A/N: Hello. :) Here we are at the second-to-last episode of my Book Two story. And right after that chapter, a new one for "The Seven Deadly Sins: Sin of Vengeance" will come soon tonight. And also, to celebrate the last two episodes of Book Three of Infinity Train, for better or worse, I will release an epilogue to finish this story while also hinting at the next Infinity Train story coming soon. :)
Infinity Train: Book Two: Return to the Beach City Car
Chapter 10: The Number Car
Tulip, Pink Steven, M.T., and One-One are now in the presence of Amelia, who is now wearing a sort of space suit complete with 2 buttons resembling One-One, one button on the top right and the other as a buckle for the black belt inside the suit.
"Amelia? Is that really you?", Tulip asked.
"Of course it's me. It's almost nice to see you again. But why are the both of you pink?", Amelia asked.
"Well, long story short, I don't have much time before my human half dies, so Tulip's helping me get all sorted out before I go back.", Pink Steven responded.
"Well, it was certainly quite a lot of damage that your metal friend caused, wasn't it?", Amelia responded.
"I'm sure she didn't mean it, though. She accidentally slipped and broke a porter.", Glad One assured.
"Many, many times in a row.", Sad One added.
"Honestly, it's not altogether unfixable, One. If anything, it was a bit embarrassing to watch. Mainly because it reminds me of how I acted rashly 33 years ago before I took over. Besides, they can be fixed and patched up. So, I take it you're trying to get yourself a number?", Amelia asked, surveying the damage M.T. caused.
"Of course I am! I'm not Tulip, I'm not cool, I'm not a reflection, I'm not a sliver, I'm not a null, I'm not any of the hundreds of names that everyone wants to give me! I'm my own person who is getting off this train, and whatever gears or reality-bending buttons you've gotta press, you're gonna do it!", M.T. urged.
"I'm afraid I can't do that.", Amelia only responded.
"Can't or won't?!", M.T. retorted angrily.
"Even if I want to, I couldn't. That's out of my hands. And that kind of thing is what you should be asking One.", Amelia explained.
"And even then, you're exactly where you're supposed to be.", Glad One added.
"No.", M.T. refused.
"No?", Sad One puzzled.
"No. Give me my exit!", M.T. spoke.
"You can't have an exit. You don't have a number.", Glad One responded.
"But there's gotta be some kind of work-around for that, isn't there?", Pink Steven asked.
"Give me a number, then!", M.T. shouted, starting to get sad.
"Numbers are for passengers. How can I expect someone to grow emotionally without some nice juicy math?", Glad One asked.
"Fine. Give me some trials, or whatever! Take my memories! Tape me! I don't care! Let's do it!", M.T. responded, shedding tears.
"I'm afraid it's not that simple. In the train's vast history, we didn't account for a denizen actually wanting to get off the train. We couldn't.", Amelia responded.
"And besides, you're so good at it. I can show you.", Glad One spoke before he gave the same beeping sound he used to stop the steward the last time and the porter arrived in response with a list of passengers.
"Uh, let's see. His name was Jesse, right?", Sad One asked.
"Yes. His name is Jesse.", M.T. responded.
"Oh, yes. Thank you. See? So helpful.", Glad One spoke.
"You were there with us, remember, One-One?", Tulip asked before the steward then turned the pages on the tablet that the porter held up and then stopped at a page where Jesse was present.
"There we go. As we know, he got down to 0. All sorted out and off the...", Glad One spoke before Amelia interrupted.
"Not quite. Apparently he's also in process.", Amelia spoke, pointing to the status saying "In Process 0".
"He can't be at 0, but also in process. But then again, Ms. Tulip was.", Sad One stated.
"So, if he's being processed...", Glad One began.
"Then, that means...", Tulip began.
"He's back on the train!", M.T. realized.
"Aha! I knew Jesse would come back for you, M.T.!", Pink Steven spoke excitedly.
"There's only one way to know for sure.", Amelia spoke.
"Field trip to the passenger farm!", Glad One spoke.
