//------------------------------//
// Cranky Bugs 
// Story: Thomas and Friends: the New Adventures 
// by The Blue EM2 
//------------------------------//

Thomas and Percy had been asked to work at Tidmouth Docks for a few days, as the depot shunter was being worked incredibly hard and could barely keep up with the workload. Normally, they liked working at the docks, as they liked the sea air and the sound of the gulls. They also got on with Big Mickey, one of the dock cranes.

But one morning, they were feeling hot and bothered. A new crane had just been installed, and he was, to put it politely, a mountain of bossiness mounted on a lattice girder pile (seemingly made from copious amounts of Airfix box girder bridge). As he rotated around, he regarded the world with a sneer, his name, 'Cranky' clearly visible on the sides of his housing.

"Eh, you lot!" he snapped, in a harsh urban voice. "You're useless, you know that? Right bugs. If you put the trucks closer, I wouldn't need to bring my arm across so far!"

"Rubbish!" snapped Thomas. "We've always done it this way, and no crane has ever complained."

"Well, you weren't dealing with me, were you?" Cranky replied, and slammed the load down on the quayside.

Twilight shook her head as she looked at Pinkie. "What is wrong with this crane?" she asked. "He'll cause an accident some day!"

Later that day, they met with Gordon and James to discuss the matter.

"I'm not surprised," Gordon said, sounding disappointed. "You'd expect a Goole crane to be a good, fine thing. Then again, that docks was Lancashire and Yorkshire..."

"What are you suggesting?" James asked.

"Nothing in particular."

"Besides, darlings, I find it helps to see the matter from the other side," Rarity interjected. "Cranky is high in the sky, and has to content with rain and wind. If you two aren't in the optimum position, he can't load the trucks properly."

"But he's a complete meanie!" Pinkie protested.

"One we'll have to work with," Percy said sadly.





Sadly, Cranky proved to be a right spot of bother. Upon learning the island's bigger engines agreed with him, he grew even bossier. "Move those trucks closer, Percy!" he said. "I can't load them from there!"

So Percy moved them closer- only to get a crate to the face.

"OW! THAT HURT!"

"They were too close. Don't push them that far next time."

"You did that on purpose," Percy moaned, as he reversed to let the cargo be loaded correctly.

Later on, Thomas came in with a set of trucks to be loaded, but Cranky was yet again trying to irritate him. "Move those onto the outside line," he said. "I can load them more easily from there."

Thomas grumbled the whole way, but moved the trucks from the closest track to the outer one. "Hurry up! I can't wait all day, Cranky!"

Cranky then dropped the load next to the track, not in the trucks.

"What was that for? I only put the trucks where you told me to put them!"

"You must know that my arm cannot reach that far!"





The delays began to stack up. The issues led to trains running very late, and Thomas, Twilight, Percy, and Pinkie got to the sheds very late indeed. Sir Toppham Hatt looked most displeased.

"I have heard," he said, "that you lot have not been cooperative with Cranky. He has an important job to do, so I expect all of you to do better tomorrow."

"Sir," Pinkie protested, "that crane is a big meanie and has been dropping things in the wrong places on purpose so we look stupid!"

"That's not what the foreman told me," Sir Toppham Hatt sighed. "But I'll look into it nontheless. Now you four, get some rest. You have a long day ahead of you."

That night, a massive storm raged across the Island. Everybody battened down their hatches and took refuge from the weather. Extra guide cables were use to stabilise tall structures, and Duck, Henry, Gordon and James shivered under their roof.

"This storm's bad!" Henry called.

"Ahh, it reminds me of the Great Gale of Falmouth!" Duck said. "I was at the docks, shunting, as the usual engine had broken down, and then the rain lashed down so fiercely my wheels began to slip!"

"That must have been frightening!" James said. "However did you make it?"

"Determination, and a good deal of sand. After all, there's two ways of doing things, the-"

"WE KNOW!" the other engines chorused.

"But I think we'll be safe," Duck finished.





Duck was wrong. Out at sea, a tramp steamer, Kraka-Toa, was imbound with a load of munitions to be offloaded, due to be taken to a gunpowder factory. Unfortunately, the vessel linkage had broken in the storm and was the vessel was running out of control. The vessel impacted the land, ran aground onto the docks, and demolished the support beam of the shed. The shed toppled over, and triggered a chain reaction of destruction. A gantry fell onto the steamer, and the munitions ignited. The resulting explosion caused Cranky to topple and fall over the tracks with a loud thud.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

Sir Toppham Hatt sped to the scene of the disaster as fast as he could. Whilst the fire brigade battled to put out the flaming ship, he was already taking command of the ground rescue. "Thomas, Percy, pull Cranky up! I know he's been causing you trouble today, but now is not the time for petty rivalry. Cranky, once you're up, lift the shed roof. I have no idea why you have such a problem with steam engines, so bury it and move on."

Thomas and Percy pulled up, and heavy guide cables were attached to their frames. Working together, they pulled Cranky back upright.

"Don't stop!" Twilight called. "Keep on moving!"

Once Cranky was back up, his (thankfully undamaged) arm was able to lift the damaged shed roof clear. Gordon sighed in relief. "Thank you for saving us, Cranky. I don't think we would have escaped otherwise. That disaster may have taken our sleep, but it never took our resolve."

"I had to be saved first," Cranky said. "By a pair of small engines. But you two wouldn't mind moving, please?!

Percy was offended. "As you wish," he said, and backed up.

"Percy, no! You're still atta-"

Cranky crashed to the ground.

"What was that for?"

"Well, you did ask us to move out of the way," Pinkie smiled, "so we did. It's called malicious compliance."

Cranky is now back to work at the docks. He may have a somewhat low opinion of smaller engines, but he knows not to call them bugs again.