After Stephanie got over her hiccuping and burping fit, they continued down the tracks, until they entered a forest, and into an empty yard.
But before they could exit out of the empty yard, they were oddly slowing down before stopping.
"What happened?" Stephanie asked, before looking at the coal behind her back, noticing that it was empty.
"We're low on fuel." Thomas sighed. "And I don't know if one of us can keep going to push all of us."
"I'm also empty," James responded.
"Mine too." Gordon groaned.
"We're all empty." Edward sighed.
Stephanie sighed and stepped out from inside Thomas' cab before giving Mittens over to Keith.
"Wait right here," she spoke to everyone. "Let me see if there is anyone around here to help us."
After she had given Mittens to Keith, she walked off into the empty yard, glancing around.
"Hello?" she called, cupping her hands over her mouth. "Is anyone or any trains here to help us?"
Silence only answered Stephanie's call as she waited for a moment, glancing around for anyone.
Then, something passed over from the side of Stephanie's gaze, causing her to look at the spot again.
"Hey!" She called over to the being she saw. "You over there! Can you help us?"
Nothing responded back to her question until a whistle and bell answered.
"Quit your yellin'!" A female's voice sighed. "We're comin'!"
A train appeared before Stephanie, and she moved her hands from her mouth, smiling softly.
The train is painted light turquoise with a gold cowcatcher.
Her front windows have a gold lining, and her side windows have a copper lining.
Her main body is covered in rust.
She has brass nameplates fixated on each side of her cab, and the initials "N.P.C.R.R" painted on her rear oil tank.
"Oh," Stephanie chuckled softly. "Sorry for yelling, I thought someone was inside the sheds."
"No one's inside the sheds!" The train exclaimed, proving her point as a shed collapsed behind her. "We used to be the ones here until Thomas came!"
"You know who Thomas is?" Stephanie asked, perking a little.
"Of course!" she beamed. "Thomas came here lost tryin' to get those Troublesome Trucks to the Mainland after trickin' his friend, James! "
Then, she looked confused.
"How did you know him?" she asked.
Stephanie nodded her head behind her back while jabbing a thumb.
"Because Thomas and his friends are waiting behind me to get refueled to continue on the journey," Stephanie responded.
A happy cheer came from the train as she whistled and rang her bell.
"Theo!" she called. "Merlin! Thomas' here! And he brought some friends with him!"
Stephanie perked a little when she heard those names before a shaky small train appeared next to her.
She was startled slightly but relaxed once she notices it was just another experimental train.
The train is painted grayish brown with gold lining, headlamp, and whistle.
His wheels and lower traction wheels are dark green while his upper traction wheels are a reddish-brown.
The train also carries his name, 'Theo,' on gold nameplates fixated on each side of his smoke-box.
And that train was the same one that Stephanie called.
"Oh," Stephanie smiled and chuckled. "I suppose you were the one that I called to when I first came here?"
Theo quietly nodded his head and glanced away, blushing slightly.
"Shy?" Stephanie smiled, crossing her arms over her chest.
He nodded his head again.
Then, steam and smoke swirled around Stephanie, causing her to cough.
She waves her hand in front of her face until it was all gone.
When she glanced up to see what could have created that smoke, she suddenly looked amazed by another magnificent train.
The train is painted silver with a red running board and wheels, and black smoke deflectors.
He has red and gold nameplates on either side.
His number '783' is also painted white on his front buffer beam, the side of his cab, and tender.
"Whoa," Stephanie remarked, smiling softly.
"I am Merlin." He proudly smiled. "Who are you?"
Stephanie smiled and bowed to them, placing her right hand against her chest.
"Stephanie," Stephanie responded. "Stephanie Nova Rose Allen."
When they noticed her metal hand, eye, and hair, they were surprised.
"Well, burst my boiler!" the female train exclaimed. "You're like us!"
Stephanie was startled that she glanced back up at them.
"What's that?" she asked curiously.
"Your hand!" Merlin responded as she glanced down at it. "It's made out of metal!"
Stephanie glanced back up at them and painfully smiled.
"Yeah," she chuckled, moving her hand behind her back, looking slightly ashamed for it. "I am."
The female train shook her head, before saying, "I'm Lexi, now, what happened to Thomas?"
Stephanie took this chance to switch to a different topic.
"Well," Stephanie began. "Thomas and his friends are empty on fuel and coal, so we would like to keep moving if that's okay with all of you?"
"Sure!" Lexi smiled. "But, there's no coal here!"
Stephanie was surprised when Lexi said that.
"But, there's plenty inside the Steelworks!" Lexi beamed. "Let's just go find them and bring them there!"
Stephanie clapped her hands gently and moved out of the way for them to move, as Lexi and Merlin went backward, heading towards a turntable.
