"It seems like everything's been goin' to shit ever since that damn portal opened up an' spat me out here," Daniella said with a sigh. "I like this place…but we better find a way to set things right before anyone else dies."
"Whatever do you mean?" Lady said, looking quite alarmed.
"Earthquakes. Mutated dandelions everywhere! Random misfortune! Aw, shit…" Daniella closed her eye, and headed towards the repair shed.
"Where are you going?" Diesel 10 said as he and Lady followed her.
"Repair shed. One of the kids got hurt bad," Daniella said bluntly. She soon arrived there, with Diesel 10 and Lady right behind her.
Lady gasped at the sight before her. One engine was partially covered with a sheet, completely lifeless. Three young ones were also there, one of whom was horrifically damaged. Brewster had stopped crying but hadn't moved from the spot he had huddled in earlier. Koko was silent, looking sad and worried. Wilson's side panels had been opened up, revealing the damage done to his inner workings.
"Ow, ow, OWWWWW!" Wilson cried as Morgan worked on him.
"I'm being as gentle as I can, Wilson. You're doing great though," Morgan reassured him.
"I'm scared," Wilson whimpered. "I don't wanna die!"
"Don't say that!" Koko exclaimed. "You won't!"
"I'm doing all I can. I can't guarantee anything," said Morgan.
"NO!" Brewster suddenly shouted. "Not Wilson! We already lost Zack…now he's gone…"
"Aw, kid, you'll see him again. We all will. We all meet at the end of the line," said Daniella.
"He may not have to wait that long," said Lady.
"What?! Are you sayin' he's gonna kick the bucket too?!" Daniella exclaimed.
"No, Daniella. What I mean is he hasn't been gone for long. It may be possible to revive him," said Lady.
"And how are you gonna do that?" Diesel 10 scoffed.
"With magic, silly." Lady responded.
Both Daniella and Diesel 10 gave her an incredulous look.
Lady took a breath, puffing a few times. Then, from her funnel, a sparkling, golden mist emanated, which she blew in Zack's direction.
For a moment, no one said a word.
"What in the flying fuckity fuck was that?!" Daniella spluttered. "That was the stupidest thing I have ever…" she trailed off upon seeing Zack's eyelids twitch. "…congratulations. You just created a zombie." She deadpanned.
To everyone's surprise, Zack opened his eyes halfway, groaning a bit. Morgan dropped his tools, staring in shock. Brewster bounced up, smiling broadly. "Zack!" he exclaimed.
"You take it easy," Lady said softly. "You're still badly damaged, but you're going to be alright. I'll make sure of it." She then looked at Wilson. "Both of you will recover," she said.
Before anything else could be said, a loud, booming clap of thunder was heard, and the sky erupted into black, crackling bolts of sinister energy. Up from the ground rose that same rusted steam engine with the rotted off face, hissing fiercely.
"Wonderful," Daniella said sarcastically, "You pissed off the demon."
The decayed engine's remains of a face warped into an angry expression, and once again, the ground began to tremble.
"Oh, hell no!" Daniella said as she recklessly charged at it. "I won't let you hurt anyone else!"
"Daniella! Stop!" Diesel 10 shouted, but Daniella paid no mind. She rammed headfirst into the hideous engine, knocking it slightly off track. The tremors stopped. "Who the hell are you and why in the hell are you doing this?!" Daniella demanded.
"None of your concern, Reaper," the engine hissed.
"It is now," Daniella growled.
"You never could accept your place as an engine. Always sticking your claw where it doesn't belong! Keep it out if this, or else you'll pay dearly." The engine warned.
"I just wanna know who you are and why you're causing all these disasters!" said Daniella.
"I don't even remember who I am!" the engine snapped. "Your kind made me like this! Driven to the scrapyards with my brethren, cut to pieces! And Lady, making peace with diesels! I won't rest until all of you suffer the same fate I did! Along with every steam engine who sides with you!"
"W—What?!" Puffer Pete exclaimed. "S—Scrapping is only done a—after someone dies. We've never s—scrapped engines just to r—replace them!"
"My quarrel isn't with you or the chuggers," the decayed engine said. "What happened here was collateral damage."
"What are you on about?" Diesel 10 said.
"Yeah, you just said you wanted every diesel to suffer the same fate you did!" said Daniella.
"Not every diesel," the engine hissed. "Every warship class."
"What do you have against us?!" Daniella exclaimed.
"Your kind caused my railway to fall! You took us to scrapyards! You murdered us!" the engine shouted.
"I didn't murder shit! An' neither did Diesel 10! You're fuckin' crazy!" Daniella spat.
At that, the decayed engine let out an ungodly shriek, lifting from the ground.
"You need to calm down!" Daniella shouted. "I don't know who you are, or what made you into what you are now, but you might remember who you were if you let go of all this hatred! We didn't cause your downfall, the humans in charge did!"
"Dani, get back!" Diesel 10 pleaded.
"No, Diesel 10, look!" Lady said, seeing that the old steam engine had lowered itself back down.
"No one can change the past, and tryin' to kill off me an' my brother isn't doing you any good. We never harmed you. You need to let go," said Daniella.
"I can't! I have nothing left to hold on to!" the engine shrieked.
"Not here, you don't. But your siblings and friends are all probably waiting for you at the end of the line. Go to them," said Daniella.
"How can I if I don't even remember who I was?!" the engine hissed.
"You will if you let go," said Daniella.
"What if I don't?" the engine said, this time in a calmer voice.
"Then you'll at least be at peace. Don't be afraid," Daniella said softly. She reached her claw out, touching its rusted boiler, rubbing it carefully. As she gently stroked the decayed engine's boiler, the skies regained their color, and the mutated monstrosities wilted and sank back into the ground. The rusted steam engine crumbled to dust, and in its place stood a ghostly tender engine, who wept in regret.
"There," Daniella said softly. "It's alright now. Go on, be free now."
"Thank you," the ghostly engine said, before turning into a wisp of energy and shooting off into the sky.
"What…just happened?" said Diesel 10.
"Donatello just saved us all!" said Puffer Pete.
"Three cheers for Daniella!" said Koko.
"Oh, please no—" said Daniella.
"Hip, hip, hooray!" the chuggers cheered.
"Oh, goddammit!" Daniella said, flushing red. Still, she couldn't help but smile a bit. After all, it seemed like everything was going to be alright now.