Chapter 1: The Hardware Store Car

Among the green, grassy hills, Amelia lay on her back, watching the blue sky while sinking deep into her thoughts. It felt good to just enjoy some peace and quiet after a hard day's work, but somewhere at the back of her mind a memory kept lingering.

In her younger days, Amelia would spend her free time in such calm surroundings with Alrick, the love of her life. They were so happy together … until the day death suddenly tore him away from her. Why did it have to be dirt biking?

Her left hand grasped the grass, which went between her fingers. What good was this place and the bliss it provided when she had nobody to share it with? So many years spent on the wannabe therapy train and she was still just as lonely as during her arrival.

She looked at the number on her right hand. The 49 glowed bright green. It refused to budge for the past two weeks, no matter how many denizens and passengers she helped. The conclusion she had reached was that her remaining problems weren't solvable simply by helping others. Some of them stemmed from loneliness, and the others represented her guilt. It was too late to solve the latter ones. At best time would heal those. But for the first types, she thought that opening up to her long-distance friends might be the best solution. So she sat up, crossed her legs, and searched through her bag for something. It was a red device similar to, but slightly smaller than, the average laptop. She used its touchpad to initiate composing a new e-mail, then began typing out her message.

To: Hazel Hughes
Subject: Dear Hazel and Grace

How are you today? How was school and work?
I am doing everything I can to lower my number, but it has been two weeks with no change. Maybe it is because I miss you two. But I know we will be seeing each other again if I get off the train, so that cannot be it.

Maybe I still haven't truly gotten over Alrick's death. I do not know what it would take for me to finally be at peace with the idea that he is gone forever. When I am not busy doing my job, my thoughts often drift toward him. In the rare cases when I am not thinking of Alrick, I am plagued by guilt because I remember the things I've done and the people I've hurt or pushed away.

I hope you two are doing better out there. I wish I could join you and talk with you over a cup of tea or some pancakes. Or both. Oh well. Maybe someday.

Amelia Hughes

She hit send and received confirmation that the message had been sent. Immediately after, the device announced that a new e-mail had just arrived. It couldn't be from Hazel and Grace. It would normally take anywhere between an hour or two before an e-mail would reach outside of the train's realm. She checked the sender's name. It was that little peanut. The Conductor.

Sender: One
Subject: Dear Amelia

I know you have been doing a great job keeping order among the turtle cars, but I am afraid there has been a teensy-weensy bit of a problem that appears to have originated from one of them. One will send you the details.

One

She growled a sigh. Why couldn't he send her the details the first time?

Another e-mail arrived.

Sender: One
Subject: Details regarding the turtles incident

Two of your patchwork turtle denizens escaped their car, somehow acquired power armors, and are now ransacking my train. Can you stop them, please?
Or don't. If they come here, maybe they can bring me the swift release of death. I'm okay with either scenario.

One

Amelia sat there staring at the screen while wondering which of her creations had the skills and the reasons to do such a thing. She thought she knew them all after talking to each and every one of the turtle denizens from the cars she had created and sent at the back of the train. It couldn't be Emperor Aloysius III, or Kevin, or Kevin's son or wife, or … She needed more details, so she wrote back to One-One.

To: One
Subject: Please provide a description of the rogue turtles

I cannot think of a single turtle denizen who has expressed dissatisfaction regarding their car or life in general. It is unlikely, but there may still be some of my creations that I have yet to meet. Although how they got out of their car during the time the scanner was active is beyond me.

Amelia Hughes

Since the e-mail's recipient was on the train, it took only a minute before she received a reply.

Sender: One
Subject: Turtles description

An eyewitness from the friendly eyeballs car said the turtles had gray power armor on, and golden, fluffy stuff coming from their heads. He also said they had plans of reaching the front of the train.

One

Amelia was sure there would be another message following that one.

Sender: One
Subject: Regarding the turtles' description

Said eyewitness was an eyeball with nearsightedness. I wouldn't trust that description.

One

She shook her head. Still, a witness – even one with poor vision – was better than none at all. Gray power armor and something golden coming from their heads. That last part sounded like it could be either long hair like Hazel's, or some kind of weird helmets. If it was hair, then those were two turtle denizens she had never met before. If they wore strange helmets, then either of them could have been any of her creations. Maybe not the emperor, because he wasn't the type to cause trouble or crave a life of action. She wrote back to One-One.

