Chapter 1: The Winter Express
"Dear Teo, how are you? This may be a surprise to you, but I am the one and only Santa Claus, I know you've been a very good boy every year and I try my best to give you the best presents, but sadly I might not be able to give you any this year, or to anyone. You see, some very bad men who call themselves the Evil Buddies have captured me and has me locked in a castle on Freezer Mountain, I am requesting your help to come to Freezer Mountain and save me from them, your courage and kindness should be more than enough to help me. To get there, take the nearest train to Shiver Town, the mayor of that little town will help you find a way to the Mountain. I wish you the best of luck. I have enclosed six train tickets to get you to Shiver Town.
Yours truly. Santa Claus."
It was only a week until Christmas truly starts, we find Teo at the train station wearing a thick orange coat, a woolly hat and scarf with thick mittens, layered trousers and big boots, he was well padded for the winter, but his tail felt messed up in the thickness of the coat and trousers, next to him was a small bag, but all it had was his best friend, his stuffed rabbit named Baby Bunny. He looked closely at the letter seeing six tickets attached at the bottom. Curious as to how Santa could deliver this while being captured, but he knew he had to help regardless. Even if it was a hoax, it was better than going back to the shivering cold orphanage.
"You better be right about this!" scolded his girlfriend, Bowla, looking frustrated. She wore similar winter clothing to Teo, but her coat was green and was quite thinner than his. "I had to do a heck of a lot of convincing to get Daddy to let me join you, you better appreciate it."
"I-I do but… you wanted to come along, I never asked." said Teo feeling a bit nervous, he personally wanted to do this alone. But Bowla wanted to come too, as well as four more. Mike, his biggest bully, Jack, Mike's best friend, Samantha, gluttonous and somewhat annoying, and Sabrina, Teo's best friend, were there also, wearing the same type of winter clothing but thinner than Teo's. Mike wore black, Jack wore grey, Samantha wore purple and Sabrina wore blue. All of them also had small bags like Teo.
"And why should you get to see Santa?" asked Mike crossing his arms. "No one deserves to see Santa more than good ol' me!"
"I completely agree." said Jack as he fixed his glasses, everyone besides Mike knew Jack was just kissing up. "He's made the orphanage a better place with his authority."
"Well I heard that Santa has so many sweets and chocolates! I just HAVE to come!" said Samantha with glee.
"S-Surely you've been… paying attention, right?" said Teo nervously. "The letter said we're going to Freezer Mountain to save him. So, he may not have anything to give us at all when we get there."
"Yeah?" said Bowla tilting her head a bit. "But I'm not gonna stay put while you go meet him, so I'm coming too whether you like it or not."
"In addition, you are going to require my assistance nevertheless." said Sabrina looking emotionless as usual. "My intellect recognises no real-world boundaries… in addition, you have six tickets and there are six of us." she then turns to Mike, Jack and Samantha. "Though for the life of me I do not comprehend why you approved of these idiots to accompany you."
"I hate to break it to you, but I'M the smartest one here." said the annoyed looking Jack. Sabrina simply looked away scoffing, which only aggravated Jack more.
'They're ignoring that we could be risking our lives to save Christmas, this isn't just a trip to see Santa, this is a mission to save him.' Thought Teo looking concerned. But he also had a bit of confidence, Teo's cat-like reflexes have more often than not helped him out in several situations, Bowla has the power to breathe fire making her the cold's worst nightmare and Sabrina is incredibly smart in several factors and is excellent at deceiving people. Both Mike and Samantha are strong, but they would often get misguided, and while Jack is also smart, he has trouble making decisions for himself.
Soon enough, a loud rumbling sound occurred as the train arrived at the station, the train was a shiny deep green colour, polished and quite rich looking, well decorated for the season as well with all sorts of pictures of tinsel, lights and several other Christmas themes. As the train slowly stopped, Teo looked at the train and the tickets he had, both having the same emblem implying this was their train.
Teo slowly walked forward to one of the doors and it opened, revealing the conductor who looked down on the kids. "Tickets please." Teo pulled the six tickets off and handed them to the conductor who gave them a quick look, his eyes then widened. "My word."
"What is it?" asked Jack looking concerned. "Are they fake?"
"No, these are the special limited tickets." said the conductor. "Having these not only gives you access to our luxury train, but it's all-expense-paid."
"Wait! So, everything we order on this train is free!?" asked Bowla in shock. "Because of those tickets?" Everyone else looked surprised.
"Sure right." Said the conductor smiling. "Lucky you. Three days of our beautiful warm ride and everything will be free"
"W-Wow." said Teo feeling pleased. "B-But… we shouldn't take advantage of it-"
"Are you crazy Teo?" shouted Bowla as she shook Teo around. "Let's have some fun!"
With that, the five dashed into the train leaving the dizzy Teo behind, he then slowly walks into the train after taking back the tickets. After a few minutes, the train doors closed and began to leave the station.
