Well, after reassessing my (now hectic) life, and curbing the broad extent of my Fanfiction goals, I'm still left with the JRS being one of my high points on my to-do list. We can now finish up Thomas's escapades in the city that sleeps a lot less than the one that doesn't. You'll find a lot of new and interesting mixes on Thomas's way back to Sodor, so I'll step back and let you enjoy the stories!
The Japanese Railway Series
Book Two: Thomas and the Demons
Dear Friends,
I promised in my last book that I would share with you more of Thomas's adventures while he was in Tokyo. Oddly enough, those stories centered around characters that acted like, or literally were, demons. From Nerine to Primula, the Electric Railway to Aiko, and even a few other surprising figures, Thomas found out just how many demons he knew…and which ones he should trust and care the most.
The Author
Stories Included:
Bright Spark
More about the Verbena Academy Princesses
Aiko and the Troublesome Trucks
Thomas, Primula, and Lycoris
Bright Spark
Thomas the Tank Engine was enjoying his stay on the Kanto Railway in Tokyo. The engines were (mostly) nice, the cars were friendly, and the workload was steady. Most importantly, he was able to make friends amongst the wards of the city. Every morning, Thomas looks forward to the morning train which runs past the National Verbena Academy, where Rin, Kaede, and their friends go to school.
"PEEP! PEEP! Good morning, my friends!" Thomas called out.
"Konichiwa, Thomas!" at least one of them called back. Sometimes he would meet them at the Academy, other times at the Sunlight Way business district. Occasionally, he would even take them to school from their lineside houses. Speaking of those, there is a girl with purple hair that Thomas likes to meet their as well.
"PEEP! PEEP! Hello, Primula!"
"…good afternoon, Thomas…" Primula always came out to the door to say hello, but never said anything else, nor did she smile.
"Hey! We'd like a friendly greeting to, ya know!" Thomas never paid any heed to Eustoma, the King of the Gods, or Forbessi, the King of the Demons, and puffed away. By now, Thomas had gotten used to the fact that there were Gods and Demons in the world. What he hadn't gotten used to, however, was his prolonged absence from his branchline. It was so lonely without Annie and Clarabel accompanying him on his runs.
One morning, just before it was time to go to work, Mr. Soroi had some good news for Thomas.
"The volcano in Europe has finally settled down. In about a week's end, my engine will arrive here at Tokyo, and you, Thomas, will be going back home."
"You here that, Yankee?" Aiko sneered. "You can go back to your unpopulated branchline with cardboard coaches and rickety old freight cars now!" Thomas became cross.
"I can handle being called a Yankee, but bringing Annie and Clarabel into this is uncalled for! My coaches can do much more than modern stock on any day!"
"You even name your cattle stock? No wonder you Yankees lost steam so soon!"
"Cattle stock?-!"
"Easy, you two!" Kayio urged. "Try not to fight in front of Mr. Soroi! You're acting just like the commuter line's EMUs!" Thomas was confused.
"EMU? What's that? Some sort of an animal, no doubt." Mr. Soroi chuckled.
"Yes and no. What Kayio is talking about are Electrical Multiple Unit coaches. They replaced the locomotive-hauled trains on the main routes, but on the railway where we run on, they have been the norm for all of time."
"EMUs," Kayio continued, "are very haughty prima donnas. I remember back in '71, just before I was retired, the National Railway was replacing all passenger service on the electrified lines with EMUs. They were clean freaks, and wouldn't even socialize with diesels, let alone steam engines. They said that we were all pollutants, and should be all melted down and turned into track or more EMUs."
"We have to always make way for the EMUs," Aiko added. "One last week told me that I was a tea kettle pulling a bento lunch, and that I should find the nearest cafeteria." Thomas was baffled by the strength of the accusations.
"Even Daisy didn't flaunt her superiority to that degree," he muttered, "and she's a diesel railcar." Mr. Soroi coughed, bringing everyone back to his attention.
"Anyway, I have important news regarding traffic levels. Starting today, we now service a couple of new customers on the lower commuter lines. One manufactures commuter coaches and electric railcars that are shipped to cities around the world, and the other unloads chemicals and oil from ships for delivery inland. Thomas, I want you to take the first train of railcars to the docks." Aiko was horrified.
"What?-! Why are you letting a Yankee visitor to start the service?-! It should be a Japanese engine that always delivers the first loads!"
"I appreciate your opinion, Aiko," Mr. Soroi addressed, "but this customer is the reason why I needed to obtain an engine from America. The sidings leading to those customers are sharp, and both you and Kayio are too long and rigid to negotiate those curves with consistent reliability, so I had to get a new one from elsewhere." Aiko kept silent, and looked away. Kayio had no interest in the subject whatsoever. "Thomas, a cut of tanker cars is waiting for you in the yard for you to take for loading. Hurry, now!"
Thomas hurried off to the yard to collect his train. It consisted of a brakevan on both ends and a string of eight tank cars. They backed onto the train, coupled it to Thomas, and set off for the industrial plant. The plant was located on the coastline, south of the yard complex, and away from the crowded city. Here, the landscape reminded Thomas of Duck's costal branchline. There were still many houses and businesses crowding the space, but there were rolling hills, a large seaport paralleling the coast, and scores of tunnels which dotted the hillsides.
"It's like we're no longer in Japan anymore," Thomas remarked.
"We're not all about high-rises and crowded streets," Sakoto laughed. "There is some natural beauty scattered here and there." They soon came to a station, which had a red signal. "Looks like there's a train ahead of us. We'll stop here to let it get ahead of us."
"It's times like this where I wished there was a third track on the line. Or at least crossover." As they stopped at the station, an EMU passenger train glided silently into the station, going the same way on the other track. Thomas decided to try and conduct some small chat with the train. "Peep! Peep! Hello!" Thomas hoped that the EMU was friendly, but I'm sorry to say that it was not the case.
"What's some inferior hunk of pollution doing soiling my rails?" it huffed. "Get on with you, scrapper's lot!" Thomas tried to be fair.
"Scrapper's lot? I believe you're mistaken. I'm here to take a train of your brothers to the harbor for export." The EMU grunted.
"Hum…They shouldn't have the disgrace of being pulled by sully steam trains. For that matter, this railway has no need for filthy freight traffic! That's why we banished them from the railway years ago. You locomotives have no use in this country!"
"What would be of your passengers if you have no power? My railway back home has an electric line, and we all needed to pitch in when the generator failed and the engines couldn't start. How about that, bright spark?" The EMU sniffed haughtily.
"We never run out of power; electricity is abundant everywhere here. There is never a time when we can't run, so long as we have our catenary. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a schedule to keep, unlike yourself." Before Thomas could retort, the EMU rolled away.
"What a horrid thing!" Thomas huffed. "I don't know how the passengers can be kept happy riding in a train like that!"
"We do things here a bit differently than on Sodor," Sakoto stated. "Here, taking a train is only a means to get to work. There's not too much class or personality with the equipment; just a standardization of commuter trains that can be mass-produced. The only time that the passengers talk is when there is a problem with the service. But we're not here for that. Let's get these cars delivered to their proper sidings." Thomas agreed, knowing that the time working would help get his mind off of the EMU. Eventually, they reached the industrial area, located in a rugged area beside the bay. The sidings made a return loop, running around a mountain before tunneling through the side, and crossing over at grade to reach the commuter equipment manufacturer. The tank cars were left to be loaded on a siding by the bay, and six bi-level coaches and four EMUs were collected for export. These coaches had only knuckle couplers, so a brakevan, which had both knuckles and chains, was placed as a spacer car just after Thomas.
"That was very gentle," the coaches remarked as Thomas gently backed up. "Not like how the little shunter used to shuffle us around the plant. Where did you learn such great manners?"
