Disclaimer/Notes: I do not own Infinity Train, nor do I own any of the characters from the original pilot. Infinity Train is a potential cartoon that belongs to the brilliant man Owen Dennis. I highly urge you to go watch the Pilot Infinity Train and support this potential show. It is on Youtube, posted on Cartoon Network's channel, it is only a mere 8 minutes and 38 seconds. This is simply something I do with the sole purpose of having fun (although if I'm being honest, the main reason is to spread awareness of this amazing pilot because I really want it to be a full series. I watched a video on Youtube that explained that I should try to share Infinity Train content as much as possible, share, draw, make fanart, cosplay, etc. Well since I can't do any of that, I figured I do the next best thing - writing.)

Anyway, I got so hyped for this series that I went ahead and make a headcanon of the first season for it. The events of this story takes place right after the pilot. It is 100 percent non-canon. Please do support the official release.

"Good morning Miss Tulip, fine day for a morning jog isn't it?"

The young girl woke from the cheerful energetic cry of the tiny spherical robot. The little guy was just too happy for his own good, he just didn't know when to quit, one of these days he's going to get into deep trouble with his naive enthusiasm, she knew that better than anyone – and unfortunately she also knew that better than One-One himself. That being said, it was still rather fortunate that Glad-One's strong sense of optimism was balanced out by his other half, the Sad-One. Admittedly it wasn't really an improvement.

"Ugh, One-One," the girl grunted, "why did you have to wake me up so early?"

The girl rubbed her eyes and reached out for her glasses. It took a while before she finally remembered everything that had happened up until this point. King Atticus of Corgidia had given her a nice and large chamber for her to rest in, and thank god for that. She hadn't slept like that since she got on the train, those days of sleeping on the floor with only her backpack was just borderline unpleasant. Well no more of that, she told herself. These corgis just never ceased to surprise her with their incredibly evolved civilization; their infrastructure, their buildings, just… amazing.

"Come now Miss Tulip," Glad-One said, "The sun is up, the sky is clear, don't you just love the smell of the rising sun?"

"One-One… ugh," She sighed, putting on her glasses, "First of all, you do know that the sun inside this train car isn't real right? It's probably just the result of a very brightly painted background reflecting lights off of that work light or… something similar. Second of all… I'm really worn out from all the commotion that happened yesterday so I would really appreciate it if you could just leave me be for a couple more minutes."

"Huh? But I thought you'd be excited after what happened. I mean you did say that we were making huge strides in discovering the truth about the number on…"

"Oh yeah, that's right!" Tulip sprang up, finally woke up from the weariness.

She looked down onto her right palm. There it was, the glowing green number – 49. There was no mistake about it. The number was 53 for an entire week. But after their encounter with that thing… it finally went down by four. She wasn't dreaming, it was all true. She felt very close to cracking the mystery of this train and of the number.

"I'm not sure what it is…" She said, "But I feel so close now. There is definitely a connection between the number and that thing we met yesterday. If I can just figure out… what the connection is."

"Or you could spend your entire life endlessly searching these train cars in vain, with no possibility of an answer or closure," Sad-One chimed it, perfect timing.

"Yeah, thanks a lot for your input One-One, really appreciate it."

"You're welcome," Sad-One said, as if mourning.

They then heard a loud booming sound of a horn that echoed from the halls. King Atticus once again arrived on his tiny little throne, with the corgis once again accompanying him.

"Greetings, Tulip the Literate," said the adorable little corgi bowing down, "I do hope that you'd had a good night sleep in our fine housing. I understand that it is rather subpar due to the size difference between you and my people. It's a shame really…"

"Oh, no, no, it's okay, Atticus," she assured him, "it's great. The service's been great. No complaints here, no complaints."

"Excellent, I'm glad to hear it," said Atticus, "Well, anyway, I am here to inform you that my preparation for our journey is complete and I am ready to join you on your noble expedition."

"What?" Tulip cried in shock, "You're… joining us?"

"Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well… it's just that… um," Tulip said, trying to find the right word, "I'm not entirely sure about this. I mean we've already got a pretty big party here… me and One-One… it might be a bit inconvenient."