Little did any of them know however, a small silver fly snuck its way in through the doors before they shut.
The gang were in Room Five of the eight rooms, their room was quite large having two bunk beds and two large couches facing one another and a large window in the middle of it all, Teo, Bowla and Sabrina sat on one whereas Mike, Jack and Samantha sat on the other, all six of them had removed their winter clothing and were now seen in their casual clothing, Teo felt relieved to free his tail as it swished slowly getting more comfortable.
The train was really warm to battle the bitter cold outside, giving off a very cosy feel; it made them feel more comfortable seeing the snow fall from outside the train giving them a very relaxing rocking sensation. Three days of this was going to be paradise, while Teo felt relaxed, he also felt a tense vibe, knowing once they get out of the train and into Shiver Town, the trials were going to truly begin.
"This is awesome!" shouted Mike. "Three days of this non-stop and we are living like kings and queens!"
"It's amazing Santa was kind enough to give us these tickets, so we can see him." said Jack fixing his glasses once again.
"I bet he'll have lots of sweets and cakes and all that!" said Samantha swaying left and right. "Oh! I can't wait!"
"This is almost as luxurious as my home." said Bowla as she leaned back.
Sabrina was silent as usual, she simply looked out the window watching the falling snow and the white fields and trees speed by. She couldn't help but let out a small smile, the scenery outside was just amazing.
Teo turned to see the beautifully decorated room and seeing everyone relaxed, Teo felt as if Mike wouldn't bully him since he's so relaxed and may take advantage of the free stuff, but Teo wouldn't bet on it. Soon he noticed something; on the floor just by their door was a slip of paper. Teo jumped off the seat and walked up to the paper, out of curiosity, the others got off their seats to look over his shoulder as he read the note.
"I know you're trying to save Santa Claus, get off the train now or an explosive fate awaits you!" Jack read aloud.
"Explosive?!" exclaimed Bowla.
"Looks like these um… E-Evil Buddies know we're coming." muttered Teo in a shy tone. "I… I think I need to show this to someone important."
"We had best be cautious however." said Sabrina with a serious look to her face. "Anyone on this train could be in allegiance with the malefactor."
Teo placed the note in his pocket and opened the door to see the hallway where Rooms Five, Four and Three were. The hallways had a beautiful red floral pattern with the enjoyable rocking sensation of the train travelling across the tracks, Teo walked to his left to another door going to another train carriage, the others soon followed knowing the next carriage was the restaurant room.
The next room had large windows, so the beautiful scenery was still visible, a few tables with white sheets over them and from five to six chairs near each table, the carpet was a nice soft yellow and there was even a nearby souvenir shop and a little kitchen. There they saw a young sixteen-year-old girl with short blonde hair in the shape of devil horns, red eyes and had a cute waitress outfit, the girl seemed intimidating, but the outfit is a different story.
As Teo passed the restaurant and was about to go to the door to the next carriage, he looked behind him to see the others had made themselves at one of the tables. Teo sighs and walks back to them. "I thought we were gonna tell someone about the note." he muttered.
"C'mon dummy." Said Mike getting his cutlery. "Even heroes like me gotta eat."
"Why not join us for some brunch at least Teo." said Bowla, ignoring Mike. "You must be hungry."
"It may well be a wiser conclusion to act unpremeditated nevertheless." said Sabrina looking calm. "Disregarding the message could enable us to pinpoint the committer, for the reason that he or she will conceivably become irritated by our obliviousness and act inappropriate, we could pinpoint him or her in a more effective method just by investigating any signs of out-of-characteristics."
Everyone was silent, Teo almost understood Sabrina, keyword: Almost.
"Run that by me again, and this time could you speak like a normal girl?" asked Mike scratching his head.
Sabrina places her head on the table sighing in frustration. "Just forget it."
"Well… I am a little hungry." said Teo feeling a bit shy as usual.
"As if you're allowed to have anything on this train." said Mike with a big grin. "Why should someone like you get what they want?"
"Because if he doesn't then I'm gonna burn you to a crisp and throw you out the window!" Bowla threatened with traces of fire spewing from her mouth.
Mike was scared at first, but soon he smiled nervously. "T-Then again everything IS free so."
'He may be the rooster of the orphanage but he's really a big fat chicken.' thought Teo. With that he then sat on one of the chairs at the table and looked at the menu. He then faced Bowla feeling embarrassed. "Um… I forgot I can't read. C-Could you… um… help me?"
"Sure thing." said Bowla as she shared the menu with Teo. Mike and Jack did the same as Mike cannot read either, the only orphan who could read was Jack because he studied himself. Bowla, Sabrina and Samantha have parents who taught them.
Soon, the young waitress walked up to their table with a bored uncaring look in her eyes. "Can I take your order?" she asked with so little enthusiasm.
"Me and Jack will have steaks!" said Mike answering for his friend.