"The Island of Sodor. Any common engine should know that you should be gentle with the coaches, and most importantly, the passengers inside." Thomas pulled up to the junction to the mainline, just as the same EMU passed by in the other direction.
"That's right, you scrap pile!" the EMU jeered. "Stay on those dirty industrial sidings where you belong, and never come back!"
"I never thought I would desire the company of the trucks…" Thomas groaned. All electric trains have pantographs, which draw power from the overhead wires to power the train. The wires must be kept in constant tension; otherwise, a pantograph might snag onto it. That's just what happened as the EMU passed by Thomas. The right side sheared completely off, and crashed into Thomas's side tanks. Sakoto and the fireman jumped out of the other side of the cab in fear.
"YAIE!" Sakoto gasped. "That stuff's dangerous!"
"It zapps too!" Thomas added in shock. The EMU continued to the next station, but the pantograph snapped and broke off as he went along, sending electrical debris everywhere. Suddenly, there was a large flash and bang, and amoke billowed from the pantograph. The train shuddered to a halt at the station platform, lifeless and dead. Passengers clambered out of the train to see what had happened. The catenary on the section behind them was drooped lower, and bounced gleefuly in the wind, caring not that it had just immobilized the EMU set. Thomas couldn't help but to make fun of the situation.
"Well, well, well," he chuckled. "I guess someone's tripped up over their wheels. Or should I say wires?"
"Thomas!" Sakoto gasped. "You know better than to laugh at someone's near-death experiences! We're lucky it happened before the station. If it caught at a crowded platform, who knows what could have happened?" Thomas felt a bit more respectful.
"Right, I almost forgot about the passengers." The stationmaster walked over to them.
"We need you to push the passenger train to the works station at the least. The train can't draw power anymore, and there's no chance that another set can come with these wires freely loosened. We'l transfer the passengers to another train when we can."
"Do you think you can do it, Thomas?" Sakoto asked.
"I'll give it a good try," he assured her. "But what about our train? Can we pull both the dead EMU and our own weight?"
"We've already spoken to your superintendent, and he said he'll send another engine to collect your cars. Be quick, now!" They needed the brakevan to couple onto the EMU, so the train was uncoupled after that point. Thomas ran around the van, and then carefully puffed ahead, Sakoto cautiously looking out to make sure Thomas's funnel wouldn't get too close to the wires. He couple up to the rear of the EMU.
"It's lucky that this 'dirty engine' doesn't need the use of wires to operate; I wouldn't know what I'd do without my nice little bunker." The EMU looked shamefully at his wheels; he had nothing to say. The train was only five cars long, but it was packed to the brim with commuters, and was much heavier to push than Thomas thought.
"Come on! Come on-come on-come on!" Slowly but surely, the unusual-looking train puffed out of the station, and over the open line. It was hard work, and at times, Thomas thought that he was going to pull a cylinder or break a traction rod. Fortunately, the stops were close to each other, and with no power in the coaches, the conductor had to manually open and close the doors to let passengers off and on the train, giving Thomas time to rest his wheels for the next run. When this was done, Thomas was able to start again.
Halfway through his journey, he spotted Kayio puffing down the line in the other direction. She was heading to pick up Thomas's cars that he left behind. "Great job, Thomas! Keep up being a credit to our two railways!"
"Will do!" Thomas replied. It was all he could say, as he was quite out of breath; however, he was pleasantly surprised with her compliment. He found it nice that Kayio remembered that he wouldn't be on Japanese soil for much longer.
Eventually, they reached the EMU works station. Thomas stopped to unload all the passengers, then pulled ahead on the mainline to allow a new EMU set to back down and collect the passengers. While the EMU was loading, Thomas rolled backwards behind the points, and switched onto the sidings to shunt the dead EMU into an empty track. The replacement EMU gave a quick toot, and accelerated away down the line.
"Phew!" Thomas sighed wearily. "I'm glad that's over. I didn't know that passengers could be stuffed into a train like that!"
"It's the norm here," Sakoto told him. "Now let's get you back to the yard and have a nice drink." That night, Mr. Soroi congratulated Thomas on a job well done.
"A fine piece of ingenuity, Thomas!" He said. "The director of the commuter lines said that there would've been an awkward situation for him if he had to cancel the train, but you were able to stay only ten minutes behind schedule."
"So I prevented confusion and serious delay?" Mr. Soroi chuckled.
"In a sense, yes. But you also showed me that you have a sharp mind, even better than that, uh, 'bright spark' of an EMU." To this, even Aiko had to laugh.
"A lot better than being a blue birdbrain!" she chuckled.
"Hey!" Thomas pouted, before laughing some more. For once the two quarreling engines took the night in stride. Kayio noticed this with interest. Could her friend, perhaps, be changing her stance with the visitor from Sodor?
More about the Verbena Academy Princesses
In a city as large as Tokyo, garbage removal is a real problem. Large amounts of trash need to be moved as quickly as possible, before returning to the source in order to pick up more of the noxious substance. Recently, to help alleviate the growing piles of trash, Mr. Soroi struck a deal with several businesses, industries, and municipalities along the Kanto Railway. Garbage is loaded into containers, which are taken to the harbor or the transfer yard to be sent to incinerators across the country. It's not the most important or glamorous job…
"'…bet semeone's got te do it.' That's what Donald or Douglas would say about this job, especially since they help Whiff in similar duties on Sodor." Thomas was assigned to garbage duty today after his usual transfer run. Aiko, who was nearby, couldn't care less about the job.
"Huh!" the Japanese engine huffed. "I still don't see why you are so eager to take this run. All you gave me was a huge bunch of smelly Yankee rubbish!"
"The only rubbish that'll be here will be on the train," Thomas corrected. "A job's a job, and I can't argue with that. Plus, at least it isn't fish. THAT'S the real stench." Thomas then left the yards to start his transfer run before he could hear Aoki's reply.
"What a horrid busybot!" she muttered. "…though he does have a point…"
The journey to the transfer yard was uneventful, and Thomas was quickly chuffing back to the main yard. When he approached Rin's house, however, he could see Rin waiving at him to stop. Next to him were Kaede, Nerine, and Sia, as well as the two Kings, who were staring each other down. Nerine was trying to get the two to stop from doing something.
"What's up?" Sakoto asked.
"Do you mind if you give us a ride to school?" Rin asked. Sakoto blinked.
"Don't you remember what I said a few days ago? Thomas's cab can't fit all of you in here."
"I know. But Eustoma and Forbessi -"
"PAPA!-!"
"…both papas…are convinced that delinquents are some type of criminal organization, and won't let us go without an escort. Then, they got into an argument between who should provide the bodyguards, and well…" Thomas saw a small ball of energy between the two kings.
"What's that green light?" he asked.
"That's magic," Sakoto said warily. "It may look small, but it's very powerful. Which begs the question…how powerful are those two?" Sia nervously chuckled.
"W-Well…the last time they fought…two uninhabited cities in the World of the Demons disappeared." Every human and Thomas gasped.
"T-T-THEY MADE THEM DISSAPEAR?-!-?-!" Kaede exclaimed. "A-Are they going to drop Armageddon right here in Tokyo?-!"
"Not over my scrapped frame!" Thomas stated. "We'll be happy to take you to school."
"Here that, papas?" Rin called. "Thomas and Sakoto are willing to escort us. There's no need to call in the troops!" Eustoma and Forbessi looked over in their direction.
"Oh, hi Thomas!" Forbessi called over. "You're looking nice and shiny today!"
"Konichiwa, Sakoto!" Eustoma waved. "You look like 85 points with your hair like that! Although your bosom is no match for that of my rapidly growing Sia's -!"
!SMACK!
