This story was done in collaboration between me and Jriddle41 (Sodormatchmaker on DeviantART, who also wrote this chapter's story layout), and we both own the OCs that are used in the story. Credit to author AaronCottrell97 for a few ideas and character suggestions (especially the duel layout for the story). Everything else belongs to their respective owners:
Thomas and Friends (c) Hit Entertainment and Mattel
The Railway Series (c) Rev Wilbert Awdry
Yu-Gi-Oh! (c) Konami
NOTE 1: This scene takes place right after Pyramid of Light (with both Gina and Axel returning to their respective European countries), but is also set right before Season 5 begins.
NOTE 2: Seeing as this year's the 75th anniversary of the Railway Series, this deleted scene celebrates that by celebrating Thomas's 16th Birthday.
WARNING: Unlike the previous deleted scenes (which were rated either T or M), this deleted scene is actually rated K or K-plus (is rated T just to be safer than sorry).
Title: Happy Birthday, Thomas!
Opening up one November morning, Thomas was fast asleep in his room. He had been through quite a lot recently, and was looking forward to some rest and relaxation from his adventures as well as playing Duel Monsters. Eventually, the alarm clock went off, resulting in Thomas grimacing a little bit before opening his eyes, reaching over, and shutting the clock off.
"Morning already?" he yawned, sitting up and stretching his arms out. "Well, either way, I'm glad we have the day off from school today."
Thomas got out of bed before leaving the room and preceding to the bathroom to take a shower. Along the way, he passed by one of his twin sisters.
"Good morning, Big Brother!" greeted Annie.
"Morning, Annie." smiled Thomas. "Where's Clarabel?"
"Downstairs in the kitchen with Mom and Dad." Annie answered. "Mom's trying to teach her how to cook breakfast again. You'd think she'd learn from the last time she tried cooking eggs and bacon."
Thomas chuckled a bit over the joke, just before walking away for the bathroom. Once inside, he started to think about something important. Something that he seemed to have forgotten about since waking up.
"Hmm... Isn't today something important for me?" Thomas asked himself. "Oh well, I'll check the calendar when I get out of the shower."
(new scene...)
Ten minutes later, Thomas entered his bedroom whilst drying his hair with a towel. When he finished, he approached the calendar and checked it, gasping at what the date was.
"Oh man, today's my 16th Birthday!" realized Thomas. "I almost completely forgot about it!"
That's right, boys and girls; Thomas Billinton was now officially 16-years old like a number of his friends were. At first, this brought a joyous smile to his face, but soon he remembered what happened back when he and his friends attended Emily's 16th Birthday back in the July of last year...
"The last time we tried celebrating a Birthday-" The blue-haired boy remembered. "-Emily was kidnapped by the Court of Darkness, setting the stage for my biggest adventure yet into the Duel Monsters spirit world." He then shook his head. "I just can't help but feel that something will happen if we celebrate. Almost every time we try to enjoy ourselves, something goes wrong. Maybe I should just spend the day inside and not take any risks."
It was then he remembered the promise he made to his friends, especially Emily; he would not try to take everything so seriously. The last thing he wanted to do was break his promise again. At first, Thomas did not know what to do, but then, eventually, got an idea...
"Maybe I'll let my cards decide for me." he suggested to himself, reaching for his Deck on the dresser and beginning to shuffle it. "Best two out of three; shall I stay inside and play it safe, or shall I take a chance and enjoy myself?"
At last, Thomas drew the top three cards of his Deck and spread them across the dresser, facedown. From there, he turned the cards over, revealing them to be the 'Dark Magician' Monster Card, the 'Dark Magician Girl' Effect Monster Card, and the 'Kuriboh' Effect Monster Card. The sight of the three cards caused Thomas to close his eyes, sigh, and smile a little bit.
"I see... So, you wish for me to enjoy myself today?" Thomas asked aloud, before opening his eyes. "In that case, I'll try to do just that."
(elsewhere...)
