Thomas the Tank Engine: Conceived Evil
It was a cold, snowy night on the Island of Sodor. With Christmas fast approaching, the island was getting ready for the annual Christmas parade and let me tell you right now, no one was not excited for the parade. Needless to say, the engines did their part helping with the preparations, along with their carrying out their main duties.
At Elsbridge, Edward was waiting patiently for the passengers to get on the train. As he waited, he caught the sight of a mysterious man in a dark suit and black hat. With a small, eerie grin on his face, he stared at his train intently. It was as if he was scanning it, looking for something... or someone. The NWR 2 didn't know why, but the man sent a shiver through his boiler and the longer he stayed their, the more nervous he got. Fortunately, the guard blew his whistle, giving Edward the okay to set off. Whoever that was, he was going to haunt his thoughts for who know how long.
"What was all that about." He shuddered.
Once her was done with passenger duty, Edward then went to Brendam Docks to pick up some cargo as well as drop some off. As Cranky got to work with Carly unloading and loading crates, Edward was chatting with Salty, Porter and Thomas.
"And ever since I saw that man, I've had a bad feeling about something. I just don't know what." Edward finished explaining.
"It's probably nothing, Edward." Thomas scoffed. "I know from experience."
Salty chuckled.
"You know, Edward, it's things like this that conjure up an old tale." He said.
"Don't you start, Salty!" Cranky griped.
"Oh, come on. One tale never hurt." Carly said.
"Yeah, I'm always in the mood for Salty's stories." Porter added.
"Looks like the odd are against you, Cranky." The dockside diesel laughed before clearing his throat. "We all know Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ, right? Well, they say the Devil himself promised that every six hundred sixty-six years he would desecrate the day by finding a woman to bear his child, but was thwarted every time, failing to concive by midnight on Christmas Eve. It's said the last time he tried was back sometime in 1354 and wouldn't you know it, it's been six hundred sixty-six years since."
The other engines were left speechless by the story.
"Rubbish." Cranky scoffed, getting back to work.
Later that night at Knapford, Salty's story still echoed through Edward's smoke box. But, he decided to focus on his job for tonight. The guard was just about to blow his whistle when the sounds of screaming and fire crackling could be heard. Terrified passengers and staff hastily ran for their lives as the smell of smoke filled the air. A few seconds later, a terrified woman ran up to Edward's cab.
"HELP ME! PLEASE!" She begged.
"Ma'am, what's going on?" Edward's driver, Charlie asked.
Sidney, Edward's fireman pointed at something on the platform. It was the same man Edward saw before, walking unfazed through the flames and towards them.
"Oh no." Edward gulped.
The woman was then let on the cab as Edward sped away as fast as he could after his fireman uncoupled him from his train. But, the man would not be deterred. In fact, he seemed to be willing to chase them down.
A terrified Edward sped down the snowy tracks. Sidney shoveled coal like mad while Charlie and the woman kept a lookout for the man.
"Do you see them?" Edward asked.
"No." Charlie answered.
Just then, Gordon shot by in the opposite direction with the express.
"What's he doing?" He wondered to himself.
He got his answer when the man flew past him and saw the fiery destruction in his wake.
"Oh dear." He gulped.
Back with Edward, the old engine put every once of steam into his pistons. He had no intention of letting Satan get away with his plan.
"How much time do we have before midnight?" He asked.
"About 10 minutes." Sidney said, looking at his watch.
With that in mind, Edward turned onto the Ffarquhar branch line, hoping that would buy them some time. Then, there was trouble.
"Watch out!" The woman pointed out.
Out on the tracks, the Devil stood there calmly. With a flick of his hand, Edward was flung from the rails. The no. 2 flopped onto his side, but miraculously, his crew and the woman survived, having been thrown from the crash. The woman leaned against Edward when the Satan grabbed her and pulled her up to him.
"Finally, after so long." He said.
Suddenly, in a last ditch effort, Edward blasted steam into his face, causing him to stagger back. The Devil growled in frustration and tried to grab her again, when Sidney ran up to him and whacked him on the back of the head with a shovel. Satan turned around, looking merely annoyed. Sidney then delivered two more hard blows to the face. When he went to go for a third, he grabbed the shovel.
"Enough with these games." He hissed as he slammed the shovel into his face, knocking him out.
With that taken care of, he went to claim his prize. But before he could, Charlie came up fro behind and stabbed him in the neck with a pen. He tried to throw him off him, but Satan found himself getting weaker and weaker.
"What happening to me?!" He growled.
"Midnight." Edward gloated. "Merry Christmas, Satan."
With that, form he had assumed started to wither away until all that was left was a pile of cinders and ashes.
"Thank you." The woman sighed.
"Don't mention it." Edward said.
Just then, twp familiar whistles and a bell were heard.
"Edward?" Toby went.
"What are you doing here?" Thomas asked.
"What happened to you?" Percy added.
"I don't wanna talk about it." Edward sighed.