!CRASH!
"D-DAD?-! THAT'S GROSS!" Sia somehow had pulled out what Thomas was quickly considering her trademark – a folding chair – from somewhere he had no idea. Everyone stared blankly at her, with Nerine walking to the side of her friend.
"U-Um, Sia? Do you think that may have been going a bit overboard?" Sia nervously laughed, her embarrassment a complete turnaround from a moment ago. Soon, the four were on Thomas's pilot, and were slowly chuffing down the street towards the Academy.
"Are those two always like that?" Thomas asked the two princesses. Sia grumbled.
"Sadly, yes. You're lucky that we aren't back in the World of the Gods. Dad used to always tout me as the next Playboy girl…whatever a Playboy girl is, but I know that it isn't a clean-minded thing!"
"Be glad you don't," Rin said. "And stay away from Itsuki if you want to keep it that way."
"It's the same with papa," Nerine added quietly. "He dotes on me so much that he can make any situation become one of my most embarrassing moments."
"They only care about you two so much," Kaede reasoned. "You are their only children, and they wouldn't want to see you two get hurt. It is your first time on Earth that they're letting you wander off on your own, after all."
"Actually," Nerine corrected, "the first time we came here, we kinda wandered off on our own. That's actually how we met Rin."
"Huh?" Before Rin could get an answer, Thomas gasped.
"PEEP-PIP-PEEP! Stop! There's a person on the tracks ahead!" Sakoto eased Thomas to a halt. About five yards ahead was a boy, wearing a uniform from the Academy. He was not too appealing to look at.
"H-Hello Kaede, n-nice to m-m-meet you." The boy stuttered with every sentence. "I-I'm from the KKK."
"Not again," Rin muttered. Thomas was perplexed.
"KKK? Isn't that an American group with white robes?"
"Not this KKK, Thomas," Rin sighed. "This is the Knights of Kissy Kaede."
"How unoriginal for a fan club," Sakoto stated as he peered out from the cab.
"So cool!" Sia said. "I wish I had a fan club like that!" Rin looked at her like she had two heads.
"Trust me," he said. "You don't." But it was too late. A student on a bicycle rode towards them.
"NO!" he screamed. "I'll be the first to confess my heart to Sia!" Another boy came up along Thomas's right side.
"Wait! I have to say my all-encompassing feelings for Nerine first!" The turn of events were getting on Sakoto's nerves.
"This stupid fanboy business is making us late for our jobs!" She pulled on Thomas's whistle cord, letting out a long, sharp blast. The third guy was so frightened, that he stumbled back and fell back-first onto the ground. When he recovered, he noticed that he was staring straight up Nerine's skirt. The Princess of the Demon World noticed this too, and panicked.
"KYA-A!-!" She shrieked. "Leave us alone!" She swung her hand forward, and a wave of energy shot forward. It struck her fanboy, sending her flying far away, beyond their line of sight. The other two fanboys were scared to wits.
"L-lets g-get out o-o-of here!" the stutterer decided.
"Yeah! Before we're toast too!" They soon vanished.
"And who's violent, Nerine?" Sia chided. The Demon Princess hung her head low.
"I-I didn't mean to…sorry…" RIn put a hand on her shoulder.
"That was a little too much," he said.
"At least now we can get on with things," Sakoto said as she opened the throttle. The rest of the journey, like the rest of the morning and afternoon, were uneventful, and everyone got to their destinations on time. Except for Nerine's fanboy, who mysteriously missed school that day.
Later that day, Rin was busy packing his bags for his walk home. While the things going into the bag were of schoolwork, the things running through his head were of the recent events of the week, mainly involving two girls from other worlds.
'It's been nearly a week since Sia and Nerine came to school and declared me their fiancées. I'm lucky I haven't gone to the hospital because of it…but aside from that…what should I do?" Just as he placed the last book inside the bag, Mayumi walked over to his desk. "You're still here, Mayumi? You always leave school in a hur-RICK! COUGH! COUGH!" Mayumi clapped a pair of erasers in front of Rin's face. "C-cleaning duty, h-huh?"
"Yup! We're almost done; the garbage still needs to be taken out. That's why I came to you…"
"What do you mean?"
"Can you show Rin where to dump the trash?"
"Me?...Oh wait, you mean Nerine…she's on duty too?" Rin looks behind the half-demon to see the Princess of the Demons holding a pair of trash bags. "That's a rather awkward sight…you want me to take her?"
"You're not doing anything, right? I have to go to the teacher's room for a moment."
"I'm not doing anything now…"
"Then please, Rin. There are no other boys in the class left, aside from the worst one to ask…". Rin chuckled
"Yeah. I guess anyone's better than Itsuki…Alright. I'll take her, so just tell Ms. B. that your cleaning duties are done." He went over to Nerine, whose face formed a large grin. She knew what he was coming over for.
Meanwhile, Thomas and Sakoto were doing the rounds with the trash train. They stopped at every major industry, where trash containers were loaded onto the train. Presently, they had dropped off some cars at the docks, and were running up the Kojima Branch to reach the transfer yard. Thomas was looking forward to seeing his friends again.
However, Rin and Nerine were having trouble. As they placed the trash in the incinerator located by the gymnasium, three male seniors walked by. They began to approach the two.
"Hey, isn't that the Tsuchimi kid from the junior class?"
"Oh, so that's the Demon girl? Hot damn! She's a pretty one, for sure!"
"Yeah! We'd like to have something like that! It must be nice to live the nice life while we study our rears off!"
"I envy you. It's like a fairytale you got there."
"All you had to do was be nice to little girls, and you become a king?"
"No wonder he hangs around that Itsuki flirt; all he does is pick up girls!"
"He's worse than that! He picked them up as a shrimp!"
"I agree! It's unfair!" They began to surround Rin.
"Uh, guys, let's not be irrational-!"
!BOOM!
A bright flash suddenly blinded everyone, followed by an explosion and a strong gust of wind. When it cleared, they noticed that a part of the nearby gymnasium wall was missing.
"Those were obviously words of disrespect for Rin," Nerine muttered. She seemed to have an aura of malice around her, as she glared straight through the souls of the three seniors. "Rin, please stand back. It's about to get dangerous"
"Huh? Nerine, wait -!" Another blast rang out, this time punching a crater into the ground in front of the three students, who were now trembling in fear.
"H-H-Hey, whattya doing, attacking us without speaking?-!"
"We're against violence!"
"Yeah! Are you trying to kill us?-!"
"Don't worry," Nerine assured the three, smiling. "You won't be hospitalized. But you have the right to be silent forever."
"That's even worse!"
"Nerine! Stop!" Rin gasped. "You're really going to kill them if you go on like this!"But Nerine was absolute. A shower of bright energy was released at the boys. Some of it sent the three flying, while others damaged more of the gym. Rin could see a few students inside who quickly fled for their lives. A sizeable glowing ball of energy formed in her right hand.
"People who disrespect you don't deserve to see the sun! All they are doing is wasting precious resources!" Her red eyes turned to the boys. "I'll show mercy by making it so that you don't feel pain." The seniors were frantic.
"I don't wanna die!"
"NERINE!-!" Rin's cry came just before the release of the energy ball was released.
!BOOM!
The explosion was tremendous, engulfing the entire gymnasium in a ball of white, rendering a little mushroom cloud in its wake. Rubble flew everywhere, breaking windows, pelting roofs, and piling up on the streets and the rail line. It was then that Thomas approached from one direction with the trash train, and Aiko from the other with a goods train from the transfer line.
"What the hell?-!" the Japanese engine cursed. "TOMARE!-! TOMARE!-! TOMARE!-!"