Before Stephanie could keep walking, Theo came up to her side slowly.
"If you want, you could ride with me," Theo softly spoke, surprising Stephanie.
"Oh, you do talk." Stephanie smiled. "You were so quiet! But, yes, I would love to."
Theo's cheeks slightly blushed as Stephanie stepped inside, before placing her hand on the window sill.
He moved forward as he shakes, but it was not enough to knock Stephanie off her feet, but just little shakes like before when Stephanie and her friends went over those bumps on the road.
When they reached the entrance of the empty yard, they noticed Thomas and his friends, while Lexi and Merlin were in excitedly bouncing around.
"It's good to see you again, Thomas!" Lexi beamed. "It's been a while too!"
Thomas nodded his head before noticing Theo as he stopped and allowed Stephanie off.
"Thanks, Theo." Stephanie thanked, gently patting his side.
Theo's cheeks blushed again as Stephanie stepped forward, standing by Thomas' side and asked, "Who's going to be the first to pull Thomas?"
Merlin moved up before Lexi and Theo.
"Let me." Merlin smiled as Stephanie nodded her head and coupling him to Thomas.
After Stephanie coupled Merlin to Thomas, he tried moving forward but had difficulties with the other trains.
"Oops," Stephanie realized, as Merlin stopped tugging. "Wait one moment."
She walked behind Thomas and uncoupled him from Lady, before nodding her head, signaling Merlin to pull Thomas.
Merlin tugged Thomas from the line before Lexi and Theo were surprised to see Lady.
"Who's this?" Theo softly asked.
"This is Lady," Stephanie introduced. "Thomas'…" she paused as a mischievous smirk appeared on her face. "Girlfriend."
Theo and Lexi were confused, as, in the background, a large puff of steam came out of Thomas' chimney and around him.
"Why is Thomas' face all red?" Merlin innocently asked in the background.
Stephanie shrugged her shoulders gently as Lady behind her back was blushing slightly.
"Who's next?" Stephanie asked.
"Let me." Theo piped up before moving forward. "M-My name is Theo."
"Pleased to meet you," Lady greeted, as Stephanie unchained Lady from Percy. "I'm Lady."
While Theo was moving away, they both were talking to each other, while Theo was awkwardly talking to her, blushing slightly at the same time.
After Theo left with Lady, Percy was surprised to see Merlin.
"Ah, you must be Percy." Merlin softly smiled.
"How did you know my name?" Percy asked in confusion.
Merlin paused for a moment in thought before an idea popped into his mind.
"Invisibility," he spoke, beaming brightly. "On!"
After he had said that, a large puff of smoke and steam blew around Merlin, concealing him inside.
Percy coughed a few times, as the smoke slowly died down, revealing that Merlin was not there anymore.
Then, an excited smile appeared on Percy's face as he glanced around for Merlin.
"So it was you who was that invisible engine!" Percy remarked, before glancing over to his side, noticing that Merlin was right beside him.
Percy gasped in startlement when he saw him, as Merlin said, "Hello again!"
Then, a shameful blush appeared on Percy's cheeks as he glanced away from Merlin.
"I guess that whistle was not from you," Percy softly spoke.
"Nonsense." Merlin smiled before whistling. "It wasn't the same, but I am glad to meet you again."
Percy beamed again as his blush disappeared, as Merlin moved back in front of Percy, as Stephanie chuckled softly.
She knew what happened during Merlin's 'special power,' but did not tell Percy how he did it.
Once Merlin was close to Percy, Stephanie coupled the two before uncoupling Percy from Nia.
"Can you do the invisibility thing again?" Percy asked while being towed away. "I would like to do the same thing like you!"
"Maybe some other time." Merlin chuckled.
After Merlin dragged Percy from the line, Nia was left behind with the rest, as Stephanie sighed and rubbed the back of her neck.
"We are going to need more trains to help us." Stephanie sighed.
"And that's why Lexi called us to help." a voice responded from behind Stephanie, causing her to flinch.
When she glanced over her shoulder, Stephanie was surprised to see two more trains.
The train is painted red-brown with a black running board, redlining, steam pipes, and wheels.
He has brass nameplates on either side of his running board, the number "20" painted on his front buffer beam in yellow, and brass and red number plates on either side of his coal bunker.
The second train is painted blue-green and black with gold lining.
She has red and gold nameplates on either side and "M.S.C.," which stands for "Manchester Ship Canal," written above her face.
The number "4002" is written in yellow on her front buffer beam.
"Oh, thank you." Stephanie smiled before going behind Nia to uncouple her and couple the train to her.
After that, the train gently dragged Nia away, right behind Percy while Merlin was pulling him.
