//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: The Beach Car 
// Story: Infinity Train: Crossover Nexus 
// by Solar Force 
//------------------------------//

In the latest train car, the inside looked like a large rectangular room, with a grid-like pattern covering the walls, with some of the squares coloured black, and some with random letters in them, spelling out certain words. One of the empty white squares was suddenly stamped with a letter F. The machine that stamped it floated across the room, blue flames blazing from it’s thrusters. In the glass covered cockpit, Tulip sat at the controls, as Sunset walked along beside it, looking at a holographic display projected from a small device in her hands, showing her the current crossword puzzle the two of them were working on together. “45 down, 7 letters,” she muttered in concentration, before looking down at the room's floor. “One One? How long have you been doing this?”

“I’ve been helping since the start”, Said the little spherical robot. It had been ‘helping’ by writing all sorts of congratulatory messages about it self in the puzzle squares, such as, One One #1, One for all and all for One One etc. “I think it’s a pretty powerful message.” 

Sunset rolled her eyes and sighed, before picking up One One. “I think it’s better you stay out of the way for now.” She then leant down and rolled the little ball away from her. “Korra, can you watch One One till we’re done here?”

One One cheered as he rolled across the floor and came to rest next to a very bored looking Korra as she sat against the wall. “Oh, yeah, sure, great,” She said flatly. This kind of puzzle challenge was not her kind of thing at all. “Leave the little kickball to me.” She looked down at One One as he blinked up at her innocently. “You know, if my friend Asami was here, she would adore you.”

“Really?” asked One One happily, “Could your friend be my Mum?”

“Well, she would want to be your mom, and smother you with adoration right before she tries to take you apart to see how you work,” Korra said with a humourless chuckle.

“Oh,” One One said, “So she would love me to death. Yay.”

The stamping machine landed, and the letter I opened up as Tulip stepped out in front of Sunset. “Thanks for taking care of One One," she said, "We gotta finish this, and he wasn’t exactly helping.”

“Yeah, I know,” Said Sunset with a slight frown. “Look, we're almost done here, so let’s finish this up so we can keep moving.”

“Aye Aye Captain,” Chirped One One, causing all three girls to roll their eyes.



The group ran on to the next car. Inside, it was dark and wooded, and all across the ground were little bulb-like creatures with little beards, who were snoring softly as they slept. The three girls had to tiptoe slowly and carefully threw them without waking them up. “OK,” Muttered Tulip as she carried One One up above her head. 

“You know, If I didn’t know how dangerous these little guys are, I’d say they’re kinda cute,” Sunset said as she stepped carefully between the little wizards. 

“Not now, Sunset,” Korra said with a huff as she followed behind the two of them.”

“They look so peaceful,” Said One One contemplatively.

“Shh,” Hissed Tulip, “Six inch voice.”

“DID YOU SAY SIXTY INCH VOICE?!” One One shouted loudly, as all the little wizards opened they’re bright, glowing yellow eyes. 

“Spells! Spells!” The wizards chanted as the girls ran for it, as they were bombarded by arrows of light, as the little creatures gave chase. 

“No angry wizards!” Shouted Tulip.

“This is so weird!” Shouted Korra.



They ran on to the next car, where they found themselves inside a large, clear ball, as they rolled around the inside of a giant pinball machine. “The doors inside of…”  Tulip muttered before One One bounced off her shoulder into the opposite side of the sphere, forcing it to roll back into a round slot, which lit up as a loud beeping sound was heard. Beside the slot were the words Multi-Ball.

“This is where I belong,” Said One One as he came to rest beside Tulip’s shoulder. 

“Uh oh,” Said Sunset with wide eyes as she saw the Multi-Ball sign. 

“What’s Multi-” Korra began to ask, before she saw a batch of large silvery balls coming straight toward them. “BALL!!” All three girls yelled and screamed as they were tossed around the machine by the other balls.



“I almost found my Mum that time,” Said One One happily as the girls left the pinball car, “And you all got the 11th highest score in pinball! Don’t want to be in the top 10, though. Too much pressure,” He finished.

Tulip, who was staring at the number on her hand, frowned. “Ugh, this isn’t a game to me One One,” She said grouchily as One One jumped off her shoulder onto the walkway, splitting into its two halves.

“We can still have fun,” Said the happy One.

