Chapter 2

When No. 12 made it to the harbor, he was surprised to see lots of different fishing boats being unloaded along the wharf. "Looks like they're all stocking up for the winter," chuckled his Driver. "We'll be taking trucks down between stations, and then a few more to Keikan. We have to arrange the train first though."
Scattered all along the wharf were lots of different fish vans. After the men loaded them with as much fish as they could carry, No. 12 would shunt them away into a siding. Much to his dismay, he immediately recognized one of the vans. Unlike the other gray vans, this one was painted jet black. He smirked as he saw No. 12.
"Hey you!" he laughed. "It's me, Grunt! It's been a while, hasn't it?"
No. 12 looked away, pretending he hadn't heard. Grunt was the most frustrating and annoying truck on the whole island, and he had taken a dislike to No. 12 in particular. No. 12 was never perfect with trucks, but things always went wrong when he had to take Grunt out.
"Aw, don't give me that face," Grunt snorted. "Remember all of the good times? When I stalled you? When I derailed you? Or how about the one time when you threw me off the rails? Oh... wait, I haven't gotten back at you for that, now have I? Food for though."
No. 12 rolled his eyes and went on his way. Grunt was shunted into the train along with the rest of the vans. The heavy fish train was prepared and ready on time, but No. 12 couldn't stand the awful smell. He hurried to the water tower furthest away from the siding.
As he drank, he noticed a much smaller train next to him on the narrow gauge railway. A small blue engine was bustling about with the little vans. He stopped when he spotted No. 12 watching him. This little engine was named Smudger. He had come to Tanishima a little over twenty years ago.
"Hey, Twelve!" Smudger whistled as he backed down onto his train. "What's up?"
No. 12 smiled at him, then looked back toward the fish and made a face.
"Yeah, I know, it's awful," Smudger laughed. "You'll be smelling fish all morning! I'm taking a train too. I've got to take it to the farms near the valley."
No. 12 wheeshed, looking out toward the sea. Smudger glanced at the water, and then back at him.
"Whoa, going out that far?" Smudger asked. "I always wanted to know, what's Keikan like?"
No. 12 scowled and stuck out his tongue.
"Hah, good enough explanation for me!" Smudger laughed. Just then, a guard blew his whistle. "Whoops, I'd better get going," he said hastily. "Nice talking to you!" And he whistled as he puffed away, the fish vans rattling behind him.
It wasn't long before No. 12 had taken on plenty of water. "We can't keep the Big Controller waiting," his Driver said. "Let's get this finished, and then you can come home and get plenty of rest."
No. 12 agreed. He left the siding and backed down carefully onto his train. Grunt was trying to rally the rest of the vans. "Hold back, hold back," he was chanting. "Show this guy who rules the track!" But it nearly dawn, and the rest of the vans were too tired to play any tricks. Grunt snarled to himself in disappointment.
The Guard's whistle blew, and he hurried into the brake van as No. 12 started his journey. He left the harbor and puffed through the Main Station, one of the biggest stations on the line. He made his way down the quiet main line, and his Driver thought it would be best to take the long way around, instead of cutting through the valley line.
The fish vans groaned and rocked behind him. No. 12 made his first stop at the goods station near the Ice Line, where several of the vans were shunted neatly into the siding. They set off again, and with less trucks, No. 12 was able to go faster. They made their next stop at the goods platform of the Valley Station, which was the biggest and most elaborate station on the whole Island. No. 12 took some time to admire it as he waited for the Guard.
The inside of the station was brightly lit, and hanging on the wall was the painting called "Master of the Railway". It was a painting of Hiro, puffing proudly through the Tanishima countryside, the sun rising behind Mount Saiji. The station had several shops and stalls, including a little restaurant that served sushi on something his Driver called a "sushi train". The station also housed a post office, though No. 12 had never seen it. Beyond the station building, he could see the many buildings of the capital city, Seikyo.
He was almost sorry when it was time to head off to Keikan. He was even more upset when he saw Grunt still coupled to the train. "Sorry bud," he sneered, "but I'm not out of here just yet."
No. 12 rolled his eyes and puffed away with the remainder of his train. He puffed through the countryside, now nearly at the bridge. The night air had started to grow warmer as the sun started to creep over the side of the mountain. No. 12 took a deep breath, enjoying the peace before finally rumbling onto the long bridge.

Keikan Island is a small island right between Tanishima and the Mainland. It's used to transfer goods and passengers between the Upper Valley Railway and the Japanese National Railways, as they used different rail gauges; engines from the Mainland are much smaller than those on Tanishima. In the ancient years, Keikan had once been a prison island; the daunting spirit of the prisons is kept alive through the infamous scrap yard, where old engines are shunted away and cut up.
Working here were three shunting diesels, collectively known amongst the steam engines as the "Scrap Shunters". They were identical in appearance; each had four wheels, a cab in their middle, black paint with yellow hazard stripes and bufferbeams. The only way to tell them apart was to look at their numbers, painted on the side of their cabs.
Mari was the leader of the three. She was devious and cunning, and yet the most reliable of the group. She kept the other two in order and made sure everything went her way. There was also Kenji, the violent engine with the loudest mouth for miles. He bucked and bounced, and damaged many unfortunate trucks and coaches that got in his way. Last of the group was Toki, who usually wasted his time dozing around until a wiser engine would tell him what to do. He was a very simple sort, but was well-known for his crazed, haunting laugh.