"Oh, my dear Tulip. As much as I respect your pride and your resolve, I simply must insist that I join you on your journey. After all, we did help you out with your little problem, and as far as I'm concerned, the monster that attacked us was a threat to my people, so therefore I must make sure that such a problem does not arise in the future. Besides, there's really no harm in taking me on your journey is there?"

"He's right you know," Sad-One said, depressed as ever, "We were a pretty miserable bunch until he came around."

"You are not helping," Tulip groaned at the little bot, "the only reason we're 'miserable' is because of you."

"Oh yeah… that's right."

"Look," Tulip turned back to Atticus, "I really appreciate your offer to join me but um… it's just that… um… oh yeah… I mean, don't you have a kingdom you have to run or something? I mean, what happens if you just leave the place here leaderless? A coup could happen, a revolution."

But Atticus only laughed it off:

"Ha ha, nonsense! The good people of Corgidia wouldn't even think of doing such a horrid thing. This is a monarchy, what do you take us for? Do you think that this is some kind of government system where… where the people actually have the power? Sounds… barbaric if you ask me."

"Right… um… right… eh… um," Tulip then peeked around to take another look at the buildings. Yup, they were definitely reminiscent of the Greeks. Oh the irony, what would the forefather of democracy make of this?

"Besides," Atticus said, "it's not like I don't have a plan for my people while I'm gone. That's why I am putting Nero in charge. He is a fine corgi, young and trustworthy, he'll be a great leader one day. Corgidia is in good hands I can tell."

Tulip stood there in awe of the circumstances she was in while Glad-One just rolled around cheering for young Nero. Tulip finally decided it was best not to discuss this further and just let Atticus do what he wanted.

"Okay, fine. You… may join us on our journey."

"Excellent."

"Cheers for Atticus, hip hip…"

"Okay, here we go, onto the next car," said Tulip with her hand on the door, "remember guys, that monster… thing escaped through the hole on the wall. She's probably in one of the cars up ahead so we must be careful, anything can happen."

They all nodded in agreement.

"Ready? Here… we go!"

It was a massive room, not as big as Corgidia but still very vast. Although the sight of the room was kind of underwhelming since it was basically a gigantic chess board – which managed to produce a frustrated groan out of Tulip since they'd already seen this before.

"Ugh, again with the chess?" Tulip cried.

"Wow, what are these funny looking statues here?" Glad-One said, "Did you make it? Could you make me one too? I like mine white, with a little bit of black, but not like these statues here. Preferably round if you could."

"No One-One, for the love of, ugh… I didn't make this okay? And we've discussed this before, these aren't statues, these are chess pieces. We literally ran into another car full of chess pieces the other day, did you forget?"

"Yes," Sad-One said nonchalantly.

This wasn't really a sight she wanted to see, dealing with one room full of frustrating puzzles and chess pieces was enough for one lifetime. With that being said, there was a slight difference with this set of chess board. There were no pieces on the wall, they were all the same size – about a few feet larger than Tulip – they were all lined up like a typical chess game, but the strangest thing was that the only pieces that were on the board were the pawns. There was no king, no queens, no bishops, they were all replaced with pawns.

She was confused, she tried peaking over the side to see if there was anything else but pawns, but nope. The two rows of black pieces on the other side were just the same as the white pieces over on this side.

"Huh, curious," said Atticus.

"Have you ever been in this car before?" Tulip asked.

"I haven't been to any other car on this train besides my own."

"Hooray!" Glad-One cheered, "Hooray for Atticus, the one who's got no experience outside of his own car. A wise choice to join us on the journey, don't you think?"

"One-One," Tulip snapped, "you're not really helping you know that? We don't really need your sarcasm right now."

"What's… sarcasm?" Glad-One asked naively, which infuriated Tulip even more.

"Come on," she sighed, "let's try to figure out this car."

This chess board was lined up pretty much like a standard chess game. So maybe it was urging them to play the game. But what was the goal? There were no king pieces. So perhaps… the goal was to get to the other side, or to take out all the pieces on the other side. Well, that seemed like the only plausible solution at the point, Tulip thought. So she just went along with it.