“Not when you have things to do,” Tulip said in annoyance. “You work first, so you get to enjoy the fun later. I help my dad fix the go carts, I get to drive them before he re-sells them. Work first.” The One’s just stared up at her.

“Uh, Tulip,” Sunset said, “I can appreciate you wanting to put work above everything else. I used to be the same way. But, if you did it with your dad, surely it wasn’t all work.”

Tulip hesitated for a moment, before saying, “OK, sometimes there was pizza during the work, and hose fights, but,” She raised her arms above her head, “all of that was still under the work umbrella.” As she lowered her arms again, she gasped in panic as she looked at her hand. “Ah!”

“Tulip, what’s wrong?” asked Sunset in worry as she and Korra dashed forward to look over her shoulder. They gasped at what they saw. 

“Tulip, your number!” Korra said in shock.

“It was 115 before!” Tulip went on. Indeed, her number now read 114. “Oh, no no no!” she continued frantically, before dropping to her knees in front of One One. “Did I do something wrong? Did I lose a point? Am I being timed?!” 

Looking at each other, Sunset and Korra quickly checked their own numbers, but neither of theirs had changed. “What’s going on?” Sunset asked, looking down at One One. “Why has Tulip’s number gone down and ours haven’t?”

“Did she do something to cause it to drop?” Korra asked.

“I’ve seen that happen before,” Said the Negative One ominously. “When it reaches zero, you are go-”

“You’re gone forever!” Positive One interrupted.

“I was talking,” Said Negative One, narrowing its eye. 

“That’s it?” Tulip said in frustration. “Nobody told me this number was gonna change. No one said anything!” She banged her fist on the walkway floor as she continued her rant, “Now, I’m gonna die on this stupid train because there isn’t a stupid rulebook!”

“Tulip!” Korra said forcefully as she got down on her knees in front of the distressed girl, placing her hands on the red head's shoulders, “Get a grip on yourself!” 

“One One only said that you’d disappear if your number reached 0, whatever that means,” Sunset said in agreement, “he didn’t say anything about you dying, so calm down.”

“You rule in my book Miss Tulip,” Positive One said as it walked up in front of her knees.

“Ugh, let go of me!” Tulip said in indignation, reaching up and forcing Korra’s hands off her shoulders, before scoping up One One up into her arms. “I don’t have time for this!” She stood up, turned and dashed ahead of them to the next car.

“Tulip, stop!” Sunset shouted, but the red head completely ignored her.

“We can’t lose her,” Korra said, as she and Sunset gave chase.

Opening the door to the next car, Sunset and Korra came to a stop, seeing Tulip as she just stood and stared. They found themselves on a grassy field, with a palm tree here and there. The grassy outcrop overlooked what looked like an ocean, which lapped up along a sandy beach. The sound of the waves splashing could be heard along with a gentle sea breeze. 

“We're on a beach?” Korra asked with a raised eyebrow, as Tulip turned back around toward the other two girls with a bewildered, yet worried look. 

“Uh, you guys.” She said slowly, “I think you’d better look at this.”

“Look at what?” Asked Sunset, before Tulip stepped aside and her eyes widened at what she saw. There, lying on the ground, out cold, was a young teenage boy. He had puffy black hair, and a rounded, slightly chubby face. He wore a pink jacket, a black T shirt with a large yellow star on the front, jeans with the bottoms of the legs rolled up, and sandals on his otherwise bare feet. Sunset and Korra looked at each other, before nodding, and then rushing forward. They knelt down beside the boy to check on him. “You think he’s alright?”

Korra gently placed two fingers on his wrist. “Well, he has a pulse,” She said, “Don’t you think this is just like how we found Tulip?” 

“Yeah,” Sunset noded, “This is all too similar.” She then looked down toward the boy’s right hand, which was flat on the ground. “You don’t think…?”

“Only one way to be sure,” said Korra, as she reached the boy's hand. However, she paused as they heard a groan come from the boy. They looked toward his face as his eyes slowly opened, before he tried to sit up. “Whoa, take it easy,” Korra said, “Are you alright?”

“Uh, I think so,” Said the boy with a frown, before getting a proper look at the two girls. “Jeez, what happened? And who are you two?” He then looked closer at Sunset. “And what kind of Gem are you? I never saw one like you before?”

“Uhh, Gem?” Asked Sunset in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, you're a Gem aren’t you?” The boy asked like it was obvious. “How else could you be so colourful?” 