Later, Tulip, Pink Steven, M.T., and One-One, who is now riding in the steward, returned to the aptly named passenger farm with Amelia, now in her robot suit again, before Tulip, Pink Steven, and M.T. turned and noticed Atticus, Alan Dracula, Lena, and Damien.
"Tulip!", Atticus shouted as Alan Dracula bleated.
"Atticus!", Tulip shouted.
"Alan Dracula!", M.T. shouted at the same time Tulip did before they and Pink Steven ran over to the group with M.T. hugging Alan Dracula.
"Hey. Here you go. Scratch, scratchy.", Tulip spoke as Atticus barked gleefully before laughing as she got licked by him.
"Hey, buddy.", M.T. spoke while petting Alan Dracula.
"You guys made it! I knew you guys were too stubborn to get killed.", Lena grinned.
"You cut it real close, though, didn't you?", Damien added.
"Yeah. Sorry, everyone.", Tulip apologized, blushing.
"But what happened to Mace. Did he get away?", Lena asked.
"I doubt it.", Tulip responded a bit sadly.
"Let's just say we don't have to worry about him. For now, we need to focus on the task at hand.", Pink Steven added.
"I couldn't have said it better myself.", Amelia spoke in a distorted robot-like voice, making Lena and Damien gasp in awe.
"No way!", Lena spoke excitedly.
"Amelia?", Damien asked before the lid of the robot head closed.
"Yes, but how did you know my name?", Amelia asked in a normal voice.
"Tulip told us about you at the Mall Car.", Damien responded.
"I see. Then you must also know about my number.", Amelia spoke before she took off the top of her suit, not only showing a white tank top-like shirt with some slight abs, but also her number.
"Wow. That is a lot of numbers.", Lena commented.
"I know, right?", Pink Steven agreed before Amelia put the shirt back on.
"So, why are you two here?", Amelia asked.
"Well, it's about the whole morality situation going on with the Apex.", Lena responded.
"Apex?", Amelia puzzled.
"Yeah. It's kind of a long story, but we'll explain along the way.", Damien responded as Alan Dracula moved his head down and pointed to the head buried in the squishy ground with his mouth before M.T. parted the ground with her hands before noticing that they found Jesse with the little robots squeaking and beeping as they did their usual job.
"Jesse...!", M.T. gasped.
"We found him.", Tulip added.
"And those little robots are still copying his memories into film.", Pink Steven stated.
"They do look very cute, don't they? But just be careful. They are very delicate.", Amelia warned.
"Field trip to the memory-watching machine!", Glad One announced.
Later, as Jesse was laid in the green pool, a porter was sucking up his tape of memories like a noodle.
"So, that's the severity of your situation?", Amelia asked.
"Yeah. If something isn't done about it and soon, there won't be anything left in the train.", Damien responded as Lena turned and noticed the porters doing their job per the norm.
"So, that's how passengers get checked in with their numbers?", Lena asked.
"Well, the tape has to be viewed first to better determine the best number for a passenger to start off with, but yes. And the fact of the matter is, once you get dropped off to your designated car, it determines the status on your emotional growth. The worse you do, the higher your number goes. Until you get to 0, you're trapped.", Amelia responded.
"Really?", Lena spoke in surprise.
"No wonder our numbers were lower. We were actually more reasonable than the other Apex and One-One didn't even know about any of us until a few hours ago.", Damien responded.
"Then, that makes you two the lucky ones, doesn't it?", Amelia retorted jokingly.
"I don't get it. We fixed him already.", Glad One spoke in slight puzzlement.
"Yet that greedy, little piglet is thirsty for more.", Sad One commented before the porter finished sucking up the tape before then processing the tape as the arrow glowed red before beeping as it turned green and then opening up to show a tape that says, "Jesse Cosay 2".
"Oh! New release! Gimme. Gimme, gimme.", Glad One spoke giddily as the steward grabbed the tape.
"Let's take a peek.", Glad One spoke before the steward then placed the tape inside the vhs-shaped hole and then static appeared before sucking in Tulip, Pink Steven, M.T., One-One, Atticus, Alan Dracula, Lena, Damien, and Amelia with a slight flash.
