Hello all you wonderful people! I imagine that you've clicked on this wondering what the hell is ToonGuy doing at the moment? Shouldn't he be doing something of actual substance!? Well, none of you are probably thinking that, and I don't blame you, but I've decided that I need to refresh myself somewhat. Doing Thomas Abridged is a bunch of fun, but I also am aware that I'm kind of entering dangerous territory of a sort. It's rare that any fanfiction enters the eighty chapter bracket, especially in this fandom, and I fear that I may risk alienating some of you fine people if I continue without a little break.

So, this break is something to keep my brain active, and hopefully continue to entertain you at the same time. I'm going to be writing a bunch of original stories set in the same universe as Thomas Abridged, just to focus on goofy, silly stuff. Nothing serious here! These can take place at any time, any place, and yes, that does include in seasons following the one I am currently on. Think of this as a test run for some of the characters that I haven't gotten to yet. This one is set Season 9-11, some time in there.

I hope you enjoy!

...

"I still say we should watch Patriot Games-"

"You always say we should watch Patriot Games! I say we watch 12 Angry Men!"

"Booooorrring!"

"It is not boring, it is a classic example of a courtroom drama and paints a very interesting picture of moral ambiguity!"

This argument had been droning on since all of the engines had arrived back at Tidmouth in the late afternoon. Percy had been lucky enough not to have to take the mail train that night, and had taken most of his medication, so Henry had seen nothing to indicate why simply asking "Which movie do you want to watch tonight?" would lead to...well, this.

Oh how foolish he had been.

The main stirrers of the argument were Thomas (Patriot Games) and Gordon (12 Angry Men) which was not surprising in the least, really. Gordon only wanted to watch 12 Angry Men because he thought that it made him look more highbrow, and Thomas only wanted to watch Patriot Games because he wanted to make Gordon cross. It was a vicious cycle where neither wanted to back down and recant.

Eventually, Edward angrily intervened and suggested that they watch Get Carter instead. He was immediately shouted down by both engines, and had then turned back to his attempt at reading Harry Potter with the very clear thought in his mind being 'never again'.

It was around about the point where James and Percy took sides respectively, when there was a rather loud and painful humming noise. Everyone looked around for a moment, and Edward vaguely hoped that the Rapture had finally come. Then, there was a bang, and a splutter and a slow dying whining noise. Then the lights went out, the doors slammed shut and the engines were left in near total darkness, save for a brief sliver of moonlight through cracks in the roof.

"Balls" muttered Henry. "Power's gone out in the generator."

"So how come the doors are shut?"

"Apparently the Fat Controller didn't want us getting any ideas of escaping this hellhole. Someone's installed electrics in the wood as well. We're locked in."

"Oh. Terrific!" fumed James.

Edward sighed, and closed his eyes. He had slept in darker spots before, and he was pretty confident that he could get himself to fall asleep within at least ten minutes, if not less time. So they wouldn't watch a movie tonight. So what?

There was a loud wail from the other side of the sheds, and Edward's eyes snapped open. "WAH!?" He said, his mind having yet to catch up to his tongue. "What's happening?!"

"Emily's MP3 ran out of juice." dully noted Henry.

"Oh, sweet Sally Ann, I thought it was serious!"

"It is!" Emily insisted, her Scottish brogue becoming increasingly stronger. "I cannae get ta sleep without mah music!"

"And I simply refuse to sleep! I have yet to put on any of my new paint yet!" James declared as flamboyantly as ever.

Gordon grunted. "All of you can go hang, quite frankly. I have important work tomorrow! I shall be pulling the express once more, and my passengers shall be requiring a brave and bold stallion of the line! A champion of speed and vigor and other such words! They shall need someone who is fastest! And the best! To pull the express!"

"Yeah, it's a pity they'll have to settle for you." Thomas laughed as Gordon attempted to lunge towards him. "What the hell do you think that's going to do?!"

"I WILL END YOU!"

"It occurs to me-" Henry spoke up, in a attempt to be diplomatic "-that none of us are going to get to sleep the way we wanted to tonight. So, why don't we just do something to help the time pass?"

"That's a good idea." agreed Edward. "All right...anyone got any ideas?"

No one spoke for a minute. Then at last, Percy spoke up. "How about I Spy?"

James rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, that's brilliant! I spy with my little eye something beginning with E!"

"Engine?"

"Excellent, well that was fun! What do you want to play next? Hide and go seek!?"

"There's no need to get uppity with me!"

"All right!" thundered Edward. "How about we play a game of Twenty Questions?"

"Fine!" Emily grinned. "I dare ye to beat me at this game!"

"Oh, we will, Miss Haggis!"

"Miss Haggis? James, ye are losing yer touch with tha insults!" Emily's smirk was growing dangerously close to hitting a Eight on the 'James Level of Smugness' meter, so Edward hurriedly started.

"Got one?"

"Yes, and does that count as a question?"

"No. ...Okay, first question. Is this a person?"

"Yes."

"Famous?" asked Percy.

"...Yes."

"Man or woman?" Thomas asked the question this time.

"Woman."

"She British?"

"Yes, James."

"...Is she Maggie Smith?" Emily laughed, and Thomas grinned. "Ha! You're so predictable, Ems!" Emily stuck her tongue out at the cheeky little tank engine, and Edward relaxed a bit. Maybe things weren't going to- He mentally slapped himself. You never said that, or even thought it, full out. Because that was asking for trouble. He snapped back in time to hear Henry ask the first question, whether or not Thomas's pick was a person. Thomas answered positive, and so it went on.

They got to ten questions, having established that this person was male, was relatively famous, but not as famous as Maggie Smith, was British, was a decent runner, was a fan of the color blue, was a star in both a television show and a movie based off of said show and that finally, he had a probably more famous brother that outclassed him a great deal.