“Ugh, not this again,” Sunset said with groan, as Korra smirked in amusement. “Look, I have no idea what you’re talking about. What’s a Gem?” 

“Well, you know, gems are-” The boy began to explain, as he raised his arms, before pausing as he noticed a green glow coming from his hand. “Huh?” He took one look at his palm, and his eyes widened in shock, “Whoa! W-what’s this? Why’s it on my hand?!” 

“Let me guess. You have a number on your hand?” Asked Korra with a serious look.

“Uhh, yeah,” The boy said, before turning his hand to show the girls his own number, confirming their suspicions. His number was 550. “How did you know?”

“Because we have them, too,” Sunset explained, as she and Korra raised their hands, showing their own number to the new passenger. “We think you got here the same way that we did.”

“Got here?” Asked the boy, “What are you talking about? Isn’t this Beach City?”

“Wherever you were before, trust us, you’re not there, now,” Korra said, “You boarded what looked like a train before you woke up here, right?”

“Yeah! I remember that!” The boy replied. “I’m… guessing that happened to you girls, too?”

“It happened to all three of us, actually,” Sunset confirmed, gesturing over toward Tulip. 

“OK, so, where are we now? And what do these numbers mean?” The boy asked. “Are we on another planet or something?”

“Umm, I guess you could say that,” Sunset said slowly, “You know that train you boarded? You're actually on that train, right now.”

“This… is a train?” The boy asked, looking at his surroundings. “Sure doesn’t look like any train I’ve ever seen.” 

“It may look like you're on a beach, but we’re actually inside a train car attached to a giant train,” Explained Korra.

“A giant train?” The boy said slowly.



A few moments later, the boy stared out in astonishment as the endless wasteland rushed past as the train rumbled onwards. But he then gave an unimpressed shrug. “Eh, I’ve been to weirder places than this,” he said with a tired sigh, before walking back inside the car, closing the door behind him, and standing beside the three girls.

“You don’t sound too put off by all this,” Sunset said with a curious look.

“I’ve been through way more weird and traumatizing stuff, believe me,” The boy said dismissively. 

“Well, anyway,” Sunset said, “Since you’re in the same situation we are, why don’t we introduce ourselves.” She held out to shake his hand. “Hi, I’m Sunset Shimmer,” she then gestured to the older girl next to her, “This is Korra.”

“Hey,” Korra said with a small wave. 

“And the red head over there is Tulip,” Sunset continued, gesturing over to the youngest girl as she stood off to the side. “Who’s going through a bit of an episode at the moment because her number went down and she thinks if hits 0 she’ll die.”

“What?!” Said the boy with wide eyes.

“We don’t know that for sure,” Sunset quickly added, “One One was being extremely vague when he told her what might happen.”

“Uh, One One?” The boy asked.

“The ball that she's holding,” Said Korra, pointing at the spherical shaped robot in Tulip’s arms.

“Hello!” One One said cheerfully.

“OK, well that's a little weird,” Said the boy. “Well, I guess I would be rude if I didn’t introduce myself too.” He then gave a small smile. “Nice to meet you guys. I’m Steven Universe.”

“Oh, great,” Tulip groaned, rolling her eyes. “Another weirdo with a weird name.”

At this, Korra spun round to face Tulip. “Knock it off, Tulip,” she said sternly with a frown, “What right do you have to judge?”

“Maybe because I’m the only here who’s actually normal?” Tulip replied with a frustrated frown and a flippant tone. Korra opened her mouth to retort, when they all paused as they heard a not too distant voice.

“That’s right. Step right up. There we go.” At the sound of the voice, Tulip turned on her heel and headed off up the small hill.

“Oh, come on, not again,” Groaned Korra, who was quickly losing patience with the hot tempered redhead. She, Sunset and Steven followed her up the hill, stopping where she had laid down on her front, looking over the top of the hill. They all stopped and stared at what they saw. Laid out in front of them, was… garbage. A pile of literal garbage, made of discarded junk and black garbage bags. But what was more surprising was what was in front of the garbage. There was a large blob of… water? It looked like it had eyes and a mouth. Sitting in front of the watery blob was a cream coloured cat, with yellow slit like eyes, and strangely, wearing a grey business-like waistcoat, a navy undershirt with a white collar, and a red tie.

“Say, I didn’t catch your name,” said the cat in the same voice they had heard.

“Randall,” said the water creature. 

