A/N: I do not own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT.

In this story, the trains are a bit more animal-like in their behavior. I also imagine them as a little more flexible and softer than real life machines. Sort of bio-mechanic.

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Chapter 4

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Lily looked back at the wounded diesel in the bushes. He was breathing heavy and strained, like he was in great pain, and he really looked bad.

"I don't have the heart to leave him like this…" she said, jumping out of Lady's cab. Slowly she walked over to Arry, as if she expected him to jump up and attack her at any moment.

"You poor thing…" she said low, placing a hand on his face.

The big engine opened his eyes, looking at her in fear and pain, trying to get back up on his wheels, but had to give up. He breathed out heavy, like he was giving up.

"Shh… don't use all your strength." She said, embracing him as good as one could embrace 50 tons of steel, stroking her hands over his face to calm and soothe him.

The diesel shut his eyes again, giving up on everything. His engine rattled sickly, black smoke emerged from his chassis, but she wasn't able to see where it came from, it oozed out everywhere.

"I'm so sorry, Arry…" she whispered against his face. "I wish there was anything I could do to take away your pain."

The hazard-striped shunter peeked up at her again in a pained scowl, a low whimper escaped him, like a dog that had been beaten.

"Shh… lay still."

Mr. Conductor had approached, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You want to stay here with him? We'll go get a flatbed and a crane. We'll be back as fast as we can."

Lily nodded sadly, still hugging the dying engine. "Yes, I just can't leave an engine alone like this. If he dies, he shouldn't have to die alone…"

Mr. Conductor nodded in agreement, patting Arry lightly not to cause him more pain. "This is my faulth. I am so sorry, big boy."

The diesel swallowed hard, gritting his teeth. Lily felt tears streaming down her cheeks. She hadn't really known this engine well, but she loved all the engines on Sodor. In her heart they were all equal, no matter if they were steamies or diesels.

She took a step back, taking a look at the damage, trying to figure out if the shunter was beyond repair or if there was any hope for him at all. It looked really bad, she thought and sobbed.

Then she spotted something strange. Cautiously, she took a few steps towards her new discovery. She frowned, so this was why the diesel was afraid of humans?!

"Those bastards!" she cursed angry, placing a hand on Arry's rear bufferbeam, studying the object she had found. "I swear to God, I'll kill those who put you through this! I bet your brother is equipped with the same… torture-equipment, huh?! Oh, I'm so mad right now…."

The diesel weakly lifted his front, trying to look back at her, so she ran back to his front, making him lay down again.

"Shh… it will be alright. I'm not mad at you… not at all! But if I ever see your driver again… he's in a heap of trouble!" Lily sobbed, stroking her hands over his stubble. His face was warm and feverish, she started to worry he was getting worse. "Hang in there, big guy. They'll be back with a flatbed soon. And even if Sir Topham Hatt will be angry at us for releasing you and Diesel 10, I am sure he will be even more cross when he finds out what your driver has done to you…"

Arry one again struggled to get up, Lily had to move out of the way so his movements didn't harm her. He was huge compared to her.

"Easy… lay still. I promise I'll have that thing removed. But I can't just tear it off, it will hurt more. I need tools…" Lily whispered as he calmed down again, leaning her face against his.

He jerked his front up, trying to lick the open wound on his side, but couldn't react it as he couldn't bend much. After a few tries, he laid down, letting Lily pet him.

"It's itchy, huh?" she whispered with her eyes closed, feeling his warm skin under her hand. "I'm sorry, but I can't help you with that. If you scratch it, it won't heal."

The diesel just breathed out heavy, like a snort, staring into the empty air. He looked like he was just waiting to die. And maybe that was going to happen, Lily thought sad, though she hoped he could be saved.

She lit up as she heard Lady's whistle and running footsteps. They were back!

Arry got worked up again, waving his wheels in an attempt to stand up, it looked weird as his siderods were gone. He reminded Lily of a fallen horse, who flailed its legs to get back on its hooves.

