, and Emma felt at peace again.

"Thanks, M.T. I thought I was gonna die, back there."

"Yeah, me, too. But I'm just glad we were able to fix it."

Suddenly, the tentacle wrapped itself around them again, but only once before it extended over their legs and their chests. It had turned into a makeshift blanket. Emma stared at it in odd confusion as she inquired about it to her.

"So… Not that I'm complaining, but where did that thing come from?"

M.T. was just as puzzled for a moment before she replied.

"Your guess is as good as mine. But if I had to guess, I'd say my mirror powers spiced things up."

Emma smiled at her answer. While it was a playful joke, it also turned out to be the truth. Still, she was curious.

"Yeah, but… how? You never had to use your mirror powers before. Aside from your… you know."

M.T. looked up at the neon red ceiling as she thought of the answer. Beyond her need to let the one thing that set her apart from her prime, she had no need before. Looking back on her words about spicing things up, M.T. had a guess, at least.

"Dunno. But I think maybe… it's some kinda mutation? I mean, maybe it's something leftover from my other primes, but my body is just…"

"Unlocking it?"

M.T. has a slight blush on her face as she looked at Emma with a puzzled look.

"Uh, yeah. Something like that, I guess."

"Yeah, but why now?"

After a short silence, M.T. sighed before she turned herself to face Emma.

"Do you remember what I said? About how my body holds mirror essence?"

Emma nodded softly in response before she went on.

"Well, since you had some of it in you from last time, I think my body must be trying to… merge with yours."

Emma gasped at the mere thought of it. She couldn't believe it.

"I think my essence wanted you, Emma."

"It… wanted me?"

The passenger was shaken utterly by the news. But looking back, it did make sense. The last time they made out, M.T. told her about what her body could do, how it was just a vessel for her essence. But what did her essence want with Emma? And why would it merge M.T.'s body with hers? What would even happen to her once it does…? Whatever the answer was, Emma and M.T. then looked up to the ceiling together as they twiddled their fingers over the blanket, stuck on what to do about it from here. After a short silence, M.T. spoke up solemnly.

"I guess that's another reason why you need that cure. So you don't turn into a puddle, or… you know, get absorbed."

"Yep."

Another moment of silence happened between them before Emma broke it with a small smile as she turned to her chrome lover. Even if their love did lead to something that led to her almost being absorbed, she still needed to, no… she wanted to be with her. She just had to be careful not to let herself get swallowed, lest she face the consequences.

"But… for some reason, I don't think I should."

M.T. did a double-take from hearing this.

"What?"

"It's crazy, I know. But the thing is, I think that feeling I had was your essence leading me to you. If it wasn't for that, I… I don't think I would've found you again."

M.T. made a short snicker before she replied.

"Come on. You would've found me anyway."

"Yeah, but still. You helped me through it. If you can do that, maybe… maybe you could help me through the rest of it? If that's okay with you."

M.T.'s confused look faded into a smile before she stroked her hair again.

"Sure. Anytime."

Emma closed her eyes and hummed softly. M.T. could tell she was enjoying it too much. She knew it meant one thing.

"Alright, what is it?"

"Can we kiss again? This time, with just the kissing?"

M.T. looked at Emma before she bluntly replied.

"Yeah. It's definitely okay."

---

Meanwhile, Jack and Jesse were waiting out by the data room they investigated earlier. While it provided no hints of M.T. other than grass, they had to wait here for the possibility of her return. The wait was getting anxious, especially for Jack. Since Jesse mentioned the wolf, he'd been a little bit on edge, constantly looking left and right for any sign of it. As for Jesse, he was left to wonder why he was so nervous when he'd been the complete opposite of it before. It was at that moment when Jesse remembered Jack's rule.

After every three cars, any of them could ask a question about his past. And apparently, Emma's question about the lab car didn't count. At least, he gave off the impression that it didn't. Either way, Jesse knew just what to ask him as he spoke up.