“That’s a strong name,” Said the cat in a flattering tone, “A strong name for a strong man.” Randall just stared at her blankly. “An affluent man such as yourself can turn his pile of junk in to donuts with this truly miraculous product,” the cat continued, before reaching behind her and producing a slightly rusty metal pipe, “The Donut Hoeler.” 

“That kinda just looks like a pipe,” Said Tulip.

“That’s because it is a pipe,” Sunset said with a frown. 

“She sounds like a con artist,” Korra said in agreement. 

“I’ll demonstrate,” The cat went on, pulling over a piece of paper with her paw, holding up the pipe, and slamming it down into the middle of the paper, leaving a large hole in it. “Presto! Donut!” She said proudly, “This hat? Bon Appetit! Donut!” She went on, pulling over a hat and punching a whole through it as well. “Am I going too fast for you?” She asked, looking back up at Randall.

“I get to be in charge of selling these Donut Holers? I can start my own business?” Asked Randall in great interest, seeming to swell up with intrigue.

“Yes!” Said the cat with a sly tone, “Why, you could have a whole sales team selling these Donut Holers, with pioneers like us right at the top.” 

“OK, is she for real?” asked Steven in confusion.

“Yeah, like a Pyramid scheme,” Said Randall. 

“Don’t think of it so much as a Pyramid Scheme, as a Pyramid Team,” said the cat, “You don’t even know the best part,” she tossed the so called ‘Donut Hoeler’ at Randall, causing it to float inside his watery body, “This is the only Donut Hoeler certified by my close, personal,” she paused, narrowing her eyes and letting out a huff, “acquaintance, The Conductor.” 

“Conductor?!” Tulip exclaimed as she got to her feet, placing One One in her backpack, and, yet again, dashing off ahead of everyone. “Hey!”

“Dang it, Tulip!” Korra shouted after her, before giving chase, Sunset and Steven following behind. 

“Is she always like this?” Steven asked.

“This is more of a recent thing,” Sunset replied, “But yeah, pretty much.”

Tulip came to stop in front of the cat, placing her hands on her knees to catch her breath, before saying in a rambling, frantic voice, “I’m supposed to be going to Oshkosh, it’s this place in Wisconsin and also my name is Tulip, I should have said that earlier, but there’s a game design camp and my parents signed a contract and I ended up on this stupid train and I don’t won’t any of this!” She finally finished her rant as the cat stepped up to her.

“My goodness, kitten,” said the cat, “one step at a time.” Just then, Sunset and the others came up behind Tulip. “My, my, looks like we have a whole litter of kittens.” 

Korra then stepped up beside Tulip. “OK, I know you're in a full on panic attack right now,” She said with a deep, frustrated frown, before she shouted, “But can you please stop running off?!”

Tulip, however, completely ignored her, as she showed her number to the cat. “My number keeps going down, and if it reaches 0 I’m done for," she said, before continuing in a desperate tone, “I just want to find a way off this train and you said you know the Conductor? You have to help me before I die?”

“Tell me, kitten,” said the cat, “What makes you think the digits below your digits are counting down to Ta Mort?”

“Huh?” Tulip asked, confused.

“She said ‘your death,’ Tulip,” Said Sunset. 

“What's this,” Said the cat, looking at Sunset with an intrigued smile, “You speak French? Impressionnant!”

“Yeah, I kinda picked it up from a girl I knew who used French words all the time, and I learned it just so I would know what she was saying,” Sunset explained. “But, I digress,” She shrugged.

“Well, anyway, about my number,” Tulip said, drawing the cat’s attention.

“Oh, yes, pray tell,” She said, “Where did you hear that you would die if your number went all the way down?”

“Uh, One One told me,” Tulip said, pulling the little ball from her backpack, as the cat’s eyes widened in shock.

“Mum check!” said One One, narrowing his little eyes at the cat. “Hmm, much to fury. Or, not fury enough.”  

“Mother check? C’est intéressant,” the cat said with a smile of great interest. 

“Yeah, he’s looking for his mom,” Tulip said while rolling her eyes, “But, my number?”

“We’ll get there, patience,” Said the cat as she reached for the old hat and showed it to One One. “Excuse me white ball? Is this donut hat your mother?”

“Ummm, yes?” asked One One.

“Hm,” The cat said before holding up the hat above her head, “And, tell me, if I put this donut hat on my head, will I die?”