The chess pieces were surprisingly light, just like in the last chess car. It was like carrying a really big piece of foam or something, nothing too heavy. When she picked up the first piece and placed it a square forward, she was caught off guard when the black piece on the other side started moving on its own. But honestly, with the amount of crazy things she'd seen at this point it had became quite a common sight. She figured it must've worked as a magnet of some sort. She proceeded to walk across to the other side to push another pawn piece forward.

"Wow, you're really good at this game, Miss Tulip," said Glad-One.

"One-One, these are just pawn pieces, they're the most basic piece in the game," she told him.

"Well, you're still better than me," Sad-One commented.

"They're right, Tulip," Atticus said, "If it wasn't for you, we probably wouldn't have even been able to figure out how to get pass this room. You're like ten steps ahead of the game, as if you're already adept at playing chess."

"That's right," the Ones agreed.

"Oh, stop it you guys," said Tulip, slightly flattered, "If I was being honest with you, I'm not really that good with chess. I mean, my dad once got me a set for my birthday, we played a couple of games together. And he kicked my butt real bad," She chuckled slightly, "I haven't played since forever now, I probably can't even remember how the knight moves, ha-ha… of course, maybe things could've been different if my dad has some time to spare and…"

"Um… Miss Tulip?"

"Err… you know One-One, it's kinda rude to cut someone off like that. You know that don't you?" She said.

"Err… Tulip," said Atticus, trembling slightly, "I think you might want to look behind you."

A look of concern furrowed her brows but then that changed around real quick into a look of shock when she was met with a large shadow casting over her.

"Good evening milady."

"AHH!" The three of them screamed.

He came out of nowhere, it was a gigantic white porcelain knight chess piece. It came to life… it actually came to life! Out of nowhere, too. Tulip was absolutely sure that there were nothing but pawn pieces in the room, this just leaked a stream of confusion into her mind. It was like watching a movie with extremely high quality special effects, the only difference was that this was no special effect, it was real. His skin was shiny like marble, his mane brilliant and glossy as if it had been polished and groomed over and over again. He had eyes that was blank and yet at the same time was joyous and jovial. The knight piece also had a surprisingly great smile for a horse, he looked somewhat… majestic for a horse without a body or legs. He was like a stallion born for war and heroic feats.

"Oh, I apologize, milady," he said, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Who… who are you?" Tulip asked, still recovering from shock.

"My name is Fredrick the Third, Noble Steed of the West at your service. I have served many masters throughout my life. War generals, merchants, you name it. Thou shan't find a better stallion than myself. Like the valiant and mighty warriors and heroes carving their names into legends and myths, I too was once of myths and legends. Oh how the mighty hooves of iron trotted through wars, how their mighty horns screams in the hands that they bore, how their heroic sword of steel clashed in ancient lore, truly… majestic."

His demeanor was… odd to say the least. As if he was role playing or something. Perhaps he was getting himself too deep into old literature. Tulip knew about that better than anyone.

"Yeah, that's… great… um… hi I'm Tulip. These are my friends – One-One and Atticus."

"Hello."

"Greetings Fredrick the Third," said the corgi.

"So um… what are you doing here anyway?" Tulip asked, "Where did you even come from?"

"Oh right, right, I almost forgot, ahem… welcome – to my humble dwelling," Fredrick bowed down as far as he could for a knight piece, "Once a mind of a simple pawn, a page, just a servant… now I have risen above and beyond. This title of Knight was awarded to me for my bravery and heroism."

"What?" Tulip said with her head spinning, trying to make sense of what he was saying, "What does that even mean?"

"I think, Tulip," Atticus said, "that he was once a pawn piece, just like all the other pieces here in this room. But he is now capable of transforming himself into much more – a knight piece."

"Huh… interesting…" It still didn't make any sense no matter how you put it – a sentient chess piece. It was still insane and illogical, but she had started to get use to it. Sentient robot, talking dogs, talking chess piece made her learn to just go along with it, no matter how crazy.

"So there are others like you?" Tulip asked.

"Why yes, they're all here. They are essentially my family," Fredrick smiled.