"So, Jack… you mind if I ask you a question?"

Having heard his voice, Jack turned his head around to see him.

"You may."

"What's the big deal about that wolf you think I–"

Before Jesse could finish, Jack cut him off.

"Wolf? What's with all the wolf talk? Can we give it a rest for once?"

Jesse was dumbfounded by the urgent reaction. However, it also gave him a clear idea as to why.

"Wait a minute… You're scared of wolves, aren't you?"

Jack had a cross look on his face for a moment, but looking back, he knew the fault was on him for reacting so suddenly, twice he might even add. He dropped the look before he spoke about it casually.

"Scared? No. I have a phobia of them, though. But I'm pretty sure you'd have one, too, if you were chased down all over the place. Those things hold one heck of a grudge, I'll tell you that…"

Jesse looked out to the distance where he thought he saw the wolf. Out of everything on the train, Jack seemed scared of it more than anything or anyone else. And then, just when he was starting to get the picture, he saw Alan Dracula moving out towards the direction Emma was walking. Jesse tried to stop the deer from getting closer as he stepped over to him.

"Hey, bad Alan Dracula! Emma told us to stay here. Besides, you already have your grass."

Alan Dracula only snorted before he lifted Jesse up with his antlers, his legs sticking out from the top of his head while his upper body was facing backwards. Jack saw this and ran over to him.

"Alan Dracula, you put that boy down right now!"

Just when he said that, Jack realized he said something rather odd, even for him.

"Wow. I never thought those words would leave my mouth."

After a short struggle, however, Jesse thought of something else. From the top of his antlers, he noticed the patch of grass being left behind. It didn't take long for him to piece it together.

"Wait a minute. Alan Dracula doesn't care about grass. Well, he does, but he must be trying to pick up M.T.'s scent."

This made Jack puzzled, mostly about Emma. She had to have known that Alan Dracula would've picked up M.T.'s scent eventually. Instead, she went with her gut feeling about where to find M.T. It may have turned out to be true when she doubted they'd find her instead of grass, but that was just one instance where it turned out to be true. For all he knew, she could end up being lost.

"Then we better follow the nose. Again. And hopefully, it's not just a patch of leftover grass."

Alan Dracula didn't need to be told that to get going. The deer started walking along on its own, sniffing out the trail. While it did, Jack walked beside the deer while Jesse readjusted himself so that he wasn't dangling by his antlers.

"Sorry, buddy, but I gotta get down."

He did a front roll to get off of the deer and landed on its back before suddenly, he split himself in half again, causing Jesse to fall to the floor again, landing on his bottom. Frustrating as it was, however, he had a feeling it would've happened anyway.

"Yeah, I knew you'd do that…"

Just then, Jesse and Jack began to hear moans from the room close by. Those sounds weren't like anything Jesse heard before, so he was easily concerned.

"Wait. Are you hearing that?"

Jack listened to the moans more closely and he began to figure out who they belonged to, along with what was causing them.

"Yep. That's them, alright."

Jesse went closer to the room as he spoke up in worry.

"S-Should we go check on them?"

To answer him, however, Jack held up his hand to Jesse as he replied.

"Maybe we should let them finish what they're doing, first."

"What? B-But they could be hurt…!"

"Come on, Jesse. Do they sound hurt to you?"

When Jesse listened to them again, he began to hear their laughter among their moans as the both of them died down softly.

"Uh… no? They sound okay, but… what were they doing?"

Jack drew a heavy sigh as he spoke to himself.

"Honestly, the fact you don't even know is beyond me… Okay, nothing to worry about. We know where M.T. is, so…"

However, Jesse had his doubts. He noticed the piles of Emma and M.T.'s clothes on the floor. It was enough to make him think the worst had happened. In almost no time at all, Jesse spoke out to the girls from outside.

"Hey, guys! Are you okay?!"

Jack grumbled to himself before M.T. shouted from the other side of the giant screen in the middle of the room.