"Calm down, Arry. They're here to help you." She said calm.

Mr. Conductor fastened some chains and ropes to the shunter, trying to avoid hurting him. The diesel stared wide eyed around as he could feel something going on, but not see anything. He was scared. Lily felt sorry for him.

"Don't be scared, buddy." Mr. Conductor said calm, placing a hand on his side as the crane started lifting.

"I'm afraid this won't end well for him, Mr. Conductor." Lily said low. "He's feverish…"

"Let's not think the worst." The older man muttered. "Let's just hope for the best."

"I also made a rather disturbing discovery…" Lily signaled to the crane to stop as Arry was hanging right over them. "Look."

She pointed at Arry's undercarriage. Mr. Conductor gasped.

"That's pure evil!" he growled, crouching as if the device had been used on him, not Arry. "I can only imagine how that must feel… poor, diesel!"

"It explains why he's afraid of humans…" Lily stated, allowing the crane to proceed.

Soon, the wounded diesel was loaded and secured on the flatbed. He looked around with panic in his eyes, whimpering in pain. Lily jumped up on the flatbed, hugging him.

"Nothing to be afraid of, big boy. We're taking you home to be repaired. I hope…" She didn't say the last statement out loud, but added it in her thoughts. "I'll be in your cab all the time… you're not alone."

With those words, she climbed into his mangled cab, sitting down on the floor. She felt a tremble as the train started moving. Lady pulled with all her strength.

Mr. Conductor peeked out of her cab, looking back at Arry. Lily was inside him, but it would be alright, they were taking it easy.

Patch sat on the floor, looking thoughtful. He deeply regretted all the trouble he had caused, trying to come up with a plan to lure Diesel 10 back into his shed.

They huffed and puffed along, slowly, getting closer to the dieselworks, wheelturn by wheelturn.

Suddenly Lady peeped in terror, jerking to a stop as two shadows leaped out from the bushes, crashing into each other right in front of her. She backed away, but the weight of the flatbed and Arry prevented her from going back up the hill.

"What's going on…" the two humans looked out.

Two diesels were fighting on the track in front of them. They didn't seem to notice anything around them, being hellbent on killing each other.

"Oh no…" the two guys muttered in unison.

The two diesels were Arry's twin, Bert, and a big hydraulic sentinel diesel. He was slategrey with orange and cream linings, carrying the logo of Vicarstown dieselworks on his side.

"Is that… Den?!" Patch gasped. "But… how?! And why…?! And how did the other iron-diesel get out?!"

"I don't know more than you do…" Mr. Conductor said, worried. They couldn't go back as Lady wasn't strong enough to push the flatbed up the hill, and the track in front of them was a battlefield…

Both of the aggressive diesels had dropped their siderods, moving free across the tracks, jumping at each other with bared teeth.

Bert leaped forward, crashing into Den, derailing him for one moment. The sentinel diesel quickly got back on his wheels, jumping back at him.

Then both of them stopped, sniffing into the air. Mr. Conductor felt his heart skip a beat as they laid their eyes on Lady.

"Oh no, you don't…" he hissed, forcing Lady forward at full steam, taking advantage of the weight of the flatbed and Arry to gather up speed as they raced down the hill.

The two rival diesels looked puzzled for a while as the female engine fled past them, escaping. Then they ran after them, intent on hunting her down.

Lily clung to a handrail, biting her nails. This was going from bad to worse!

Lady wasn't fast, but at least the weight of Arry and the flatbed pushed her downhill, keeping the two diesels behind them at a safe distance.

"What are we going to do when we're at the bottom of the hill?" Patch whimpered.

"I don't know…" Mr. Conductor grit his teeth, feeling his heart beat painfully hard. He was scared, he had to admit that to himself. Scared to death.

"If we drop off the flatbed while we're still going at full speed… will that help?" Patch suggested. "I can climb to the back and uncouple us…"

"Lily is inside Arry, you nitwit! And we're not leaving her behind!"

