"Alright everybody, welcome to the first-ever Teamwork Competition! Once we've introduced everyone we'll be detailing just what exactly our newest event holds in store!
"These two were originally Russian gauge but were regauged since. And gauge in fact determines their lives somewhat! He was meant to go to Estonia but when they converted to standard gauge got shipped off to Finland instead. She was built to be more efficient than her predecessor class, but wasn't quite strong enough. But they've been preserved nonetheless! He's a 4-6-4T VR Class Pr2, built and brought to life 1941; she's a B VR Class Tve2, built and brought to life 1962. For Finland, Henschel and Venla!" A big black tank engine and a tiny red diesel stood stoically still.
"Our next two are firm friends, having worked heavy freight together back when they were in active service. He was here during the Strength competition last year, and this year let her tag along! The regauging process was actually less painful for them than it was for most Lifers! He's a 2-8-2 Japanese National Railways Class D51, built and brought to life 1936; she's a B-B+B-B Japanese National Railways Class EH10, built and brought to life 1954. For Japan, Tadashi and Amai!" One of Hiro's brothers and a long black electric engine bowed to the audience.
"Life is hardly fair, that's well-known. But these two know it better than anyone else here. From being bullied, to losing the woman they loved, to being misrepresented, they've seen hardship like no Lifer should. Yet they've come through with flying colors. Two single-member classes. Two Lifers with the engine equivalent of high-functioning Asperger's syndrome. Two Americans who look like Brits. Two engines of the Golden Railway. Two victims of the same scandal. Two engines affected by the death of the same engine. Two halves of the same coin. One amazing story. He's a B-B EMD Class 42 1/2, built and brought to life 1984; she's an 0-4-0T Baldwin Class 101 1/2, built 1972 and brought to life 1982. For Sodor, Nick and Lady!" The two flinched at the unexpected cheering.
"One of these engines actually is a Brit! How'd she end up in Switzerland, you may ask? Her village needed an engine, and she needed to live. It was a win-win until she got hurt and damaged her eyes. He let her see a whole new world. Fun fact: of the six teams here, these two are the only ones who are actually romantically involved! Officially speaking, that is! He's a 1-C+C-1 Swiss Federal Railways Be 6/8, built 1920 and brought to life 1942; she's a 2-6-0 ex-Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Class 28, built 1910 and brought to life 1935. For Switzerland, Zap and Jamie!" The two grinned goofily.
"England has built a lot of experimental engines. He knows this very well; he used to be a gas turbine before he was converted into an electric locomotive! And she was rebuilt with a new signalling system to better meet international standards. Can their upgrades net them a win, though? He's an A1A-A1A BR Class 80, built 1951 and brought to life 1959; she's a C-C BR Class 97/3, built and brought to life 1961. For the United Kingdom, John and Sally!" A black electric engine and a yellow diesel nodded to each other knowingly.
"And lastly, we have two misfits. He was often bullied for his muteness, but never let that stop him, and he continues to be an advocate for disabled Lifers to this day. She was the one who alerted the world to the mid-2010s scandal, where Amtrak planned to destroy ALL of her class, regardless of whether or not they were alive, to make room for the absolutely horrid ACS-64s. Both are heroes in their own way. He's a C-C Burlington Northern Santa Fe GE 8-40CW, built and brought to life 1992; she's a B-B ex-Amtrak EMD AEM-7, built and brought to life 1981. For the United States of America, Howard and Amelia!" A large orange diesel and a medium-sized silver electric engine with blue accents grimaced.
"So what are we going to test with this competition? A lot! First is efficacy. Each of the six teams must first fill ten trucks with stones from these hoppers. The hoppers are pressure-activated." The space under the hoppers was positively riddled with many tangled tracks. "Then, they must figure out how to get their trains across three obstacles: over a bridge, through a tunnel, and up a windy hill!" The bridge took them to the sea at the edge of the whole thing, down a subterranean tunnel, and back out again. "Whichever team manages to come back while losing the least cargo by weight wins!
"Begin!"
"Okay, I'm definitely doing this bit, you're too big," Lady said.
"I was just about to ask that. See if you can swoop through all of them so you don't have to wait," Nick replied.
"Great idea! Let the lady do her magic." They laughed at their injoke and she sped off to work.
"Ah, a mental challenge!" Sally sighed off to the side. "About time they had one of these!"
Howard honked in confusion.
"Shunting's agility! This one needs raw brain! Or...whatever it is that we have."
"I have never been more grateful for our ability to comprehend all languages," Henschel said dryly.
Lady slipped underneath the hoppers, all of the trucks in front of her. Each time she went she filled them all a little bit. Using this, instead of sitting underneath them, put her and Nick far ahead of the rest. She put five behind each of them and they pushed off.
