Twelve's Chocolate Train

Some of the workmen stayed overtime to help the two engines, and by morning, Misaki was ready to go, and Morning Light's inspection was almost complete. She couldn't thank the workmen enough.
"It's amazing," remarked Morning Light, "how they can mend both of us and still have time to work on that new engine."
"New engine?" Misaki asked.
"There's too much for us to handle on the Main Line," Morning Light explained, "so the Big Controller's ordered for a new engine. These guys have been working day and night to finish it."
Misaki watched them work and sighed. "They do so much for us," she said. "I wish we could repay them, somehow."
Just then, her Driver and Fireman arrived. "Come along," they said to her. "We've got banking duty today."
Misaki said goodbye to everyone, and then she puffed away to work.

Meanwhile, No. 12 had been through a rough night. A special had come in and was to be brought to the lumber yard, and he was the only available engine to take it. But the line to the forest went through Naomi's branch line, and he had gotten lost. In the end, he had been yelled at by an old lady for being too loud while a goat wandered onto the line.
By morning, he was exhausted and had crawled home to the sheds to rest. While he relaxed in the warm morning sun, his Driver got notice of a goods train for them to take. "We'd better get ready to go," he told No. 12.
The big engine wanted to protest. His Driver understood. "Don't worry," he said calmly. "It's only a train of chocolate. It'll be just fine."
No. 12 gave a sigh of relief. The thought of pulling a train filled with chocolate sounded a little fun.

But when he arrived to collect the train, he found he would be in for a rough trip. There in the middle of the train was Grunt. Grunt was a goods van, the oldest and ugliest on the line. The old truck had taken a liking to picking on No. 12, and things always when wrong whenever the two were together.
"Oh, it's YOU," Grunt snorted with a crude grin, exposing the gap where one tooth was missing. "You don't bug me, and I don't bug you, got it?"
No. 12 gave him a nasty look. Just as he was about to puff to the front of the train, Grunt shouted out, "Everyone! Bump him 'till he learns to scream!" No. 12 blushed furiously while all of the trucks giggled and passed the word.
"Let's not let him beat us today," sighed his Driver as No. 12 was coupled up.

As they hurried down the line, the trucks seemed to be running smoothly. While the Driver wasn't worrying, No. 12 knew the trucks were only pretending to behave. He was right; they had only arrived at the coastal station when two of the vans violently bashed into each other, coming off the rails. Luckily, their boxes of chocolate remained undamaged, so No. 12 left them to be unloaded and headed off.
His next stop was at the station at the end of the Ice Line. He knew he would have to face the big hill again, but he remained confident. All at once, however, he felt the heavy vans hold him back.
"Hold him back! Pay him out! Show him what we're all about!" they chanted. Grunt's voice was the loudest of them all.
No. 12 did he best, but by the time he reached the Ice Line junction, he was exhausted. Luckily for him, Misaki was in the nearby siding waiting for him.

"I heard you'll need a back engine!" she chuckled. "No worries, Twelve, I'm coming to help."
No. 12 was relieved. Misaki carefully buffered up behind the train, and on the Guard's whistle, they puffed away to charge at the hill.
But the trucks were relentless. "Hold back! Hold back!" they sneered. As they began to climb, Misaki could feel them pushing against her buffers. But she kept pushing as hard as she could, even though No. 12 was loosing steam.
The Guard felt the train buckle. "No! Stop!" he tried to shout to Misaki, but she was puffing too loudly for her Driver to hear.
Grunt was feeling triumphant. "Ha ha!" he chortled. "I knew you couldn't do it!"
But suddenly, he felt himself buckle upward, and his wheels left the rails. All at once, he found himself falling onto his side. He screamed as his coupling snapped, and he slid down the side of the hill. The first vans in front of and behind Grunt had not fallen over, but had jumped off the rails. The rest of the train remained on the track as No. 12 and Misaki came to a stop.

Nobody had been hurt. The guard pinned down the brakes, and Misaki hurried away to find the breakdown train. She soon returned with two large yellow cranes on flatbeds, and the cleanup began. They first put the two vans back on the rails, and No. 12 backed down to couple them together.
"You'll behave yourselves now, won't you?" Misaki said to the vans with a grin.
"Y-yes, w-we will," they stammered, looking at the wrecked Grunt laying on his side. No. 12 headed back down the hill, and then pulled them up and onto the Ice Line with no trouble at all.
Misaki stayed and watched the cranes bring Grunt back onto the rails. His side door was caved in, and his wheels were wrecked, so they put him on a flatbed. Misaki pulled the cranes away, and then brought Grunt to the Works.

At the Works, they examined the damaged and dizzy old van. "It'll take some time," said the Manager, "but we can fix him."
Inside, they could see lots of crates filled with chocolate. Some of the crates had been broken open during the crash, and chocolate bars were everywhere. "They can't sell ruined chocolate," Misaki's Driver said. "What should we do?"
Then Misaki had an idea. "How about you guys keep the chocolate?" she said. "It can be a token of our appreciation!"
The workmen were delighted, and thanked Misaki for her "very fortunate accident". Oni puffed up and brought the crates to the break room on his flatbeds.
Misaki could only smile when she saw the workmen enjoying their chocolate. "I guess I did thank them," she said to herself. "By accident, anyway!"