To: One
Subject: I'm on it

I will search all cars, starting with the one you've mentioned.

Amelia Hughes

After sending the e-mail, she snapped the device shut and put it in her bag. She got up and walked through the broken door at the bottom of a hill that had a face.

Twelve cars later, Amelia found herself inside a car filled with mountains of cross-eyed mallards that shouted useful advice such as "When you seem to be stuck, remember there are more ways than one to solve a car's puzzles," or "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade," or "If you are scared of ducks, it is better to avoid this car."

Once she reached the door on the other end and opened it, she enjoyed the fresh air that came from outside. It smelled like a farm in there.

The next car turned out to be a hardware store, having lots of shelves stocked full of everything one would need for their home. Amelia noticed there were rabbit, pig, and cow denizens who were hiding behind the shelves, shaking and looking around frantically. Something wasn't right.

She approached a gray rabbit and went into interrogation mode. "What is happening here? Who caused this panic?"

"The Apex," the rabbit said in a whisper.

Amelia's mouth remained open for a full second. "But the Apex was dissolved months ago. The few former members who still remain on the train are either dedicated to helping people or working on their own problems." She paused as her eyes went wide. "Oh. Oh no. Did the universe intersection car start leaking again? Where are the offenders?"

The rabbit pointed in the requested direction and said, "At the center of the store. They're taking things off the shelves and throwing them into their backpacks."

"I'll go deal with them," Amelia said, lifting the hair from her forehead with her right hand. "You and the others should leave the store. Things might get messy."

The rabbit nodded to her and slowly hopped toward the door. He was shortly followed by the other denizens nearby as evacuation started.

Amelia marched on, adrenaline preparing her for battle. If they were an alternate Apex group, she was ready to face their shenanigans since she had a harpoon pack of her own thanks to Grace.

At the center of the store, much to Amelia's delight, there were two turtles in gray mechanical suits that made them seem like mini mechas. Both turtles were only slightly taller than her, and had jade skin and messy, golden hair reaching halfway down their backs. One turtle looked more like a tortoise, judging by the sharp beak similar to Kevin's and Aloysius', and had angular, red shades on. The other was one of the rarer types of turtle denizens – a softshell, judging by the pointy nose with two nostrils at its tip.

The tortoise denizen grabbed all the packs of bolts he could find off the shelf and, after pushing the left triangular button on his armor's chest, threw them inside his mechanical backpack. Once he was done, he pressed the same triangle and his backpack closed up.

The softshell denizen grabbed three packs of nuts and threw them inside his own mechanical backpack.

"I think we have enough spares," the tortoise said in a voice that sounded exactly like Alrick's, down to the British accent.

"Then let's go," the softshell said with the voice and American accent of another dead man Amelia once knew.

Amelia stepped in. "Wait!"

The turtles focused on her.

"You are the turtles I've been looking for," she said.

The turtles gave her nasty looks.

"Great," the softshell said. "Another member of the security sent to arrest us and to tell us 'Stealing is wrong!' and 'Get a job!' "

The tortoise added, "If you people gave us a chance to get a job, then we wouldn't be forced to steal to survive. But you all tried to lynch us from the moment you've met us, just because we look like those who have hurt you!"

The softshell took a few steps back while not letting her out of his sight. "Just stay off our backs, lady! Contrary to what people say, we've never actually left behind any casualties, and we hope to keep it that way."

"Bro, let's get out of here before more of them come," the tortoise said.

"Don't go!" she said, holding her hands in front of herself to show she was no threat. "Listen! I'm Amelia! Amelia Hughes!"

The turtles remained still, with their jaws drooping.

"Why does that name sound familiar?" the softshell asked.

"She kind of looks like the woman from my dreams," the tortoise said, squinting at Amelia. "But she's old. This is getting too creepy for me. We must leave, now!"

They turned away and ran through the store, with Amelia hot on their trail. She was glad that she had worked on all of her muscles during her time as One-One's employee, because she needed to be faster than the average elderly person if she wanted to catch two humanoid turtles in power armor. At least she could run fast enough to always keep them in her line of sight no matter how much they tried to lose her.

