And here's another chapter, better late than never style!

Not much else to say here, so, let's answer some reviews:

1) OMAC001: We'll explain the Apex's situation eventually. As for Kelly, it was higher.

And now, to the chapter!

With the latest bike race finished, Hilda's group followed Kelly to a table with a food court nearby, where the group sat down to eat while she explained:

"The Apex are a group of passengers who have decided to make their numbers as high as possible. They do this because they've convinced themselves that this is what the train's for, and that if your number goes all the way down, you die."

"That's a... pretty harsh way to put it," Alfur said.

Hilda faced Helga, who looked away. "So, the bad people you talked about-"

"They were the Apex, yeah," Helga scratched her head. "Though, at the time Dad and I were attacked, we didn't know what they were called."

"Whoa, so your friend survived an attack from the Apex?" Kelly raised an eyebrow. "And without a dozen scars or traumas? That's impressive!"

"How do you know about the Apex?" Hilda asked sternly. "And in fact, how long have you even been here?"

"A couple days, at most," Kelly shrugged. "At least, that's how I think this place works. One thing's for sure: my number was way bigger before I reached this car."

Hilda snickered and rolled her eyes. "That I can believe."

Kelly furrowed her brow, her disapproval in full display.

"So, all I gotta do is win the bike race to pass the car, right?" Hilda snickered. "This is gonna be the easiest car ever!"

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to mention," Kelly folded her arms behind her back. "You can't use training wheels in the bike race."

"What?!"

"What do you mean "what?!" Hilda?" Alfur asked. "It's simple bike racing rules."

"You just gotta ride your bike across the lap three times and land somewhere on first, second, or third place," Kelly added. "Once you do, a door should open."

"So, between first and third place," Hilda folded her arms. "Is that the reason why you're here? Because you haven't reached the top three yet?"

"Nah, I just got here, and besides, you should be a little more grateful for that," Kelly chuckled and checked her nails. "After all, if you're really as bad on the bike as you've implied, you're gonna need all the help you can get-"

"No way am I falling for that!" Hilda snapped, standing up and slamming her fist down the table. "You shoved Frida towards the Black Hound! Tricked her into becoming your friend! Do you really think I'm going to trust you after that!?"

"You don't need to trust me, you just need to trust my judgement; which I assure you, is an entirely different thing," Kelly stood up. "But besides, you don't really have the right to call me out in treating your friend badly when you've done the same."

Hilda gritted her teeth. "Say that again!"

"Gladly, but another time," Kelly put her arms behind her head and went for the food. "Right now, we should have something to eat, don't you think?"

Hilda got ready to answer when her phone rang. The bluette sighed and took it out, barely glancing at the screen before she hung up.

"You know, your phone's been ringing for quite a while now," Kelly remarked as she walked away. "Maybe you should answer the caller already."

"Or maybe, just maybe, the caller should get the hint that I'm not in the mood to talk," Hilda shrugged. "I mean, I'm in the middle of a supernatural train! I have more important things to do than answer a random phone call!"

"It's not really random, though," Alfur pointed out. "It clearly says that your mother's calling you."

"Alfur, shush!"

Helga hummed. "Hilda, you mind if I see your phone?"

"Actually, yes, I do mind very much," Hilda lowered her eyelids. "Especially if you just heard what Alfur said. I mean, don't get me wrong, Helga, I like you: but just because I like you, doesn't mean I trust you."

Helga narrowed her eyes. "Well, what I'm about to do isn't gonna help in that regard."

"Wha-"

Helga snatched Hilda's phone and checked it, Branch stepping to her side and keeping the group in place with a single glare.

Hilda could do nothing but grit her teeth as Helga inspected the phone's recent calls... and noticed something peculiar:

"Every single call in the past few hours have been from your Mum."

Helga scowled at Hilda. "And you haven't answered her even once."

Hilda looked elsewhere, folding her arms and pouting as Kelly finally returned.

"Okay, I got sandwiches, juice boxes, just a tray of whatever you may wanna eat," Kelly put the tray on the table, and by then, she noticed the tension. "What's wrong?"

Hilda eyed Helga, gesturing her not to spill the beans. But Helga wasn't quite keen on doing that.

"Hilda's Mum has been calling her for a while now, and she hasn't answered even once."

Hilda ran her hands through her face as Kelly reacted:

"What? No wonder she's been calling like crazy, then, she must be worried sick!"

"She's always worried sick! Being worried it's just her natural mood nowadays!" Hilda rolled her eyes. "She probably just wants to tell me to go back home right now, which I can't exactly do at the moment!"

"Then why don't you straight up tell her that?"