After that, the flash dimmed to show Jesse in front of the monitor in his pod in a car with hills.
"Where are we now?", Lena asked.
"We're inside Jesse's memories. But we can only see how they play out.", Tulip responded.
"How do you know that?", Damien asked.
"Because it happened to me a couple of times. The first time was for me and the second time was for Amelia.", Tulip responded.
"I didn't exactly like that stunt you pulled the last time we met.", Amelia commented.
"Yeah. Sorry about that.", Tulip apologized.
"Water under the bridge.", Amelia assured.
"Ooh. A tape has never started on the train before.", Glad One commented, tapping M.T. by the shoulder.
"Remember: you can't spell escape without companionship. Uh, companion-shape? Companion-scape?", Glad One puzzled in the video.
"Comscapionship? Constipation?", Glad One puzzled.
"Hey, come back! That didn't explain anything!", Jesse exclaimed in slight fright before looking back at his number which started off at 31.
"I didn't realize he was so scared.", M.T. spoke, feeling bad for Jesse.
Then, the scene changed to a static and then stopped at the Family Tree Car.
"Huh? Where are we now?", Lena puzzled.
"We must be at the Family Tree Car.", Pink Steven guessed.
"Ooh, look!", Glad One spoke before the group noticed a scene in the tape.
"Uh, is that you over there, M.T.?", Damien asked, pointing to the other M.T. in the memory.
"Yeah. And Tulip and Atticus are there, too.", M.T. responded as Jesse and Pink Steven landed with the latter catching One-One.
"Oh, great.", M.T. sighed.
"It's okay, One-One. I got you.", Pink Steven assured as One-One shuddered before he opened his eyes.
"Oh.", Glad One responded before climbing up to Steven's shoulder while laughing nervously.
"I'd almost forgotten how much of a kind soul you are, Steven.", Amelia commented.
"Uh, thanks.", Pink Steven responded.
"We've got co-star billing now.", Glad One spoke.
"But you'll probably be paid less because Hollywood breeds gender inequality.", Sad One added.
"You can't even help yourself!", M.T. added.
"Ouch.", Sad One spoke.
"That's why passengers get on this train in the first place!", M.T. shouted, shoving Jesse.
"Hey, don't pu...", Jesse began before Pink Steven growled angrily for a brief moment and shouted.
"STOOOOOP!", Pink Steven shouted, unleashing a pink shockwave, his shout echoing while knocking Jesse and M.T. off the branch before the growing branches caught them, partly so that they wouldn't fall off before Pink Steven took a deep breaths.
"Yeah. That was a bit embarrassing.", Pink Steven blushed in embarrassment before the static returned and changed the scene to the blank car at night.
"Your friends are bad. You know that, right?", M.T. asked.
"Maybe...", Jesse sighed before the tape paused.
"Aw, train does it again. Look how much he's grown.", Glad One spoke.
"I guess I changed, too.", M.T. guessed.
"It tends to have that effect on people. After all, that is the train's purpose: to help its passengers grow emotionally and sort out their problems while overcoming their own personal demons, their trauma, so to speak.", Amelia responded.
"Wow. I always knew there'd be a lot more to the train than just getting the highest number, but I didn't think it would be like this.", Lena spoke in awe.
Then, the static changed the scene to the Mall Car when Jesse and the others were on the run from the flecs.
"I got you! We're getting out of here!", Jesse assured, making M.T. smile.
Then, M.T. and the others noticed Jesse's hand glowing.
"Jesse! Your number!", M.T. shouted, puzzling Jesse before he lifted up his hand to notice that his number is dropping down to 0.
Then, Jesse's exit door appeared and then opened, showing a way back home for Jesse.
"This is my favorite part.", Sad One commented.
"Please don't show me this!", M.T. pleaded.
Then, the area suddenly moved out of the Mall Car and then back into Arizona with Jesse tumbling back as the exit disappeared.