“Sure, why not,” One One said simply.

“Charming fellow, but not the most reliable, is he?” The cat said in conclusion.

“Wha?” Tulip said with an annoyed frown, “One One. You made me think I was going to die.”

“It would be surprising if you never died,” One One replied simply again.

“OK, that was randomly dark,” Said Steven with raised eyebrows.

“Yeah, you’ve not exactly been helpful in the last few cars, little guy,” Korra said with narrowed eyes.

“Ugh,” Tulip groaned, before rolling One One away like a bowling ball. He came to rest, literally, floating inside Randall’s watery body, along with the ‘Donut Hoeler’. 

“I’m sure the conductor would be just as sympathetic to your plight,” said the cat as she wound her way between Tulips legs. “I’d rush off to see him right now but unfortunately my personal shuttlecraft has been grounded.”

“You have a shuttle craft?” Tulip asked. 

“Why of course I do, kitten,” said the cat, “How else do you think I travel up and down such a vast train? Please, step this way?” She headed off, Tulip following behind. Korra and Sunset looked at each other before following after them as well, with Steven stepping up beside them.

Soon, they saw a small machine that looked like a glass ball surrounded by a metal lattice, standing on four metal legs. “A little beauty isn’t she?” Asked the cat with a hint of pride in her voice. 

“Kinda small, isn’t it?” asked Sunset.

“It’s cat sized, mon ami,” replied the cat.

“Yeah, that was pretty obvious,” Steven said.

“Even I noticed that,” added Korra.

“I’d fix her myself, but, you know, no thumbs,” the cat said, holding up her paw to demonstrate her point.

“I have thumbs,” said Tulip, reaching down to pick up an instruction manual laying on the ground. “I don’t know anything about shuttle crafts, but, I fixed some stuff with my dad.” 

“There’s still the issue of,” said the cat, before jumping up onto Tulip's shoulder, “my payment.”

“Payment?” asked Tulip.

“Whoa, whoa, hold on,” Sunset interrupted, “What’s this about payment?”

“Mon ami, I’m a busy feline, and I have a business to run,” said the cat, “besides, even with my craft, it will take a week, maybe two, to get to the Conductor. That’s a lot of sales I’m missing out on.” 

“I have,” Tulip said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out some money, “$12 and 42c, but one of the pennies is Canadian.”  

“I’m afraid, kitten, that you will find that money has no real value here Le Train,” Said the cat, “Besides, I’ve always been more interested in the peculiar and unique. You know, I could take the little white ball off your hands. In exchange, I will speak to the conductor about getting you to... where was it again?” Wis-con-sin?” she finished slowly, jumping off her shoulder and on top of the shuttlecraft and turning to face her.

“One One?” Tulip asked in surprise. “You want to take One One with you?”

“What?!” Sunset said in shock, “Tulip, you can't seriously be thinking of selling One One to her, right?”

“I didn’t think it would come to that, but…” she trailed off as she looked back at One One, who was standing next to Randall, holding the Donut Hoeler. 

“Miss Tulip,” He shouted happily, “We made so many Donuts!” He held up a leaflet for the game design camp Tulip was going to, which had a perfectly round hole in the middle of it. This caused Tulip to grunt in annoyance. 

“I kinda agree with her, Sunset,” Korra said with a frown. “The little ball hasn’t exactly been that helpful.”

“But, Korra,” Sunset tried to argue.

“I don’t wanna sound like the bad guy, but,” put in Steven, “If the little guy is in her care, doesn’t that make it her decision?”

“But friends don’t sell their friends!” shouted Sunset, but she was clearly outnumbered. She clenched her fists and growled in frustration. “Ugh! Fine! Be that way!” She crossed her arms and turned her back to them, before stomping away in frustration. 

“So, like I was saying,” said the cat, “Do you really need the little white ball, or do you want to get off this train?” 

Looking down at One One, and then over at Sunset as she retreated, Tulip knelt down and held out her hand to shake the cat’s paw. “Deal,” she said in agreement.

After this, Tulip set to work on the shuttlecraft, while Steven was talking to the cat.

“So, my fine young friend, what fine item can I provide for you?” The cat asked in her best business person voice.

“Do you have a ukulele?” Steven asked simply.