"BUST MY BUFFERS!-!" Thomas cried. "BRAKES!-!" Both drivers cut off steam and screwed the brake levers hard on, but the trains were going much too fast. The crews leapt onto the hard ballast and concrete, as the engines braced for the worst.
!CRASH! Aiko was the first to hit the rubble, derailing and skidding sideways. Her tender remained on Thomas's line as the tank engine rammed into the wreck. The cars piled up after them, leaving a strong smell of garbage in the air. When the dust settled, both crews got together to inspect the damage. Aiko had lost her front knuckle, and her tender was in shambles. Thomas however had taken the worst of it. His front buffer beam was smashed to bits from the impact, and a large crack ran the length of his funnel. Banana peels and ramen noodle cups sullied his bright blue paint, and filled his coal bunker with a primordial soup of trash and coal dust.
"Pew!" Aiko's fireman gagged. "What a horrible smell!" Sakoto slapped him
"Never mind your nose! Call for Kayio and a breakdown train! And while you're at it, get Mr. Soroi on the line as well! He won't be happy when he hears this." And he wasn't, when he went to the school that evening.
"So, the total injuries were one complete demolition of the gymnasium, two hundred damaged windows give or take, one totaled Nissan, five injured people, damage to Aiko's tender and coupler, and serious damage to Thomas." Mr. Soroi placed the report on Nadeshiko 's desk, and glared at Nerine, Rin, and Forbessi. Nerine hung her head low.
"In other words, Sir," Nadeshiko continued, focusing on Forbessi, "your daughter has caused great and irreparable damage to the surrounding area."
"Is that all?" the King of the Demons stated incredulously. "My, Nerine! You're learning to control your magic much better than before!" Nerine didn't look at this as being a time to compliment.
"F-Father…" Mr. Soroi slammed his hands on the desk.
"You're praising her for using lethal force?-! She could have killed those three boys back there, as well as my train crews! And speaking of that, I have half my roster out, and Thomas has extensive damage to his frame and boiler! How do you expect me to tell Sir Topham Hatt that his engine was nearly destroyed because some girl couldn't control her temper?-!"
"You won't have to worry about that," Forbessi assured him calmly. "I think he's here now." Just as he said that, the classroom door opened, and in stepped the person whom Rin couldn't decide on being the first or last person he wanted to see at that time.
"Hey, Forbessi!" Eustoma greeted, sounding like he just came from a party. "I heard that Nerine got into a spot of trouble!" Forbessi sighed.
"Some boys tried to insult Rin, so my girl had to set things right."
"Really? Why didn't she call me? I could've handed down some divine punishment of my own!" Nadeshiko's jaw dropped.
"Y-Y-You actually condone this behavior?-!" she gasped. Her words were ignored.
"I wanted her to blow them up the Styx, but that would have brought in the media, and you know how picky they can be."
"Yeah! Why must they always help the bad guys? I'd like to hand out a little retribution, you know?"
"Don't I know it! Anyway, did you bring your best mages with you?"
"Of course! I split them up between the gym, the track, the hospital, and the two engines. Everything should be back the way it was by the time the students come into school tomorrow. Now let's hold a party! I just got my hands on some nice sake today…!" While the two Kings discussed plans, the four "normal" people in the room gathered in one spot. Nerine let out a solemn sigh, and Nadeshiko and Mr. Soroi buried their hands in their faces.
"They are a bit unreasonable when it comes to human life," Rin pointed out.
"We can tell," the two adults groaned. That night, Rin and Nerine went over to the shops to visit Thomas. Aiko had minimal damage, and was only waiting for a new tender to be coupled up before leaving for the sheds. Thomas, however, was forced to stay the night. The mages were working hard to fix him, but there would still be some time before he could leave.
"U-um…Thomas, I'm so sorry…" Nerine began. "I…I never meant to hurt you or your crew…"
"Don't worry," Thomas assured you. "Emotions get the better of everyone at times, even an engine like me. Besides, Eustoma's men said that I should be better than new by tomorrow, so what you two should be worrying about more would be school."
"And your father," Rin added. "Will he really go for retribution?" Nerine shook her head.
"I'll handle that. Have a good night, Thomas."
"Be safe out there," Thomas told them. The two then left the sheds. "Well, that's the second time she's used forceful magic today by accident.
"Hah!" Aiko huffed. "You call demolishing an entire gym an accident?-! If it were me in charge, I'd expel her and send her to her own world!"
"So Thomas was right in pegging you as anti-foreigner," a voice said.
"Sia?" Thomas called. The God walked out from the shed's entrance.
"Hey, Thomas," she said. "I wanted to come to check up on you, but not with Nerine. It's bad enough for the two of us to have more than two degrees of separation, so I don't want to remind her about a third."
"Three?" Aiko wondered, recovered from the slight shock of her accusation. "I can only think of temper and royalty. What could be more?" Thomas thought about it.
"I know," he declared after a while. "There's only one other possible explanation: family."
"Ba-ka!" Aiko groaned. "There's no resemblance of a Demon in her at all!" But Sia shook her head.
"No, Thomas is right. My birth mother is Forbessi's younger sister, so I am half-God, half-Demon." Aiko was amazed.
"B-B-But you look completely like a God!" she spluttered. "There's no resemblance to a Demon at all!"
"That…that's because of a special reason…"
"What did you say, Sia?" Thomas asked.
"Ah, it's nothing! I better get going; Papa's waiting on me to get dinner ready. Good night!" She turned around and left the sheds.
"So Kaede has a rabid fan club, Nerine is overprotective around Rin, and Sia is half-Demon…" Thomas mulled. "Guess we found out more about Verbena's three princesses than ever before, huh?"
"Guess so," Aiko muttered. "Not like it's important to me or all…" And with melancholic feelings, Aiko puffed out of the works, taking her muddled thoughts with her.
Aiko and the Troublesome Trucks
That night, as Aiko backed down onto her shed track, she still contemplated on Thomas the Tank Engine. Between saving Primula and caring more about Rin and Nerine than his own well-being, Thomas was looking more and more like a good guy to her.
'I've always felt that the best engine to run on a Japanese railway was one from Japan,' she pondered, 'but that's not what I'm seeing.' Kayio noticed her blank and airy mood.
"What's up, Aiko? Got your mind on an engine or something? Maybe Thomas?" Aiko was taken aback.
"W-W-What are you sputtering, Kayio?-! Why would I think about that blue toaster box? He's not even one of us! We should just leave him broken as is and load him onto the next scrap boat to China!"
"Quiet, Aiko!" her friend hushed. "Don't speak ill of Thomas behind his bunker. The gods don't like a person who does that."
"I think Kami himself would approve of sending that blue puffball away!"
"Well, if you ever want to change your mind, you better do so quickly. At best, you may have only a couple of days before he goes back to his home rails."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…it's not like I feel even a twang of remorse or something…" But she did. At the works, the manager received a phone call from Mr. Soroi.
"Hello?...Yes…mh-hm…uh-hu…So you need some hopper cars to replace those destroyed today?...Well, we don't have any hoppers per say, but we do have those trucks from England we can use...Yes…I'll have Thomas bring them back with him when he returns to work tomorrow…Alright, sir. Goodbye." The manager hung up the phone, then gave a heavy sigh. "I really hope these trucks will be fine. We did buy them off of Sodor after all…"
The next morning, Thomas was back together in one piece. His blue paint sparkled in the morning sun, his brass was polished to the degree of a mirror, and his face beamed with a huge grin.
"Well, you've had your time to rest," Sakoto told him when she arrived. "Now it's time to get back to work."
"Thank goodness," Thomas said. "Yesterday was much too…how should I put it…explosive?" Sakoto chuckled a bit. "So do we have any orders yet?"
"Yes. Wilbert's bringing a cut of trucks for us to load at the docks with coal."