"M.T.? Where'd you go?! M.T.!", Jesse shouted.
"Jesse?", a voice spoke up before Jesse turned around to notice Nate running right to him with happy tears.
"Jesse! Where have you been?!", Nate shouted excitedly.
"Nate!", Jesse shouted in joy before hugging him.
"I wasn't sure I'd see you again. I shouldn't have let those guys hurt you. Or...I shouldn't have hurt you. I'm so sorry.", Jesse apologized.
"Ah, i-it's okay. What about you? Where did you go?", Nate asked, raising his left arm, now wrapped up in a cast as Jesse stood up before the tape suddenly went fast-forward as One-One spoke.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We don't need to hear it. We just watched the Hi-Def version.", Glad One commented.
Then, after a moment, the tape just continued playing as normal.
"And now, I'm here. And she's still trapped on the train with the flecs.", Jesse spoke.
"Do you think she's okay?", Nate asked.
"I don't know. I mean, she's M.T. She can probably take care of herself. Plus, Tulip and the others will be there to keep her safe, but...I promised we'd stay together.", Jesse responded before M.T. gave a sad smile for Jesse.
"So..., what are you gonna do?", Nate asked.
"I...I just need to sit here and think for a bit. Okay?", Jesse responded.
"Okay. I-I'll go get some food or something. Be right back.", Nate spoke before going back inside.
"I can't leave her there.", Jesse decided as he stood up before the tape finished with Tulip, M.T., and the others back in reality feeling woozy, all except for One-One, of course.
"Ugh. Is everyone okay?", Tulip asked.
"Yeah. Just feeling a bit woozy.", Lena responded.
"That's what happens sometimes when you watch the tapes on the train. It's a harmless after-effect. You'll get used to it.", Amelia responded as M.T. turned around to face the sleeping Jesse with a smile before speaking to One-One.
"Now, will you wake him up?", M.T. asked.
"Oh, heavens no. Waking a passenger is a whole process. It involves robots and coding and juice boxes and...", Glad One began as Amelia then whispered into M.T.'s ear.
"Try tapping him in the forehead.", Amelia whispered, making M.T. widen her eyes a bit in realization of what Amelia meant before then tapping Jesse on the head, waking him up with a jolt, sitting up quickly and knocking M.T. off the pool.
"Aaah, where am I?! M.T.!", Jesse exclaimed happily before he and M.T. went to each other and hugged each other before they both spoke simultaneously over each other before Jesse laughed a bit and then hugged Alan Dracula.
"A.D.!", Jesse spoke, hugging Alan Dracula as the deer puffed out smoke.
"Glad to see you're back, Jesse.", Pink Steven grinned as M.T. hugged Alan Dracula as well while Amelia, Tulip, and the others grinned from the scene before the steward with One-One inside walked up to Jesse.
"Excuse me, young man. This train is for fixing problems, not for hang-time with buds.", Sad One spoke up.
"Oh, I have a problem. My friend is trapped on a train.", Jesse responded, making M.T. smile with a blush.
Then, the number machine lowered itself in preparation.
"Whoo! Number time.", Glad One spoke before the steward's mask went down and lit up with the bright blue eyes' flames escaping the eye holes before the steward then grabbed Jesse and dragged him.
"Ah! Okay, this is terrifying! Hey, let go of me!", Jesse exclaimed.
"Oh, stop it. You'll hurt my steward's feelings.", Glad One advised.
"Don't worry, Jesse. It's relatively painless. Maybe.", Amelia assured before the machine wrote the number down on Jesse's hand as he held his eyes shut until it was finished.
When he opened his eyes, he was puzzled to notice that his number is now at a square root of 2 before it switched to a Pi symbol, which then changed to "Hg", which then changed to a fraction of "49/13", which then changed to ";P" and so on.
"Uh, is that supposed to happen?", Jesse asked before the train suddenly started to collapse as the monitor shut down first.
"One, what's going on here?", Amelia puzzled.
"The train fixes problems, but his problem is that he needs to rescue his friend.", Glad One responded.
