Jeremie's eyes widened as he quickly picked up Aelita's ticket.
"Oh no..." Jeremie muttered
He quickly picked up the ticket. "She forgot her ticket!"
"She did?" Anne asked, with surprise
"I gotta get it back to her!" Jeremie exclaimed as he got out of his seat.
"Hey, you can't go to another cart, Belpois!" Herve interjected.
"It's against safety regulations for someone to head out without an adult!" Herve added.
Jeremie frowned at Herve.
"She forgot her ticket!" Jeremie said
Jeremie rushed to the door and opened it, but froze seeing a gap where the back cart connected to the passenger cart.
Jeremie saw the speed of the ground passing the train. He gulped.
He looked up seeing Aelita and the Conductor give the boy the hot chocolate.
Just then, the wind blew the ticket out of Jeremie's hand. "No!" he exclaimed as he tried to reach for it.
The ticket blew away from Jeremie's hand, and away from the train.
Jeremie rushed back into the cart and ran to a window, where the ticket was caught in. He lowered the window in an attempt to get it, but the wind blew it away.
Jeremie tried to reach it, but the ticket was already too far away.
Jeremie had a wide eyed look, as he watched the ticket blow away.
Jeremie slumped down in the seat with defeat. "Oh no..."
Unknown to him, the wind blew the ticket through a forest the Polar Express was passing by.
As the Conductor and Aelita came back into the passenger cart, the ticket floated into the cart just as the Conductor closed the door.
The ticket ended up landing on a vent.
As Aelita sat back down, she looked at the seat and her eyes widened. "My ticket... Where is it? I left it right here..."
Jeremie looked at Aelita, with guilt.
"I- I tried to bring it to you, but the wind blew it out of my hand... I'm so sorry, Aelita" Jeremie said, with guilt.
"You mean to say you've LOST your ticket?" the Conductor asked.
Jeremie sighed sadly and pulled his ticket out. "Here... You can have my ticket, Aelita..." he told her as he tried to give it to her, but the Conductor stopped him.
"AH! These tickets are not transferable!" the Conductor said.
The Lyoko Warriors all watched, with worry and sadness.
The Conductor sighed and looked at Aelita. "Young lady, you'll have to come with me..."
The Conductor led Aelita out of the passenger cart. Before the door closed, Aelita looked over her shoulder sadly.
Jeremie watched Aelita and The Conductor leave the passenger cart. He sighed, and sat back down, sadly.
"You know what's gonna happen now, don't ya? He's gonna throw her off the train!" Herve said.
The Lyoko Warriors and the other kids on the train gasped. "WHAT?!" Jeremie exclaimed.
Herve nodded. "Yeah, he's gonna take her to the back so she can jump off. It's standard procedure so she won't get sucked under the wheel."
"Herve, just be quiet! They're not throwing my sister off of the train!" Chase snapped
Herve sighed. "She doesn't have her ticket, so it's standard procedure."
Jeremie clenched his fists. "We have to stop the train!" he exclaimed as he rushed to the emergency brake.
"No, don't do that!" Herve protested.
"Not again!" a kid said.
Jeremie was about to pull the emergency brake, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a flash of gold on the vent. It was the ticket!
Quickly, he rushed to the vent and grabbed the ticket just before it slipped through the vent.
Jeremie pulled the ticket out, and had a wide eyed look.
"T- This is her ticket!" Jeremie exclaimed
Chase hopped out of his seat. "Come on! We have to get it back to Aelita!" he exclaimed.
Chase looked over at Anne and Dylan's seat. "Anne! Help us!"
Anne got out of her seat. "Okay! Dylan, you stay here!" she told him.
Dylan nodded, as Anne and Chase ran to Jeremie.
Jeremie opened the door, seeing the gap between the carts. He held the ticket in his mouth with his teeth before he jumped across to the back cart with Anne and Chase following him.
Jeremie opened the door to the rear passenger cart, and he, Chase, and Anne ran into it.
Jeremie rushed to the back door and opened it, finding now thigh but a railing and the train tracks the Polar Express was on.
Chase turned to the young boy in the seat. "Hey, kid, where are they?"
The boy simply looked down, remaining silent.
"Please, we have to give this back to her!" Jeremie told the boy as he showed him the ticket.
"Please, just tell us where she went!" Anne pleaded
The kid only looked down silently. Anne looked out the window and saw a silhouette of two figures on top of the train.
"They're on the top of the carts!" Anne exclaimed
Quickly, Jeremie, Chase, and Anne ran outside. Jeremie noticed a ladder and was the first to climb it.
Anne and Chase climbed up after him. They went wide eyed, shivered, and wrapped their arms around themselves.
"It's freezing up here!" Anne said
Thankfully, the jackets they wore provided them some warmth.
Jeremie noticed a light in the distance. "Look!"
Anne, Chase, and Jeremie walked across the top of the cart with some difficulty due to the wind and snow blowing in their faces.
"HEY! AELITA! I FOUND YOUR TICKET!" Jeremie called.
The light was dimmed because of the wind and snow. The group tried following it, as they saw it disappear.
Meanwhile, with Yumi and Ulrich...
Ulrich stared out the window silently, looking to be in deep thought.
Yumi rose an eyebrow. "Ulrich?"
Ulrich was silent. She tried again. "Ulrich?"
"Hm?" Ulrich asked as he looked at the window.