“A U-ku-le-le?” The cat asked slowly, tilting her head sideways. “I’m afraid you’ll have to ask for something else. Maybe this might interest you.” She held up a long pole with a hook in the shape of a hand. “Might I interest you in this severed hand on a stick? It’s good for reaching those hard to reach places.”

Steven cringed. “Uhh, that’s just a backscratcher,” He said uncomfortably. “And it’s probably been used. Uhhh,” he said with a shudder.

While this was going on, Korra was walking over to where a still angry Sunset sat on the ground, her legs pulled against her chest, and her arms wrapped tightly around her legs, while she rested her head on her knees. She stopped beside her and looked down at the fiery haired girl with worried eyes. “Are you OK, Sunset?” she asked softly.

“What do you think?” Sunset said rhetorically, without looking at her.

Korra sighed, before sitting down next to Sunset. “You know, this isn’t going to help anyone, this mood of yours.” 

“What do you know about it?” Sunset asked in a grouchy voice.

“I understand where you’re coming from about One One,” Korra continued, “but the way I see it, this is the best way for us to get off this train faster. We need to reach the Conductor, and the cat says she can get us there faster, but even then, she said it would take up to two weeks to reach the engine. How much time do you think it would take for us to get there on our own? Weeks? Months? Maybe even years? And let’s not forget, some of the cars we’ve been through weren’t just simply puzzles. Some of them were dangerous.” 

“So you just want to give One One away to some stranger we only just met because you trust her word over someone who’s supposed to be your friend?” Sunset asked in a low voice, but with a hint of bitterness.

“We don’t have a choice, Sunset,” Korra said, “Why do you care so much about this anyway? It’s not like One One is real.”

“What makes you think he’s not real?” Sunset said, lifting her head to look at Korra, her eyes narrowed and filled with anger. “Is he not real just because he’s made of metal and plastic and wires and circuits and whatever else? That little guy was willing to help us reach the engine no matter how long it took. So what if he screws up sometimes, so what if he gets mixed up with his split personality? One One was our friend, and you don’t just turn your back on your friends. And you want to do just that by giving him away to someone who, let remind you, you said yourself, was a con artist. You don’t sell your friends to con artists.” Her face scrunched up even more as her anger grew, and she went on to say, “and you don’t just abandon your friends either, not when you get accused of something said friends should have known she would never do, not after everything said friend had done to prove her sincerity and make up for her mistakes, even though the evidence points to said friend being the culprit, they still should have trusted said friend enough to take her word over the word of a bunch of complete strangers!” 

After Sunset was done with her rant, Korra stared at her with wide eyes for a moment, before saying quietly, “You're not just talking about One One, are you?”

As if realising what she had let slip out, Sunset looked away from Korra, staying quiet.

“I’m right, aren't I?” Korra pressed her. When Sunset stayed silent, Korra sighed heavily. “Alright, I get it, you don’t want to talk about right now, but when you do, I’ll be here to listen, OK.” Korra then looked across to where Tulip was underneath the shuttlecraft, doing her best to repair it. A melancholic look crossed her face. “You know, right now, Tulip reminds me of this friend of mine from back home. She was an incredible engineer, she could build or fix just about anything. I bet she could fix that thing in no time.” She then sighed again. “You know, thinking about that, just makes me think about… how much I miss her.” 

While Korra was talking, Sunset had turned her head to look at her, only for eyes to widen in shock as she noticed something. “Korra!” she called out, “Korra, look! Your number!”

“What?” Korra asked, before looking down at her hand, her own eyes going wide in shock. “My number’s gone down?!” Indeed, her number had dropped to 245! “Why has it gone down?!” 

“How should I know?!” Sunset exclaimed. “We need to show this to Tulip!” They quickly got up and headed back over to Tulip.

Tulip was still working on the shuttlecraft, when One One came rolling up to her. “Miss Tulip? How tall are you?” He asked innocently.

“Uh, I’m about-” Tulip started to answer before she interrupted.

“What is your hair?” One One asked again, picking a few strands of her ponytail.

“How am I supposed to answer that?” Tulip asked as she went to her work.

“Is your name Tulip because you have a bulbous head?” One One asked for a third time.

“What? No,” Tulip said, “It was when I was born. There were… complications.”

“(Gasp) Oh no! Did you make it alive?” One One asked in worry.

“Uh, yeah,” Tulip replied slowly. “It was some kind of breathing issue. But I bounced back like a ‘perennial flower’ or something. At least, that’s what my mom told me.” she finished with a smile.