"I'll have the lasagne." said Bowla. "And Teo here will have the fish surprise."
"I-If that's alright" said Teo shyly.
"The chicken and egg-fried rice sounds enjoyable." said Sabrina pulling a small smirk.
"I'll have the big-bang fry-ups, the steak and kidney pie extra-large, the big-time turkey dinner and seven deluxe pizza sandwiches." said Samantha; the waitress looked at her surprised.
"Tch, kids these days." The girl muttered as she wrote down everyone's orders. "Is that everything?" everyone nodded, with that she made her way to the kitchen which was really just an open area with the many necessary devices and equipment for cooking, but only had one chef.
"Mama-mia!" said the chef, being a mid-thirties man wearing a chef-hat and a green apron with an 'L' on it and a big bushy moustache under his large nose. "Is this really what they all want, Mandy?"
"Believe it Luigi." said the waitress apparently named Mandy.
About an hour later, Teo, Bowla, Mike, Jack, Samantha and Sabrina finished their brunches, all feeling satisfied with the five-star cooking. "Fish…" mumbled Teo with contentment.
"Was everything to your liking?" asked chef Luigi who had just walked up to them with Mandy the waitress.
"Better than the chefs back home." said Bowla before giving a loud belch.
"I have a wishful desire to dine here every day." said Sabrina placing her cutlery onto the plate in a cross-like fashion
"Fantastic!" said Mike sticking his thumbs up.
"Perfect in every way" said Jack fixing his glasses.
"Got any ice cream?" asked Samantha surprising the others.
"I'm sure I can provide you with some little lady." chuckled Luigi.
"I think she's had enough, she already had four extra-large courses." said Mandy raising an eyebrow. "And she's anything but little."
"Oh, don't be a stick in the mud." said Luigi looking cheerful as he rubbed Mandy's head. "At least you don't have to cook them." Mandy rolled her eyes as Luigi made his way to the kitchen to make some ice cream for Samantha.
"Well… I better go tell someone about the note." said Teo as he jumps off his chair and makes his way to the door leading to the next carriage. Mandy looked at Teo with a raised eyebrow.
The next carriage had beautiful blue flora patterns across the walls and had Rooms Six, Seven and Eight. But right at the end was the conductor who stood by another door leading to the last carriage, Teo was very hesitant at first, but he slowly walked up to the conductor and took out the note.
"Oh, hello there, young lad." said the conductor with a cheerful smile. "You're Teo from Room Five, yes?"
"I… I am." said Teo sounding shy to talk to someone new. "Um… I was wondering if you could… um help me with something."
"What is it?" asked the conductor.
Teo handed the conductor the note. "S-Someone left this threat note in my room."
"An... e-explosive threat?!" asked the conductor in horror after reading it. "O-Oh my! That's pretty serious. Don't worry lad, I'll get into this as quickly as possible, why not return to your room at the time." Teo nodded and made his way back to the door he came through.
Meanwhile, we find Bowla, Mike, Jack and Sabrina in the little souvenir shop looking at all the unusual train or Christmas related knickknacks. "Hope you find something good." said the shop keep, who was a sixty-year-old man with thick square glasses, wore a black suit and had a red fez while holding a cane with a black 8-Ball on it. "And as Grunkle Stan always says - which is me - We put the Fun in No Refunds."
Sabrina turned to Stan with a smirk. "Our tickets are all expense-paid. So, wouldn't that imply we are permitted to obtain everything here for free?" Stan frowned looking annoyed.
"SWEET!" shouted Mike as he lunged forward getting ready to grab everything, but that was until Stan smacked his cane across Mike's hands sending him back.
"Not so fast kids. It's all-expense-paid yes… but for my store only, its two items per person, any more and then you have to pay."
"Oh… well that stinks!" said Mike looking annoyed as he rubbed his hand. "So much for everything's free."
"Hey, I gotta make a business here." said Stan, "So either get something or scram."
"My daddy could get him whacked." grumbled Bowla crossing her arms.
"Yeah, well he is absent from this train." said Sabrina, she looked in the top right corner of the shelves and noticed a small TV. She then pointed to it. "Is that for purchasing?"
Stan looked to where she was pointing. "The TV? Yep. Comes with a little plastic duck too."
"That's all I would like to know." Sabrina then faced Mike. "I require you to transport that for me."
"Forget it! You still owe me 20p for the last thing I had to lug around for you!"
"And I told you I had my fingers crossed. So, I don't actually owe you anything."
"Well then look for someone else to do the heavy lifting! And don't even try that brain-mumbo-jumbo-trickery-thingy you do because I'm keeping my foot down!"
"It's called deception, and fine. Wasting my breath on you is meaningless." Sabrina responded feeling annoyed.
"I don't even want your breath anyway." Mike responded, Sabrina simply rolled her eyes.
