Ghost Train: the Untold Story of Timothy

by The Blue EM2

Chapter 6: of Gods and Daemons: the Battle of Brendam

That night, the engines and their drivers set off on their grim tasks toward their assigned destinations. Percy proceeded to Tidmouth station with Cherry Pie, puffing slowly down the line to conserve coal and water for the grim duties they had ahead. It took them a long time to reach the end of the line, and Percy parked up on a siding to rest. He looked over, and gasped at who he saw sitting in the platform.

"Cherry, look! It's Timothy!"

Cherry Pie looked herself, and shivered despite her thick winter coat. "So it is," she said grimly, and wound the reverser backwards, anticipating a head on collision if Timothy's prior behaviour was anything to go by.

And indeed it was Timothy, with a cruel, evil smile on his face. His teeth were clearly visible in that gruesome visage of his, and his red paint seemed to be slick with blood. Coupled to Timothy were two coaches, the very same Toplight coaches that he had pulled on the day of his suicidal crash. Inside the coaches were the ghosts of the passengers who had died with him, their souls tormented and unable to leave this world. Inside Timothy's cab, Cherry Pie could see a ghostly girl standing there, her face in shock.

"No, not again..." she whispered.

"Are we ready to go or not?" Timothy demanded.

Starlight Glimmer was shaken out of her thoughts and finally reacted. "Oh! Y- yes! Full speed ahead, Timothy!"

Timothy laughed, long, loud, and in the cruel, mocking tone. "Sure thing! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

Steam shot from his cylinder cocks as he pulled forward, smoke being thrown into the air by his harsh exhaust and steam flowing into the night sky. The noise was deafening, and Timothy suddenly swung onto Percy's line.

"He's after us!" Percy shouted. "Full reverse, quickly!"

"So he is," Cherry Pie replied, and pulled open his regulator, as well as releasing the brakes. The needles crept into the correct position just in time, and Percy shot backwards as Timothy cleared the station approaches.

Percy shot backwards along the main line, his whistle blowing furiously and his safety valve lifting off dangerously as he tried to keep ground between him and Timothy. The ghostly tank engine seemed to have no difficulty keeping up, blasting his whistle repeatedly as his thundered along the track.

"Run, run, as fast as you can..." he said, laughing as he did so. "You can run, but you can't hide."

Cherry Pie clicked something. "He knows full well he can catch us. He's just playing with his prey before he kills it!"

"Back off! BACK OFF!!!" Percy cried, still running at full speed in reverse as the deranged Small Prairie continued his chase into the darkness.

"I may not be able to kill First Base, but I'll enjoy taking you as compensation," Timothy smiled coldly, as he went in for the kill. Suddenly, the fog rolled in once more, and once it had cleared, Timothy was gone.

"Wait, what?" Percy asked. "Where did he go? He was there a moment ago!"

"Maybe he can teleport," Cherry Pie replied. As if to prove her point, there was a loud whistle and evil laughter. "No time to waste! We need to get to Knapford now to start phase 2 of the plan."

---

Minutes later, Percy arrived at Knapford. The station was virtually deserted. The only individuals there were Flash Sentry, who had volunteered to drive Toby one last time, Azure Dawn, who was acting as bait, and Toby the Tram Engine.

"Did you lose him?" Toby asked.

"We tried, but he can seemingly teleport," Percy replied. "He's also very fast, so I don't know how long we can outrun him."

"But we can out think him," Flash replied. "He's fast, but not very smart from what I recall."

"He's here!" Azure Dawn called from the footplate. Timothy, sure enough, was entering platform 1 and whistling loudly.

"Ah, hello Azure," he said, still grinning like a madman. "I see you decided to come out here and face your doom. Ending your family is the only way I can ensure peace for this Island."

"You threatened my family," Azure Dawn replied, now in full 'mama bear' mode. "If you want me, come and get me you bastard!"

"As you wish," Timothy replied. "I am Timothy the Ghost Engine. Prepare to die."

Toby and Percy took off into the night as Timothy accelerated after them, still whistling loudly. Starlight looked away from the controls and spoke quietly to herself.