"Why are you the only one capable of transforming then? Why are the others just sitting there… not moving?" Tulip asked once more.

"Probably just contemplating their miserable lives, pondering on how they could never escape this chamber of eternal suffering," Sad-One conveniently chimed in.

"You sure are a morbid one aren't you, round circle little robot?" Fredrick said.

"Why… thank you… I appreciate it," Sad-One replied.

"Bah, it doesn't matter now," Tulip said, cutting in, "you said that this is your home right? So could you help us out a little here? We're trying to find a way to unlock the door and get to the other side. Do you know how?"

"Why yes I do…" Fredrick said with a smile that disappeared immediately, "Wait, no… no, I do not. Apologies Miss Tulip, oh curse this worthless mind that I bear, oh how I've failed my name, my place in legends. What sort of a hero am I who could not even help a mere damsel in grave distress like this? Truly, this is…"

"Okay, okay, okay, we get it," the girl stopped him before he could ramble on, "If you don't know how to get out of here then could you at least give us some hints on the puzzle in this car, just… tell me about yourself and your… ahem… family here."

"Oh, why yes, that reminds me of a spectacular tale of my youth…"

"You know what, nevermind, forget I even asked," she raised her hand, stopping him short.

"I'd like to hear your tale," Glad-One said.

"Indeed…" Sad-One agreed.

"Why on earth would you even want to do that?" Tulip asked, once again irritated.

"Why else? To slowly past the time and reflect on his miserable loneliness before realizing how pointless all of this is," Sad-One said, followed by Glad-One saying:

"Yeah, and I like stories."

Tulip was about to snap at One-One before she was distracted by Atticus by the corner sniffing around for something. She quickly diverted her attention and went by to check it out.

"What is it, Atticus?"

"Tulip…" he said, "do you smell that? The chess pieces…"

She didn't notice it at first until she went in closer and started smelling the chess pieces. She realized then that it was indeed something strange.

"Oil?"

"Not just oil, also metal and a little bit of rubber," said Atticus.

"Huh, weird…" she said, "… wait a minute… there's a little crack here. Hold on, I got it, I got it, I'll just get out my little screwdriver here and…"

But she stopped half-way due to Atticus staring at her, probably wondering why she was carrying around a screwdriver. To which she quickly justified:

"What? Screwdrivers are handy, you'll never know what kind of freaky situation you might end up in."

She dug right into the small crack and forcefully gave it a sudden jerk to the side so she can open up to see what was inside.

It was curious, though. Very curious indeed.

"Wait, what?"

It was a machine, the chess piece was a machine. There were wires everywhere inside, connecting to countless different slots all of which were secured by screws and cogs. It all seemed so familiar, and Tulip recognized it right away at the sight of a small blue spark from a broken piece of wire lying at the bottom with oil spewing everywhere.

"It does look awfully familiar, doesn't it, Tulip?"

"Yeah… these are the same parts from that robot monster we met back in Corgidia. Makes sense… they're on the same train after all. Which means that… all of these chess pieces are… robots as well. But why? What does any of this means? Are these robots… out of commission? If so who broke them."

"Perhaps it was the monster that was responsible for this massacre," Atticus commented.

"Maybe…"

But then there was something else. Tulip couldn't help but notice there was something… strange going on. Something she never noticed coming in. This place was dump. It was rusty, it was filthy. There were also a couple of mechanical parts attached onto the walls and they were exactly the same as the chess pieces – broken and in need of repairs. She squint her eyes, then adjusted her glasses as she followed the wreckage on the walls before finally landing her eyes onto the ceiling – where the lights were.

"Wait the minute…" Tulip mumbled, realizing something. She immediately strode across the room over to where the door of the car was, Atticus followed her soon after.

She wiped off the dust on the wall next to the door. It was metallic and heavy.

"Hold on… let me just…" and once more digging into the square metal sheet on the wall with her screwdriver and forcefully pried it off. The cover flew right off and onto the floor creating a loud metal clang.

"Of course…" Tulip whispered under her breath, finally realizing, "It all makes sense."

"Tulip, what is it?"