"Uh, yeah! Emma and I were just, uh… playing with each other."

Jesse drew a breath of relief, happy to hear that they were okay. However, when he noticed the clothes on the floor again, he began to realize what M.T. actually meant by that.

"Wait. You guys were really just…"

For a moment, a dark brown blush came on both of his cheeks as he turned his head away.

"Oh, my gosh! I'm so sorry! Am I disturbing you?!"

Emma heard Jesse's panic and tried to calm him down as she reassured him from the other side.

"No, Jesse. I-It's okay. Can you guys just bring over the clothes on the floor, please?"

Jesse's blush got even worse as he inquired about their nakedness. He needed to be ready so he didn't end up seeing them in the buff again.

"But aren't you guys… you know?"

"Yeah, but it's okay. We got a blanket."

Jesse's blush went away once he was reassured.

"Oh. Well, okay, then."

With that, Jesse picked up M.T.'s clothes (which consisted of a black shirt, her pants, and her boots) while Jack took care of Emma's leftover attire. When Jesse and Jack came to the other side, they noticed that Emma and M.T. were both bundled up together under a single metallic chrome-like blanket. It seemed to be attached to M.T., so it was a safe bet that her body was starting to use its metal powers, much to Jesse's confusion.

"Huh. Where did that blanket come from?"

As an answer, Emma gestured Jesse to kneel down to her as she spoke gently.

"Yeah. About that, M.T. kinda has…"

Emma leaned closer to Jesse and whispered into it. When she was finished, Jesse's eyes widened in surprise.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaat…?"

The sight of Jesse having his mind blown was enough to make M.T. laugh as he looked down to her in surprise.

"You had mirror powers?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

After finishing her laugh, M.T. replied with a joking smile.

"Hey, it's not my fault I have cool powers."

Jack had a guess about what happened between them when they saw each other again.

"What were you guys doing in there anyway? Did you get too emotional together or something?"

Emma and M.T. blushed altogether as the latter replied in an embarrassed tone before her girlfriend asked her own question in an attempt to hide her own.

"Uh… yeah. I guess."

"What are you guys doing here, anyway?"

Jack knelt down as he answered them.

"Alan Dracula picked up M.T.'s scent and he led us here. For once, his nose was working right. And it looks like your hunch was right, too."

Emma made a soft smile as she answered back while looking into M.T.'s eyes, the owner of which smiled back.

"Yeah. I guess it was…"

While it was nice to know that M.T. was alright, it only brought up another mystery for Jesse.

"How did you figure out where M.T. was, though? I mean, I understand Alan Dracula, but you managed to find her yourself. Like, how did you do that?"

Emma's smile faded away as she held her head down, beginning to wonder the same thing. She was told that M.T.'s mirror essence wanted her, but she still couldn't figure out why. So far, she had more questions than she did answers. And even if she wanted to tell him, she couldn't. She had to keep her condition a secret to keep them from worrying about her. So all she could do was blush as she answered meekly.

"I… don't know."

All the same, Jack felt this car was getting them nowhere for all the good that did them.

"Alright, well since there's nothing here that can help, what do you say we move on?"

The two girls nodded in agreement before Jack and Jesse gave the both of them each of their clothes, which they quickly took as Emma spoke.

"Can you two give us some space, please?"

A short while later,, M.T.'s makeshift blanket had turned into a curtain, with Visco peeping his head out for a moment. After seeing Emma and M.T. getting dressed, he then popped it in again. M.T. had just put on her pants, leaving her as topless as Emma was, with a bit of her condition visible as it stopped just above her bellybutton. M.T. examined her chest as she roamed her hands over them. Her mounds were now more distinguishable as she cupped them in her hands.

"I'd like to see Nicodemus tell me I don't have boobs now. What do you think, Em–?"

As she turned, M.T. took notice of Emma's look of worry over her face. She assumed it must be her number worrying her again. The chrome girl went over to Emma and spoke to her gently.

