James the Red Engine has always disliked Diesels.
The only ones he trusted were Mavis, BoCo, Bear, Sidney, Dave, and Salty.
And even then he can get grumpy with them.
"Hurry up, Sidney!" James snorted.
Sidney panted as he he shunted James' coaches behind him.
"Sorry..." he said, "But I forgot where your coaches were... Not to mention all the trucks in the yard lately."
"Pah!'
All other Diesels James treated with suspicion, and that included Paxton.
Paxton is very friendly to everybody, even Diesel, but James disliked him greatly.
Donald and Douglas were taking on water at the water tower at Tidmouth while Bear was resting on a siding on the other side.
James puffed in, looking agitated.
"Here we go." chuckled Bear.
James seethed angrily as he looked over; Paxton was arriving at the station to collect some supplies for the Blue Mountain Quarry.
"Hello James!" honked Paxton, but James looked away.
Paxton frowned, but continued on.
Bear cocked an eyebrow.
"What was that all about, James?"
"It's that Paxton! Paxton's friends with cruel engines like Diesel 10! He helped steal our Christmas decorations!" huffed James.
"Calm down, James." said Bear, "Paxton's just very gullible, that's all. He's a good sort in reality."
"Then how do you explain him taking over the Steamworks with the rest of the lot?" scowled James.
"He was young back then, James. Diesel 10 took advantage of him, but he's grown maturer since then and knows the difference from right and wrong." explaineed Bear.
James just rolled his eyes.
"Och, the lad's richt, James. Would ya want yon Paxton to tell ye aboot yer earlier days?" asked Douglas.
"Poo!" snorted James and he puffed away.
"What in the world was that aboot?" asked Douglas.
"He's just upset, that's all." said Donald.
"I don't know; he seems like he doesn't like that little Diesel." replied Bear and he huffed away to collect a stopping train.
Later, James was puffing on his way to the Docks to collect some fruit vans for market when he met Emily at Wellsworth.
"Hello, James." said Emily cautiously as she noticed the scowl on James' face.
"Emily, do you trust Paxton?" James asked angrily.
Emily was a little surprised.
"Um... yes. Paxton's a kind Diesel."
This was the final straw for James.
"Why does everybody trust Paxton? He's a traitor to us! He acts all friendly, but deep down, he's a cruel sort, luring us in with his clever tactics."
"James, did you really come by here just to rattle on about your 'conspiracy theories'? Because I've got more important work to do, thank you." and she bustled away with her coaches.
James was even crosser; not only did everybody trust Paxton, but now nobody even wanted to talk to him.
"Pfft, everyone's so vulgar." James muttered as he puffed onto Wellsworth Junction and onto the branch line.
At Brendam, James arrived to find Cranky loading Porter's trucks, so the tank engine could shunt them.
"Oh, hello James. You look rather upset. Why should you on a nice day like this?" Porter asked.
"It's not nice for me..." muttered James.
"And why ever not?"
"Well, for one, everybody trusts Paxton."
Porter was confused.
"Why exactly are you so mad about that? Everyone has their own choices."
"Because everybody knows Paxton's bad. Nobody just wants to admit it. They all live in denial." James said darkly.
Porter sighed.
"Alright, are you just going to sit here gossiping, or are you actually going to do something?" grumbled Cranky as Porter puffed away.
"I am here to collect my fruit, genius." huffed James.
"Well, Salty's bringing them in a few minutes, so you'll have to wait." Cranky said.
"On top of everything else!" James huffed as he puffed onto a siding.
This siding had unsafe buffers that were loose, but the workmen had forgotten to finish repairs. Fish oil from The Flying Kipper from that morning made the siding even more unsafe, but James didn't know this.
"Slippery sidings! Ugh!" James said in disgust.
But then there was trouble.
Murdoch had arrived to shunt his own trucks onto a siding so the crane could unload the steel bars onto the ship.
But he didn't realize that James was there.
James was humming when he noticed the flatbeds nearing him.
"Murdoch!" cried James in horror, a second too late.
Murdoch, unknowing of James' presence, pushed the red engine into the buffers.
But the buffers wouldn't hold and broke in pieces, sending James off the dock and into the sea.
"Aaaah!" James yelled as he splashed into the water.
Luckily, his crew had jumped before the crash, and none of Murdoch's flatbeds had went into the sea, but James was stuck.
"Oh, no! My paintwork isn't fond of saltwater!" James groaned.
"Your fault for sitting there. Don't blame me. I'm just a crane..." muttered Cranky.
Murdoch looked back.
"James? Was that you?" Murdoch asked.
"You knocked him into the sea, stupid." Cranky sneered.
Murdoch suddenly realized what he did.
"Whoops..."
Paxton arrived with a train of stone from the Blue Mountain Quarry.
"These supplies have done the quarry good." Paxton said cheerily, "They definitely improved the work performance."
He then gawked at the sight of James in the ocean water.
"Oh no, James!" he cried, "What happened?"
Murdoch chuckled nervously.
"I, uh, didn't see him and he went into the sea."
Then Murdoch got an idea, to try and change the subject.
"Paxton, how about you pull James back onto the rails? That'll show him you're a kind Diesel."
"Why can't you do it?" interrupted Cranky, "You're right there after all."
"I, uh, have other stuff to do. Toodles!" and Murdoch puffed away anxiously with his pipes of steel to shunt on another siding.
James, meanwhile, was growing impatient and worried.
"Help? Somebody!" groaned James, "You're making my paint soggy!"
Paxton got determined.
"Okay, let's do it." he said firmly.
Paxton was uncoupled from his trucks and he rolled onto James' siding.
"So, uh, how are we supposed to rescue him?" Paxton asked Cranky.
"...get a crane?" grumbled Cranky, "Salvage barges, specifically."
"Oh... Alright."
His driver got out a phone and called for help.
"Ello? Yes, we need several salvage barges immediately. James is in the sea. Got it. Alright." the driver explained.
Soon salvage barges arrived.
The cranes on the barges lifted James onto a barge, then his tender into another.
Then the barges carried James to the Docks.
Cranky rolled his eyes.
"I suppose you want me to help you...fine."
Cranky lowered his hook, which was attached to James.
"Oh..." James groaned as he was lifted off the barge, and soon, James felt his wheels touch the rails once more.
The red engine's tender went through the same process.
James was very cross.
"Thank goodness I'm out of that disgusting ocean water. I hate being wet. And I hate rust..."
James sighed sadly.
"Someone take me to the washdown..." James groaned.
Paxton grinned.
"I'll take you, James."
James glared.
"He's the one who sent help, James..." said Cranky gruffly, "I suggest you apologize."
James looked down at his buffers.
"Thanks, Paxton... I guess I was wrong to judge you."
Paxton smiled.
"Well, you can't judge a book by it's cover."
"Or an engine." agreed James.
Just then, Salty arrived with James' fruit vans.
"Sorry, me hearty! Busy day, busy day. First, Murdoch wants his steel unloaded, then Edward needs passengers, argh. Well, what did I miss? You look soaking wet!" Salty chortled.
James rolled his eyes.
"I don't think James is in any shape to pull his train right now, Salty. If you'd like, I think I can get Henry to pull it."
Salty sighed.
"Alright, mate. I'll arrange it with the Dock Manager."
And Salty oiled away, while Paxton took James to the Washdown.
"That feels better." James said happily as the water was dried off.
Paxton chuckled.
"Goodbye, James! Now, if you excuse me, I think I need to go to the Blue Mountain Quarry." and Paxton rolled away.
James now thinks better of Paxton, realizing he is indeed a good engine after all, and now also knows that not all Diesels are evil.