As Teo went back into the restaurant carriage, Sabrina exited the shop; there the two noticed there were quite a few people surrounding the kitchen area, like there was a commotion. So, the two immediately walked up to the others to see what was going on. The crowd consisted of Samantha, the chef Luigi, Mandy the waitress, and three new faces.
One was a teenager wearing a red jacket with a red cap with black hair and blinding shiny teeth, blue jeans and red shoes. One was tall and thin wearing a beige coat and fedora, black trousers and long brown shoes. And the last one was a real surprise, a tall blue humanoid shark, his top fin was covered in a gold metal shaped like spikes, he wore a black jacket over a black shirt and wore white trousers and held a small cane.
'And I thought I was the only half-animal here.' thought Teo looking surprised.
"So, it appears that we have a very interesting mystery to say the least." said the tall man with a very strange voice as he rubbed his chin. "Chef Luigi's three frying pans have all disappeared so suddenly."
"Indeed, they were here just a second ago." said Luigi looking concerned.
'All this happened in the span of two minutes?! Not even that?!' thought Teo looking even more surprised.
"So, what are you exactly?" asked Mandy. "Some detective Wannaby?"
"A Wannaby I am not, for I am the real deal. I am known as Inspector Gadget." said the tall man "I'm quite skilled in what I do and that is solving mysteries. This should pose no challenge for me."
"Well then let's hear it!" demanded the humanoid shark with a deep English accent. "I'm starving and I wanna get something to eat!"
"Patience." said Gadget. He began to look around. "So, what happened here is that your frying pans all disappeared while you were looking away, and there were no witnesses?"
"Not one." said Luigi shrugging his shoulders. "I was preparing three of my deluxe pizza sandwiches on them. And now that they're gone with the frying pans."
'Deluxe pizza sandwiches?' Thought Sabrina tilting her head. 'That was what Samantha ordered in conjunction with the rest of her nutriment.' she walked up to Samantha and pulled her away from the crowd without attracting attention.
"What are you doing?" asked the confused Samantha.
Once the two were at a good enough distance. Sabrina faced Samantha. "Ok, answer my question and be straightforward, you did not pilfer the food and pans, did you?"
"What's pilfer?" asked the confused Samantha.
Sabrina tipped her head down sighing, she then faces Samantha again. "It is another word for steal. Did you steal the food and pans?"
"No…" said Samantha shaking her head. "Of course not."
"C'mon Samantha, you've pilfered food before." said Sabrina raising an eyebrow.
"Well… yeah but I would've left the pans behind." said Samantha shrugging her shoulders with a bit of a nervous smile.
Teo quickly walked up to the two. "Please say you didn't take them, we don't want to cause trouble."
"Speak for yourself, producing trouble is one of my principle responsibilities." said Sabrina with a smirk, Teo faced her looking concerned. "But I did not pilfer those pans either." Sabrina added, realising what Teo might be thinking.
"Look, all I'm saying is that there's no way Mr. Sharpfin here could be the thief, he came into the restaurant with me." said the teenager wearing the red jacket addressing the humanoid shark.
"I see… well if there was a witness to Mr. Sharpfin's innocence then I guess that rules him out as a suspect." said Inspector Gadget rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry about that, but sharks are known for eating a lot."
"I suppose that would make SOME sense." said the humanoid shark named Sharpfin looking annoyed. "But next time get some more evidence rather than pointless accusations!"
Not long later, Bowla, Mike and Jack left the souvenir shop with two knickknacks each. They all noticed the crowd talking and then saw Teo, Samantha and Sabrina near the other side listening to the conversation, so they walked up to them. "What's going on?" asked Bowla.
"Apparently, somebody had pilfered the chef's pans with those pizza sandwiches in them." said Sabrina.
Bowla, Mike and Jack all immediately looked over to Samantha. "I didn't take them!"
"You always steal food Samantha." Said Mike. "What makes this any different?"
"I wasn't hungry." Everyone at that point all looked at Samantha with both disbelief and shock. "Hey, I get full… just not often."
"Excuse me if I don't find that believable." Said Jack raising an eyebrow.
"Even if I did polder the food, I would've left the pans behind." Said Samantha.
"That's PILFER you dunce!" said Sabrina in a slightly louder voice.
"Who pilfered?" the man known as Inspector Gadget walked up to the kids, overhearing Sabrina. But before any could answer, a robotic hand on a metal arm popped out of Gadget's hat holding a magnifying glass and placed it over his right eye to inspect them.
"Ok, how did you do that?" asked Mike looking surprised.
"Mr. Luigi did indeed say that six little kids did eat here earlier, and one of them did have a very big appetite." Said Gadget.
"But I didn't palter them!" said Samantha.
"PIL-FER!" said the aggravated Sabrina. "Seriously! Is it actually that difficult for your inadequate brain to state a simple two-syllable word?!"
Teo took one step back. 'Wow… Sabrina's almost as scary as Bowla when she gets mad… Almost.'
