Chapter 3: The First Fissure
-Gunshots can be heard from all around. Bullet holes pepper a table. A head pokes over the top-
Now, I know you may be angry…
-More Gunshots. The head ducks behind the table again. There is a sigh-
…that I haven't been updating for a while. I'm really sorry. Can we be friends now?
-Gunshots again-
Look! I hate my motivation so much right now! It's stupid. Anyway, here's your chapter. Sorry again.
After playing one hundred and one questions with Philip and Percy, I managed to slip away with Thomas toward his destination leaving Taylor, Tat and Sam to talk to them. Thomas was humming happily to himself as I looked around. The Mainline was decorated with banners and different decorations for the Great Railway Show. I gave Thomas a pat.
"How've you been since last time we met?" Thomas gave a small weesh.
"I've been fine. But this morning, when the big engines came here for the show, they pushed me around and called me names. And then they expected me to take them to Killdane." I sighed. Nobody likes bullies, especially me.
As we rounded a bend I heard a whistle that I hadn't heard before. A giant blue engine with a grey boiler sped past kicking up rocks. They pelted Thomas' side. I even copped a few in my side.
"Get out of the way shrimp! I got work to do!" Thomas coughed as dust went in his mouth. I, on the other hand…
"HEY! WATCH IT YA BIG BULLY!" Thomas cringed.
"Just leave it Amber. It doesn't matter. I can get a wash later…"
"It's not. Don't let him bully you. Seriously. I've had my fair share of bullies and they are no fun." Thomas sighed.
"Ok."
…
Thomas rattled through the tunnel to the Dieselworks. I shuddered at the thought of going there.
"Say… why are we going to the Dieselworks?"
"I've got parts that I need to deliver. You don't need to worry though. Diesel 10 was teleported away last time you were here, remember? I haven't seen him in ages."
"It's only been four months." Thomas did the equivalent of an engine shrug.
"Well, we'll be quick. I have to drop these off and then we can go." I shrank down into his cab as we rolled in. I spotted Diesel on the upper level. He was pitch black and he didn't look happy.
"Thomas! About time you got here. Den and Dart need them to fix up…"
"I'm just going to leave them here, ok? I have some other work to do, so… Yeah." Diesel raised an eyebrow.
"You seem jumpy. What's the rush?"
"I… err… Need to… Um… shunt some trucks… for… The Great Railway Show! Yeah." Inside his cab I face-palmed.
'Is that the best you could come up with?' Diesel chuckled.
"Maybe you're so jumpy because Diesel 10's back?" Thomas froze. As did I. That was the moment we heard a voice from the rafters.
"Damn right I'm back. If you think that you can hide stuff from me, think again." I glanced up and saw the oily pirate hanging from the roof by chains. He glared toward Thomas.
"Even if I found Lady, I still have a grudge against Amber. She outsmarted me and humiliated me so many times. I want revenge."
"I… Um… Well…" I decided that it was time to go and I yanked Thomas' "reverse" leaver. Thomas' wheels spun backwards and he rocketed backwards. Diesel and Diesel 10 watched confused as we disappeared. Diesel raised his eyebrow again.
"That was strange." Diesel 10 laughed.
"It feels good to strike fear into other engines again!" Diesel sighed.
"I'll go get Den and Dart. They'll get started straight away." As Diesel rolled out of the Dieselworks, Diesel 10 frowned.
"To think you got so close to me Amber. Next time, you won't be so lucky."
…
As Thomas rolled toward Killdane at a rapid pace, I gave a huge sigh of relief.
"That was way too close. Too close for my comfort." Thomas wheeshed in agreement.
I totally understand. I probably should have warned you where I was going before we left Knapford." We puffed along into Henry's Forest in silence for a little while. I was thinking of were to go next when there was a bang. Thomas braked hard, almost sending me into his fire again.
"Cinders and Ashes! What was that?" I poked my head out of the cab to look around.
"I thought that was something on you! If not, where the hell did it come from?" After a little bit of looking from the cab, Thomas spotted a small cloud of purple and black just over one of the little mounds off to the side of the tracks.
"There! I can't see the source though." I sighed before jumping out.
"I'll look. Wait here." I made my way into the forest and walked over the mound. What lay before me wasn't what I was expecting.