"Sounds nice. Wait, did you say trucks?" At that moment, Wilbert chuffed from behind the works building. Sure enough, he was hauling a string of twenty trucks, and Wilbert was having a hard time controlling them.
"Come on, you lot!" he huffed. "Come quietly! Come quietly!"
"No! No! No!" the trucks shouted. "We were resting nicely on that siding ever since we got here, and you had to go and move us! Here's what we think about that!" They bumped the forest engine hard, sending him back a few feet.
"Cinders and Ashes!" Thomas exclaimed. "What's a bunch of Troublesome Trucks doing in Tokyo?-!"
"They must be here as spares," Sakoto surmised. "Mr. Soroi does own a lot of equipment from around the world, so I wouldn't put it past him to have something from England. I don't think it should be too much trouble. My horoscope said that today will be a great day!"
"You're not the one who's going to haul them," Thomas muttered. Wilbert was detached from the line of trucks, and Thomas ran up and coupled the line of trucks. He backed onto a brakevan and steamed off. The first job was to take a load of coal from the docks to the steel mills. Thomas shunted the trucks one by one under the coal chute, which loaded them with coal. As the last car was pushed under the chute, Thomas's worst fears came true.
"Go on! Go on!" they yelled. Banging their buffers, they surged forward, and instead of a truck being under the loading chute, it was Thomas!
"Crap!" Sakoto's curse was the last thing heard before the last load of coal fell down all over Thomas. The workmen in the area were surprised at the abundance of coal dust in the air, and ran over to the chute. When they arrived, they saw that Thomas was covered in black coal dust from smokebox to cab, with piles of coal on either side of him. The trucks laughed gleefully at their trick…and were the only ones laughing.
"KEH-KOUFF-COUGH!-!" Sakoto hacked. She and the fireman were covered in the coal dust as well. "That's the last time I listen to the papers for tips on my future!" The fireman, meanwhile, cursed in Japanese. Thomas groaned.
"Why is it I always happen to get filthy whenever trucks are involved?-!" he groaned in annoyance. Mr. Soroi was soon informed of the news.
"We can't have a dirty engine running on the line; it's bad publicity enough with yesterday's actions alone. Get Thomas cleaned right away, and have Aiko pick up the trucks. She can deliver them after she's done with her train." Soon Aiko arrived at the docks. Thomas had already been uncoupled, and was being scrubbed down by workmen on a nearby siding. The Japanese engine couldn't help but laugh at his misery.
"So instead of a little blue puffball, we have a little black chimney sweeper on the line! I knew you weren't a useful engine after all!" Thomas groaned, and rolled his eyes.
"Don't blame me, blame these Troublesome Trucks! They aren't like you're used to in terms of their behavior."
"Baka!" Aiko scoffed. "Trucks are merely freight cars; they wouldn't dare play tricks on an engine, especially me! Now if you excuse me, I have a schedule to keep!" And she puffed away, train in tow.
"We'll show her that we can and will dare!" giggled the trucks. "Let's cooperate with her until we find the chance!" Of course, Aiko didn't hear them. The Japanese Tender Engine's rounds today involved a setout and pickup at Sunlight Way, which was where Rin was at the moment. He was in the department store at the end of the block, and was looking everywhere but straight ahead. Consequently, he bumped straight into Eustoma and Forbessi.
"Oh, hey Rin!" the King of the Gods greeted. "You're shopping too? Me an' Forbessi found some nice sake here that you might want to try!"
"Maybe some other time," Rin said. "Have you seen Primula around here by any chance?"
"Uh, no, can't say we haven't…" Forbessi suddenly got worried.
"Wait, do you mean to say that Primula's missing?" Rin nervously shook his head.
"She's definitely in the department store , so I wouldn't say that her whearabouts are unknown or that she was kidnapped.." Forbessi placed a hand on Rin's shoulder.
"That's EXACTLY what I'm worried about. Remember that Primula's still an experiment; if something happens to her, the entire area could be flattened! We must always have an eye on her so as to prevent an accidental discharge of her powers."
"We'll give you one hour to find her," Eustoma stated. "After that, we'll search for her ourselves." The two Kings left Rin to find Asa and Kaede, who were quickly brought up to speed.
"How has this gotten so serious?" Asa gasped.
"I don't know," Rin replied, "but the fate of the entire world now rests on our shoulders. Knowing those two, their methods of finding Primula will break at least fifty laws and cause an interplanetary fiasco…"
"But we've checked almost the entire store and haven't seen any sign of her!" Kaede exclaimed. "Unless she was asleep, Primula definitely would have-!" An awkward pause.
"Don't tell me, since Primula's like a small child, that such behavior…?"
"Well, we haven't checked there yet, so…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…Let's go already!" With those words of encouragement, the three sprinted towards the bedding department. They searched every bed, mattress, and futon that was there, but to no avail.
"Now what?-!" Asa groaned, as she fell down onto a mattress
"Excuse me!" Rin said as he flagged down a saleswoman. "Were any beds taken away from here within the last hour?"
"Why yes. Three were taken to the warehouse to be shipped by train. I distinctly remember that one of them had a rather large amount of purple and black pillows on it…"
"Thanks!" The three raced down to ground level, and exited the department store towards the warehouse. They scooted into the building, ignoring the whistle blast of Aiko's departure.
"Come on, my friends! Come on, my friends!" the engine chuffed.
"We're coming! We're coming!" the boxcars cheered back.
"Not long now! Not long now!" the trucks whispered to each other. The line ducked under the mainline before quickly rising in elevation to clear a major branch siding. From there, there was a sharp downhill portion that led into the yard.
"Almost there! Almost there!" Aiko celebrated. "Silly Thomas! I was right all along!" But she wasn't.
"On! On! On!" the trucks yelled. With a sudden lurch, the train picked up speed on the downhill run.
"Hey! Cut that out! Brakes, driver!" But there was no driver. The sudden jerk had knocked both he and the fireman out of the cab! "H-Hey, is anyone there?-! HELP! ANYONE!" Thomas was. He was shunting in the yards when Aiko came screaming in, her wheels pounding the rails.
"I warned her about the trucks…!" Thomas muttered to himself.
"No time to feel no sympathy!" Sakoto shouted. "Hang on!" She threw the reverser, opened the throttle, and Thomas, with a few cars behind him, quickly sped backwards. Sakoto soon caught up with them.
"Help!" she cried. "I have nobody to pull the brake!"
"We'll see!" Sakoto said. "Hido, take the controls!" With the fireman at the throttle, Sakoto stood at the cab door, waiting for the precise moment to jump. Within seconds, she saw her chance, and scrambled over into Aiko. She quickly reduced steam and applied the brake lever. "Yosh! We're gaining on them!" Just then, the fireman looked back.
"Oi! Sakoto-san!" Sakoto looked ahead. Up ahead was the yard ladder and the yard lead. The lead on this end was short, and ended at the edge of a steep riverbank.
"Crap! We'll never stop in time!" Thomas felt his brakes coming on.
"No!" he cried. "Faster! Cut them off at the ladder!" Sakoto was surprised, but she relayed the message. The brake came off, and Thomas sped forward. Radio commands went out, and switches were realigned. Thomas veered onto the ladder. "Now brakes!" The brakes came on again, and Thomas quickly slowed down. Buffers met buffers as the still speeding Aiko ran into him.
"BAKA!-!" Sakoto shouted. "Now you've really done it! There's no way that you can stop me before the water! We're both going under!"
"Not if I have any say!" Thomas huffed back. "I can't bear to see a fellow engine get hurt, even if it costs me something in the end!" The train began to move slower and slower, as they got nearer and nearer to the buffers. The first of Thomas's four cars burst through the buffers, and tumbled into the river, then the second, and the third. The fourth car went over the edge, and the coupling snapped, the cars falling deeper into the murky waters. It was there, with mere inches before the end of the track, where the runaway came to a halt.
