The Siege of Tidmouth
Evening fell, and the engines returned to their sheds to rest until the morning. Twilight had spent much of her shift trying to get the dirt off of Thomas' paintwork, but she had been unable to remove all of it, and had promised to complete the work in the morning. Even so, Thomas was not pleased. "I look a mess," he complained. "How can I be really useful if I'm covered in dirt and dust?"
"I had no idea you could be so vain, Thomas," James said.
"That's rich, coming from you," Percy retorted. "Don't worry, Thomas. I'm certain that Harold didn't mean to cover you in dust. But Twilight is coming back tomorrow, and she will clean you and make you look magnificent. Then everybody can value your blue paint and red stripes."
"That's my line!" Henry protested.
"Only I can protest about other characters using my lines!" Gordon interrupted.
"Quiet!" Autumn hissed. For some odd reason, she had taken on the position of night watchman for the shed, instead of sleeping in the railway accomodation provided for her, and was currently lying in a hammock dressed for bed. "You can't rest and work hard tomorrow if you're all talking all the time!"
The engines fell silent, and Autumn went back to her drink. "Hot chocolate always get me off to sleep, every time." She smiled as she lay back in her hammock, but suddenly sat up again as she heard the growl of a Maybach engine outside the shed. The structure was undergoing some light structural maintenance, and the exterior was covered in walkways and scaffolding to better facilitate such repairs. Seconds later, the gantry next to her tumbled to the ground as something crashed into the exterior wall. On the other side of the now holed wall was the grinning face of Diesel 10.
"You're not wanted here, Autumn Blaze!" he sneered. "Let's make that fact quite clear."
Suddenly, his grabber began to find its way through the wall and go for Autumn. Autumn grabbed her whistle and blew it with all her might.
Nothing happened.
"What?" she asked. "Why isn't it working?"
"Looks like the magic is failing!" shouted another voice. Autumn looked up to see a man looking out of the cab of Diesel 10, leering in perceived victory. "At this rate, the Lost Engine will be ours in no time!"
Autumn calmly got up from her hammock. She had gritted her teeth together, and coolly stared the Storm King down. "Leave us alone," she said, coldly.
"Or what?" Diesel 10 laughed. "You gonna blow that thing innfectually?"
What happened next caught everybody off guard. Autumn's skin and hair suddenly turned jet black, her eyes went white and started to glow, and her body burst into flames. "LEAVE!" she bellowed, her voice distorted and booming. "OR ELSE YOU'LL HAVE A NIRIK TO CONTENT WITH!"
Storm King's face turned white with shock. He pulled back Diesel 10's grabber, set him into forward on the reverser handle, and they both sped off into the night. "Enjoy tonight, Blazy, as you won't like tomorrow! I will get the Lost Engine!"
Autumn switched herself back to normal, and looked over at the shocked engines. "That was incredible!" James said. "You scared him off!"
Autumn nodded. "Yeah. But I can only do that so many times a day or else I tire myself out. First the sparkle stops working, now Diesel 10 and Storm King are causing havoc? Why does everything have to go wrong as once?"
"Murphy's law," Henry interrupted. "Everything that can go wrong will go wrong. It's quite worrying, really."
"When do you NOT worry?" Percy asked Henry.
"Touche."
Autumn sighed. "I suppose I'll have to sleep on it."
"Your whistle?" Thomas asked. "Won't that break it?"
"No, the problem," Autumn sighed, and she turned back to her hammock and hopped in it. Before long, the orange haired woman was fast asleep, and in the world of dreams.
Meanwhile, in Ruddington, in an engine shed on the site of the Great Central Railway Nottingham, a man in his fifties sat at a desk, looking at an old engine. He had light grey skin and blue eyes, with messy black hair that seemingly hadn't been combed in a while. He wore black pants, a pair of grey shoes, a dark blue shirt with a black waistcoat, and a white tie around his neck. This is Steven, or as most people call him, Sombra. The engine he was looking at was a nondescript and fairly generic side tank of indeterminate manufacture, of the sort produced in their thousands for factories and dockyards in the early 20th Century. However, the result did bare a passing resemblance to the Great Western 101 class tank engines. It had four small wheels, painted purple, the body was also painted purple, outside cylinders, curving side tanks, two golden buffers on the front, two more on the back, two golden lamps, a golden smokebox, a purple chimney capped with a golden chimney cover, a golden dome and safety valves, and dark purple frames and cab roof. On its side tanks were written its name.
LADY.
"I'm sorry I let you down, Lady," Sombra sighed, as he looked vaguely at the wall. "I'm sorry I let him do that to you, and that I failed the magic."