"Because then she'd only get more worried!"

And as if on cue, Hilda's phone rang once again. The Bluette tried to snatch her phone back, but Helga slid it to Kelly before grabbing and keeping Hilda trapped in a full nelson.

Kelly grabbed the phone, and after a quick look at the screen revealed Hilda's Mum was calling again, the Marra answered the call.

"Hello?"

Hilda tried harder to try break free from Helga's grasp as Kelly continued talking:

"I'm Kelly, a former friend of one of Hilda's friends... yeah, she's here with me, though I don't know how to explain exactly where we are... okay, so, it's a big, apparently infinite, interdimensional train..."

And then, Kelly's eyes widened. "Wait, you've heard about it before? Where?"

Hilda stopped struggling as she joined everybody's shock.

"I see... yeah, no, Hilda's fine, we were gonna train for a bike race after having lunch, actually... yeah, we'll be stuck in the car until we get top three, why do you ask?"

And then, Kelly raised an eyebrow. "Why are you asking us to stay there for now?"

And then, the call ended. With that done, Helga released Hilda while Kelly handed her the phone back, Hilda keeping her head low as she snatched it.

"Yeah, your Mum sounds rather worried for you," Kelly remarked while checking her nails. "Asked us to stay in this car for a moment, too. Don't really know what that's abo-"

Then, a sudden pain struck Kelly's shin, the Marra grabbing it and whimpering in pain as the hitter, Hilda, stomped away.

"You're lucky I need you for training, because otherwise, I'd be giving you the beating of your life!" she yelled as she pocketed her phone. "Next time you shove your nose in domeone else's business, you better be ready for the backlash!"

Kelly's pain slowly vanished, being replaced by surprise.

"I know that tone of voice. A tone that sounds like pure rage, but it's actually sheer terror."

Hilda stopped in place as Kelly continued:

"Though you're angry, it's not because you're actually furious that I called your Mum. That's a reason, but it's not the main reason. No, you're angry, because you're worried about what's going to happen now, aren't you?"

Hilda clenched her fists.

"You have Mum issues, don't you?"

"... I'm done listening to your ramblings-"

"Take it from someone who's had to deal with Mum issues before: ignoring your Mum won't help anybody. Not you, and most certainly not her," Kelly narrowed her eyes. "The only way you'll get to deal with them is if you swallow your pride and tackle the issue head-on-"

"Geez, shut up already!"

Hilda bolted off to elsewhere, all while Kelly and Helga watched her run off.

Once she was far away enough, Hilda sat on a bench and charged her phone, resting her cheek on her palm as she waited.

"Hilda, what was that all about?" Alfur asked.

"Shut up, Alfur, I'm not in the mood to talk."

The tiny elf took a moment to think about what to say, and once he got an idea, he spoke:

"You know your Mum better than I do, Hilda. You should know that keeping her in the dark like this will only get her worried-"

"The problem's not that I'm not answering her calls, the problem's that even if I did, she'd still be a worrywart!"

"... What?"

"Don't act like you don't see it! Every time a supernatural phenomenon happens and my Mum finds out about it, she gets worried about it! And even worse, she tries to "protect" me from them: she told Raven Leader to monitor me more closely after the Vittra deal, prohibited me from going to the woods after the house incident, and after the Marra thing, she forced me to sleep with a dreamcatcher!"

"Which wouldn't have really worked, anyway."

Hilda flinched and turned around, seeing Kelly sitting nearby as she continued:

"The Marra aren't really deterred by a dreamcatcher. It'll severely hamper our powers, but that's about it."

Hilda looked elsewhere, furrowing her brow. "That just further proves my point! Between the two of us, I'm the only one who knows how to deal with the supernatural, and yet she insists on trying all those dumb things because she's a worrywart!"

"Well, with a daughter like you, can you really blame her? Besides, she's a parent. A single one at that. Of course she's gonna get worried when her child's in trouble."

"I can take care of myself!"

Kelly rolled her eyes. "By that logic, you don't need me to train you to use a bike without training wheels."

Hilda flinched, but quickly regained her composure. "N-No, I guess I don't!"

Kelly eyed Hilda sternly. "And you probably don't need help to get to the top three."

"Not really, no!"

"Hilda, what are you doing?!" Alfur cried. "Don't throw away a little help just to prove a point!"

But his worries fell on deaf ears.

"I'll show you! Just show me where I can get a bike and I'll prove it to you!"

Kelly pointed at a bike store nearby, where Helga waved her hand with a little smile. Hilda adjusted her beret, and ran to the store, Kelly looking at her with a weary expression.

It was clear this kid wasn't getting off the train anytime soon.