"We did it!" Sakoto cheered. Thomas smiled.
"See? You can never say never in any situation!" Aiko didn't know what to say. She had just been saved by the tank engine she had constantly abused through her words, out of the act of his own kindness.
"I'll go make sure none of the cars got damaged," Sakoto said. The green-haired engineer walked down the train to the boxcars, only to poke her head out of the first one a minute later. "Hey Aiko, where'd you pick up the second car in your train."
"Eh? From the warehouse at Sunlight Way. Why?" Sakoto popped out, caring a something that wore a black shirt and had purple hair.
"You happened to pick up Sleeping Beauty here by accident. We'll make a special trip to bring her back…when we wake her up." Fortunately for her, Primula was waking up as she spoke.
"Nnh…Thomas? What am I doing here?" Thomas merely smiled.
"Don't worry, Primula. I'll make sure that you get back to Rin." A few minutes later, over at the warehouse, a dejected Rin, Kaede, and Asa stumbled out of the building.
"We looked in every nook and cranny of that darned warehouse, and now my feet hurt!" Asa complained.
"But we haven't found Primula yet," Kaede reminded her. "We have to keep looking for her. I'm sure Rin has an idea on her location, right?" Rin was thinking hard about a possible location.
"Maybe we missed her as we were looking," he hypothesized. "She's small enough that she could be hidden among the clothesracks." Just then, Thomas chuffed into the sidings.
"Are you looking for Primula?" the tank engine asked.
"How'd you guess?" Asa replied.
"Because she happens to be riding with me right now." At that, Primula stepped out of Thomas's cab, and ran over to Rin.
"Primula!" Rin gasped. "You made us worry so much about you!"
"At least everything's all right now," Asa sighed. She then looked down Sunlight Way, towards a digital clock tower in the distance. "R-Rin! The time! We're way over time limit!" Rin kept his cool.
"Don't worry, I already had a plan for that."
"You did?" Behind them, the automatic doors to the department store opened, allowing Eustoma – who was flying through the air – to pass through into the outside. The culprit of this was a familiar chair-wielding redhead.
"N-No! Sia, listen to me -!-!"
"NO!-! You were being a nuisance to Rin AGAIN!-! I'm giving you army rations for dinner tonight!" Behind these two were Nerine and Forbessi.
"You committed the same sin father! I'm not talking to you for a week!"
"Please, Nerine! Your papa will die from loneliness!"
"Hmph!" Sakoto had the groups' general reaction.
"Uh…what is that?"
"I was worried, so I wanted the ultimate weapon that could consistently defeat that pair," Rin explained.
"Who would have thought that would have been Sia and Nerine?" Thomas stated. Kaede and Primula nodded.
That night in the sheds, Aiko was feeling glum about what she had done to Thomas earlier in his stay. "L-Listen, Thomas? Thank you for saving me today, a-and I'm sorry for harassing you before. But still, why did you bother helping an anti-foreigner like me?"
"Because it used to happen all the time on Sodor. A new engine believes that he is the fastest engine in the world, or that she wants to do things her way, or thinks that he is the most important engine on the line and knows everything. Everyone goes through that phase of feeling better than every other engine, even me."
"Even you?"
"Yes. That third example was of myself, and that thinking got me dragged behind the Express, stuck in a snowdrift, fallen down a mine, and stuck in the stationmaster's house. Everyone who acts like that has their fall, if you speak." Aiko looked down at her buffers. "But, the engines then turn into better friends and comrades. Gordon lost his dome trying to go over a hundred miles an hour, and became a more humble engine because of it. Mavis got my friend Toby into danger because of her actions, and learned that she needed to work with him to be really useful. And as for myself, well, I guess you already know the answer to that."
"I certainly do. Can I ask you one last thing, Thomas?"
"What?"
"C-Can we start over from the beginning? As, you know, friends?" Thomas smiled.
"Of course, Aiko! Everybody deserves a second chance in friendship, after all."
"Thanks Thomas. I think your visit to our railway has taught me something that I was really lacking. No matter where they come from, or what their background is, an engine's still an engine." Over in another berth, Kayio smiled, happily contemplating the newfound friendship between her two stablemates.
Thomas, Primula, and Lycoris
Halfway between Rin's house and the Academy, marking the end of the Kojima Line's single-track street trackage and the beginning of double-track median running that leads to the junction with the Sunlight Way Line, is a large park. Serving as an oasis to the concrete, smoky jungle around the area, it is a very popular place, bordering the highway to the north, Verbena Academy to the east, Sunlight Way to the South, and Kawasaki Daishi to the west. There are trails, trees, and picnic areas for people to enjoy, along with a brand-new train watching platform. There's also a large fountain very close to the line. This has been the talk among the engines recently, as Primula has frequently been spotted there, staring into the fountain pool for hours on end.
One night, Kayio was coming down the branch with a work train, when she saw Primula at the fountain. She was on a bench next to the line. "Primula, what are you doing here? You should be back with Rin and Kaede at this time."
"No," Primula said. "You're wrong."
"Wrong? What do you mean?"
"Nothing…but I will stay here." The driver was concerned.
"We can't just leave her like this," he told Kayio. "We might as well hold here until she decides to leave." Primula was surprised by this. Her eyes briefly widened, before returning to their plain, emotionless gaze.
"I'm leaving." She got up, and began to walk away.
"Good thing we came by," the fireman stated. "If not, she might have waited all night here." Primula stopped, and turned back around.
"No," she said. "I wanted…to see her." Kayio thought she meant Nerine.
"Nerine's at home, so you should have just gone back." Primula shook her head.
"Not Nerine…Lycoris. I thought I could see her if I waited here…" She then left, disappearing into the night. Kayio was confused
"Lycoris? I've never heard that name before."
"Maybe it's one of her friends," her driver suggested. "We can't see her all the time, so maybe she has a Lycoris that she hangs out with."
"I doubt that," the fireman countered. "Do you see her mood all the time? And she also hangs out either with Nerine's family or Thomas." They steamed away to join the others at the sheds. Thomas was talking with Aiko about the time he helped save a goose that had broken its wing.
"Excuse me, Thomas, but have you heard of a Lycoris?"
"I can't say I have, why?"
"That's who Primula said she was waiting for by the park fountain tonight. We saw her as we passed by with the last train."
"That's the fifth time in five days!" Aiko stated. "She was there yesterday around the same time as well."
"Now that you mentioned it," Thomas remembered, "when I took that work train four nights ago, I did see her entering Rin's house very late at night. So you're saying that this is all because of this Lycoris, Kayio?"
"Yes. Now the question is who this person is, and why is she connected to Primula."
"I know that a Lycoris is a bright red flower," Aiko chimed in. "But I don't know about a person with that name."
"Nerine should have some information," Thomas decided. "They are both of the Demon race, and she seems to know her from when Primula was being…created." He was still uncomfortable with the fact that Primula was an artificial form of life.
"Good idea," Aiko agreed. "You should ask her tomorrow, when you see her during your run to the transfer yard." But he never got the chance, as a bigger surprise awaited him that morning when the engines woke up from his night's slumber. There, in work overalls, was Sir Topham Hatt. "Sir?-!"
"Good morning, Thomas!" Sir Topham Hatt greeted. "Or Konichiwa, whichever you're used to now. It's so good to see you after so many days and weeks." Kayio and Aiko were waking up at this point.
"~Yawn~ Kayio, who's that workman over there?"
"I think that's Thomas's superintendent. He looks just as Thomas described him."