As he sat there, he thought to himself, and remembered the past. He had first found Lady when he was a new volunteer here, having worked on the real railways for a while and now basically doing his day job for a hobby (busman's holiday, anyone?). When he had fired the engine up, she had begun to speak to him, telling him her name was Lady. She was from a steelworks in the nearby area, and had discovered an incredible secret near here entirely by accident. Sombra let her show him, and they had been transported from Nottingham to Sodor, a place Sombra had never been before. It was incredible, and he made sure to keep popping back whenever he could, usually with Lady as she knew the way. He also found the railway that linked the two together fascinating, and how it seemed to defy all logic, as well as the gold dust that was produced whenever Lady flew along its track.
But, sadly, one dark day, it all came crashing down.
"Where's the engine?" Storm King demanded, as Sombra stood on Lady's footplate.
"You have no idea how to drive her safely," Sombra retorted, both to Storm King and to the purple skinned woman standing next to him.
This clearly was not an acceptable answer for Storm King, as he rudely shoved his way onto the footplate. "Come on, Tempest!" he said. "It's our turn to drive a train!"
Slamming the brake handle off, and winding the reverser back as far as he could get it to go, Storm King tore open the regulator. Lady took off like a rocket, and soon was clear of the station approaches and into a tight bend.
"BRAKE!" Sombra cried, and grabbed at the brake control. Tempest, in response, shoved him off the footplate, and he hit the gravel below. He watched on in horror as Lady tipped over onto her side, smashing into the gravel and ballast and skidding along as she came to a violent stop.
Sombra walked forward slowly to survey the damage. Lady's frames were torn, her smokebox had partially detached from her boiler, her dome was bent, the safety valves were missing and her running gear was broken into pieces. Storm King angrily jumped off the footplate and shook his fist at him.
"YOU IDIOT!" he screamed, tears in his eyes. "YOU DERAILED HER ON PURPOSE! NOW TEMPEST IS DEAD, AND I WILL SUE YOU FOR EVERY LAST PENNY YOU HAVE!" He stormed off into the bushes, whilst Sombra walked around the other side of Lady, to see the woman pinned underneath the engine. She had been dead for a few minutes, and in that moment the brakedown crane arrived and Sombra called an ambulance. It was only after Lady was back in his workshop that he let himself break down.
"The magic is gone," he whispered, barely able to keep his composure. "And I have failed you." Only then did he permit himself to weep for one of the few things he had ever loved.
And now, many years later, Sombra had noticed the changes in the world. There were far fewer engines that were capable of speaking now, and even some of the ones here, closest to the source of the magic, had fallen silent. It was clear that something bad was going on, and now that Storm King was back, Sombra was certain they would only get worse.
Meanwhile, at Tidmouth Sheds, Autumn was deep within her dream. In her dream, she began to put the pieces of the puzzle together. "The Magic Railroad must be somehow connected to these problems," she said to herself in the dream. "The gold dust must somehow be connected to it, or else it cannot function. And maybe the rough journey and the lack of gold dust are somehow connected! And then-"
Suddenly, Flim appeared in the dream. "Why didn't you come back, Autumn?" he begged. "The railway is gone, and the magic left with it!" In her vision, Autumn saw the former Ruddington station site, torn up, gone, and turned into a housing estate.
Autumn awoke with a start. "I have to act!" she cried. "This world is in great danger, and I must find the source of the gold dust! And we need some extra help too."
One scene transition later, Sunset had gotten off her train at Bedford. As the overhead wires stopped there, passengers needed to change trains in order to continue their journey north. As she walked over the platform, she suddenly noticed that the signboard was showing connections north.
On either side of her were two identical trains, both Class 222 DMUs. She studied the destination board, and walked to the right, getting onboard and finding a seat.
Little did she realise, she had misread the destination board. That wasn't the train she wanted at all. This train wasn't going to Nottingham. It was going to Sheffield!
Morning had broken on the Island of Sodor, like a new morning, and the engines were setting off to work. As James steamed out of his berth and onto the turntable, Autumn looked at her watch and sighed. "If I can't travel by gold dust," she said, "I'll need to travel by train. But I can't ride in Thomas' cab, as that is too obvious."
Just then, Duck rolled to a stop outside the yard. "Need some help, Miss Autumn?" he asked.
"Can you take me to Crovan's Gate, please?" she asked. "I've got somewhere I need to go."
"Sure thin'!" Apple Bloom called to her. "Just hop in the cab, and away we go!"
The run to Crovan's Gate was pleasent enough. Duck ran well and smoothly, heading a stopping train, and Apple Bloom was a skilled driver, there was no denying that. It was just that Autumn was too distracted by what was going on to truly enjoy the scenery. After they stopped, Autumn said her goodbyes and hopped off to head over to the Skarloey railway.
As she approached, she saw a group of kids hard at work on maintaining their engines. Smoulder was currently underneath Duncan's frames, peering at something. She reached out for something. "Spanner?" she asked.
Sandbar quickly handed her one. "Here you go."