"Look Mr Robot-guy, Samantha couldn't have stolen them, if she did, then where are the pans?" asked Jack.
"Dorky here makes a good point for once." Said Bowla making Jack look over to her annoyed.
"Yeah, unless she ate them too." Chuckled Mike.
There was an awkward silence, they soon began to suspect Samantha ate the pans too; she had a big enough mouth.
"Alright, do you seriously believe Samantha would be thoughtless enough to consume metal?" asked Sabrina, she looked over to Samantha again and then back to Gadget. "Ok, do not respond to that."
"Um… Mr um… Robot-guy?" asked Teo feeling shy once more.
"Please call me Gadget."
"S-Sorry… Mr Gadget… what if we found the real thief?"
Inspector Gadget placed the magnifying glass away and rubbed his chin. "Well it would prove the young lady's innocence… ok, but until the real thief has been captured, Samantha will still be the main suspect. As such, she must stay with me until then."
"I just require Samantha for a minute however." Said Sabrina.
"I'm afraid not, she must stay with me."
Sabrina sighed; she needed Samantha to carry the TV for her. "Well… looks like we um… have to help Samantha out here." Said Teo.
"Speak for yourself!" said Mike crossing his arms. "Me and Jack are gonna head back to our room for a nap."
As Mike and Jack began to walk away, Teo turned to Sabrina. "Um… will we need their help?"
"Unquestionably not, the only method those idiots would be beneficial for is enticement or a meat-shield."
"Eh, we can find the thief on our own." Said Bowla smirking. "I mean, there are only so few people on this train, right?"
Sabrina then faced Mike and Jack who were almost out the door. "I mean, it's not like Santa would want to deliver them presents anyway."
Mike and Jack heard this, and the two immediately walked back to the others. "What are you saying Sabrina?" asked Mike with his hands on his hips and a raised eyebrow.
"Santa only bequeaths presents to good boys and girls." Sabrina responded with no reaction to Mike's posture. "I was merely stating how it was impossible for you to begin with… so it was most beneficial you did your own errands rather than pretend to be nice when you still would not receive presents."
"HEY! I'm a really nice guy! Much nicer than you!"
"Yeah flipping right!" Exclaimed Teo surprising the others. "With how often you've bullied me all my life, I wouldn't be surprised if Santa gave you the entire coal factory! And every single coal mine he owns!" There was an awkward silence for a few seconds as Teo calmed down. "S-Sorry…"
Sabrina looks back at Mike with a smirk. "Do you understand Mike, even Teo approves of what I say."
"Look! There's no one who deserves to see Santa more than me! … A-And Jack of course."
"Then demonstrate it. Support Samantha by clearing her accusations with utmost haste."
"Alright we will! C'mon Jack!" with that Mike and Jack walked off towards the third carriage with Rooms Six, Seven and Eight.
Bowla turned to Sabrina. "Did you really want Mike and Jack to help?"
"I had no desire for them to doze off, I desire to observe a fair number of cartoons on that miniature telly and I do not want to keep it inaudible for the sake of those two."
Bowla shrugged her shoulders. "Makes sense."
Teo turned to Samantha. "D-Don't worry, we'll find who really stole those pans."
"Thanks, Teo."
With that; Teo, Bowla and Sabrina began to walk the other way towards the carriage with Rooms Three, Four and Five while Samantha stayed with Inspector Gadget. Samantha soon looked up to him. "Can we get something to eat?"
"I don't see why not."
In the third carriage, we find Mike and Jack wandering the halls until they reached the door with an eight on it, they checked the other two already and they were empty. The two opened the third door, only to see that it is occupied with three teenage boys.
One was lying on the bed reading a comic book, he was tall with pale yellow skin and a big black unibrow, he wore a green jacket with purple baggy trousers. One was on one of the couches typing on his laptop, he wore a black sock-shaped hat, wore a red t-shirt and purple shorts. The last one had three strands of black hair, wore a yellow t-shirt with a red vertical stripe, and blue trousers, he too was reading a comic book while eating a bag of crisps. The three were oblivious to them for a few seconds until they all turned to Mike and Jack.
"Ever heard of knocking?" asked the three-haired boy with a bored tone to him.
"Um… salutations, my name is Eddward." Said the boy wearing the black hat. "But my friends call me Double D." he then points to the three-haired boy. "This is my friend Eddy." He then points to the yellow skinned boy. "And this is my friend Ed."
"Hey." Said Eddy with the same bored tone.
"HELLO!" said Ed looking jolly.
"Uh… hi." Said Mike feeling a bit awkward, the two-walked in. "Look, we're trying to find someone who stole some pans from the chef."
"Sorry, we saw nothing; we've been here the entire time." Said Eddy as he turned back to his comic book.
Mike smirked and then he pointed. "Well you say you saw nothing. But maybe you were the ones to ta-"
"Uh Mike? They said they've been here the entire time. I don't think they could've stolen them." Interrupted Jack before Mike could embarrass himself.