"Yeah, rotundness and all. So if he's here, then that means that the new engine's here as well?"
"Hai!" Sakoto stated, popping up from Thomas's cab. "Mr. Soroi wants us to all be at the yard to greet him right away. Come on, Sir Topham."
"Yes, Miss Sakoto, coming." Thomas was confused.
"Sir, what are you doing?"
"Well, I thought that it would be nice if I acted as your fireman while I was here. You don't mind that, do you?" Thomas beamed.
"Not at all sir!" The three engines headed over to the docks. When they arrived, they saw the new engine. He was painted black with a silver smokebox and had six driver wheels, a square coal tender, and wore the number with the words KANTO RAILWAY painted on the tender sides. However, to their surprise, there was an exactly identical engine with the number 102 right next to him.
"Hey, weren't we supposed to get only one engine, Kayio?" Aiko asked.
"Maybe Mr. Soroi wanted to surprise us with another engine?" Kayio guessed.
"He's certainly not looking like it," Sakoto stated. "He looks frustrated." Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt had a guess.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, sir?"
"That this is just like back when my grandfather bought Donald and got Douglas on the side? Yes." Mr. Soroi looked at the manifest.
"Alright, I know I ordered No. 101, but why is No. 102 here?"
"Well, just before I was sold, our owner passed away," No. 101 explained. "He had only the two of us as his steam engines, so he placed in his will that wherever one of us is sold, that the other would be packaged with him."
"That puts some explanation. I know that you have numbers, but what about names?"
"We never had official names," No. 102 stated, "as just about every engine in America does, but our old owner called my brother Walter, and myself Richard. But if it's fine with you, we prefer Walt and Richie instead."
"Alright Walt, Richie. Welcome to Tokyo. However, I only need one engine at the moment. I don't see how I can use two engines at the moment…" Thomas had an idea.
"What if you lease one of them to the Works?" he suggested. "Wilbert's going to be returning back home with me, so they'll be out of a work engine until they can purchase a new one."
"What a good idea, Thomas," Mr. Soroi said. "Richie, I'll send you to the Works. I know they'll make you feel welcome as well. Thomas will show you to Wilbert, who will show you how things are done."
"Sure thing, sir." Thomas and Richard headed off to the Works, where the manager was waiting for them.
"Mr. Soroi told me all about you, Richie. Wilbert here will show you around." Wilbert and Richie spent the rest of the day shunting cars, doing small runs to and from the docks, and helping out where needed. Richie proved exceptionally well performing these duties, and the manager was pleased enough to accept the lease agreement until they could find a new engine. However, there was a problem when they inspected Ritchie's tender.
"The metal in the water tank is almost completely made of paint," an inspector told the manager. "It could break apart at any moment, and leave Richard with no water to spare."
"Do you hear that, Richie?" The manager asked. "We have a slope-back tender all ready to swap out, if you don't mind. It'll at least make you and Walt easier to distinguish between."
"Oh, yes sir!" Richie replied. He was happy to be in his new job. Walt, meanwhile, was working with Aiko. The Japanese engine, no longer hesitant at foreigners coming to the railway, was more than glad to show the six-wheeled engine the rounds in the yard and on the mainline.
"So where are you two from?" she asked as they waited at Verbena Junction.
"The Susquehanna Railroad in the Northeast United States," Walt replied. "Our owner loved older engines, and assembled a collection of both steam and diesel engines that put in live long days long after the major lines thought otherwise. However, our owner was bought out ten years ago, and the engines had been slowly sold or scrapped as they had major failures. We were the last of the original power when he passed away, and were about to be scrapped when they found the clause in his will about us. It's a good thing, too; Richie might have been scrapped otherwise" Just then, they heard Kayio come down the line with an empty stone train. As she was directed towards Sunlight Way, Rin ran by.
"Where's the fire, Rin?" Aiko said to him. "You look like you lost something!"
"I did!" he shouted back. "Nobody knows where Primula is!" Kayio heard this, but was going too fast to tell him where Primula might be.
'I've got to tell Thomas!' she thought to herself. 'He'll know what to do!' She hadn't seen Primula in the park when she passed it, and guessed she wouldn't be there when Aiko and Walt passed with their trains, but she knew that the Rimu would be there soon enough. Speaking of Thonas, he was shunting at the warehouse sidings in Sunlight Way when he spotted Nerine.
"Nerine!" Thomas called over. "Can you come over here for a moment?" The princess obliged.
"What is it, Thomas?"
"The three of us – myself, Aiko, and Kayio – are a little concerned over Primula. We've seen her in the park by the line, looking for someone named Lycoris." Nerine gasped at the mention of Lycoris.
"You do know of the name?" Sakoto realized. Nerine nodded.
"I'm not allowed to say anything more on the matter, though," she sighed. "It's information that's classified to my father." Just then, Kayio bustled in, wearing a look of panic on her face.
"What's the matter?" Sakoto asked.
"It's Primula! She's gone missing again!" Everyone gasped.
"She must have gone to see Lycoris!" Thomas realized.
"We've got to see those Kings right away!" Sakoto stated. "Even if I have to beat them over the head with a shovel, we've got to find out about Lycoris!"
"Isn't that called assult?" Sir Topham Hatt asked. He turned to Nerine. "Do you know where your father is now?"
"Umm…I think they're at Rin's house now. But Thomas?"
"Yes?"
"I need both you and Rin to replace Lycoris in Primula's life. I can't do that. I'm sorry I can't be of any more help…" Sir Topham Hatt smiled.
"I don't know much about the situation," he said to her, "but I do know that with Thomas here, we'll be doing much more above the duty of replacing someone in their lives. Primula will be perfectly fine, I can assure you of that." That made Nerine smile. As Thomas set off for Rin's house, Kayio looked up to the sky. Dark clouds were building, and a flash of lightning illuminated the night sky.
"Ironic," she muttered.
"What's ironic?" Nerine wondered.
"Looks like we'll be getting the same weather as when Thomas and Primula first met." Thomas sped by the park on the line. He looked around, but he could see no sign of Primula anywhere. As they went away, though, Sir Topham Hatt thought he saw a large black dog in the park. When they reached Rin's hous, Sakoto and Sir Topham Hatt got out, and the female driver furiously knocked on the door. Kaede, who had been serving tea to Eustoma and Forbessi, was swept aside as the green-haired woman marched to the table, with Sir Topham Hatt trundling behind.
"You two!" she ordered. "Who is Lycoris, and what makes her so important to Primula?" The two Kings gasped.
"W-Where did you hear that name?" Eustoma asked.
"Kayio heard it from Primula herself. All of the engines know about her, so it would be best to tell us now." The mood went somber in the room, as Kaede excused herself to make some tea.
"Does she have anything to do with why Primula doesn't smile," Sakoto asked. Forbessi sighed.
"It's not like she doesn't…It's more like she can't." Eustoma panicked.
"Oi, Forbessi…"
"It's alright, they should…no, they need to know this."
"Please, tell us," Sakoto implored. Forbessi began quietly.
"Well, as Sakoto at least knows, Primula is one of three artificial life-forms created to make the greatest magical being know to date. What you don't know is that three were prepared because we know that they wouldn't last a long time."
"The first experiment was a simple strengthening of an average Demon," Eustoma continued. "However, the experiment went out of control, and the overflow of energy completely annihilated the institution. Not even a corpse was left. We simply should have stopped there…" A tear fell out of Eustoma's eye.
"Primula was the third experiment," Forbessi continued, "made from a manufacturing process. We created every hair, every nail, every cell from scratch. We don't know how, or why despite so many failures, but we created a life. Primula has no real family, save one…"
"The second experiment," Sir Topham Hat realized. "Lycoris."
