//------------------------------//
// I'll be gone 500 Miles 
// Story: Thomas and Friends: Legends of Strasburg 
// by The Blue EM2 
//------------------------------//

By the time they had arrived back into Strasburg, it was clear something had changed. For one, the sky had changed quite noticably, moving away from a previous hue of blue and towards a distinct shade of grey, with a thick wall of fog floating in the way and making seeing rather difficult.

"Quite the fog, this?" Isaac commented, as they returned to town.

"I know," Lady Haven said. "What is confusing is how suddenly it rolled in. One moment the sky was perfectly blue, the next it was simply grey with all this fog, which is quite annoying. I can only hope the others are having more luck than we are."

As they arrived in the town square, they encountered the others, standing in a circle and looking around. "That was quite something," Argyle commented. "An army of ghosts? Never thought I'd face one of those."

"Good thing they were vulnerable to being read boring books," Goldie commented. "I would never have thought to try that."

"I have to admit using force against intangible objects didn't exactly seem a logical solution, given the physical objects would probably pass clean through them."

"True."

Suddenly, a fresh wave began to close in. "Ready yourselves!" Lord Haven called, as he grabbed a nearby tennis ball and threw it at the ghost.

Unfortunately, it went through it, but the ghost was moved backwards by the impact. "Interesting," Lady Haven mused. "They seem to be driven back by tennis balls."

This in turn gave her an idea. As a fresh line of ghosts closed in, she somehow produced a large tennis ball launcher, of the sort you would find in a sports facility, and set it up. With a click of a button, the device began to spin and lob tennis balls at the enemy, driving them back under a concentrated volume of fire.

And with that, the ghost threat seemed to be over. Aurora glanced about, and then began to speak. "Everybody, we've got a serious problem on our hands."

"Then tell us, please," Goldie said. "It's quite likely our kids will need to listen too."

And so, Aurora recounted all that she had seen in the cave. She made sure to leave no details out. By the time she was finished telling the story, all concerned looked very worried.

"I never thought we'd end up in a scenario like this," Zipp said. "We've gone from looking for crystals to battling ghost trains. Whatever next?"

Pipp sighed. "So much for a relaxing period of time out here. Why does this stuff seem to keep following us?"

"And more importantly, how are we supposed to beat something like that?" Hitch asked, looking very concerned indeed. "This is a threat unlike any we've ever faced before. At least our previous foes had some tangible element to them. How are we supposed to bring down something that has no physical form?"

Sunny looked over to him. "But we have to succeed. And we have to succeed tonight. Because if we don't... then we may never be able to stop her."





Later on, Sunny went over the plan she had concocted in her head. She told it to the others, informing them of where they needed to be and when in order to intercept the target.

"Seems risky," Misty said. "The plan does require a lot to go right in one go. Are you sure this is going to work?"

"It has to," Sunny replied. "If it doesn't, then we're doomed."

"We're doomed!" said an inexplicable Scottish voice in the background.

"Now's probably not the time for pop culture references," Hitch said. "I know it's risky, but considering the alternatives on offer we have to try. I'm with you, Sunny."

"And me," Pipp said. "As long as we're together, there's no hill we won't climb. Well, possibly Mount Everest, but that's possibly not too good an example. But still, we'll be in this together."

Sunny nodded. "Thanks, guys."

"No problem," Zipp said. "Looking at the time we should be getting our engines set up and moved into position. Let's go."

Sure enough, they each left their positions and headed off to the engine depot, where the engines currently sat, fully steamed up by the depot crew and ready to go. One by one, they boarded their locomotives and moved them out of the facility to their assigned points.

They all knew the stakes of this particular operation. If this didn't work, the entirety of humanity was potentially doomed.

They would either bring down 311... or they would die trying.





Night fell, and Hitch glanced back down the platform at Strasburg to see if anything had happened. "Any word yet?" he asked Izzy.

"No, nothing yet," Izzy said. "But I'll keep an eye out."