"Hey, you're gonna be okay. At least we didn't melt."

Emma's frown still remained as she spoke solemnly.

"Actually, it's not about that."

"Huh? Then what is it?"

"Well… I had this dream last night. We were in the ocean, and then we both drowned, but… we were still holding each other close until we just…"

"Faded away?"

Emma looked at M.T. in surprise. To hear her say that, she would've had to have dreamed of it herself. That meant…

"Yeah. I had that dream, too. Is that what scares you? That we could fade away?"

"Yeah, but… at the same time, I felt so good about it. The same kind of good I felt when you gave me your essence. And you know, maybe it's because of the essence inside me, but a part of me actually wanted it, too."

M.T. looked at her in wondrous confusion. What would make melting away so appealing to her? What was she even saying?

"What are you trying to say, Emma?"

"I guess, I used to be certain that I didn't want to be a full-fledged mirror person, but now… I don't know what's really right for me anymore. Like, should I get rid of that Mirror Essence inside me and go back to normal, or… should I just accept it and… and be like you?"

M.T. then made a smug look as she replied.

"What? Like a mirror-hybrid freak?"

Emma's face immediately showed regret as she turned her head away in shame. M.T. realized then that she made a mistake and tried to fix it, holding her hands on her head gently again.

"Hey, hey. Sorry, Emma. I was just messing with you. Look… I don't honestly know what the right call is, either, but whatever you decide, I'm gonna be with you. Okay?"

Emma then made a soft smile as she hugged her, her red hair being stroked by the Chrome girl's fingers.

"Thanks, M.T…"

"You're welcome, Em."

Then, Emma's chrome part of the body moved upward, enveloping her all the way, except for her neck and head. The two looked at the change in wonder as M.T. spoke out.

"Emma… your body."

Emma examined herself in awe. It was bizarre seeing herself with metal coating. While it freaked her out this morning, this sensation was different. Like taking a warm bath. As she looked at her hands, she saw that her number remained. And adding to it, it had gone down to a "117".

"My number… it's okay."

Emma showed it to M.T., and the girls began to laugh gently before hugging each other. Emma then spoke gently to her.

"I guess this means I'll be okay after all."

"Yeah. Thank goodness…"

---

Meanwhile, Amelia, Ava, Rexy, and Travis were looking over the folder again as they waited. The first and last of the group were looking over the machine as the girl and the dinosaur looked at the pictures. Rexy felt it odd to see Amelia with a smile that wide.

"Yeesh. It's weird seeing your mom with a smile like that."

"Yeah. She looked really happy. If only I could see her smile like that for real..."

Little did she know that Amelia was looking back to her daughter with a sorrowful look on her face. Travis noticed it and spoke softly. He seemed to know what was bothering her.

"Amelia… I know she's nothing like your husband. But she's as good as gold to you like he was."

"It's not that. I am happy to have her. I really am. It's just… I can't help having this feeling that she'd leave me too soon. Just like her father…"

Just then, a familiar voice spoke out to her.

"It's not hard to guess why, though, is it?"

Amelia immediately turned her head to see the cloaked figure walking to her with a smirk on his face as he replied again.

"After all, you've failed to bring back Alrick time and time again. If you really thought things could be different now…"

He then took off his hood, showing his short black greying hair, thick mustache and eyebrows. It didn't matter how old it looked, but Amelia knew it all too well.

"...then you're in need of a rude awakening."

"James… I never thought I'd see your face again."

Ava and Rexy took notice of the scene and became worried.

"Mum, what's going on?"

"Yeah, what's with tall, dark, and twirly?"

James made a small glance toward the dinosaur before making a dissatisfied groan at the comment. Then, he averted his gaze back to Amelia.

"I must say, I'm surprised. I seem to recall that you… hated children."

Amelia grunted as Ava walked up beside her and stood up for her.

"People change, mister. This whole train is built on that."