"She was a clone of my own daughter," Forbessi continued, "using reinforced genes to create a more stable body. She didn't violently explode like the first, but in time she two couldn't withstand the punishing magical burden on her and died. But in that time, she developed a sisterly bond with Primula. It was Lycoris who gave her Toratama, the worn stuffed cat Primula always carries. It was Lycoris who brought her back when she first ran away from the institution. And it was Lycoris who gave Primula her first love…" Sakoto and Sir Topham Hatt told Thomas this as they got back into his cab. It was now raining hard, and water swirled onto his boiler.
"So that means Lycoris came to Earth once before," he reasoned. "But how did she meet Rin? It's not like they met or anything…"
"That's later thought," Sakoto told him. "We still haven't seen Primula anywhere, not even in the park!"
"All I saw was a large greyish-black dog as we were leaving," Sir Topham Hatt added. Thomas blinked.
"Was there any purple on this, eh, dog, sir?" he asked.
"Come to think about it, yes. Right where the head should be."
"That was no dog," Sakoto gasped, "it's Primulaa! She must be soaked out there right now!"
"Then why are we sitting around talking about it?-!" Thomas stated. "Back to the park!" They arrived in record time, finding Primula standing in the rain by the tracks. She was facing the fountain, but turned to face Thomas when he whistled at her. She was surprised that Thomas had come.
"I knew that you'd be here," he said. "We all knew. Getting soaked in the rain is sometimes a nice, refreshing feeling. As long as I stay on the rails, of course. Or is it that you just don't like umbrellas?" Primula was stunned, and for the first time, looked speechless.
"I-It's not like I don't like them…" she said softly, before turning away bashfully. "Lycoris…isn't here." Thomas felt Sakoto and Sir Topham Hatt leave his cab, from the side opposite Primula.
"I know," he said somberly. "Lycoris isn't here. She…she isn't anywhere anymore."
"Isn't anywhere…no longer…anywhere…" Primula showed no emotion, but her voice was a mix of sadness and disappointment. Thomas figured out the right words in his smokebox.
"I am not Lycoris. I can never be Lycoris, and I can never tell you to forget her. I am Thomas the Tank Engine." Primula's eyes widened.
"Thomas…the Tank Engine?" Her voice was full of amazement.
"Yes, Thomas the Tank Engine. Even if you look on the tallest hill, or in the most windswept valley, she won't be there. Lycoris will not be there. So…"
"So?"
"So, I'm here to pick you up." Primula cocked her head.
"Pick me up?"
"Yes. Trains are meant to take someone from one point in their life to another. And I'm not alone; Rin, Nerine, Kaede, Sia, and everyone else are your props as well, ready to help you advance on. I'm speaking for everyone when I say that we'll be there for you. And if I ever come back to Japan, every day, I'll come to meet you. I'll welcome you on, and always accept you." He paused. "I am not Lycoris. I will not become Lycoris. Lycoris is no longer here. Therfore, bear with Thomas the Tank Engine, and Rin Tsuchimi, and everyone else. You don't have to be alone ever." It was as if Primula had been slapped with a cold towel. Her eyes widened as far as Thomas had ever seen, before her head drooped down.
"You…you came to pick me up…Thomas…you…you will b-be…" For the first time, her expressionless face broadened. "Ah..ooh…A-A-A-A-A-AH!-!" She suddenly cried out, and threw herself into Thomas's front. Thomas was shocked; this was the first time he had seen emotion from Primula, let alone this much of it.
"P-Primula!"
"ENOUGH!" she cried. "I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE ANYMORE! LOOK AT ME! BE WITH ME! I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE ANYMORE!" Her tears mixed with the rain, falling profusely onto Thomas's frame. She didn't know how to express her emotions, but they just poured out. Thomas smiled.
"Yes, I'll make sure you're never alone. Let's head back together." He looked around. "Uh, guys, you can come back now!" Sakoto and Sir Topham Hatt came from out of a nearby bush.
"Hey, it was all for Primula," Sakoto said to The Fat Controller, "so deal with it."
"If anyone ever found out that I was in the mud…" The next morning, everyone was in the yards to bid Thomas a fond farewell. His fire had been put out, and a container was on the rails behind him. Sir Topham Hatt was back in his usual attire, Eustoma and Forbessi were in their kimonos, and everyone else were dressed nicely for the occasion.
"Well done, Thomas!" Mr. Soroi congratulated. "Everything that Sir Topham Hatt has said about you were true to a T: a really useful engine in both work and character!" Thomas blushed, and looked at Sir Topham Hatt.
"Oh, sir…!"
"I only speak how I feel about my engines, Thomas. You know that."
"And how can he not deny it," Eustoma commended, "after helping Primula out last night? You doo good deeds out of the kindness of your heart, Thomas. If you were only human, I would give you my daughter's ha-!"
!THWACK!
!THUD!
"D-DAD?-!" Sia cried, holding her folding chair.
"You're more outspoken than me when you're angry," Asa noted. "And that's saying something." Everyone laughed, including Primula. Aiko puffed forward. She was on the same line as Thomas.
"Thomas, uh…thank you, for helping me realize how much of a baka I've been. I…I don't know how I would have acted to Walt and Richie had I not met you…"
"Think nothing of it!" Thomas replied. "An engine in need is as good as a friend in need, and they become friends in the end anyway, so they're already as close as siblings." Aiko blushed.
"Say hi to Percy, Duck, and the others!" Wilbert called.
"Will do, Wilbert!"
"Thomas?" The blue tank engine looked at Primula. Her face was now filled with hope and happiness.
"Yes?"
"Promise you'll come back to Tokyo?"
"Of course! Is that all right with you, sir?" Sir Topham Hatt beamed.
"It's more than all right! Mr. Soroi, whenever you're in need of a spare, just give me a call; I'll pay for the expenses myself. And to Primula, and everyone else: You are all welcome on the Island of Sodor whenever you like. I'm sure Thomas and his friends will all enjoy speaking to you!" Primula smiled. It was a smile of relief, and Primula wore it better than anyone Thomas thought could. Aiko pushed Thomas into the container.
"Goodbye, everybody!" he called.
"Ja ne, Thomas!" everyone called back, as the doors shut. The crate was lifted onto a truck, and was shipped off to the airport. But days afterwards, Rin, Primula, Kaede, Sia, Nerine, and Asa could hear Thomas's whistle whenever they ventured near the line, just as if he was there right next to them.
For Your Information…
A deleted scene had Mr. Soroi wheel in a TV screen, and have Thomas videochat with Percy and Toby. The scene ended when Percy got too excited, and ran over the monitor on his end by mistake.
The southern line is based off of the Keikyū Kurihama Line, but the industrial track arrangements are based off of abandoned lines on the nearby JR East's Yokosuka Line in Yokosuka, Kanagawa.
The first story is based off an incident in 2011 on the Northeast Corridor in Conneticut. An Acela trainset got its pantograph tangled in the catenary, and had to be dragged to the next station by an FL9 on work train duty.
Aiko and the Troublesome Trucks was inspired from Railway Series Shuffle's Truck Trouble and Courtney's Trouble with Trucks. Unlike Courtney, Aiko does not get to swim in the river.
Walter and Richard are both named after Walter Rich, the head of the Delaware Ostego System, which purchased the Susquehanna in 1980. He passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2007.
Of another note, Season Sixteen for Thomas has started. It once again proves why nostalgic critics won't miss Sharon Miller, but it does mark a milestone: Gordon has a six car express, longer than the Express in Edward, Gordon, and Henry.
3/1 – Error fixed, replaced Chyio with the correct Kayio.
So, Thomas is back on Sodor. What's left to do in Tokyo? More than you would imagine, so keep R&R, please, and continue to support my other works!
Ja ne! - KKid