It looked like a small circle fissure. It was spewing out a purply-black smog into the air. It was an odd sight. I gave it a curious look.
"That's odd." It didn't seem to be doing any damage to the environment though. Still, I couldn't just leave it there spewing its smog all over the place. I looked around for something to plug it with. After looking around I spotted a nicely sized rock that would plug it perfectly. After a little bit of an almost comical struggle, I managed to roll it onto the fissure, almost stopping all the smog from coming out. There was still a little bit seeping out around the edges but it was significantly less than before. I wiped my brow with my arm and let out a sigh.
"Talk about odd. Why on earth would there be a fissure out here?"
With the fissure covered, I headed back to Thomas. Thomas was happy to see I was unhurt and smiled.
"All good?"
"Yeah. It's weird that there would be a fissure out here. Henry must not take care of his forest very well."
"A fissure? That is strange." He gave another smile before whistling loudly.
"Let's keep going. To the Great Railway Show grounds!"
…
We reached Killdane by lunch time. I was blown away by the sheer amount of gear and tents being set up around the junction. There was a large booth being hooked up to a pop-up radio tower, banners being hung around the place and international engines everywhere. I gasped with amazement. Thomas grinned like a madman.
"You see why I want to go to the show? This is something I don't want to miss out on!"
Thomas rattled by the judge's tent and rolled up alongside a small purple tank engine who was in the midst of telling a joke to some trucks.
"…said, "I know, but this is a no standing zone!" The trucks howled with laughter. The tank engine chuckled at his own joke. Thomas rolled his eyes.
"Aren't you supposed to be moving the trucks instead of telling them jokes?" The engine, Charlie, chuckled again.
"It's easier to move these suckers while they're laughing their axles off. You should try it sometime." Thomas thought for a moment before shrugging.
"Maybe if I knew any jokes."
"I've got plenty for you to use! Here. A horse walks into a bar…"
"Maybe later Charlie. I need to find The Fat Controller. Is he here anywhere?"
"I think he's over near track fourteen. Not sure though." Thomas whistled his thanks and headed off toward the centre of the showgrounds. We found him, The Flying Scotsman and a large red streamlined engine talking about the great race. We only caught the end of the conversation as we rolled up.
"…To finally finish at Knapford Station. Remember to race responsibly and not carelessly. We don't want an accident." Scotsman and who assumed was Axel, nodded.
"Yes sir!" As they headed off Topham called out after them.
"And let the other racers know too!" he sighed before turning to Thomas and myself, who had jumped out of his cab.
"Thomas! You've taken those parts to the Dieselworks, yes?" Thomas nodded.
"I have sir!" he then seemed to try and change the subject. "Sir. About the show…"
"We'll have to talk about it later Thomas. I have to go over to the radio booth and see how their getting along. For now, can you go and help Percy with his vans? He should be here by now. I need them put into the sidings near the stalls so that the store holders can start unpacking." Thomas sighed.
"Yes sir…" I gave a little sigh. I was guessing that he wanted to talk about a place in the show, but Topham seemed way too busy at the moment. I turned to Thomas.
"Come on. Let's go help Percy." Thomas gave a forced smile and agreed.
"Yeah…" I jumped in and gave him a pat.
"I'm sure you'll get to talk to him soon. Don't worry too much." Thomas gave a weesh before backing out of the siding to go and find Percy.
…
"Ah can't believe Amber just up and left us like that! And why are we helpin' with these!" Tat, Taylor and Sam had come into the showgrounds curtesy of Percy and were helping unload one of the vans. Sam had wondered off, still freaking out over all the engines around him. Taylor took the box that Tat was passing to her.
"Well she was on the island first. She has every right to go and say hello to her friends. It's been four months."
"But ah thought we were goin' to spend some quality girl time together."
"You two can do that back in England. We are here because Amber brought us along, not the other way around." Taylor said as Tat jumped down from the van.
"But-"
"No buts."
"Aww." There was a shout and the van Tat had just been standing in was shunted hardly by another van. It and its counterpart hit the buffers at the end of the siding with a bang. It didn't come off the rails thankfully. Tat went bug eyed when she realised what could have happened to her. She turned to Percy and a bigger light blue and yellow engine behind him. Taylor saw literal stream coming from Tat's ears.