"Be careful with Percy's girlfriend, mister!" Stephanie cheekily called to him, before seeing a large puff of steam from Percy behind.
"Now Percy's face is red!" Merlin exclaimed. "What's wrong?"
"N-N-Nothing!" Percy stammered as they continued moving.
Stephanie giggled as the female train came up to Gordon as Stephanie coupled him to her before uncoupled him from Rebecca behind him.
"So, who are you?" the female train asked.
"I'm Gordon," Gordon responded. "The big express train and the number 4 train."
She smiled and said, "My name is Frankie and," she paused as the male train came up by her side after dropping Nia off at the Steelworks. "That's Hurricane over there."
"Pleased to meet you all," Stephanie bowed to them. "My name is Stephanie, Stephanie Nova Rose Allen."
Smiling cheekily, Stephanie mentioned to Rebecca with her hand.
"And this is Rebecca, Gordon's girlfriend," Stephanie smirked cheekily.
In the background, the biggest puff of steam erupted from behind Hurricane and Frankie, as they both looked confused as Frankie watched from the corner of her eye.
Mentally, Stephanie was expecting angry and embarrassed yelling from Gordon, but instead, silence filled the air.
Stephanie sighed and glanced over at Rebecca, whose cheeks are the colors of James' paint.
A cocky giggle came from Stephanie as she coupled Hurricane to Rebecca, as he pulled her away from the group after Stephanie uncoupled her from the next steam train behind.
"Is it true you are his girlfriend?" Hurricane asked Rebecca.
"I, uh, well, um," Rebecca stammered, unable to say the words out of her mouth as she stuttered.
Stephanie giggles cockily again as she watched the stuttering Rebecca away from the group, before looking over at James.
"Don't you even think about it." James sternly spoke as Theo came over to him after taking Lady to the Steelworks.
"What?" Stephanie grinned, as she coupled Theo to him, before walking towards Emily behind him. "Isn't Emily your-"
Before she could finish her sentences, she was rudely interrupted by Emily's whistle.
"What was that?" Theo asked.
"Nothing." Stephanie sighed after Emily stopped whistling, uncoupling James from Emily as they both mentally sighed. "Just be careful with Emily's boyfriend."
Theo looked confused as James' face blushed the deepest red she had ever seen before, as a large puff of steam came out of his chimney.
Emily was also embarrassed too.
She was blushing the color of James' bright red paint.
"Stephanie!" Emily exclaimed sternly.
"What?" Stephanie asked, glancing over at her with a mischievous smug grin on her face. "Something I said?"
"Plenty!" James snapped before being towed away from Emily.
Stephanie rolled her eyes as Lexi came, coupling her to a slightly embarrassed Emily, uncoupling her from Henry, who was blushing too.
"Is it too late to say sorry?" he asked.
Stephanie looked surprised at first, before glancing away, thinking for a moment as Merlin came.
"Maybe," Stephanie responded, coupling him to Merlin, before saying. "Although just be careful with Rosie's boyfriend."
Henry's cheeks blushed the deepest red like James, puffing a big puff of steam from his chimney.
Rosie glanced away, blushing too, as a medium-sized puff of steam came out of her chimney.
Stephanie chuckled and uncoupling Rosie from Edward, before coupling her to Frankie.
Edward knew it was his turn to be embarrassed by Stephanie, knowing this was karma for laughing at her hiccuping and burping.
As Frankie pulled Rosie away, Rosie started asking questions to Frankie about the Steelworks to get her mind off about being Henry's 'girlfriend.'
Stephanie giggled softly from the reaction before walking over to Ashima behind Edward and uncoupling her from Edward.
"Are you sure she is okay out here alone?" Edward worriedly asked.
Stephanie smirked and placed a hand on her hip, turning her attention to him.
"Edward, Edward, Edward," Stephanie sighed. "Being a papa bear over your girlfriend a little too much, hmm?"
Edward's cheeks softly blushed as Lexi came over to pull Edward from Ashima, as a medium-sized puff of steam came out of his chimney.
"Well," he spoke, as Ashima blushed too, as a small puff of steam came out of her chimney. "I… have my reason to worry about my… friend."
Edward was a little too shy to say 'girlfriend' in front of a new engine that he had never seen before, as his cheeks blushed deeply.
Stephanie rolled her eyes as she coupled Edward to Lexi before gently patting the side of his body.
"Don't worry about her," Stephanie assured. "She's perfectly fine with me. I'm a tough cookie!"
She puffed her chest out, smirking a cocky smile as Ashima chuckled softly.
Edward rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Alright, then." Edward sighed as Lexi tugged him away from Ashima.
After Edward was tugged away from Ashima with Stephanie, Stephanie glanced over to Ashima with the same smirk on her face.
