A/N: I claim no ownership of Thomas and Friends or the Railway Series. They belong to Mattel (and the Awdry family) This is a nonprofit story based on Thomas and Friends.
Sodor (Suspension) Bridge is Falling Down
It was early one morning in February, and the Flying Kipper needed taking.
Problem: Henry wasn't available, since he was due for a checkup.
Solution? Find BoCo.
Problem: BoCo was stuck at Brendam yard due to a switch failure.
Solution? Find Bear.
Problem: Again, Bear was also due for maintenance. He'd wanted his engine to not sound as loud as it did, and so requested he get it swapped out. Sir Topham Hatt said yes.
Solution? Get James to do it.
Problem: James was dealing with the trains to Kirk Machan after a power outage.
Solution? Get Gordon to do it.
Problem: Gordon was held up at London.
The final solution was decided upon. What was that solution? Have Thomas and Percy do it.
"Alright, Perce. You ready for this?" Thomas asked on their way to the harbor. "I guess. Never had to take the Kipper before." Percy replied, unsure. "It'll be fine. We'll do great! Now, where are those blasted fish vans…" Thomas trailed off. "Uh, Thomas?" Percy spoke up. "What?" Thomas replied, confused. "We got a problem." Percy stated. "What sort of problem?" Thomas asked, intrigued. "I've scoured the yard, and there's not a brakevan in sight." Percy semi-deadpanned. "Oh. Well, one of us can go back engine." Thomas replied, after a bit of thought. "You wanna do it?" Percy asked. "Let's flip. Driver, got any coins on you?" "As a matter of fact, I do. Percy, you call it."
The coin flew into the air, and Percy shouted, "HEADS!" When they looked at the coin, it was showing its backside. "Oh. Guess I'm it." "Mhm. Well, let's get going. I don't want to smell like fish the whole bloody morning." Thomas ordered. "Hey, isn't complaining about your general external state James's thing?" Percy asked, cheekily. "Oh, you would go there, wouldn't you?" Thomas spat out, before buffering up. As soon as he had gotten coupled, a green lamp shown, and the two set off towards the other end of the island.
Before long, the two had gotten underway, and were making good time. But there was trouble. At this time of year, in late February, the snow had started to melt. It was just enough today to create the slipperiest rails the engines had ever seen. "Oh, I hope we can make it up Gordon's Hill. This train is much too heavy to be going that fast with us in tow." Percy muttered. "Indeed. Well, we've got plenty of sand, and we've got plenty of speed. We'll be up and over before you can say, 'Fat Controller.'" Thomas replied, trying to boost Percy's confidence. It worked.
However, Thomas's motivational speech had spurred the trucks into their planning mode. They sniggered quietly. One of them, who happened to have a good sense of humor, said quietly, "Oh, you'll be up and over alright. But we'll see how you like it when you end up where the fish inside us came from!" The other trucks laughed. Percy bumped them, before shouting, "Quiet, you lot! We're dealing with the smell already! We don't have time for your nonsense!" The truck muttered to himself, "Oh, you may not have time now. But there'll be plenty of time later." To the other trucks, he added: "Let's send Thomas where our loads came from!"
By this point, the two tank engines had made it to Wellsworth with no problems. They had gone at maximum power towards Gordon's Hill, when the trucks set their plan into motion. "HOLD BACK! HOLD BACK!" they screeched. "OH NO YOU DON'T!" Thomas snapped. "DRIVER! SAND! NOW!" "ON IT!" his driver replied. Percy had also started laying sand down, and was surging as fast as he could up the slope. His driver watched the sand gauge anxiously, hoping it would be enough. In all honesty, it totally would've had it either a) not been so slippery, or b) the trucks hadn't decided to hold back. Eventually, Percy ran out of sand, and his wheels began to slide across the icily slick rails.
A/N: MWAHAHAHAHA! CLIFFHANGER! But in all seriousness, I think we all knew this sort of thing was bound to happen.