Downstairs in the kitchen, Clarabel was working hard at making breakfast (or so it seemed) with some guidance from Mrs. Billinton. Mr. Billinton was seated at the table enjoying his coffee and reading the newspaper. Soon, Thomas entered the kitchen.
"Good morning, honey." greeted Mrs. Billinton. "Care for some breakfast? Clarabel is making it."
Thomas shook his head. "Sorry, Mom, but I'm going to try and meet up with Percy and Toby today for breakfast."
"Well then, have fun, kiddo." encouraged Mr. Billinton, not looking up.
Thomas nodded and turned to exit the house. As soon as Thomas was long gone, Clarabel looked at her Mother and winked, and this caused Mrs. Billinton to approach the phone, pick it up, dial a few numbers, and wait for a response. Eventually...
"Hello?" The voice of Percy could be heard on the other line
"The coast is clear." said Mrs. Billinton slyly.
(elsewhere...)
Walking down the streets of his neighborhood a little later, Thomas looked a little disappointed. He had been by the Avonside residence to get Percy, but learned that Percy had suddenly left to go and help Tom Tipper the postman on his rounds. It was the same thing with Toby as well, helping the Farmer McColl with some late harvest.
"Oh well... Maybe one of the others would be interested?" Thomas suggested to himself, before grabbing his cellphone from his pocket. "Gordon, James, and Henry each would likely want to hang out with me."
Five minutes later... all the blue-haired boy got was disappointment, because Gordon and Henry were both busy with duties of their own, while James was busy with getting caught up with his homework (as demanded by Rebecca). Not only that, everyone else was no go either... Edward, meanwhile, was busy volunteering at the public library today. Molly was helping her Mother with some grocery shopping. Mavis was currently at the Quarry helping her Step-Father for the day. Stanley and Rosie were both not available either, because they were planning to spend the day together.
"It seems like everyone and their brother is busy today." Thomas sighed to himself, before smiling big whilst taking his cellphone out of his jacket pocket. "But there's still one person who would love to hang out with me."
And so, he dialed Emily's cellphone number. After a few seconds, Emily picked up...
"Hello?"
"Hi, Emily!" greeted Thomas cheerfully. "Are you available to go out to breakfast with me today?"
Sadly...
"Oh, I'm sorry, Thomas, but I'm very, very busy today." The voice of Emily replied sadly. "Maybe we could go another day?"
"I...suppose." sighed Thomas, feeling upset. "Bye..."
Thomas felt discouraged; nobody seemed to be available to hang out with him.
"Well-" he decided. "-nobody said beggars had to be choosers. I guess I'll have to settle this Birthday solo."
(MONTAGE)
At the local diner, Thomas treated himself to a hearty breakfast. After which, he decided to cruise by the mall for the rest of the morning and a little into the afternoon. There, Thomas got some ice cream and explored some of the stores to see if any new games had come out. He even stopped at the mall's arcade for an hour or so.
(END MONTAGE)
Eventually, Thomas decided to take a break at the food court, drinking from a bottle of water he purchased from one of the stores.
"What a day this has been so far." Thomas remarked, putting the water bottle onto the table. He then became upset. "Although it would be more fun if my friends were here, but they had to pick today of all days to be busy, especially since I'm opening myself up to them again rather than pushing them away."
At that point, Thomas started to remember how he started pushing everyone, except Emily, away from him after the events of the Duel Monsters spirit world, where he was suffering from both depression and PTSD as a result of all the traumatic hardships he endured. Although he managed to recover over the course of 'The Great International Duel Cup', especially after his duel against Matt, he relapsed after the recent incident regarding Anubis, the Egyptian Lord of the Dead. During a small Duel Monsters tournament he and Emily teamed up in, Thomas ended up hurting Emily unintentionally, which nearly strained their romantic relationship—though, with help from both Stanley and Rosie, they ultimately made up and won the whole thing.
"Every time something bad happens to my friends that I can't prevent-" Thomas realized. "-I blame myself for my weakness and fall into a depression. Then my friends have to practically jump through hoops to try and snap me out of it. But, when I finally get out of my slump, something else happens, and the cycle repeats. What if they're intentionally avoiding me to try breaking the cycle?"