"But his friend is a denizen who can't get a number. She can't leave so his problem is unfixable.", Sad One added.
"No, no, no. His problem has to be fixed. That's what we do. We're the fixers. We fix. Oh. I have an idea. Why doesn't she go with?", Glad One asked as M.T. helped get the steward's arm off Jesse, not knowing that Sieve, Shard, and Bane we're crossing over into the number car via reflective mirror on the monitor with glares as Amelia, Tulip, Pink Steven, Atticus, Lena, and Damien turned around to notice it before gasping.
"Good plan. Oh, but she doesn't have a number.", Sad One spoke as he fell off and then rolled around, trying to think of a solution.
"He has to get off, but she...can't get off without a number.", Glad One spoke, "pacing".
"He's stuck in a loop. The train can't process it.", M.T. guessed.
"I doubt that's the least of our problems.", Amelia commented before M.T. and Jesse turned around to notice Agent Sieve, Officer Shard, and Special Agent Bane.
"You won't escape this time, Sliver.", Bane discouraged.
"Aw, leave me alone! I won't go back!", M.T. shouted.
"We're not taking you anywhere. It's become evident that you, out of all the slivers we sanded, are by far the most dangerous criminal we've ever had the displeasure of chasing for a span of two whole months!", Shard responded.
"On the bright side, I won't have to go easy on you. You'll do nicely as a hunting trophy. At least, that's my reason. But Sieve's? His reason is a little more personal.", Bane smirked.
"You killed Mace. No more badges..., no more protocol.", Sieve glared as he started up his sander.
"Suffice to say, things would've been very different now if it weren't for your prime.", Shard added with a glare at the pink girl.
"But he can't leave with her, that won't work. But I guess he won't get off the train.", Sad One spoke as he rolled around.
"Number, number, number, number, number...", Glad One spoke as Sieve, Shard, and Bane noticed him before Bane stopped One-One.
"How about we cut you a deal?", Bane asked with a smirk.
"It's quite a simple solution, really. All you have to do is help us sand this criminal. That way, he can't save her if there isn't any trace of her remaining.", Shard smirked, worrying M.T.
"Problem solved!", Sieve added before One-One stood up.
"Yeah. That would solve things.", Sad One spoke as he gave some thought.
"No!", M.T. spoke worriedly.
"But don't you get it?! If she's sanded, that would only make the problem worse. Jesse could be trapped on the train forever, haunted by the guilt and crushing weight of this failure like I was. Besides, isn't the train's actual purpose to help its passengers?", Amelia asked.
"Oh! Yes, that's right. But, wait. His problem needs us to let a denizen off. Can't do that without a number. So, I guess she can't leave and...", Glad One spoke as he was kicked by Bane, soaring through the air.
"Guys? Incoming!", Pink Steven shouted before Bane attacked first with a jump, firing his mirror shards from his pistol, creating a ring of shards around Amelia, surrounding her before Bane used the mirror on the monitor to split himself into copies to surround Amelia and attack her with his weapon as it morphed from a pistol to a sander with a press of a button only to suddenly get bounced back by Amelia's apparent sound shield with Bane forced to merge back into one.
"Good thing my sound shield comes in handy. Now, we can settle this the fair way.", Amelia spoke as she took off her shirt.
"Clever girl...", Bane smirked before dashing toward her with Amelia grabbing his hands with hers in a sort of stalemate before Amelia hut Bane in the chin with her knee and kicked him back before Bane stopped himself before growling and charging toward her.
Meanwhile, Jesse, Lena, Atticus, and Damien stood in front of Shard, barring his path.
"We're not letting you go anywhere near her.", Lena glared.
"Grrr, I think you are forgetting your place, girl!", Shard growled before grabbing her arm and tossing her toward the monitor.
"Lena!", Damien shouted before he pressed a button on his blue sneakers before it glowed blue and he then dashed with a skate toward the monitor before Lena crashed into the monitor, only giving it fractures before Damien caught her.
"Lena, are you okay?", Damien asked.