"Did you talk to Mr Gadget?" asked Edd.
"Yep, and he suspects our fat idiotic friend Samantha." Said Mike shrugging his shoulders.
'Not sure if calling them fat or idiotic would be friendly.' Thought Jack.
Eddy turns to Mike and Jack. "Look we know nothing, but maybe we could help you out if you help us out with something."
Mike was about to say no, but then he remembered what Sabrina said, so he let out a sigh. "What is it?"
"You see, there's this hot chick in Room Two, who said she'll go on a date with me if I figure out what she likes and provide it." Eddy then smirks. "I think you get where I'm going with this right?"
"Eddy, we really shouldn't put your burdens on someone else." Said Edd.
"Hey, it's only fair. They help us, we help them. I don't like to do things that are out of my way for nothing you know."
Edd sighs. "Do you two mind with this task?"
"Well… it's up to Mike really." said Jack fixing his glasses.
"Meh, can't be too hard to know what girls like, right?" said Mike looking smug.
"We'll see what we can do then." said Jack, with that the two left.
As they began to walk back down the hallway to the restaurant carriage, Mike chuckled to himself. "It'll be easy; we've hung around three girls for ages now, so it should be easy knowing what this 'hot chick' like's right?" There was a bit of silence between the two, but then Mike faced Jack losing his smirk. "So, what do girls like?"
"No idea."
Teo, Bowla and Sabrina were in the next carriage with Rooms Three, Four and Five. The two walked for a bit until Teo stopped looking around. "What's that?"
"What's what?" asked Bowla.
"That smell…"
Sabrina looked around feeling confused. "I cannot distinguish any category of fragrance in the vicinity."
"It… smells warm… like cooking… and kinda greasy…" Teo looked down and went onto one knee looking at the carpet, Bowla and Sabrina did the same thing. They all noticed a darkened bit of the carpet, Teo placed his index finger on it and felt it was warm and wet; he then placed his finger close to his nose sniffing the substance. He then licked it a bit to get a quick taste, after a few seconds, he came to a conclusion. "I think this is the grease from those plates that had Samantha's Pizza Sandwiches in them.
The three stood up. "Wow… how did you know?" asked Bowla.
"I recognised it during lunch; all of the foods had a different scent from one another."
"You know those catlike aptitudes of yours are unquestionably convenient." Said Sabrina with a smirk.
Teo looked carefully at the substance, and realised it acted like a small trail leading towards the door with a three on it. "I think we found the thief."
The three walked up to the door and opened it; there they saw a lone 8ft muscular man wearing a red and black outfit. He sat on the couch looking casual until he noticed the kids. "Ever heard of knocking?" asked the man with a very thick Russian accent. He let out a quiet burp which he quickly put his hand over his mouth. "Excuse me."
Teo and Bowla walked up to the man whereas Sabrina stayed a few steps back. "Um… s-sorry to come in… my name is um… T-Teo."
"I'm Bowla and this is Sabrina."
"Call me Heavy Weapons Guy." Said the tall man. "So, what can I do for you wee tykes?"
"We heard some pans belonging to the chef were stolen recently." Said Bowla looking calm, whereas Teo was very intimidated by the man's height and size.
"And I'm assuming you are accusing me of such crime?" Said the Heavy Weapons Guy looking a little annoyed.
"We saw traces of Pizza Sandwiches on the floor in front of your door." Said Bowla with a big toothy grin.
"There is no proof that was left by me."
"Then what are these?" They all looked towards Sabrina who took out three large pans from the small desk drawer.
The Heavy Weapons Guy let out a slow sigh. "Ok… fine… I did the crime, it was me… but they were so delicious, I just had to have more."
"Um… why didn't you just ask for more instead of stealing?" asked Teo.
"Too expensive, this train was expensive enough." Teo then realised what he meant, he and his friends get all-expense-paid, but everyone else had to pay for everything, he likely didn't have enough money. "Plus, you would not believe how much more I had to pay to have my special baggage in this train too."
The Heavy Weapons Guy points to the opposite couch, there Teo, Bowla and Sabrina saw a massive mini-gun sitting on said couch. Bowla immediately looked excited as she ran up to it. "Oh wow! Now this is a top quality mini-gun!"
"You… know about them?" asked Sabrina feeling a bit concerned.
"Yeah, this baby weighs one-hundred and fifty kilograms and can fire hundreds of bullets at ten rounds per minute!" Said Bowla looking excited. "It could level a building in just three seconds!"
"And it costs four-hundred thousand dollars to fire it for twelve seconds." Said the Heavy Weapons Guy. "I could level four buildings no problem."
"Um… how do you know so much about them?" asked Teo.
"Daddy got me one for my third birthday! Well, one that suited my size."
Teo found it a bit disturbing that Bowla's dad got her a mini-gun for her third birthday. "So… your dad bequeathed to you a mini mini-gun?" Said Sabrina with a slight chuckle to her tone.
