//------------------------------// // Chapter 9-Stranger, Stranger // Story: Thomas and Friends: a New Generation // by The Blue EM2 //------------------------------// The people, and members of the CCF, had gathered at the barracks to wait and here what the temporary leader had to say about the situation. With them also was the Mayor, Cloverleaf, who also seemed to be a bit impatient. Moments later, the door opened, pushed open by Sprout. "Ladies and gentleme-" The door suddenly swung back, slamming into his face. "OW!" A few seconds of awkward silence passed, before Sprout opened the door again. He had rather gone to town with the entire 'temporary command' thing, now being clad in a uniform more fitting of a general than a corporal. "Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of Falmouth," he said. "We find ourselves in a time of regional emergency. Only a few days ago, strange things began happening. That metal monster appeared and kidnapped Sunny and her father, and has vanished to who knows where. Hitch has set off in pursuit of it, and in the meantime he left me in charge." He coughed before continuing. "These are difficult times, I will conceed. But as a nation we have faced tougher. And as your glorious leader, I will see you through to the bitter end! We shall triumph victorious over those who would leech our nation and defend the monsters who seek to take our country apart! Our country will emerge glorious!" Electric guitars started up in the background as Sprout donned a peaked cap and approached the crowd. "Now is not the time to be complacent, people! We should do something!" And as virtually every character before him at this point, he switched to conveying his message in song. "Something is lurking, something is near; Something is feeling 'stranger, stranger'! Stirring up discord, whipping up fear; Whispering softly, "danger, danger!" "Outsiders creep up slow and steady Teeth glistening, guns at the ready Think what they could do to the status quo?" "Oh no!" Phyllis added, in an incredibly high pitched voice. Sprout decided he would look into how everybody spontaneously knew the words to all the songs that started playing. For now he went back to conveying his message through song. "They're gonna steal, plunder, and pillage; They're gonna take over the village! Don't just sit on your butts and do nothing and wait- Let's enter a blind, irrational state!" Ever keen for a theatrical touch, he stepped forward with flourishes. Better get nervous, better get tense; Better not let them catch you blinking! You don't need a reason, kiddos and gents! This is no time for sober thinking!" "Mob!" Somebody in the crowd finally got the idea. "Mob?" "M- M- Mob, mob!" Sprout answered, sounding like a tape that had gotten stuck. "Mob?" "Mob?" "Angry, angry mob!" Sprout smiled. His plan to stoke their fear and anger was working. "Mob, m- m- mob, mob! Mob, mob, angry, angry!" Sprout decided to impart more information to his followers. "Sharpen your senses, sharpen your tongues; Sharpen your moral indignation! Gather in groups and ready your lungs; Holler with pent-up aggravation!" This time, the assembled crowd did the work for him, getting even more infuriated than Sprout thought was possible. "Mob, mob, m- m- mob, mob! Mob, mob, angry, angry! Mob, mob, m- m- mob, mob! Mob, mob, angry, angry!" Sprout indicated to the members of the CCF to move to the front of the crowd, to indicate what to do next. Once they had finished moving, he turned back and looked at the crowd. Some emotional manipulation was in order. "Fight, see in black and white That's your human right Time to lift your heads and proudly- Throng, numbers make you strong Millions can't be wrong Especially when they're screaming loudly!" "You might not have a bale of hay to borrow Are you saddled with your sorrow? Are you scared about tomorrow?" Sprout answered before anybody could answer. "Well, it's all gonna work out painlessly If you follow my orders brainlessly!" Sprout wasn't completely convinced the crowd had it. So a bit of call and response served as a good test. "Who are we?" "We're an angry mob!" the crowd bellowed. "What are we?" "We're an angry mob!" the crowd bellowed. Sprout decided to do another test, to see if these people were as brainless as he thought. "Look at this corn!" "It's on the cob!" And then a truly silly one. "Look at that guy!" Sprout called. A man in a grey suit with a fedora hat looked up