In response, James began to laugh darkly before he knelt down to her and spoke with a condescending tone.

"Then tell me, little one. Why is she still trapped here?"

In Ava's defense, Rexy growled before lunging at James beside Ava, forcing the man to lift himself up and back away as Rexy growled again.

"That ain't your beeswax, twirly!"

James scowled at him as he spoke bitterly.

"Oh, go suck an excrement, Rex."

Rexy gasped at his choice of words before he got even angrier.

"Oh, you did not just say that to me!"

Rexy then ran at James, leaving Ava worried for her friend.

"Rexy, no!"

In response, James only lifted his cloak enough for a mechanical arm to shoot out and swipe Rexy back to the floor, sliding the Dino back to Ava as she tended to him.

"Rexy!"

Seeing the attack, Amelia became angrier than before. James, however, felt it was unwarranted.

"Oh, don't be so gripe about it. They were never real in the first place. Any more than your daughter is."

It didn't take Amelia long for her to snap at him.

"What gives you the right to say that?! Maybe she wasn't born like other children are, and maybe she didn't turn out like I wanted, but she's still my child!"

James closed his eyes, the smile still evident on his face.

"Oh, my. If you only knew…"

Hearing the tone inflected in his voice, Amelia instantly dropped her look of rage. What could he mean by that?

"Knew what?"

James dug into his pocket and got out a folder. It was similar to the one Ava held in her own hands. The girl looked back at her folder and hid in surprise.

"Is that my folder? What do you have it for?"

"You don't know what really happens to your little one, do you?"

No sooner had James opened it than a hologram of Ava opened up. It was just like the one she had in her own folder.

"This is what your precious child looks like now. And this…"

James sped up the hologram's timeline. But instead of growing up like her folder showed, Ava's hologram was getting more and more skinny and sad. When the timeline stopped at 18 years old, Ava's hologram fell to the floor dead before turning to dust. Ava, Rexy, Travis, and Amelia looked on in horror as James finished.

"...is what will happen six years from now."

Travis was in utter aghast at seeing this.

"B-But… that shouldn't be possible! Her genetics were all fine!"

James looked back to the doctor as he spoke again.

"Don't look so morose, Doctor. This wasn't your fault. Why, the credit should go to someone else. Someone who believed she deserved more than what she got in return. Someone who thought they could get whatever they want without consequence. Someone who believed they're better than the rules. And we know who fits that description… don't we, Amelia?"

Ava looked up at Amelia in disbelief. Was she hiding something that terrible the whole time?

"Mum… did you know about this?"

Amelia looked back to Ava with a face of horror. Even if she had no knowledge of it other than a feeling, what could she say?

"Ava… I—"

Before Amelia could finish, James spoke up.

"Oh, dear. You haven't told her a thing, have you?"

James then used his tentacle to wrap up Amelia and Travis in its metallic binding, leaving Ava and the knocked out Rexy alone as he sneered down at her.

"Well, how about I fill in the blanks?"

James began to loom over Ava as he spoke bitterly to her.

"Amelia Hughes was a woman born into a society in which the only natural place for women was to be their wives and housekeepers. There was no greater role a woman could possibly have. But, Amelia was against it from the start. She protested it herself many times, until she met the young upstart, Alrick Timmens. He foolishly accepted that she wanted a bigger role as a woman. And when he was gone, so was her foolish cause. To spite it all, she planned to remove herself from the world altogether, but then came the train. And with it, the power to play God and bring back the one she lost."

As James spoke of Amelia's past time Ava, she was getting more and more indulged. She was already aware of the story, but she hadn't heard it in that context before.

"What…?"

Amelia saw what he was doing, and she didn't like it one bit.

"Leave Ava out of this, you chauvinist bugger!"

In response, James tightened the tentacle, causing her to grunt and making Ava scared for her.

"I'd prefer it if you kept your mouth shut."

"Mum!"