The silence was profound, everywhere, unable to be penetrated and yet absent at the same time. The fog severely reduced visibility, and the sky was jet black, with no moon to guide them. The only light available was from artificial sources, taken from either the station lights or the engines themselves.

And then one of those light sources was lost. The station lights began to flicker, and then abruptly died, leaving them in almost pitch blackness.

"Who turned out the lights?" Denver asked.

Suddenly, there was loud laughter from behind them.

"I think we're about to find out," Hitch said, grimly. 

As he said those words, a black shape began to form in on the ground and on the rails. The black smoke began to coalesce, until it formed together into the framework of an engine, its lame glowing a sickly white and punching through the gloom.

"It's her!" said Denver.

"So, it is," Marilyn said grimly, noting that the crews were joining the footplate.

311 laughed, her voice distorted and dripping with some form of unrestrained glee. "So, my prey deliver themselves to me! Well, this should only make hunting you down more entertaining. Come, Timber! Let us destroy them!"

"Yes, we shall!" Timber replied, who was on the footplate. In an instant, the exhaust from 311 began to boom as she moved forward.

"GO, GO, GO!" Denver shouted, as he moved forward onto the main. Marilyn followed him seconds later, and joined the line, staying away from the ghost as best she could.

They thundered down the line as fast as they safely could, with the ghost still behind them. "Running away won't save you from the inevitable!" 311 shouted.

"KEEP AWAY!" Marilyn shouted back, knowing they would soon be at the next major point. Sure enough, she and Denver rattled into the loop, and without a word Mastodon and Sherman moved off.

"Fresh prey!" Timber laughed. "Shall we harvest their souls instead?" Any trace of the former man was gone, and the ghostly spirit corrupting him was in complete control.

The two engines in front lumbered along at speed, barely able to keep ahead of the ghost. "I wasn't designed to go this fast!" Sherman said.

"Well shut up and keep moving!" Mastodon replied. "We'll be scrap metal if we don't!"

They thundered along as fast as their wheels would carry them. Although 311 could easily have caught up, she held her distance, almost as if she was playing with them.

At another set of points up ahead, the two engines were switched off the line, and the switch changed back. At the next switch, there was another whistle, and Valentina moved off. Inside were Sunny and Goldie.

"Here goes nothing," Sunny said, as they moved off in front of the ghost. "Hopefully 311 has no clue what's coming next."

"We'll be in a right mess if this doesn't work," Valentina said quickly.

Goldie looked back. "She's closing fast!" she called.

"YOUR SOULS ARE MINE!" 311 boomed. "YOU SHALL ALL SUFFER AS I DID ALL THOSE YEARS AGO! I SHALL DRAG YOUR SOULS INTO THE FIERY PIT AND PUNISH ALL OF YOU!"

Sunny rolled her eyes. "Who brought the insane ramblings to this engine?"

Sure enough, they thundered along, and suddenly something changed as they rounded a bend. Sitting at the lineside was a heavy anti-tank gun. The other adults were helping with range finding, and Lord Haven was at the controls.

"Target's coming into range!" Isaac called.

Argyle looked up. "Steady... steady... FIRE!"

The gun jerked backwards, the explosive shell flying out of the barrel and towards 311.

But it passed clean through and out the other side.

"Shot did not connect. Repeat, shot did not connect."

Sunny looked back. "Oh no."

"YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL A DEMON?" 311 boomed, as she suddenly vanished.

Valentina shouted back. "BRAKES!"

Sunny looked forward, and 311 had suddenly appeared in front of them! There was a loud bang, and suddenly the engine was leaving the rails!

"HOLD ON!" Sunny called.

Sure enough, Valentina tumbled down the embankment, and both people onboard jumped out and landed on the ground, watching as the engine slammed into the land at the bottom on her side.

Sunny was slammed into the ground, and shook her head as she landed. Through her hazed state, a familiar figure seemed to be walking towards her.