"Look at that! Lady put her pedal to the metal for this one! But oh, now that her technique's been exposed Venla's catching up with it!"
"Man, the Finns are good," Burnett remarked. Henschel and Venla had just finished putting their trucks together.
"Not as good as us," Lady replied. They stopped at the bridge, where there was a sign. "'One of these tracks is the most stable and will wobble the least. Therefore you will lose the least stone. Which track should you take?'"
"Hm..." Nick tapped the bases of each of the three lines with Pinchy. "Right."
"Right? You sure? That doesn't make much sense."
"It's based on how they vibrate. Left one tilts to the side, middle one buckles up and down. Let's move before they see us." The points switched them to the right and they moved off. Then the points reset.
The Finns were going fast to try and catch up, but in doing so missed the sign. The middle track bounced, and a rock fell out into the sea.
"Perkele!" Venla growled.
"AAAH!" Amai shrieked, causing the Finns to jolt, losing another five rocks. The Nipponians had chosen the left track and were rocking uncomfortably.
"Okay, tunnel time. We both stand a chance of suffocating our drivers, but you have less emissions than me, so you drive," Lady said.
"Fine by me." She coupled up behind him and he sped through the tunnel, careful to ride smoothly.
"This is so ours," Amelia smirked as she and Howard entered the tunnel. "Electric engines are queens of the tunnels!"
"ZHE HILLS ARE ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE WITH ZHE SOUND OF MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZHIIIIIIIIIIIIIC!" Zap sang as he raced past her, Jamie pulled behind him. A shower of gravel hit Amelia in the face.
"OW! Aw, come on! That wasn't even a good movie!" Howard laughed silently.
The Sudrians left it first. "Stick close to the hill, and we should split up. The less weight we're both pulling, the more likely we're gonna win," Nick said.
"What do you mean?"
"We're both faster with less weight. One of us will reach the finish line first that way."
"Oh, I thought you were saying you didn't like me."
"WHAT?! Lady, of course I–" He paused. "...What's Boomer's ship doing over there?"
She saw it too. "Dunno, but we gotta move!"
So they did. It was then that the wind picked up, and they struggled to continue up. Well, Nick did. Lady's smaller size meant she had less to fight against.
Nick tailed her, right until they were only fifty feet from the finish line...but then a towering sycamore keeled over.
It triggered a flashback.
But then it triggered something else.
"NO!" the Deep Voice roared. Nick sped up and crunch. The tree was in his claw.
"Holy mother of–" Lady gasped. "You...saved my life...thank you."
They continued on in awkward silence, Nick only able to think one thing:
I've lost one woman I loved to a tree. I don't need to lose another.
Later, the results were in. "The Sudrians arrived first, and with 201 metric tons of stone, they win!"
"Finally, we get something!" James remarked from the audience. "They did good, those crazy kids."
"And your sister placed second!" Percy added.
"She sure did! Hughes forever!"
Nick was still carrying the tree when he noticed something. He dropped it and moved it until its bottom was close to his face. His jaw dropped when he saw the conical, ragged end. "Everybody! This tree was cut down!" The crowd gasped. "Now find me the idiot who did this!"
"I thought that'd be illegal, cutting down a tree without a permit," John remarked.
"But it's very similar to what's happened before." Alex suddenly appeared in the arena, approaching Nick.
"Alex?..."
"Hello, Nick. It's been twenty-five years too long. Interesting choice of livery, by the way." He laughed wistfully, then frowned. "Nick, there's been an...important development regarding Cressida's death."
"What kind of development?"
"It has to do with the tree that killed her. You see, the processing company we sent it to so it could be turned into lumber? Well, they charge more if they have to process roots in addition to all the rest. But In 2013, one of our accountants noticed that we didn't get a notice to pay that extra fee. Lawson dismissed it, saying that we didn't have to pay them, so why should we care about some extra cash? But it didn't set right with us that we weren't doing the right thing.
"So we looked into it. Turns out they didn't process the roots. The tree didn't have them when they got it. We went to the site of the accident and saw its stump. It wasn't torn like it would've been had it rotted through and been blown off that fateful day. It was obviously very neatly cut, even with the years of growth." Nick's jaw dropped.
"We first thought it was just bad timing, or general stupidity, but then a more plausible explanation was realized by us diesels. It was that same year, 1997, that live machines started disappearing without a trace. And around that same time, whisperings of a dark cyclist prowling around, looking for victims, began to circulate. First on Union Pacific, then spreading to the rest of the country. Every now and then, something would appear on the internet, of people who hate us for existing. Monsters.
"Her death was never your fault, Nick. But now we know whose it was. For Cressida's death was no accident:
"She was murdered by the Anti-Life movement."
Next chapter, an epic fight scene! How epic will it be? Will Boomer win, or will he lose? Will Crana reveal herself at long last?
All this and more in the next chapter – Move!