"Look at this Atticus," she showed him, "I think I figured out how to get this door open. The chess pieces and this car is a part of one big system. They are all connected. The chess pieces and this car have been so broken down now that they all stopped functioning altogether, Fredrick was probably the only one who wasn't damaged as much. I suspect that these robots have a function that allows them to transform into… well, that! That explains why Fredrick was the only piece in the room that wasn't a pawn piece. So all we have to do is fix the circuits and the machinery of this room and we'll be good to go."

"Incredible," Atticus looked up, admiring, "You did it Tulip! You solved the great mystery of this car. But how are you going to fix all of this?"

"Well, let's just say that I've been looking into machinery and computers way more than I should have. So… um… I think I'll be fine."

She started getting to work immediately, looking into each and every one of the chess pieces across the room. Luckily Fredrick was very willing to give out a helping hand, his noble pride wouldn't allow him otherwise. Although he didn't have any hands, his teeth did an incredible job a substitute. The two went around prying open each chess piece with Tulip trying to rewire the machines so that it could run properly again. Fortunately not all of the chess pieces were severely damaged, some of them just had issues with the wires and some loose screws.

It was hard work, it felt as if it took an entire afternoon but it sure was worth it. Tulip wiped the sweat off of her forehead and proudly looked onto her accomplishments.

"You did it Tulip!" said Atticus.

"Yay, yay us, YUS!"

"But… now what?" Sad-One asked.

"Now…" she told them, "we just have to fix the panel over by the door and it will definitely open up."

"I have a question, though," Glad-One said.

"Sure, what do you want to know?"

"Well… I was just wondering, how was it that we were able to open the entrance door if the system wasn't functional… like you said."

She thought about it for moment, but deep down, she actually already had a slight idea of why this was the case. She then told them:

"I have a hunch… ever since I first got onto this train I felt like we were being watched. I think… and I'm not entirely sure about this… I think that somebody is playing a game with us, testing us or something like that. They probably wanted to see our mental capacity and see if we can think our ways through this train. It's all a game to them, and I'm sure that whoever's doing this was most likely the one who opened that door for us."

"Wait…"

A deep voice echoed behind them, Tulip's head spun right around. Fredrick seemed… different. He bowed his head down with his mane covering his entire forehead.

"… So… 'tis true… that you are not from the train," his eyes lit up to an inferno red spark.

It all happened so quickly, the three of them couldn't even react. The entrance door slammed shut just as the lights in the room turned into a devilish black, even darker than when they first came into this car. There was suddenly a loud siren screaming through the metal walls. The darkness was hemming in – and chess pieces – woke up.

"What's going on Tulip?" Atticus barked in panic.

"I don't know."

"Wow, who are these fine fellas Miss Tulip?" Glad-One asked, "Is it my birthday already?"

Their eyes lit up like the fire of hell, crimson red. Slowly each piece began to morph into a bunch of different chess pieces. A few white knights over to the right, a couple of black bishops over yonder and even a black queen. They were like statues, you could see their faces… faces of a woman, a man. They looked eerily humanoid with eyes blank as crystals. The chess pieces slid across the floor with heavy steps, they didn't have legs and yet you could still hear their footsteps, louder than the war drums.

"Beware…" the pieces screeched, "Beware… the King… with eyes that… see it all… his eyes… that glare and sing… through these infinite halls…"

"AHH!"

"Quickly Tulip!" Atticus shouted, "To the door!"

She swiftly grabbed One-One and rushed straight to the door. But the chess pieces were everywhere. They hummed their songs over and over in the darkness. A rook piece suddenly charged towards them from the crowd, it was like a giant bull throwing itself towards them.

"LOOK OUT!"

But One-One suddenly jumped out of her hands.

"Oh, is this a hug?"

He threw himself right towards the furious rook piece with just enough force to knock the rook off balance and divert its path to the side. It hurled itself into the pile of rusty chess pieces knocked them all over like bowling pins. It was actually quite spectacular.

"Come on, One-One!"

She picked the little round robot up and tossed him into her backpack and made a spectacular leap straight to the door.

"Shoot!" She cried, "The door's still locked."

"Hurry, Tulip, you must fix the door," Atticus said.