"You always make that smile on your face when you are going to do something mischievous, are you?" Ashima asked, sighing.
Stephanie nodded her head, giggling.
"Just like a monkey." Ashima chuckled.
Stephanie's smile disappeared after Ashima had mentioned 'monkeys,' as a slightly sad expression appeared on her face.
"Strange." Stephanie softly spoke. "My momma used to nickname me a 'monkey.'"
Ashima softly gasped after Stephanie mentioned her mother, as Theo came over.
"What monkey?" Theo curiously asked.
Stephanie said nothing for a moment before saying, "Nothing, just an animal."
Theo shrugged to himself about the quiet moment between Ashima and Stephanie as she coupled him to her.
After Stephanie coupled Ashima to Theo, he gently tugged her away from the spot she was on, leaving Braedey behind.
Stephanie glanced over at Braedey and shrugged her shoulders.
"It's okay." He assured Stephanie. "Sometimes, it's painful to remember than to forget."
Somehow, those words from Braedey made Stephane slightly flinch as if she remembered them from someone or from herself.
But, without saying a word, she only responded with a nod of her head.
Wisely, Braedey did not talk to Stephanie as Hurricane appeared from the Steelworks in the distance.
Coupling Braedey to Hurricane, Hurricane tugged Braedey away from the spot he was resting at, as Stephanie climbed into his cab before he left.
Once Stephanie was in his cab, she watched as Hurricane lead Braedey out of the forest and into the opening, towards a large factory that is spewing smoke from the large chimneys.
'Whoa…' Stephanie thought to herself in awe. 'That's the Mainland's Steelworks? It's massive!'
Slowly, Hurricane took him inside the Steelworks as Braedey looked around with awe.
"This is amazing!" he remarked, before looking down at Theo, who was coming over from the side, looking slightly tired from pulling trains forward to refill their coal bins and their water tanks. "Are you made for this?"
"Oh, n-no, not really." Theo stammered. "I used to be in that empty place earlier before Thoams came. But when his friend James was in trouble with Frankie and Hurricane, who they were keeping James inside the Steelworks."
"Well," Stephanie huffed in slightly anger. "That's cruel of them."
"Yes," Theo nodded in response to Stephanie's huff. "But, we decided to help them after they had said no one else wanted to help them. Which is the reason why they are acting 'friendly' around new trains."
Stephanie softly smiled as Hurricane took Braedey to the coal hopper before stopping, allowing Stephanie to come out of her cab.
From the corner of Stephanie's eye, she could see that he was blushing slightly in shame for their actions.
"That's great!" Stephanie beamed. "What about that big crane back over there that needed help?"
"Who?" Hurrican and Theo asked simultaneously while raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, do you mean Beresford?" Thomas curiously asked after overhearing the conversation between Stephanie and Theo.
He was getting his water tank filled with water after his coal bin was already filled.
Stephanie cocked her head slightly before running up to Thomas' side, stopping and answered, "Yes, him."
"Well, he was alone as he was doing his job on the same spot as any other cranes would." Thomas sighed. "When I first came to the Mainland to deliver the crates that I tricked James into giving it to me, I encountered Beresford, who was acting pretty rude to me. He placed a boat right in front of me!"
Stephanie listened to his story as the Steelworks workers filled Thomas' water tank with water.
"He kept blocking my way from going to the spot where the crates are supposed to go, but luckily I tricked him," Thomas smirked.
Stephanie rolled her eyes in slight amusement, chuckling slightly.
"But before I was about to head back home after escaping from the Steelworks, I met Beresford again," Thomas continued. "He used his hook on me before I could sneak away from him."
Stephanie huffed in slight anger, crossing her arms over her chest.
'Rude of him.' she thought to herself as she continued listening to Thomas' story.
Then, Thomas softly smiled.
"But, I told him that making someone be your friend by making them stay with you isn't right," Thomas responded.
Stephanie's expression lightened a bit, with realization.
"All you have to do is to be nice to them, so they would be your friend!" Thomas beamed. "And after I told him that, he started to get along with other trains as they passed by him without being rude to them!"
"That's great!" Stephanie smiled softly. "You have a way through your words pretty well, Thomas."
Thomas' cheeks blushed slightly from the response Stephanie made, as the last steam train was filled with water.
Once the last train was filled, Stephanie climbed into Thomas' cab as the Steelworks workers coupled everyone back into line as she poked her head out of his window, along with Keith, who was still holding Mittens in his hands.
"Alright, let's keep on our adventure!" Stephanie beamed happily.
Thomas whistled his whistle along with his friends and puffed forward.
His friends whistled their whistles and rang their bells to them as they passed the exit of the Steelworks, entering another patch of a forest.
"Good luck on your adventure!" Lexi had called out to them before they disappeared into the forest.