Not knowing what to believe, Thomas decided to just head for home and do some thinking on it.
(elsewhere...)
Inside the Billinton household, it was pitch black when Thomas got home.
"Huh?" blinked Thomas. "Why's it so dark in here?" He tried calling out to his parents. "Mom? Dad? What's going on?"
There was no answer. Feeling around on the wall, Thomas finally found the light switch. As soon he flipped the lights on...
"SURPRISE!"
...Mr. and Mrs. Billinton, Annie and Clarabel, and, most importantly, all of the people Thomas wanted to hang out with were shown in the living room, much to Thomas's great shock. There was a large cake stationed on the table, along with a number of presents.
"I... err... guys?" stuttered Thomas.
"Happy Birthday, Thomas!" cheered Henry, Mavis, Rosie, and Edward at once.
"You didn't think we were too busy to hang out with our buddy's 16th Birthday, did ya?" smirked James, being the first to speak up.
"We were never busy at all." put in Toby. "We were actually helping your parents get your surprise party all done."
"And we pretended we were busy with other chores so you wouldn't suspect a thing." Percy added.
"In addition, I wasn't even making breakfast this morning." peeped Clarabel. "In actuality, I was making your cake with some help from Mom. We said it was breakfast, because we knew all along that you were going to try and hang out with Percy and Toby on your Birthday."
"That gave us enough time to get it finished." finished Annie.
"We're sorry if we hurt your feelings by avoiding you, Thomas-" Emily apologized, taking a step forth and laying a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. "-but we wanted to keep your party a special surprise."
A few seconds later, Thomas smiled big.
"Thank you, everyone!" The blue-haired boy cried. "You have no idea how surprised I really am."
Gordon grinned. "That's good to hear." he nodded. "Now, let's enjoy ourselves!"
It was then the doorbell rang.
"And the pizzas are here!" acknowledged Mr. Billinton. "All from the Pizza Palace."
And so, the party commenced. Later as Thomas opened some of his presents, he noticed that some of them consisted of new Duel Monsters cards.
"It's from a new set we found at the card shop." explained Emily. "The shopkeeper says that it was the only copy that they had at the time."
"They're new members and support cards for the 'Gaia The Fierce Knight' and the 'Black Luster Soldier' archetype." put in Henry. "We thought they would come in very handy for your Deck since you happen to use those two archetypes from time to time."
Many of the cards shown were new:
-'Gaia the Magical Knight' (Effect Monster Card)
-'Black Luster Soldier - Super Soldier' (Ritual Monster Card)
-'Spiral Fusion' (Spell Card)
-'Super Soldier Shield' (Trap Card)
-'Charging Gaia the Fierce Knight' (Effect Monster Card)
-'Gateway to Chaos' (Spell Card)
-'Arisen Gaia the Fierce Knight' (Effect Monster Card)
-'Super Soldier Ritual' (Spell Card)
-'Evening Twilight Knight' (Effect Monster Card)
"Hey... I recognize a number of these cards..." commented Thomas, still cycling through most of his packs. "Yes! I actually used these back when I was Anakin."
"Well then, talk about a reunion with old friends." joked Emily. "Perhaps it was destiny itself that wanted you to get these cards?"
"Oh, and the last time I saw Spencer, he wanted me to give this card to you." As Gordon spoke, he handed Thomas a new card. "He says it will aid your 'Dark Magician' a fair bit."
It was an Xyz Monster Card called 'Ebon Illusion Magician'.
"'Ebon Illusion Magician'..." whispered Thomas, before reading through what the monster's stats, Rank, and effects were.
From there, Molly, Mavis, Rosie, and Emily all went and gave their friend a kiss on the cheek as a Birthday present. Thomas blushed a bright red from being kissed by four different girls (although in Emily's case, he didn't blush nearly as much seeing as they were already together), while James couldn't help but laugh a little bit.
"Man, the Birthday boy sure is popular with the girls, isn't he?" he chortled.
"You can say that again, James." joked Edward.