"As I was saying, she played the role so many times, and so many failures were made. You, my dear, were only ever just that: a failure of a woman who wanted to escape reality."

Ava stood still in disbelief. Was she really just that? Was that really the only role meant for her? A failure? There's no way it could be true. It couldn't be… As the poor girl stood in utter disarray, Amelia became just as saddened. James got out his wrist and pulled down the sleeve to look at his watch.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have times and places to be. If you want to know more, take it up with your mother."

Suddenly, the two heard a roar of anger. It was coming from Amelia. In no time at all, she pushed the tentacle off of her with an invisible barrier, allowing her to fall to the ground before she charged at James with utter fury.

"SHE IS NOT A FAILURE!"

Amelia lunged at James and pushed him away, causing him to drop Travis in the process, only for him to land on the ground safely. Amelia was now on top of James, towering over him with her fists ready to punch the living daylights out of him.

"You have no right to say any of that to her! Ava is a smart, talented, and resourceful young girl! If anything, she's a triumph compared to me! So if I catch you anywhere near her ever again, you won't live to regret it. Have I made myself clear?!"

James only glared at Amelia as he growled under his breath.

"Crystal."

James then pushed Amelia away with two of his tentacles before propping himself up as they retreated back to his coat.

"Like I said before, I have times and places to be. But the next time we meet, I promise. You won't live to regret it."

With that, James walked away from the group and into the abandoned room, in which he placed his hand on the handprint scanner and entered the portal afterwards. A few moments afterward, Amelia turned to Ava, seeing the surprise on her face. She had a feeling it would catch up to her. She held her head down, expecting to hear her shout at her like she did before when they first met after a long time.

"Listen, Ava… I don't expect you to forgive me, but—"

Suddenly, Ava wrapped her arms around her mother with tears coming out of her eyes before she spoke softly.

"Thank you, Mum. So much…"

Ava began to sniffle a bit before Amelia returned the hug back.

"Of course… my child."

At that moment, M.T., Emma, Jesse, Jack, and Alan Dracula were headed back to Amelia and the others just in time to see Amelia and Ava hugging each other closely. They were surprised to see it, especially M.T. She was one of the first to address them with Emma following her.

"Whoa… what happened here?"

"Are you guys okay?"

Ava and Amelia turned back to the group, seeing that they were able to find their friend. While the little girl was relieved, the woman felt it was only a matter of time.

"Yeah. I'm just glad you're alright."

"Well, it's expected when you have a super-powerful deer at your disposal."

M.T. and Emma both looked at each other, each holding a smile on their faces before the former spoke up again.

"But seriously, though. What happened?"

Ava and Amelia looked at each other and nodded before the former looked at the group.

"Listen. Before you guys go out there, you need to know who you're dealing with."

---

Meanwhile, James came out of the portal and turned it off with a low hum. He had a bitter look on his face, presumably from his encounter with Amelia. But after a moment, he shrugged it off and walked out to an open room. It was the same car he came back from, except… nothing was quite the same anymore.

It was now in ruins with no soul, passenger or denizen, occupying it. And a lot of the car's technologies were either dismantled or corroded to rust. There were even scratch marks on the walls, along with a bloody upside-down mark of what appeared to be three claws which formed an "A". James got out a piece of brown hair from his other cloak pocket before he held it up to his eye.

"Well, the primary item might not have been available, but I did get a tuft of DNA from that freak of nature. Now, on to the next item of the list."

A/N: And that's that. For now, that is. I won't give out an exact release for the next chapter, but hopefully, I can add it sooner rather than later. And you can look forward to seeing Mirrored Passion's return before the end of the year. And in case you missed it, the guest from Cause and Effect is James, who is portrayed by Christopher R. Sabat. Personally, I don't like the guy much, but I still admire his work all the same. Chronologically, he would appear in this chapter before the Scientific Method Car from "Cause and Effect", so you can look between them if you're interested in this particular character's adventures. Now, I just want to close this by saying, "Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!" :)