"I hope this plan works," she whispered to herself.

Percy and Toby were now running in single file towards Knapford Junction as Timothy continued his pursuit.

"The end is near!" the red tank engine bellowed. "I will finish what I started 80 years ago! Once this madness is over, I am dragging all of you straight to Hell!"

Percy and Toby continued to run as fast as they could, whistling loudly to warn oncoming trains of the ghost train. The odd goods train rolled past in that time, but Timothy just ignored them. He had his prey in his sights, and he was not letting them go.

They roared past Knapford Junction and stopped in a passing loop as their phase of the plan had ended. Timothy's whistle boomed through the night.

But seconds later, another whistle was heard. A familiar, lower note, with a slight warble to it.

Seconds after that, Thomas shot past, with Luster Dawn and First Base at his controls. "Leave this to us!" Luster Dawn called.

"Timothy's so messed up in the smokebox he has no idea what's coming next!" Thomas added.

First Base turned to Luster Dawn, who was keeping the pressure up and the fire hot. "Hey, Luster, if we don't make it out of this, I just want you to know I don't regret a single day here, and meeting you was one of the best things that ever happened to me."

Luster Dawn nodded. "Thanks. Now let's stop Timothy."

Timothy saw the new target, and set off in pursuit. "It won't be long until I've taken all of you with me!" he shouted, as he began to gain speed. He charged after Thomas, soon gaining ground.

"Where is he?" First Base shouted.

"He's switching lines to move alongside!" Luster Dawn shouted.

"But that means he's running into opposing traffic!" Thomas shouted.

And indeed he was. An HST passed alongside them, before its ATP forced it to stop completely, the driver, a bloke called Oliver, looking rather confused. Timothy swung back to the other line just as suddenly as he'd swapped to the wrong one. Even so, his pace never slowed.

It was now time to put the plan into action. Thomas flew through Wellsworth, and was suddenly switched onto Edward's branch line. Timothy slowed down for the junction and continued his chase.

"You idiot!" he called. "That line doesn't let you escape!"

Thomas ignored him. He poured every ounce of steam into forward movement, trying to keep away from Timothy before they could execute the rest of the plan. He steamed along as fast as he could, fully aware of the demonic tank engine pursuing.

"We're at the harbour limits!" Luster Dawn called.

"Got it!" First Base callled. He dropped down the cab steps and jumped off at the points. First Base waited for Thomas to clear the manual switches, and then threw the switch onto another line, watching as Timothy approached.

"Prepare to be cast into the fiery pit, Thomas!" Timothy bellowed. "Oblivion is all that awaits you, for your death has come at the wheels of Timothy, THE GHOST ENGINE OF SODOR!"

Little did he realise he had been switched onto the wrong track. First Base waved him off as he realised his mistake.

Timothy slammed his brakes on to try and stop before the buffers, but his weak brake pump and blocks couldn't stop him, and he crashed through the buffers and plummeted into the water below, screaming as he fell down into the harbour and sank. The coaches broke apart in the impact (again), and sank as well.

Thomas, who was sitting at the harbourside and saw the entire thing, looked down with a mixture of pity and disgust. "I'm sorry, Timothy," he said quietly. "But you left us no choice."

A ghost appeared on the dockside, and Luster Dawn hopped down from the cab to see it was Starlight Glimmer. "Thank you," the ghost said. "Now I can finally be free." And with those words, her body faded away to nothingness, having finally found peace in the afterlife.

That night, as the engines returned to the shed, nobody spoke a word. The driver's put the engines away and walked over to the mess hut to rest for the night. That night was one they wished to forget.

Author's Note:

Tomorrow, we shall wrap up the story with an epilogue, and it shall all be over.

Comments

[JimmyHook19]

A ghost appeared on the dockside, and Luster Dawn hopped down from the cab to see it was Starlight Glimmer. "Thank you," the ghost said. "Now I can finally be free." And with those words, her body faded away to nothingness, having finally found peace in the afterlife.

Glimmy..... ;-;

[The Blue EM2]

10508120
At least her soul is at rest now...