A/N: A story request for Rattlesnake Jake! Mr. Conductor gets injured when Boomer challenges him, - and when he collapses whilst with his friends, how can they help?
...
"C'mon, your family's job is at stake!" Mr. Conductor thought furiously. He was busy trying to sort out the whole gold dust affair- if he and Junior didn't procure more gold dust soon, they would lose their powers- and who knows what would happen to them, then? This had never happened before.
Little did Mr. Conductor realise that he was being watched in the distance by two sinister figures on the line.
...
"There's that blasted Twinkletoes!" Diesel 10 said, pointing Pinchey toward the conductor. A black clothed man chortled evilly.
"Hehe...he'll be working with Burnett's grand-brat to restore Lady!" P.T Boomer sneered. "Well, we'll soon put a stop to that!"
He ran up the hill towards the uniformed man by the windmill, and grabbed Mr. Conductor by the arms. Poor Mr. Conductor yelled out in alarm as he realised what was going on- but due to the lack of gold dust on his person, he was too weak to fight back, or escape. His only hope was if some kindly ally came along and intervened.
Boomer shoved Mr. Conductor back into Diesel 10 with a clang. The blue clothed man winced as his spine came into contact with the cold metal of Diesel's body.
"Tell me, you little pixie- where is Lady?" Boomer demanded.
"I don't know who this Lady is." Mr. Conductor replied defiantly. As a reward, he received a punch on the jaw.
"Wrong answer- where is she? And where's Burnett Stone?"
Mr Conductor answered in the negative, and a stinging sensation travelled along his cheek in response.
Boomer wrung his hand and gazed at the trembling man before him. "I'll ask you one more time- if you dare defy me, then, that seals your fate." He suddenly seized Mr. Conductor by the neck, and lifted him high, struggling in vain to get free of the brute's grip. "What is Burnett planning?"
This time, Mr. Conductor reached out a leg and kicked P.T Boomer as hard as he could- right in the nether regions...
"OWW- YOU SON OF A B4! THAT'S IT!" He yelled furiously.
Mr. Conductor flopped onto the ground and he received violent kicks to his stomach and chest. He did manage to kick his attacker's ankles- and he even tripped Boomer up. But apart from that and some protest of mercy, he was too weak to put up a real fight.
"You coward," Sneered Boomer, snickering maliciously, as he surveyed his handiwork. "Well, well, ducky, you could have saved yourself so much pain if you'd just spoke up about Lady and Burnett. Well, it's too late. We're going to find the m ourselves."
"Yes, quite!" Diesel 10 added. "I'm just going to fetch Splodge and then our tyranny can begin..." the Warship gave a sinister, creepy smile, and the duo raced away, cackling evilly over Mr. Conductor's fate.
Left alone, Mr. Conductor stood up as bravely as he could, wincing when he realised that his ribcage hurt. "I might have broken a rib or two there." He muttered. "But for now, I better find the others."
...
Later, Mr. Conductor managed to locate his cousin, Junior- who was with Thomas, Lady and Lily, and he was talking to them as they reflected on their victory over Diesel 10. He didn't tell them about the attack, though- he couldn't bring himself to worry anyone.
"Well, we did it- we triumphed over Diesel 10, the Magic Railroad is safe from harm, and the Conductor family have replenished their gold dust supply." Lady said determinedly, smiling as Junior held up a whistle filled with gold dust.
"You were amazing, grandfather." Lily said to Burnett, giving him a hug. "You were really brave- saving Lady like that!"
Mr. Conductor smiled at the child's display of affection- but he winced as he felt his legs slowly weaken beneath him. Then, his knees buckled, and he fell to the ground, collapsing from all the pain that P.T Boomer had inflicted on him.
"Coz!" Junior gasped in horror, getting down on his knees. "What...what happened to you?" He asked. He stifled a gasp of shock as he noticed that his cousin had a bruise on his cheek, and he was holding his sides as though he was in pain.
"What happened to Mr. Conductor?" Thomas asked in shock, as Lily held a hand over her mouth in horror.
"Was...attacked..." Mr. Conductor rasped.
"By who? And when?" Junior demanded.
"Please, Junior- be patient with your cousin." Lady admonished gently. "He is still very weak- let him find the energy."
"Right-sorry...not very good at hospital visits or anything along that category." Junior muttered. He gently cupped his hand round the bruise on his relative's cheek.
"Diesel...Diesel 10...and...man...black...suit..."
"That sounds like P.T Boomer!" Burnett realised in dismay. "He had tried to destroy Lady once."
"Don't worry, Mr. Conductor-we'll make sure you get better again!" Lily cried, as Burnett and Junior gently lifted Mr. Conductor onto Thomas- after checking for spinal injuries first.
"We'll take him to the nearest station," Thomas decided. "They should have road access for an ambulance to take him to hospital."
"Take care," Said Lady, worriedly. "I hope you feel better soon, Mr. Conductor."
Mr. Conductor couldn't say very much, but as he was helped onto Thomas' cab, he patted Lady's side as a thank you for her concern.
"We'll come and visit, Mr. Conductor." Lily added- then she had an idea. She climbed onto her friend's running board and crouched down by the cab opening. She pulled out an item from her pocket, and pressed it into Mr. Conductor's hand.
"Here...you can have my bluebird. He's been there for me when I was hurt or sick, and I think you need him more than I do." She said.
Mr Conductor smiled tenderly, and mouthed a 'thank you'- the pain was making it hard for him to speak to his friends.
But Lily understood. They all did.
After all, he was their friend, and friends understood each other.