Bowla chuckled a bit herself. "I guess."
The Heavy Weapons Guy laughed a bit before looking over to Sabrina who still held the pans, and then he sighed. "To think I lowered myself to stealing."
Teo turned to the Heavy Weapons Guy. "If… you like… we can take the pans to Luigi… and say we just found them?"
The Heavy Weapons Guy stood up. "No." Teo took a few steps back feeling scared. He then walked up to Sabrina and gently took the pans. "I must pay for my crimes, I will return these myself."
Much later, Teo, Bowla, Sabrina and the Heavy Weapons Guy went to the restaurant carriage where Luigi, Mandy, Gadget and Samantha are.
"So, you stole these because you loved the Pizza Sandwiches so much that you wanted more?" asked Inspector Gadget.
"I'm sorry, it is truth. I did not have any more money to spare for such delicious foods. So, I resorted to stealing."
Luigi gently took the pans from the Heavy Weapons Guy, but he smiled as he did. "Well I suppose I can forgive you."
"Y-You can?"
"Of course, I'm actually a little flattered. It just means you love my cooking so much." Luigi chuckled slightly. "All is forgiven."
The Heavy Weapons Guy nodded. "Thank you."
Gadget smiled. "Well it's good to know that the mystery has been solved." He then faces Teo. "Now then young man, I assume you were the one who found the pans?"
"Well… n-no, Bowla and Sabrina did more than me."
"Are you kidding? If it wasn't for you sniffing out the trails, we never would've found him." Said Bowla.
"Well in any case, Teo I would like you to meet me in Room Six, I would like to discuss something important. Concerning the little 'notice' you received early this morning." Said Gadget.
Teo was confused at first, but then he remembered about the threatening note. "O-Ok."
"I better go too." Said Bowla as she placed her hands on Teo's shoulders. "He's a total scaredy cat when talking to strangers."
"Very well then, I would also like to say Samantha is free to go."
"Thank you." Said Samantha cheerfully, she then faced the others. "And thank you for finding the one who really piled the pans."
"IT'S PILFER! P-I-L-F-E-R! PUT PILL AND FUR TOGETHER AND YOU GET PILFER!" Shouted Sabrina looking almost furious; there was a bit of an awkward silence soon after. She then sighed. "Just… just forget it. Nevertheless Samantha, I require your assistance with lifting a heavy item."
"Well in any case, meet me in my room when you are ready." With that Gadget walked away.
"I best get back to the cooking." Said Luigi, he then faced the Heavy Weapons Guy. "Would you like to accompany me? I can show you how to make Deluxe Pizza Sandwiches."
The Heavy Weapons Guy gave off a big smile. "You… you mean it?!"
"Of course, that way you can make your own rather than paying so much." With that Luigi and the Heavy Weapons Guy walked up towards the kitchen.
The only ones left besides the kids was Mandy, who simply looked down at them for a few seconds, then walked away without saying a word. Soon after, Mike and Jack entered the restaurant carriage and walked up to the others. "Sheesh… some people being so demanding these days." Grumbled Mike, "So have the pans been found."
"Not at this point in time." Said Sabrina making the others look at her confused. "We are still trying to locate them."
"Great." Said Mike sarcastically. "Some big kids said they'd help us if we can find out what this girl one of them likes."
"Might be wise to question the girl herself and see what you can discover." Said Sabrina.
"We were just about to do that." Said Jack. With that the two walked off towards the other exit where Rooms Three, Four and Five are.
Once they were out of sight, Bowla turned to Sabrina. "Ok, you must've had a reason for lying."
"That way they will continue to do honourable activities to gratify Santa." Said Sabrina smirking. "That and I must gratify my own love for causing mischief."
"But… lying to them means you might not get any presents." Said Teo.
"On the contrary my endearing kiddy-kat friend. Since I drove them to do respectable and kind-heartedness deeds, I too am doing the decent decision." She then faced Samantha. "Now then, come with me."
"Ok!" With that, the two made their way towards the little shop leaving Teo and Bowla alone.
Teo looked over to the door leading to the carriage Gadget went through. "W-We should get going." Bowla nodded and the two made their way towards the door.
As the two entered the next carriage, they noticed two faces. One was Sharpfin and the other was the teenage boy in red, both looking down at them.
"Rumour has it that you kids found the thief have you not?" asked Sharpfin.
"Uh… y-yes sir." Said Teo feeling shy.
"We wanted to thank you personally." Said the teenager. "My name's Chip Skylark, I'm a pro singer."
"And I'm Sharpfin, Baron of Motleyville and an ingenious salesman. Thanks to you lot, we can finally get something to eat." Sharpfin then dug into his jacket and handed Teo a little snow-globe. "A little something-something from my own town. A thank you gift."
"Yeah, we owed you one." Said Chip, he then dug into his pocket and handed Bowla a small silver necklace. "A small gift from one of my fans. But you deserve it more."