"I forgot." Patch almost cringed. What if he had uncoupled them… what would have happened to Lily then? He didn't dare to think of it.

Right then, Den started to fall behind, he roared frustrated as the rest of the engines raced away from him.

"Ha! He ran out of fuel!" Patch cheered.

"But we still have one fully functional and rather mean-spirited diesel chasing us…"

"How do we know for sure that he is chasing Lady? What if he is trying to protect his brother? Maybe he thinks we're going to harm him…?" Patch said, staring back at the aggressive diesel following them.

"Hmm… you might be right. But do we dare to stop to find out?"

Patch looked back at the ironworks diesel. "No."

They thundered through the tunnel, seeing the dieselworks up ahead. Looking at each other, not sure what would meet them there. Seemingly, more diesels had been released, and it started to come clear to them that not all of them were neutered. Four of them obviously weren't.

"Ok… here is sort of a plan…" Mr. Conductor started. "We'll lock Lady up in Diesel 10's shed temporarily, so we can capture all the other diesels without having to worry about her running off to mate with anyone… Arry is disabled, so we don't have to worry about him. But what to do with his twin… that's the question…"

"I we only could have lured him on to the lift… if we lift him up, he won't be able to get anywhere!" Patch said, staring back as they thundered into the yard.

"Good idea, but how do we lure him there? You saw how obedient and easily controlled his brother were…" Mr. Conductor muttered sarcastic. "I doubt this one will be any more docile…"

"Could Lady or Arry be used as bait?"

"What a horrible suggestion! What if he attacks them?"

"Why would he attack his own brother?"

"Hmm… but what if he is really after Lady?"

"I don't think we have any other options than just take a chance…"

They didn't get more time to ponder over it as Lady came to an abrupt stop as she slammed right into the safety buffers inside the workshop. A mechanic looked down from the ledge, gasping as he saw Bert running straight for them. He reached for a controller hanging on the wall beside the sheds, pushing a button.

Bert jumped and screeched to a stop with a pained yelp, turning from a raging killing machine to a whimpering puppy in less than a second. He covered like he expected more pain from the human on the ledge, staring wide-eyed at him.

Mr. Conductor was torn. He remembered the device they had found on Arry, knowing how much pain that must cause the engines. And he despised cruelty against engines. At the same time… it had probably saved their lives and was probably something that could be used to get Bert on to the lift.

The mechanic pushed the button again, making Bert jump backwards, whimpering in pain. The hazard-striped shunter scowled at the man with fear and hate in his eyes. The button was pushed again, this time totally uncalled for. The diesel yelped, slumping even lower to display his submission.

Mr. Conductor jumped out of Lady's cab, climbing a ladder to get up on the ledge. He couldn't use the elevating turntable as half of the flatbed was sticking out.

"This torture ends now!" he shouted, leaping forward, planting a fist in the mechanic's face. Then he grabbed the controller, throwing it on the floor and stomping it to pieces. He didn't know how he was going to control Bert after this, but he was to angered to think clear.

He picked up the remains of the controller, climbing back down. Both Arry and Bert were keeping a close eye on him now, both engines having their eyes widened in fear. Maybe he could still keep Bert at bay, even if the controller was broken…

He walked up to the trembling shunter, climbing into his cab.

"Ok, you know what you got to do… or I will push the button!" he threatened, feeling a bitter taste in his mouth by threatening to hurt an engine, even if it wasn't true.

The hazard-striped diesel obeyed, moving into the lift, standing still until he was hoisted up.

Mr. Conductor took quick peek underneath him. His assumptions were confirmed. Bert was equipped with the same device as his brother.

"This… makes me so mad!" he growled to himself, signaling to Lily to uncouple Lady from the flatbed so she could take the elevating turntable up one level.