“So, you could have been after any perennial plant? Like, horseradish?” asked the cat, scrunching up her face in distaste.

“No!” Tulip said, “I don’t know. I didn’t name me.”

"Look Miss Tulip," said One One happily as he plucked a flower, jumped up on her shoulder, and put the flower in behind her ear. “It’s you.”

“That’s a daisy,” Tulip said with a frown. She placed One One back on the ground and read the manual again. “I may not know what anything does, but, there is a gear thing here that isn’t in there. Do you know where we can get a replacement?”

“Ooh, I know, I know,” said Randall.

Seeing the way things were going, Sunset and Korra looked at each other. “We’ll tell her later,” Sunset whispered. Korra nodded in agreement.



Randall led the girls out onto the beach, where, to the girls and Steven's astonishment, the waters literally lifted and parted, revealing what was literally a small, underwater city, with buildings made out of sand, seaweed and seashells. 

"I've seen this done way better," Steven muttered with a nonchalant shrug.

“I bet I could do that,” Korra muttered to herself quietly, “before I got tired.” 

“What did you say?” asked Sunset.

“Uh, nothing,” said Korra quickly, before she, along with Sunset and the others followed Randell into the little underwater world.

They walked through a market, which was inhabited by watery creatures just like Randall, going about their business, selling all kinds of things. “Welcome to the Market,” said Randall, “soak up your troubles. Metal squirt attack got you down? Shop your cares away. Put a little wiggle in your step.”

They soon reached a small shop with the name Gears Of Joy, where Tulip placed One One on the counter. “Da, da da da, daaa!” One One sang, doing a little dance.

“Oh, very cute,” said the water creature behind the counter. He wore an opened shell, making it look he was wearing a bow tie.

“I think she’s cute too,” Said One One happily, looking up at Tulip.

Tulip groaned, before looking up the shop owner and asking, “How, uh, how much for that gear over there?” She gestured to a gear by the shop entrance, which the cat was sitting next to.

“Ah, expensive taste,” said the shop owner, “Hold the sponge, now that's a handsome looking flower.” Tulip looked at the flower behind her ear.

“You mean my personal heartfelt gift that I picked out for my personal heartfelt friend?” One One asked.

“Ah, sounds valuable,” he replied.

“Oh, I mean it’s not really for sale,” said Tulip hesitantly. 

“Too late,” said the shop owner, “now that I’ve seen it, it’s the only thing I want.”

“Oh, the price we pay for the things we desire most,” said the cat in a knowing, smug voice.

After a brief moment of staring at the shop owner's blank face, Tulip groaned in frustration. “Ugh, fine! Just take it!” she snapped, grabbing the flower and slamming down on the counter. She went to pick up One One, but Sunset beat her to it, grabbing One One up into her arms and carrying him out of the shop with a glare back at Tulip. 

“My mechanical heart breaks again,” Said One One from within Sunset’s arms, “I hope the warranty is still good.”

“It’s OK,” Sunset said with a sweet smile, “I still love you.” She lifted him to her face, nuzzling him with her cheek and giving him a light peck.

“Stop, you’re smothering me again,” One One complained. Despite everything, Korra couldn't help smiling at the cute moment.



Outside the train car, Tulip put the new gear into place, and the shuttlecraft sprang into life. 

“Shall we?” asked the cat as she hopped aboard. 

Off to the side, Sunset couldn't even watch as she heard Tulip sigh and say, “Well, One One, this is goodbye.”

“A new adventure. Where shall we meet again?” Said One One in his usual happy but naïve tone. Hearing this almost broke Sunset’s heart. 

“We shan’t meet again,” Korra said bluntly. That made Sunset scowl. 

“I’m… we’re leaving the train,” Tulip went on hesitantly. “We can’t take you with us, but, you’ll be with the cat now, and, she seems nice.”

“Oh,” One One said softly, “If it helps you on your journey, I understand.” He walked over to where the cat was leaning out of the craft.

“Sit tight, and I’ll have the conductor sort out this whole mess,” she said, before closing the front of the craft, One One at her side, and it shifted into motion, shooting it’s stand across into a huge groove that went up the side of the next car, before it launch it self over to it and began traveling up the side of the car. 

The door popped open again as One One climbed onto the rim. “Goodbye forever, Miss Tulip!” He called out. Tulip could only look on with a guilty, sad face until he was out of site.