The other door that led outside was punched open by the turtle duo, pieces of it being sent flying to the wheels.

"To the top!" the tortoise said. He and his brother prepared to jump before their armors' feet emitted blue jets that sent them flying all the way to the top of the next car.

This was the perfect time for Amelia to use her harpoon pack. She pointed the harpoons at the next car and launched them, then pulled herself toward it before climbing to the top. She saw the turtles had already put one car distance between her and them, so she hurried up.

The turtle duo made use of their jet propulsion feet each time they reached the end of a car. It was a much more efficient way of hopping from car to car compared to the harpoon pack, but Amelia kept going. Once she managed to be on the same car as her targets, she decided to do something wild.

Just as the turtles were preparing to jump onto the next car, the tortoise heard a loud clang that came from his back. He looked over his right shoulder and saw Amelia's harpoons stuck to his armor.

Amelia pulled herself toward him, grinning. Now she caught him!

The tortoise made his armor's feet release a short jet burst before he kicked at Amelia with both of his legs. Her sound shield activated and pushed him away toward the other car while the harpoons flew back at her like the ends of rubber bands. She ended up falling on her back.

The softshell stared down at her, concern readable on his face. He wanted to ask her if she was okay, but decided to jet away to the next car instead.

Amelia got back on her feet and picked up the chase. "Please! I don't want to hurt you!"

But the turtles kept running.

She caught up to them again and decided to aim for the end of the car instead of the turtles. Landing in front of them, she spread her arms in an attempt to block their path. "Listen! I can help you!"

The softshell pointed his power armor's right index finger at her. "Lies! People have tried to fool us through more creative methods, lady. We're not dumb, you know."

Amelia scowled at him. That display of skepticism was all too familiar to her, but it had been several months since she had last dealt with it. She suspected this turtle was very likely to give her a difficult time when it came to gaining his trust. It didn't help that he had that voice she had last heard two weeks ago for what she thought was the last time.

The tortoise glared at her and said, "We just want to be left alone. Is that too much to ask?"

She pointed at him. "You need to listen! We're family!"

"Go away!" the tortoise yelled before pushing her with both of his arms.

Her sound shield activated and countered the hits, but she ended up being pushed away by the armor's force. She tried to catch up by pulling herself ahead of them with the harpoons again, but the tortoise kicked her to the other end of the car. After she pulled the same stunt, the softshell joined in, punching and kicking at her sound bubble to launch her back. They continued like this, jumping from car to car.

"I've got an idea," the tortoise said. "Keep pushing her away. I need to catch a window of opportunity."

"Will you just listen?" Amelia asked, tired of getting pushed around.

The softshell kicked her sound bubble three more times and delivered a punch.

The tortoise landed on the next car, put his armor's hands wrist to wrist, and opened the hatches of their palms. He yelled, "Hadoken!" as the hatches launched a purple goo.

It hit Amelia in the chest, splattering over her face and ruining her uniform. It was sticky and smelled familiarly sweet.

"Really, bro?" the softshell asked, joining his brother atop the next car. "You've wasted all that jam just to do that?"

The tortoise shrugged. "What? I've always wanted to pull it off in real life."

Amelia grabbed some of the jam with her right hand. It smeared over her number as she looked at it. "Alrick ..."

The tortoise froze in shock.

The softshell looked at him. "Dude, did she just say your name?"

The tortoise glared at Amelia while saying, "This is crazy. We need to get as far away from her as possible. She's leaving me no choice."

His brother frowned. "Are you going to ...?"

Amelia was standing again, ready to launch herself at the next car.

Alrick raised his armor's right fist and, in a high pitched voice, yelled, "Ragh ragh raagh!"

Three ghoms burst out of the wasteland's soil, flew up with their buzzing wings, then landed atop the car and faced the turtles.

Alrick growled at them. Their response was to bow and back off. He shouted, "Raagh!" while pointing at Amelia.

The ghoms flew at her and got repelled over and over by her sound shield. Their chittering attracted more and more ghoms until there was a swarm forming a pulsating black bubble around her.

Once the turtles were two cars away from Amelia, Alrick made a chittering sound, causing the doglike insects to disperse and fly after him and his brother.

Amelia panted while staring at the turtles and the swarm that left her behind. "What have I created?"

To be continued.