"My nuts and bolts must be loose," Duncan grumbled. "I can never remember feeling this shaky."
"All things can be repaired," Peter Sam smiled. "Even Grandpuff."
"Quiet, you," Duke grunted. "You're just as much the impertinent young scallywag I remember you being."
"Did you ever call them anything else?" Sandbar asked him, curiosity in his eyes.
"Not really."
Meanwhile, Silverstream was busy getting Peter Sam lit up for the morning. When suddenly-
"BOO!"
Silverstream shrieked and fell off of her seat, landing on a bucket of water. It flew high into the air and splashed all over her, making her very wet. "Gallus!" she shouted. "That wasn't funny!"
"You sure look hilarious though," Gallus snorted.
Ocellus rolled her eyes. "I sometimes wonder how they get any work done."
Autumn then chose to walk into the scene. "Good morning girls!" she called.
All eyes suddenly snapped over to her. "All of the engines and at least two of the drivers are guys," Smoulder said sarcastically. "I know I may look like a boy, but really?"
"And more than one of them has a crush on somebody," Rheneas smiled.
"Oh, not this again," Sandbar groaned.
"OCELLUS AND SANDBAR, SAT BENEATH A TREE, K- I- S- S-"
"Quiet!" Autumn shouted. Silence fell and landed on the track. "Can you help me?"
Silverstream, still very wet and trying to dry herself out, spoke up. "Can we help you? Of COURSE we'll help you!" She flew over, and shook Autumn's arm so quickly that it was a miracle she didn't pull it off. "I'm Silverstream, and welcome to the Skarloey Railway!"
Autumn looked over to Rheneas. "Can you and your driver take me to Rheneas Falls?" she asked.
"It will be a pleasure, miss-"
"Autumn Blaze."
"Thank you. Yona and I shall collect our coaches momentarily."
After dropping her off at Rheneas Falls, Rheneas continued his journey up the line, whistling merrily as he did so. Autumn set off up the falls hiking trail, knowing that she had to succeed, or else calamity would ensure.
Elsewhere, Thomas was stopped at a level crossing. Well, he wasn't stopped for the level crossing as trains have right of way over roads, but he had stopped, and in front of the level crossing too. He was having some odd steaming problems, and Twilight was checking him over to see what was wrong.
Suddenly, George the Steamroller rumbled over the crossing, grumbling to himself. "Still trying to avoid the inevitable?" he asked Thomas. "Railways are no good, turn them into roads. Railways are no good, turn them into roads!"
"That'll never happen, George," Thomas said confidently. "Trains are safer than cars."
"And a lot more convenient too!" Twilight added. "It means you can watch the view and not have to look at the road all the time!"
"Oh really?" Cozy Glow sneered from George's controls. "Because they've already started construction of the A692 across the Island. Then the Island shall flood with cars and busses, putting you out of business!"
Thomas looked in concern at Twilight. "Is she a pyschopath, or something?"
Meanwhile still, Autumn had finally climbed to the top of the falls. She searched around on top of them for several minutes, before suddenly finding a piece of paper. "Stoke up the magic that lies beneath the mountain and the Lady will Smile. Then watch the swirls that spin..."
She looked down, and saw the paper was torn. "Where's the rest of it gone?" she asked, in a panic. Looking about her, she found another piece of paper, and read out the last bit. "So well. Stoke up the magic that lies beneath the mountain and the Lady will Smile. Then watch the swirls that spin so well." She shrugged her shoulders. "What on Earth is that supposed to mean?"
She checked her phone, and luckily she still had a signal. "I really didn't want to interrupt your holiday, but I have no choice," she sighed, and dialled a number.
Sombra's dialogue at the end of the flashback is a reference to this video;
The complete lack of the Skarloey Railway in the draft is a bit odd, in my opinion. I mean, come on! They run right to a waterfall!
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THANK YOU for removing the stupidity of a dog leading a stranger to the wrong train, and thet weird mental breakdown
Well...that got dark. If that scene was in the original, it's no wonder they changed it.
Good chapter :3
10195484
You think so?
10195486
I have no idea why Allcroft put those bits in. The confusion makes little sense in the film, given the choice between AMTRAK units and a steam loco, but here we have two identical DMUs, which makes the confusion more logical.
10195493
In the original cut, Boomer's motivation was revenge for the serious injuries he suffered in the accident.
10195969
Thanks.
10196167
OK then.
Although technically there was no need to change at Bedford, as that scene could easily have happened at St Pancras International.
And I'm guessing that the A692 runs to Barrow in this universe, rather than just Gateshead to Castleside.
10196900
Sunset was on a Thameslink service.
I had no idea there was a real A692.
https://m.Rarely in the cgi series.
No it's your fault you bastard!!!
And people thought I was bad at directions.
Aaaand now we have to deal with a romance moment, thx Rheneas.
Probably. Or a lunatic.