It was common knowledge for the steam engines to do their best to avoid the three engines at all cost, which is why No. 12 was surprised when, as he left the bridge and pulled into the goods yard, he saw Morning Light had pulled right up to them and was talking. He sounded furious.
"Raiden was supposed to be here by now," he told them, "so where in the world is he?"
"No clue," Mari huffed.
"What do I look like, his guard?" snapped Kenji.
"He went over the bridge!" Toki exclaimed.
"Whoa, look at that, you've gone and stated the obvious!" Kenji laughed rudely.
"Don't you laugh at him," Mari scowled. "He was just trying to help.
"Well some help he was," Kenji grunted.
"Stationmaster says he left at six o'clock," Morning Light said. "He should have been here at seven-thirty, but it's almost eight."
"It's a crime shame, isn't it?" Mari sighed. "Our biggest, strongest, and fastest diesel is also the worst procrastinator."
No. 12 puffed up alongside. "Right on time," Morning Light told him proudly. "I can't imagine why your Controller would give away such a reliable engine," he continued with a glare at the diesels.
"Something called modernfistation?" Toki said, trying to think.
"You mean modernization," Kenji snorted. "To put it in words you'll get: out with the old, in with the new."
"So why are you three still working?" retorted Grunt from No. 12's train.
Morning Light and No. 12 couldn't help but laugh. Mari and Kenji were offended.
"I don't get it," Toki said blankly.
"Hey, Twelve," Morning Light said, "there's a train of empty trucks in the siding over there. Get it, and once Raiden arrives, bring it to the coal mine on your way back to the shed."
No. 12 frowned a bit, hissing steam feebly.
"I know, I know," Morning Light said. "But it's just a few trucks, nothing too big. You can get a rest and plenty to drink while you're here."
No. 12 reluctantly rolled away while Mari and Kenji began to argue. He shunted Grunt and the rest of the vans at the goods station platform, and then rounded off to find the nearest water tower. It was situated opposite the main line that lead to the passenger station.
As he drank, he closed his eyes and sighed, thinking of being back in his nice, warm shed. Being on the island that used to be his home, but had so easily tossed him aside like scrap metal, made him uneasy in his frames. He opened his eyes, looking out toward the bridge, and suddenly froze.
There, coming towards him, was the bright headlamp and a tall, dark engine. He couldn't see it properly through the mist surrounding the bridge, but he instantly thought of the Razor Train.
His Fireman looked down from the water tube, noticing No. 12's eyes had gone wide. "Hello?" he said, waving his hand down.
No. 12 suddenly yelped and suddenly shot back, knocking his Fireman off his feet. He backed right into the waiting trucks in the siding. With a loud crash that echoed through the yard, two trucks came to pieces, the rest of them bouncing off the rails.
The Fireman, shocked but unhurt, ran over. The Driver, who was still in the cab, climbed out, holding his head. "Are you hurt?" the Fireman asked him.
"Nah, I'm fine," the Driver muttered as he regained his composure. "Hey, Twelve, what was all that about? Look at the mess you made!"
The engine made its way through the fog and growled to a stop at the station platform, with many dark blue passenger coaches behind it. The diesel was long and black, with a small cab right in its center. It had orange stripes and a yellow bufferbeam.
Morning Light pulled up alongside him. "Twelve," he called, "what just happened? Raiden, what did you do?" he snapped, looking at the big diesel.
Raiden raised an eyebrow. "My good engine!" he said tauntingly. "I've only just come here with your train, and you're already accusing me of wrongdoing? I'm simply shocked and appalled."
"I'm sure you are," Morning Light snorted as the Scrap Shunters arrived to clean up the mess. "Why are you so late today?"
"I had some engine trouble before we left," Raiden explained coolly. "Your Sunlight Express doesn't leave until nine anyway. The Stationmaster told me I had plenty of time, but I tried to make up for lost time anyway."
"Well you didn't," Morning Light huffed crossly.
"And I'm quite ashamed," Raiden said sarcastically. "Please, send my apologies to all of the good people of Japan who I have hurt from my lateness. Grow up, steamer, your Express isn't all that special anyway."
Morning Light rolled his eyes. "What kind of engine are you supposed to be?" he sighed. "If you're so strong and fast, why don't you go and prove it to everyone instead of making things difficult for us?"
"Because it's far too much fun to mess with you!" laughed Raiden. He rolled away and stopped by No. 12. "So I hear," he said back to Morning Light, "that you're expecting a new diesel soon."
"Oh? Who told you that?" Morning Light asked.
"Nobody in particular," Raiden said smoothly. He turned his gaze toward No. 12. "Just watch the rails you tread. You don't know this newcomer... he might just put your little steam haven out of business."
No. 12 gulped. Raiden rumbled slowly away to get fuel while No. 12 found some new trucks to take.
He stopped by Morning Light before he went. "Look," Morning Light explained, "do yourself a favor, and don't listen to anything he says. If you let him get to you, he wins."
No. 12 whistled goodbye, and he was soon puffing home over the bridge. Looking out toward the water, he tried to reassure himself. He remembered the Big Controller had said something about the diesel working with steam engines before.
He looked up, and caught a glimpse of the sun rising over the landscape, the water sparkling under him. In the distance, the mountain looked so much smaller than it really was. No. 12 smiled and hurried on his way.
He hoped that maybe the Big Controller was right, and the new diesel would be helpful and friendly. He had no idea what he was in for.