"But the chess pieces are still after us."

The pieces quickly picked themselves back up despite not having arms or legs. Tulip could still hear the sound of the raging hooves galloping from behind. It was definitely Fredrick, and he was coming in fast. Honestly Fredrick's so called tales of 'heroism' didn't really feel like stories at that point.

"TULIP!" Atticus yelled.

She didn't know what to do. Confused and panicking, she started hyperventilating, choking on each breath. The walls started to close onto her, darkness and the crimson light were overwhelming.

She didn't have a choice. So she did the only thing she could think of at that point. The girl yanked out her screwdriver and forcefully dug it right into the panel by the door, destroying all the machinery and the wires.

And yet…

It must have been her luckiest day yet because surprisingly… Fredrick – by some sort of impossible miracle – snapped out of his enraged trance. His facial expression changed back to that smiling 'noble' steed that they knew. It was the system, all the chess pieces began dropping like flies just as the system was breaking down.

However, unfortunately… the mighty horse never managed to stop sprinting towards them. He just didn't know his own strength. So he just proceeded to ram his head straight into the metal door and busted it open, yanking the big piece of metal off of its hinges, screws were flying everywhere.

"OW… my spleen!" The horse groaned.

"So… you sure you're going to be alright? By yourself?" Tulip asked.

"Fret not milady," Fredrick replied with a smile, "I… ahem… I will be fine."

"I mean…" Tulip hesitated for a second, "… I mean… they are your… what I'm saying is… you did say that they were your family."

"Oh… well, I don't remember much of them anyway. They never talked much, not to me at least," Fredrick said, "But I'm fine with that. I enjoy talking, I like to share with them my tale of bravery."

That managed to produce a giggle out of Tulip. It was quite charming actually, his pure innocence. He never meant any harm. He was never in control when things went crazy back there.

"Listen, thanks again for all your help," Tulip said, "we would've never made it if you hadn't bust down that door for us."

"You are most welcome," Fredrick said with a bright horse smile, "I must admit, though, I will miss you greatly. It was fun sharing my tales with you."

"Likewise," Tulip said with a smile, which was rare, especially since she got on the train, "I have to ask, though. How come we don't see the King piece anywhere? I'm pretty sure that it's one of the most important pieces in chess."

"Oh, we haven't seen the King in a long while now," Fredrick frowned slightly, "We get by fine enough, but our kingdom is just not the same without our King. I honestly do not know where he is. Yet, in my heart I still wait for him, he is my master, my loyalty is with him."

"That's… great, Fredrick… well, so long, Fredrick the Third," Tulip said, waving him goodbye.

"Oh, wait, a word of warning," Fredrick stopped her.

"Yeah?"

"This train is unpredictable, it is very much a mystery, an enigma. You won't do so well without guidance… I know a man, he calls himself the Conductor. Find him… he might be able to help you just as he'd aided my people."

Tulip suddenly had a strange feeling boiling up inside her guts – perhaps it was suspicion. She had theorized that they were being watched this whole time. Perhaps… this Conductor was the mastermind behind it all. Well… only one way to find out.

Tulip thanked the knight piece once more and then left to the next car. Fredrick was still standing behind them, but it had already felt like a thousand miles away.

"Aw, are we leaving already?" Glad-One asked, "I wanted to listen to more of his stories… I like stories."

"Oh, how I will miss the symphony of his meaningless tales about his absolutely meaningless life," Sad-One mourned, it was melancholic as usual.

Normally, she'd try to say something to point out how ridiculously crazy One-One was… but at the moment… she couldn't help it but smile.

"You did well today Tulip," Atticus complimented, "you sure are full of surprises."

"Thanks… but… it's just that… I still feel like none of this makes any sense. There's no logic behind it... just makes me feel so… helpless… I just don't like feeling helpless."

"Tulip," said Atticus, "I think that there comes a point where you must realize that the only thing logical in this world is the possibility of the illogic."

That was when she instinctively stared down to the number on her hand – still 49. It was only then did she recall that the number on her hand going down did not make much logical sense either, but in the end… it didn't really matter… because she got her push regardless.

"… Yeah, I suppose…"