Back inside the Beach Car, Tulip slumped down on the shore, resting her head on her knees, wallowing in her misery. She wasn’t allowed to wallow for long, as a shadow fell over her, causing her to look up, seeing Sunset standing over her, as she looked down with narrowed eyes and her arms crossed. 

“I hope you're happy with yourself,” She said with a cold tone, before turning and marching away.  

“So, you want to help me look through the trash to find a ukulele?” Steven asked Korra, breaking the awkward moment.

“Uhh, sure,” Korra said slowly, before following the dark haired boy over to the trash pile. “What’s a ukulele?”

A bit of time passed, before Korra headed over to where Sunset was sitting, looking forlorn. “Hey, guess what,” she said as she sat down next to her, “we actually found a ukulele for Steven. He’s tuning it up right now.”

“That’s nice,” Sunset muttered so quietly, Korra almost didn’t hear her.

Korra just sighed. “Look, Sunset, I know you're upset about what happened with One One, but… what is Tulip doing inside Randall?”

“look, Korra, I’m not… wait what?” Sunset said as she looked up… and stared in bewilderment as she saw Tulip, being carried by Randall, zip away from them and out the Train Car door. 

Right after that, Steven came walking up to them, with his now perfectly tuned ukulele, and starred in the same direction as the girls. “Uh, did she just ditch us?” He asked.

Sunset just scowled. “I knew it,” She said bitterly, “another so-called friend who ditched me.”

“We don’t know that for sure, Sunset,” Korra said. 

“Well, what are we supposed to do?” Sunset argued. “Just sit here and wait for our so-called friend to come back?”

“We can’t just go on without her, Sunset,” Korra tried to reason. “What do you say, Steven?”

“I only just met her today, so I don’t really know enough about her to say anything,” Steven said.

“Well that’s just great,” Sunset growled, before walking off and sitting down again.

Korra just sighed, before sitting on the ground as well. Time passed in silence, no one saying or doing anything, except Steven as he tuned his ukulele absentmindedly, despite having already tuned it just right.

Eventually, Korra looked up, and her eyes widened in surprise, as Randall returned, with Tulip riding him once more. She got up and dashed over to the red head as she passed through Randall and back onto her feet. “Hi, I’m back,” Tulip said with a remorseful look. “Look, sorry if it looks like I ditched you guys, but I just had something super important I needed to do.” She then reached into her bag, and what she pulled out was One One. 

“Hello again!” The little ball chirped, “Yeah, I came back, don’t make a big deal about it.”

“One One?!” Sunset shouted in shock, as she came running up as well upon hearing his voices.

“Yeah, I went to get him back,” Tulip said with regret in her voice, “You were right, Sunset. I shouldn't have just given him away like that, just because I wanted to get off the train so badly. One One is our friend, and friends don’t leave friends behind. I’m really sorry.”

Sunset gave a small smile, and placed her hand on Tulip’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, too,” she said, “I shouldn’t have let my own feelings get the better of me. And don’t worry, I forgive you.” Tulip gave a small smile of her own. 

As Sunset pulled back her hand, Tulip looked at it and gasped. “Sunset, look at your number!” she exclaimed.

“What?” Sunset said, before looking at her palm and gasping in shock. Her number had gone down now as well to 115! 

“Speaking of numbers, look at this,” said Korra, showing Tulip her own number.

“Both of your numbers went down, too?!” Tulip exclaimed.

“Yeah, we were going to tell you, but then, well, you know,” said Korra a little hesitantly. 

“Hey, at least you can say you're not alone in this, right?” Sunset said with a reassuring smile.

“No, I guess not,” Tulip admitted, before looking up at both girls with a determined smile. “Come on, let’s get off this train.” 

The other two girls nodded with smiles of their own, and were about to leave, before Korra turned back to look at Steven, who was still sitting on the ground, strumming listlessly away on his ukulele. “Hey, wanna come with us?” she asked.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?” he asked as he looked up them from his strumming.

“Of course not,” Sunset said, as she gave him a smile. “No one wants to be alone, right?” 

“Just say yes already,” Said One One from Tulip’s shoulder.

Steven smiled and stood up. “OK, sure, why not,” he said, “I guess we’re all heading the same way, anyway.” 

With that said, the group finally left the Beach Car and moved on to the next Car, continuing their long journey to the engine. 

To Be Continued...