"Is something wrong?" Yumi asked
Ulrich shook his head. "No, nothing's wrong."
Unknown to Yumi, he wasn't telling the truth.
"Alright, Ulrich..." Yumi said, nodding.
Ulrich sighed and closed his eyes.
Unknown to them, William had slipped out the door heading to another cart.
Meanwhile, with Jeremie, Anne, and Chase...
Jeremie tightly held onto the ticket, as he, Chase, and Anne walked across the carts.
In the distance, music could be heard.
"What the..." Anne muttered.
As they kept walking, the music got louder and a light could be seen.
They walked closer and the light became clearer, revealing a man in ragged clothing by some sort of campfire on top of the cart, humming to himself as he played some sort of instrument.
Chase, Jeremie, and Anne all went wide eyed.
"Uh... Hello, sir..." Chase said, not knowing what to say.
The man paused playing his instrument and looked up at them.
"Can I help you three with somethin'?" he asked as he rose an eyebrow.
"Have you seen a girl up here?" Jeremie asked
"A gi-" the man, or rather the hobo, began, but cut himself off as he burst into laughter. "Ain't we all lookin' for one?!" he joked as he laughed some more as he played the instrument.
Anne had an unamused look on her face as she crossed her arms.
"We have her ticket..." Jeremie explained as he showed the hobo the ticket.
The hobo rose an eyebrow as he took the ticket and examined it. "Well, lookie here... This is an official, genuine... Ticket to ride. Oh, you better keep this in a safe place, young man." the hobo said as he gave the ticket back to Jeremie.
As Jeremie prepared to put the ticket in his jacket pocket, the hobo spoke up again.
"If I was you, I'd put all my valuables right here..." he said as he pulled off his shoe, which the sole hung loosely at the front. "Right here in the ol' size 13. Trust me, this is the safest place."
Jeremie slipped the ticket into one of his slippers.
Anne and Chase still had confused looks.
"So... You haven't seen a pink-haired girl up here?" Anne asked
The hobo shook his head. "Can't say I have.
The hobo shook his head. "Can't say I have. Sorry."
He then smirked. "I don't have much use for those. Tickets. I ride for free. I hop aboard this rattler anytime I feel like it. I own this train. It's like I'm the king of this train. Yeah, the king of the Polar Express. In fact, I am the king... OF THE NORTH POLE! he exclaimed loudly as he stood up.
"The North Pole?" Anne asked
The hobo smirked.
"Sit, sit. Take a load off." he told them as he sat back down.
The three hesitated, but they sat on top of a couple boxes.
"Would you like some joe?" The hobo asked as he took a kettle off the fire and poured them each a cup. "Nice hot refreshment, perfect for a cold winter's night." he said as he gave them the cups.
The trio took a sip. The hobo then pulled a sock out of the kettle the drink came from and wringed it out.
Anne's visible eye widened before she spat out the drink and coughed.
Chase coughed, spitting out the drink over the side of the train. Jeremie gagged, as he swallowed the drink.
"Bless you..." the hobo chuckled.
"What the heck is this stuff?!" Chase coughed
"Whoops... Hehe, sorry... Sometimes use it for laundry..." the hobo chuckled.
Jeremie coughed. "W-What about Santa?"
"Hm?" the hobo asked.
"Isn't he the king of the North Pole?" Jeremie questioned.
"You mean this guy?" the hobo asked as he placed a Santa Claus hat on. "Ho ho ho ho ho! Ho ho ho ho! Ho ho ho ho ho!" he laughed.
The trio simply looked at him. What was up with this guy...?
"You... uh... You're freaking me out a little. And yes, we mean the big guy in the red suit..." Chase said
The hobo simply smirked as he took the hat off. "So what exactly is your persuasion on the big man? Since you brought him up..."
Jeremie blinked with surprise. "W-Well... I want to believe... But..."
"I- I... uh... I- I don't know what t- to believe..." Chase stuttered, with surprise. Anne blinked with surprise.
"U- Uh..." Anne said, not knowing what to say at all.
"Ah, I see... You all don't want to be bamboozled. You don't want to be led down the primrose path! You don't wanna be conned or duped. Have the wool pulled down over your eyes. Hoodwinked. You don't wanna be taken for a ride, railroaded!" the hobo said as he put the fire out with the drink and started packing up.
"Wait, where are you going?" Jeremie asked.
The hobo smirked, not answering his question. "Seeing is believing... Am I right?"
"But... What about this train?" Chase asked.
"What about it?" the hobo asked.
"We're all really going to the North Pole, aren't we?" Jeremie asked.
"Aren't we?" the hobo repeated with a smirk.
"Are you saying that... This is all a dream?" Jeremie questioned.
"No way it's a dream..." Anne told Jeremie.
"You said it, kid! Not me." the hobo told Jeremie as he grabbed his suitcases. "So, let's go find that girl!"
He started to walk, but he paused and looked over his shoulder.
"One other thing... Do you three believe in ghosts?"
"Nope" Chase said
"No..." Jeremie said
Anne rose an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?" Anne asked
The hobo smirked.
The group saw the hobo turn, and start walking away.
Jeremie's eyes widened. "Wait..."
The wind started to pick up as they tried to go after the hobo. "Wait!" Jeremie cried out again.
"Wait up!" Chase exclaimed.
But the hobo was already gone... as if he disappeared into thin air...
(REVIEWS ARE LOVE! SO LOVE US!)