He looked at the other two sheds. Bert's shed doors were broken down, by force from inside the shed. Mr. Conductor shuddered. "Maybe Topham should reinforce these sheds more when he is going to replace those doors…"

"Or maybe he should just have them gelded, like the rest." Patch muttered as he jumped out of Lady's cab. Lily drove Lady into Diesel 10's shed, walking back outside, ignoring the frustrated whimpers of the tiny steam engine as the doors closed.

"It's for your own good, Lady." She muttered, more to herself than to the engine.

Mr. Conductor walked over to a shelf, where more controllers were placed. He picked them up, reading the names labelled. "Well, well… seems like the diesel drivers have quite a lot to answer for… Arry, Den, BoCo, Splatter, Dodge…"

"So the only real geldings here are Dart, Paxton, Dennis, Sidney, Diesel and Norman?" Lily pondered, searching for a suitable wrench in a tool-box. She wanted to remove the parts from the iron-twins.

"Seems like it… I need to call Topham. I know he'll get mad, but we have no choice. We won't be able to capture all these diesels alone…" Mr. Conductor walked over to a phone hanging on the wall.

"What are those controllers for?" Patch wondered, he hadn't seen the same as the other two.

"I'll show you." Lily said, walking over to Bert. The diesel looked down at her with a worried look as she walked underneath his exposed undersite. She pointed at a device that has been fixated to the engine's private parts. "You see this, Patch?"

"Uhu?" Patch was more fascinated by the diesel's privates than the device. "I had no idea engines had so many similarities to horses… look, Lily. They have sheats, just like horses, so they can uhh… pull it in when it's not in use."

"Patch! Concentrate!" Lily scolded, grabbing his face, forcing him to look at the device mounted on Bert's balls.

"Mm…" Patch said, now looking at it.

"This little bugger sends out a shock of God knows how many volts… directly into the…" Lily wasn't able to finish the sentence before Patch whimpered, covering his crotch with his hands, crouching.

"It hurts only to think about it!" he said, feeling pain on the engines behalf. "No wonder they're obedient!"

"Exactly. But it ends now!" Lily started to loosen the bolts holding it in place. Bert flailed his wheels in panic, obviously misunderstanding her intentions.

"Shh, buddy! I am removing this evil device… hold still!" Lily said, keeping working.

"Poor guy… he must be scared out of his wits. I guess you have to be a boy to understand, but take it easy while you're removing that thing, Lily…" Patch said, staring up at the struggling engine. The diesel just didn't want to calm down. He was convinced Lily was up to no good.

"Easy, she's not going to hurt you." Patch shushed the diesel. "In fact, nobody is going to hurt you anymore!"

Lily breathed out as she finally stood with the tazer-like device in her hands. "There! Let's remove the one on Arry while we're at it."

Patch looked over the ledge, down at the badly mutilated diesel.

"Is there any point? He'll probably die anyway…" he whispered.

"Well, at least he's going to die free from this evil thingy!" Lily said determined, jumping down from the ledge, on to the flatbed. Then she crawled underneat Arry, as they couldn't lift him. The diesel stood like frozen, his eyes widened in terror as she touched his privates. Patch jumped down, stroking his sides to calm him down. If the diesel panicked, he would crush Lily.

"It will be ok, big guy… she's removing that thing that hurts you." Patch said low and calm, stroking the nervous engine. "Stand still, or she'll be squashed…"

The diesel breathed out, seemingly calmer, but his eyes were still wide open.

Lily crawled out, throwing the tazer away like garbage. Then she hugged the diesel.

"Good boy!" she praised, patting him.

Right then, they heard a car approached, stopping outside.

Sir Topham Hatt jumped out of the car, walking with long, aggressive steps into the workshop.

"Explain to me… why are my diesels out of control and all over the island? Why is every female engine on this island derailed and smiling goofily when I question them what happened?! And what on earth is going on in here?!"

The Fat Controller stared at Arry, at the uncouncious mechanic hanging over the ledge, at Bert on the hoist, at Mr. Conductor and at Lily and Patch who were hugging the diesel on the flatbed.

The silence was long and awkward…

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To be continued!