Lena only groaned and gave a thumbs-up, giving Damien assurance as he sighed with a grin before he set her down just as Jesse and Atticus were the next to get tossed to the monitor before Damien managed to catch Atticus before he could crash Jesse was only stopped before he was set down as Damien held Atticus by the fur.
"Hey, thanks.", Jesse grinned.
"Yes. Thank you kindly, Young Damien.", Atticus added.
"You're welcome.", Damien responded as he set Atticus down.
"And as for you, Shard, you're not going to get away with this.", Damien threatened.
"Oh, won't I? From what I've seen of you, you're the type to get your hands dirty.", Shard smirked.
"Usually, that's true, but if someone messes with my friends...", Damien began before pressing the button on one of his gloves, causing it to glow blue, and then dashing toward Shard and then pinning him against the ground with sheer strength as a dent was made on the ground.
"I don't have such weaknesses!", Damien finished.
Meanwhile, Sieve swung his sander at M.T. but missed before she ran as Tulip picked up one of the porters on the ground.
"I'm really sorry about this, but...", Tulip spoke before tossing the porter toward Sieve, who slashed the porter in half, before cornering M.T. by the wall only for her to pull out the panel just before Tulip and Pink Steven stopped the sander and held it at bay with their bare hands.
"We only killed Mace because he was trying to kill her!", Tulip grunted.
"Yeah! He practically left us no choice! We're usually pacifists by nature, but when it's necessary, we're warriors!", Pink Steven added, pushing Sieve back by surprise before he only laughed.
"Oh, really? All the better to finish it for him!", Sieve shouted with a sinister sneer.
Then, Pink Steven noticed Tulip placing her hands on his shoulder with a grin before he took a deep breath and grinned before he started singing.
Pink Steven: 🎵Looking for your place in the universe
Don't you know the universe is looking too
Looking for its place in you🎵
"Wait. What's going on?", Sieve puzzled.
"What are you waiting for?! Stop them before they fuse!", Shard shouted while struggling to free himself from Damien's grip.
Tulip: 🎵And now it's coming through
Your dream is coming true🎵
Then, Sieve dashed toward Pink Steven and Tulip before the two used their hyper speed to do a fusion dance before the fusion completed itself, but this time, causing a shockwave that knocked Sieve back before he stood up and was quite shocked to see a figure glowing bright pink and white before the glow dimmed to show a pink-colored fusion that's just as tall as Stevonnie, but had longer and red brown hair and glasses, as well as a dark teal shirt similar to M.T.'s with a yellow star on it and a lighter skin color as Lena, Damien, Atticus, Jesse, One-One, Amelia, and Alan Dracula looked on in wonder.
Pink Steven & Tulip: 🎵Welcome to the party Mr. Universe
We're so glad we are a part of you
Meet the rocks and flowers
The seconds and the hours🎵
Stevulip: 🎵The splinters, winters,
Apples, chapels, teardrops, temples, cats, and castles
Anything that you can be
The things you see and cannot see
Are Mr. Universe
Mr. Universe🎵
"No! They fused!", Shard grunted.
"I never thought I'd be happy to see that fusion again.", Amelia grinned.
"Whoa. So, that's Stevulip?", Lena spoke in wonder.
"Enough of this! I don't care if you two merged! You still can't stop me from sanding her!", Sieve discouraged before raising his sander as he dashed and and tried to attack M.T. only to get his sander stopped by Stevulip before she then trapped the sander on the panel with Sieve then trying to remove it with little to no success with the car in chaos.
"Oh, but he needs to get off the train, too, but if she...", Sad One spoke before M.T., Tulip, and Pink Steven noticed Jesse's hans in the reflective surface of the monitor.
"That's it. That's the work-around we've been looking for!", Stevulip grinned before M.T. went over to Jesse and held Jesse's right hand with her left hand to hold her right hand in front of Jesse's.
"One-One, look! I have a number! So, you can give me an exit. That's how it works, right?", M.T. asked.
"What?", Amelia puzzled, seeing the scene for herself as Bane continuously failed to break through her sound shield.