Percy, Toby, and Stanley each chuckled a bit, too. Soon enough, there was only one unopened present left...
"This present is special." explained Emily, picking it up and bringing it over to Thomas. "Why, you might be asking? Let's just say it's 'From Close Friends in High Places'."
Getting a strong feeling, Thomas took the present and unwrapped it. Upon seeing what it was, the blue-haired boy let out a barely heard gasp. The present was a large, beautifully painted portrait of many of the monsters he's ever used, and was the closest to. The monsters present in the painting were as followed:
-'Kuriboh'
-'Dark Magician Girl'
-'Big Shield Gardna'
-'Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight'
-'Slifer the Sky Dragon'
-'Jack's Knight'
-'Black Luster Soldier'
-'Dark Magician'
-'Magician's Valkyria'
-'Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast'
-'The Winged Dragon of Ra'
-'Magician of Black Chaos'
-'Buster Blader'
-'King's Knight'
-'Tuning Magician'
-'Obelisk the Tormentor'
-'Obnoxious Celtic Guardian'
-'Queen's Knight'
"Do you like it?" smiled Emily, sounding very hopeful. "Discord was the one who made this painting, and I gave him the list of monsters to include in it. In a way, it's still considered a gift from the Monster Cards in your Deck, Thomas."
At first, Thomas did not say anything back; all he could do was gaze long and hard at the painting. And, as an added feature, he saw that he himself was with the monsters as well.
"Like it?" Thomas asked, speaking at long last. "I 'love' it!"
Everyone in the room smiled. Pretty soon, it was time to cut the first slice of cake, much to Gordon, James, and Percy's delight.
(later...)
Later that night, after pizza, cake, and a movie, the group decided to stay the night and have a sleepover of some sort, with their respective parents giving them permission. While the boys shared the living room (since it had a TV), the girls bunked upstairs with Annie and Clarabel in their room, which the twin girls did not mind at all. Thomas and Emily, however, both decided to just sleep in the former's bedroom. In Thomas's room, the two present day incarnations of Anakin and Anastasia were thinking about something before...
"You know, Emily-" began Thomas. "-today, I was initially afraid."
"Afraid?" Emily repeated in surprise. "Of what?"
"Do you remember what happened during your 16th Birthday?"
"How can I forget?" The dark green-haired girl replied. "My Birthday led to an adventure of self discovery for the both of us."
"I know, and it led to so many hardships for me." agreed Thomas. "After what happened, it, along with our recent battle against Anubis, made me very afraid. It seemed that each time we tried to lower our guard and have fun, something bad would happen, and our friends would get put into danger. I never wanted to risk letting that happen again!"
"Tommy..." whispered Emily.
Thomas then smiled. "However, today showed me that I was very much wrong." he went on. "I was wrong to constantly be afraid. If I remained afraid, I would not have been able to enjoy the amount of fun we all had today."
"I'm so happy to hear you say that." admitted Emily, before a mischievous tinkle shined in her eyes. "Now, since we're alone, I think there's one more gift I'd like to give you."
"Another gift?" quizzed Thomas. "What might that be?"
"First I'd like you to take off your shirt, and then I need you to go and lay on the bed and on your stomach."
Without even questioning Emily's logic, Thomas did as he was told. First, he removed his shirt, and then got onto the bed and laid on his stomach.
"Alright... So, what now?" wondered Thomas, curious to know what will happen next. "What exactly is this-"
Before anymore could be said, the blue-haired boy could suddenly feel the gentle hands of Emily pushing against his back and lower neck.
"Oh! Oh..." groaned Thomas, surprised yet relaxed at the exact same time.
"Oh my! Your neck and back both must be so tired and sore after such a long day!" teased Emily, sitting on the bed's edge while giving her lover a massage. "Well, I can easily take care of that."
As Emily continued to massage Thomas, he felt more and more relaxed. It was as though his stress was melting away by the gentle touch of an angel. Well, given who Emily's the reincarnation of, that's no big surprise. As Thomas learned on his own Birthday, even in the darkest of areas there would always a light at the end of the tunnel.
End Scene