Many were stumped by this. But at last, Percy spoke up. "Is it Gordon?"

Gordon roared, and lunged across the berths. Thomas jumped back out of fright, forgetting any smart remarks in the panic of nearly having his life extinguished by the mad blue bull. It was only thanks to James and Henry holding Gordon back that Thomas wasn't a smear on the floor.

Edward hurriedly suggested another game.

...

As Hour 4 of the night crept up upon the seven engines, battle lines appeared to have been drawn.

Edward and Henry had attempted to calm the mood down with a rousing sing song. That had failed when someone had thrown a boot through the window, smacking James in the face, which rather ruined the experience. Then, Gordon had suggested playing 'Never Have I', which had got them through the rest of Hour 2 and a bit of Hour 3, before Henry accidentally managed to offend James, somehow (Edward still wasn't sure how. James was just very easily offended) and that had been scuppered.

So now, they were sitting in grim silence. Edward was gazing at the clock, willing it to go faster, somehow, anyway possible. Henry was focusing his mind on something more pleasant, like knitting patterns, or perhaps defusing mines in a war torn part of the Middle East somewhere. James and Gordon were coolly plotting their revenge on Thomas, while the latter and Percy were busy planning their revenge on Gordon. It was a nice circle of vengeance. Emily was trying to will herself to sleep.

And thus it would have continued if not for certain events. Hour 4 came and went, as did Hour 5. They were now into the next day.

It was as Hour 5 drew to a close, and as Hour 6 began slowly creeping up upon them, that yet another cherry was added to the very wobbly cake that was being baked by a blind person with knives for hands. The silence had done well, for the most part, in lulling many of the engines to near sleep. Edward, in particular, was now on the very verge of letting his eyelids close for the last time, and finally getting a bit of kip.

It was then that the rain began. At first, it merely hit the roof as it always did. It didn't hurt their chances of sleeping. In fact, it almost increased them. A nice, steady rhythm to help them fall to sleep too. Besides, this was usually happened around this time anyway.

A single drop of water eased it's way through the cracks of the tiles, through the materials that insulated the sheds and slowly dangled just on the edge of falling down to the floor. Then it fell, hitting the ground with a soft 'plip'.

Then another came.

And another.

And another.

This was okay for the next few hours...or possibly, it wasn't. At this point, Edward was so utterly exhausted that the concept of time began to lose a great deal of meaning. But eventually, whatever the case, it began to drive the engines a little mad. No one could do anything to stop it, no more than they could force the moon to set a few hours earlier. So they just had to sit there and take this Chinese Water Torture. The difference being, of course, that usually these people who were tortured thusly, would usually give in after a period of at least a few days.

James lasted two hours.

"DEAR GOD!" He screamed, awakening Edward, and rushed to the door and began banging on it loudly.

"James." remarked Percy, wearily.

"LET! ME! OUT!"

"James!" growled Emily, a warning very clearly in her voice.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE! I'M AS MAD AS HELL AND I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE!"

"JAMES!" screamed Edward, losing any sense of composure he might have had. "SHUT THE HELL UP!"

James glowered at him. Edward was on the verge of just crawling across the shed and ripping James's eyes out with his teeth. it honestly wouldn't have mattered at this point, considering how well the night was going.

After that, there was a little bit of peace (Albeit one where most of the parties in question were furiously trying to work out how to kill the others in a painful way that couldn't be traced back to them) that allowed Edward to finally fall into sleep.

For three seconds.

With only a brief warning hum, the lights suddenly slammed back on, blinding all seven engines and causing a great deal of commotion as Edward briefly panicked and thought someone had finally launched a nuclear strike against the country, and Gordon, Henry and James launched a vicious attack upon the tank engines, leaving Emily to struggle out of the newly opened door, right into the turntable well.

And then the roof decided that it had had enough of this fare, and decided to collapse in upon the engines in the vain hope that maybe this would stop them bickering.

...

The next morning, as both Harvey and the Breakdown Train continued to clear away the mess, Toby and the Fat Controller stared at the chaos with complete bafflement. James had been dragged from the shed first, mostly hysterical over the fact that his paintwork had been badly dented during the 'fight' and had demanded to be rushed to the Works straight away. The two other main tender engines were barely better. Henry had gotten lucky and escaped with only a cut lip and a bit of wounded pride (And tender, part of the support beam had come down on top of him as well) but Gordon looked as though he had been through the war. He wouldn't say who won between him and Thomas, but it was pretty clear that both had probably lost.

Thomas was also looking worse for wear. Not because of Gordon's attacks, however. He had made the mistake of calling Henry a tree hugger one too many times, and had been uppercutted somehow into the corner of the shed, before falling face first down onto the rails. No one was quite sure how Henry had managed to uppercut Thomas, or even how engines could even punch with their buffers. Percy and Emily, meanwhile, were getting their faces examined by medical personal after the incident in the turntable well. Percy wasn't even sure how he'd landed in the well.

And then there was Edward. He looked as though he had gone twelve rounds with Ali with both hands tied behind his back. Most of the roof had chosen to fall onto him, because the luck of the Edward still eluded him. He also appeared to have the reddest eyes any engine doctor had ever seen, as a result of not getting even ten seconds of sleep that night.

"Sir?" he asked politely, or as politely as he could with his new speech impediment, a result of biting down on his tongue when the rubble had hit him "I'd suggest that we be separated for tonight...we're all a little raw."

"Er...yes, Edward. I...suppose so." Hatt blinked once, and then turned to Toby, who had one thing to say.

"On the other hand, perhaps not giving me a shed with the others wasn't such a bad idea, sir."