"He can't leave his friend. But she's a denizen. Denizens don't have numbers.", Glad One spoke before Sieve then tried harder to remove his sander from the trap.
"But...you have a number. So...", Glad One spoke.
"So, we get our exits?", M.T. asked.
Then, One-One thought it over a bit nervously before finally making a decision.
"Yeah, sure, whatever.", Sad One responded before Jesse's number and M.T.'s "number" both went to 0.
Then, the car suddenly stopped collapsing and the numbers glowed brightly with M.T. looking behind Jesse to notice two exit doors appearing before merging into one with a portal back home appearing.
"We're leaving together. For real this time.", Jesse spoke as he and M.T. started running.
"Clever girl. She stabilized the car.", Amelia grinned.
Then, just as Jesse and M.T. crossed through the exit, Sieve successfully removed his sander from the panel with a roar.
"No! Hurry it up, you two!", Stevulip shouted before Jesse and M.T. almost made it out only for Sieve to grab M.T. by the leg, worrying the two of them.
"You're done, sliver.", Sieve smirked just as Shard noticed Lena about to pull something on Sieve.
"No! Get out of here!", Shard urged before Lena then got out a polarity disc and then tossed it like a shuriken before it attached itself to Sieve's right arm, causing it to suddenly move down ward to the ground with Sieve barely able to keep his grip on M.T.'s foot before M.T. noticed the grass on the ground and had an idea.
"Alan Dracula!", M.T. shouted before tossing the patch of grass toward Sieve with a blade of grass flying by Alan Dracula as Damien and Stevulip noticed it before they turned to each other with Stevulip nodding before Damien nodded.
"Well? Do your worst, kid.", Shard smirked.
"Give it up, Amelia. You can't defend against me forever.", Bane smirked.
"True, but if you have the right resources, you won't need to.", Amelia responded as she pressed certain buttons below the vhs-shaped hole.
Then, just as Amelia drained the pool and opened a hole at the bottom, Alan Dracula powered his laser eyes and then fired them toward Sieve before Damien got off Shard and then pushed him toward Stevulip, who pushed Shard toward Sieve before the lasers neared the two Flecs.
"No!", Shard shouted as the lasers hit him and Sieve before they exploded into metal liquid with the explosion knocking Bane off down the hole and off the car before the hole patched itself up and the pool was filled back up just as the exit doors separated into two and disappeared.
"Oh, that was intense.", Stevulip sighed.
"Yes. It was. But at least this mess is over now.", Amelia sighed.
"And we can finally help make the Apex better than ever.", Damien added, powering down the gloves and shoes.
"And out of curiosity, what makes you think I would want to do that?", Amelia asked.
"Because it might be the right thing to do. The last thing the train needs is an anarchist group terrorizing it without meaning to.", Damien responded before Amelia gave some thought and her number then went down a little.
"Of course. I understand. But I think we might need to ease things up a bit first. There's no sense in rushing after all.", Amelia spoke.
"I get that, Amelia. Thank you.", Damien grinned.
"But what about Bane?", Lena asked.
"The explosion knocked him out of the car through the hole where passengers go when they're given their numbers. Given his title as a bounty hunter, he's bound to survive that.", Amelia responded, putting her shirt back on.
"Well, I just hope he learned something from all this.", Stevulip sighed as Alan Dracula ate the grass that M.T. tossed out for him before One-One walked over to Alan Dracula.
"Wow, that was something, huh? Well, looks like I've gotta get your back home.", Glad One spoke before Alan Dracula finished eating and then started taking off like a rocket and blasted off out of the car.
"Wow...!", Stevulip spoke in wonder.
"I really broke the mold with you, Alan Dracula.", Glad One grinned.
Then, Stevulip's number suddenly went down to 0, causing the Infinity Symbol above the number to flash green.
Play Infinity Train Book 3 Music: "Last Goodbye"
"My number. It's finally at 0!", Stevulip spoke in shock and awe.
