Early the next morning, the engines woke to hear the sound of motors. “Erf!” grumbled Patrick. “Early morning car show?”
“…No, I think it’s the diesels,” replied Culdee. He was right. Four boxy engines reversed into the sheds. Unlike the steam engines, these four were level all the way. They were rectangular with a square cab at the back and were colored like the steam engines. Sira, Yufantel, Irina, Endram, Glanthel, and the Manager all stepped out of their cabs. The Manager spoke to the engines. “Engines, may I present Nina,”
“Hello!” greeted the diesel with the number 9 on both sides of her cab.
“Himalaya,”
“Hi!” called the number 10 diesel.
“Shen Ven,”
“Nice to meet you,” said the number 11 diesel.
“And Greta,” finished the Manager.
“You have a very lovely line,” remarked the number 12 diesel.
“Now, Irina, I want you to help Nina learn the line,” directed the Manager. “Sira, you’re with Himalaya. Yufantel, you work with Shen Ven. Glanthel, I want you to assist Greta.”
“We’ll know this line like the back of our buffers!” boasted Nina.
As each engine worked, their personalities came through. Nina was a proud diesel, which bit her in the rear buffers only once as she overshot the platform at Shiloh. After that, she decided it was best to keep her self-praise to herself until the day was done. Himalaya was a very quiet diesel, but a friendly one. Shen Ven liked working with the “Trucks”, the supply and maintenance train. Greta once looked everywhere but the track during the first leg, but then Glanthel told her about Godred’s death and recent haunting. That made her pay more attention to her work. The day soon finished without incident, and everyone returned to the shed. “So,” Patrick said to Nina, “had a bit of an oopsie today?”
“Oh, like you didn’t nearly overshoot Skarloey Road on your first day!” protested Alaric.
“OI!”
“Well, after that, the passengers had a VERY smooth run!” chuckled Nina.
“It looks like everyone is working nicely on the railway,” mused Irina.
“It’s good to have you engines with us,” Culdee said to the new diesels.
“It’s good to be working finally!” replied Shen Ven.
“And it’s good to see such excellent hard-workers,” called the Manager’s voice as he approached the sheds. “Thanks to your efforts, the Culdee Fell Railway will more than survive the upcoming summer rush, it will thrive! I’m proud of you all! Nina, Himalaya, Shen Ven, Greta, you’ve done marvelously on your first day! Endram, Sira, Irina, Glanthel, Yufantel, you have more than earned my trust here! I need to tell the other Controllers about your efforts. In the meantime, take a week off. I’m sure you’d enjoy seeing your friends.”
“Thank you, Sir!” said Yufantel. “It was nice working on a railway!”
“And the Culdee Fell Railway,” continued Irina, “is the perfect start for working on a Mountain Railway.”
“MORONS! ALL OF YOU!” Igura was LIVID with the teams she sent out. “Katie, you never got any of Fat Hatt’s engines scrapped! Yamta, your bombs were discovered and defused! Yulduk, you never accounted for the engines using different trucks! Auriella, your ghost still had morals! You’re all idiots!”
“Are you done?” asked Auriella.
“Done with your moronic plans?! Yes! We’re doing things my way now!”
“But Crystal Widow-!”
“Is on MY side!”
“It’s true,” cackled a voice. It sounded like Blackarachnia’s, but it was a bit more crazed. A white and pink copy of Blackarachnia then stepped out of the shadows. She had purple optics like Nemesis Prime. “Time for a little mayhem!”
“You’ll be going to Suddery to find Bounty,” ordered Igura, “then Yulduk and Yamta will take her when you give them her specific location. After that, we’ll intercept the heroes’ two teams.”
“Two?!” asked Katie in disbelief.
Everyone met with the Fat Controller over where the ships were parked. He was smiling warmly. “My friends, you have been a credit to all the railways on this island. I am proud of you all.”
“It was our pleasure, Sir,” replied Richard.
“Now, I must confess something,” continued the Fat Controller. “Bounty doesn’t work for any of the railways. She’s a secretary for the Sodor Council in Suddery. I didn’t tell you this because my previous history with Richard made me unsure of his intentions. Now, I must ask, how do you plan to get to Suddery?”
“I’m honestly not sure,” answered Richard. “I want to use our ships, but they might be a bit inconspicuous. As would our Transformer friends.”
“Maybe the giant friends,” suggested Thundercracker, “can take the ships to a remote area near Suddery by going along the outside of the island while the rest of you can…I don’t know…take the train there?”
“An excellent suggestion, Mr…” said the Fat Controller.
“Thundercracker, Sir.”
“An excellent suggestion, Mr. Thundercracker!” The Fat Controller then opened a case. “There are two tickets for each of you,” he said. “One is for the morning Wild ‘Nor Wester, the other is for the local passenger run from Wellsworth to Suddery just a few minutes later. With my compliments, of course.”
“The Wild ‘Nor Wester?” asked Kaitlyn. “Isn’t that Gordon’s Express?”
“Indeed it is. And, barring any problems, Gordon will be pulling it tomorrow.”
“We’ll be at Knapford ready for the train!” promised Richard.
“Excellent! I’ll make the necessary arrangements with Gordon! Good night, ladies and gentlemen!” The Fat Controller turned on his heel and returned to his car.
“This is it!” cheered Richard. “We’re in the home stretch!”
“Don’t get cocky!” urged Kong Primal. “We still have to FIND Bounty first.”
“He’s right,” said Thundercracker. “Pardon the old Seeker views, but the mission isn’t a success of failure until we go home.”
“…You’re right. We gotta get Bounty reunited with her sisters. And good news! We got Gandalf back from the Lords and we picked up Galadriel!”
“Gandalf?” asked Flora. “So, we have a positive id on our mystery Lords?”
“Yep, and just like Batman, they were fighting against them on the inside!”
“Nice work, Thundercracker!” said Irina.
“She’s right, good work!” agreed Richard. Thundercracker arched an eyebrow.
“Erm…thank you?” he said.
“…Didn’t Megatron praise your work?” asked Richard.
“The only time a commanding officer ever praised me was when I killed Autobots for the glory of the Decepticons. Being thanked for saving lives instead of taking them is a little…new to me.”
“Well, let this be the first of many, because I’ve seen more from you than merely taking lives.” Thundercracker wasn’t sure, but he felt something in his Spark…lighten.