"W-Wow… um… t-thank you." Said Teo.
Bowla examined the necklace. "This is pretty cool!"
Soon the two had walked past Teo and Bowla, but Sharpfin quickly gave Teo a rub on the head as he went by. Teo let out a slight chuckle once the two were gone. "It's… nice to be appreciated."
The two then walked up to Room Six and opened it; there they saw Inspector Gadget himself having a cup of tea. He noticed the two and gave them a wave with the robotic hand in his hat. "Glad you could make it."
Teo and Bowla sat down on the opposite couch. "So, you know who wrote the threatening note?"
"I do, and I don't. The conductor told me of this situation and while you did your business concerning the food thief, I did a bit of research on everyone that is on this train and I think I have a few suspects." Said Gadget.
"So, who are they?" asked Teo.
"My first suspect is the Heavy Weapons Guy himself… granted he was already charged for another crime, that doesn't mean he can't be charged for another… that gun of his is capable of levelling buildings, and he has a license to carry that gun as well as explosives. Even if he doesn't have any bombs on him, firing his gun into the main engine could blow the entire train up."
"I don't think he would have a reason to blow up the train, would he?" asked Bowla.
"So far there is no reason for him to, but we cannot rule him out completely. While he has no motivation, he still carries the weapons capable of destroying the train, meaning he could be the one or his weapons will be used by another."
"He... did seem like a nice man though… who are the others?" asked Teo.
"My next suspect is Sharpfin. His business is more than shady and had authorities to carry weaponry. I have a theory on his motivation however, his business is mostly scraps of machinery, and this train costs millions, if he blew it up, he could salvage the scraps or sell his own to repair the train, therefore he would make a major fortune."
Teo looked down at the snow-globe Sharpfin gave him, he gave out a quiet sigh, hoping it wasn't him seeing as how nice he was to him. "A fair assumption, anyone else?" asked Bowla.
"There's the waitress Mandy."
"M-Mandy? But… why her? She would seem… like the least suspicious." Said Teo.
"I was unsure myself, but I looked up some big info on her. She apparently has a criminal record, she has caused massive damage to several sections of her own town in the past, she has even blown up a small building before, she's only working on this train as a punishment, Jury Duty actually, she would likely blow this train up if she grows tired of working here, in which I believe she already has."
"Wow… s-sounds like Bowla." Bowla glared at Teo who leaned back feeling nervous.
"My final suspect is Mr Stan from the little shop. Who recently insured his shop and everything in it. Meaning if the train were to blow up, he would make a massive fortune just like that."
Bowla rubbed her head. "So, four suspects… but there's something… would the suspect actually blow up the train while still on it?"
"My guess is no." said Gadget. "If fact I wager that the suspect will set the explosives just before leaving, meaning we have until the train stops to find and arrest him or her."
"So… when will the train stop?" asked Teo.
"If what the conductor told me is true, it will stop at a small station to refuel tomorrow at two in the afternoon."
"So that means we have until then to stop this creep before they blow up the train." Said Bowla. "Does anyone else know about the note?"
"I haven't told anyone." Said Gadget. "So, the only ones that should know this are me, the conductor and you kids. And I suggest we keep this to ourselves, don't say a word. We don't want to cause a panic."
"But that also means that whoever knows about the threat besides the ones you said, he or she will definitely be the suspect." Said Teo.
Soon Gadget stood up. "Now I strongly suggest that we begin searching for the suspect, try to converse with them while looking for any evidence, even the faintest evidence could be vital."
Teo and Bowla stood up too. "Got it. And thank you for your help." Said Teo.
"No problem, you can always count on Inspector Gadget to solve the case, and with you clever kids at my side, the case should be solved quicker."
As the three left the room, they all began to walk towards the restaurant carriage to begin their search. As they entered the restaurant, they all stopped in the middle where Gadget spoke to them quietly. "I'm going to check the shop out, why don't you let your friends know about what's going on, so they can help."
"Ok." Said Bowla quietly. With that Teo and Bowla walked towards the next carriage while Gadget made his way to the shop.
As they walked, Teo began to think to himself.
'Heavy Weapons Guy, Sharpfin, Mandy and Mr Stan… all four of them are suspects. Heavy has the weapons, Sharpfin can make a lot of money, Mandy's destroyed stuff before and Mr Stan can make a lot of money too… could only one of them be a suspect, or could all of them be… so many suspects, so little time, I really hope we can find the bad guy before time runs out… and I really hope we can save Christmas too.'
Teo continued to walk with Bowla, but he looked back to see Gadget and Stan talking through the shop window, Heavy Weapons Guy cooking with Luigi, Sharpfin eating and Mandy sitting at one of the tables bored. Anyone could be the real bad guy. Teo looked back hoping to find the bad guy soon. Unaware of the silver fly looking at them from the ceiling.