"What are you waiting for, then? Hurry!", Atticus urged before Stevulip then raised her hand before the Infinity symbol turned sideways, causing an exit door for Beach City to appear before Stevulip with Connie, Greg, Spinel, Lion, and all the gems and diamonds gathered around Steven worriedly on top of the cluster's hand.
"Guys. Thanks for the help. Again. And you, too, Amelia.", Stevulip grinned.
"Of course. Just stay out of trouble, okay?", Amelia asked before her number went down with Stevulip noticing it and giving a grin about it.
"We will. Goodbye, everyone!", Stevulip waved as she rushed toward the exit door as everyone present waved and shouted "goodbye" in response.
"Corginia shall await your return!", Atticus shouted.
"And be sure to visit us sometime!", Glad One added, waving.
"We will!", Stevulip shouted in response as went out the exit before finding herself running across the ocean water with great speed before shouting to Connie and the others.
"Incomiiiiiing!", Stevulip shouted before she eventually jumped up, catching Connie and the group by surprise even Spinel.
"Whaaaaa?!", Spinel exclaimed in surprise before Stevulip defused back into Tulip and Pink Steven with Tulip then spinning Pink Steven around before launching him toward his human body, causing a white flash to go off.
End Infinity Train Book 3 Music: "Last Goodbye"
When it dimmed down, Tulip opened her eyes and I served several things which perplexed her and gave her some clarity at the same time. First off, she noticed that her skin color was now back to normal and that the gem was no longer in her belly button. However, her hair color had changed from a usual red-orange to a light pink. Also, she could not understand how she managed to get a gem of her own on her right shoulder. Regardless, though, when Tulip looked at Steven, his gem was now back in his belly button and found a few pulses on Steven's arm herself while holding his arm.
"We did it, Steven. We brought you back.", Tulip spoke with overwhelming joy, even to the point of shedding tears, one of which landed on Steven's head, causing him to wake up and see Tulip, Connie, Garnet, Greg, Yellow Diamond, White Diamond, Lapis, Bismuth, Pearl, Peridot, and Amethyst with Blue Diamond and Spinel watching as well.
"Wha...? Did...did I...? I'm...", Steven spoke in wonder after sitting up with a slight headache.
"Yeah. You're back.", Tulip interrupted in assurance before Lion kicked Steven, making him laugh a bit.
"Lion...", Steven spoke before laughing a bit as he hugged Lion with the group smiling at this.
"Lion...!", Steven spoke before crying joyfully as Tulip hugged him.
"I wonder how M.T. and Jesse are doing now.", Tulip wondered.
Meanwhile, M.T. woke up to see the sky before standing up and taking in the view.
"I'm...I'm off the train.", M.T. spoke in disbelief, shedding tears before wiping them off.
"Yeah. You are.", Jesse chuckled a bit before Nate shouted to Jesse.
"Jesse! You better not disappear again!", Nate spoke worriedly as he ran before noticing not only Jesse, but also M.T.
"The chrome girl is real.", Nate spoke in surprise before he took a look at her, slightly peeving her.
"Yeah, yeah, get it out of your system.", M.T. sighed.
Then, Nate looked to Jesse, who put his arm on Nate's shoulder.
"Hi. I-I'm Nate.", Nate greeted.
"Uh, hi, Nate. I'm...", M.T. spoke before looking to Jesse.
"Hm...Dracula 2?", Jesse asked.
M.T. only rolled her eyes with a grin before looking down at the mountains and the lake in front of her.
"I'm Lake.", Lake responded.
"Cool name.", Nate spoke before Jesse nodded.
"Your brother's got good taste.", Lake grinned before Jesse grinned and then tried to flick her at the head only to hurt himself doing so.
"Ah!", Jesse exclaimed before M.T. and Nate laughed.
"Wanted to be cool one time! Just once...", Jesse vented before Nate laughed.
"Nerd.", Lake commented.
A/N: So, what did you think about this ending. Pretty great, isn't it? Of course, if there are a few edits you'd like to see to fix it and/or make it better, I'd be more than happy to take care of it. For now, I gotta finish the rest of the chapter for my SDS story. See you soon. :)