from a table where he was drinking a cup of coffee. "Uh, my name's Rob." With that signal, Sprout was confident. He signalled for the troops and the crowd to move off. Before long, a gigantic assembly of people were marching through the streets of Falmouth, singing and bellowing loudly. "Mob, mob, m- m- mob, mob! Mob, mob, angry, angry! Mob, mob, m- m- mob, mob! Mob, mob, angry, angry! "Mob, mob, m- m- mob, mob! Mob, mob, angry, angry! Mob, mob, m- m- mob, mob! Mob, mob, angry, angry mob!" After a few minutes, they had arrived at the council building, and the crowd remained outside whilst Sprout, Phyllis, and several soldiers went inside. The Council Chamber was currently full as a meeting was happening. The councillors looked over to the interruption. "Didn't you see the notice on the door?" "There are going to be a few changes around here," Phyllis said, ominously. Sprout took this as his cue. "Owing to recent circumstances and the failure of the town to protect our own, I hereby invoke the Defence of the Realm Act. Therefore, I am immediately taking control of all organs of local government, press, and economy." The first councillor looked amused. "Nice try, little boy, but playing soldier isn't going to get you anywhere. Where is your authority?" Sprout signalled to his followers. In perfect sync, the soldiers levelled their weapons at the council, whilst Sprout produced a revolver. "They are my authority." The councillors hastily evacuated the chamber. "Well, that wasn't so hard," Phyllis said. "Finally, things can be run properly around here." One of the soldiers glanced over to Sprout. "Sir, I thought it was an offence to carry firemarms in this room." Sprout smiled. "It's an offence to carry loaded firearms in this room. There's no rule saying you can't have empty ones in here." A very long distance away, Sunny and Izzy waited for the cue. The music had started up on stage, and pop was blazing across the speakers. "Hey, she's got a great voice," Izzy commented. "She should do an album. iTunes is a thing." "Stay focused," Sunny said. "We've only got one shot at this." She picked up a radio. "Zipp, how are you doing?" "I've got Charles into position. Ready to commence distraction. Try to time it with the chorus starting." "We don't fly like we used to, we take what we've been through/ And we can feel brand new..." "Stand by," Sunny said. "We got the light, we're comin' in stronger-" "Now." A few moments later, Zipp shunted Charles' throttle to full power. The roar could be heard from several miles away, and succeeded in drawing a few heads away. "That's our ticket in!" Izzy said, and they dashed into the stage. They sped down the corridor and turned to the left to find the dressing rooms. "Zipp said Pipp's was the second one on the left," Sunny said, and they pushed open the door. They found their way into a rather unremarkable room, filled with the usual things a popstar would need before performing. Sitting there was the tiara, which Sunny swiped and put into a bag. "Object recovered. On the way to extraction point." The duo exited the room and turned... to see a familiar face. "Ooh!" Izzy said. "It's the army guy from Falmouth!" "Hitch?" Sunny said. "What are you doing here?" Hitch stepped forward, trying to block them. "Sunny, you are under arrest, as are those engines for abduction." Sunny dodged round him and sprinted down the corridor, taking a detour through what looked to be a tech room. There was a computer monitor showing the current concert, and a machine that seemed to be regulating some elaborate and cable effects, creating the illusion Pipp was floating with wings. Hitch dived to try and tackle the duo, but Sunny kicked open the door and made her escape, followed by Izzy seconds later. Hitch fell to the floor and smashed into the machine, which began to smoke, and the lights on stage went haywire. Izzy and Sunny sprinted away from the concert area as complete chaos broke out, and soon found themselves back in Swanage Station. Zipp had already coupled Charles to Porter and Salty, and cracked open the throttle to get the train moving. The two girls jumped onto their respective engines as they rattled out of the platform. "Well?" Zipp asked. "Mission accomplished!" Sunny said. Little did any of them spot Hitch in the yard, looking for any way of chasing them. He looked around one wall and saw a large, boxy engine sitting there. "Perfect," he said. "This seems to be working."