"Watch it ya mooks! Ya nearly damaged this perfect body!" Percy blushed at that comment while the bigger engine chuckled sincerely.
"Sorry mate. I wasn't watching where I was going and bashed into this little fella. Sorry pal." Percy chuckled.
"I'm fine thanks. Didn't hurt me too much." The big engine laughed.
"You must be one of those tough blokes that can take anything to the buffers." Percy chuckled nervously.
Not everything…" The engine nodded.
"I'm Shane by the way. I'm the Australian representative for the show." Percy smiled.
"I'm Percy. Nice to meet you." Tat sighed.
"Whatever. At least we'd emptied out the van before ya mooks shunted it." Taylor chuckled. They then heard a whistle and Thomas rolled into the sidings.
"Percy. I'm here to help." Percy grinned to see his best friend.
"Great. I need to get some of these vans to siding 2, 3 and 4." Thomas nodded before Shane piped up.
"Here mate. Give me some and I'll take em' to siding 3." Percy smiled to his new friend.
"Sure. Thomas. This is Shane. He's from Australia." Thomas whistled to Shane.
"Hello."
"G'day Thomas! Let's get shunting!"
"Right."
I jumped out of Thomas as he moved off to help Percy and Shane. I grinned, knowing that that was going to keep him occupied for a while. My grin was shaken from my face literally as Tat grabbed my shoulders and shook me.
"And where the hell have ya been?" I grinned sheepishly.
"I went for a ride with Thomas. He's the one that was apparently shaken the most when I left." Tat sighed.
"Well, ya could have said somethin' before ya left."
"Sorry." Taylor chuckled at me and Tat as she walked up to us.
"Well at least you're back now. How was it?" I smiled.
"It was fun. Although I had a close encounter at the Dieselworks." Taylor raised an eyebrow.
"How so?"
"Apparently, Diesel 10's back." Taylor gave me an "oh" face while Tat just scoffed.
"Stay by me. I'll give him a piece of my mind." Both Taylor and I spoke at the same time.
"Not if he tears you apart first." We chuckled at our synchronised thinking.
By this time, Sam had made it back to us and was clearly starstruck.
"This. Is. AMAZING! I never thought I'd get to be a part of the Great Railway Show." We all chuckled at his enthusiasm. I decided to let the others know about the fissure too.
"Thomas and I also found a fissure in Henry's forest. It was spewing out a purple and black smog." Taylor hummed for a moment, as if to try and come up with an explanation.
"I know that earth fissures create holes in the ground, but I don't recall them being able to spew out a smog." Tat and Sam also came up empty. I sighed.
"Oh well. I blocked it with a bolder, so it should be fine."
"I think not."
The sudden unknown input into our conversation made us turn to the source behind me. There was no one behind me, but after a little bit of looking around Taylor spotted "him."
Above us, perched high on the roof of a nearby building was a man that looked like a young adult. He had brown hair tied into a small ponytail and was wearing a tattered black shirt that someone would wear to formal event, but not quite a tuxedo. He had black pants that were equally tattered and a pair of black and red sneakers. The most notable things about him was a golden staff attached to his back and an eye mask that had splodges of colour all over it. Behind the mask, his eyes showcased a vibrant shade of purple. He seemed almost out of place here at the showgrounds.
Anyway, he stood up and pointed to the four of us.
"The fissures are being created upon your arrival to the island four months ago." Now he seemed to pointing at me especially.
"You shouldn't have come back here. The island…" he gestured around him. "…is going to crumble and collapse in on itself." Despite taking his words into account, I couldn't resist the urge to question his statement.
"Wait… You've been watching me? Like some sort of stalker?" The man seemed to freeze for a moment as he realised how he'd worded it.
"No! Do not misunderstand me as a pervert and/or a stalker." He cleared his throat.
"As I was saying, bringing your friends here as well has also sped up the countdown." He pointed to the others.
"Leave this island before it's too…" he faltered when his finger pointed at Taylor, we all saw it. He was frozen in place for a good two seconds before he looked away. I heard him mumble to himself.
"Damn… why'd there have to be a dame here…" he cleared his throat again before pressing on.
"BEFORE it's too late. Or I will personally kick you out." He breathed a sigh of relief, finally being able to get his message across.
While Tat was giving him a piece of her mind, my mind flashed back to a time four months ago.
…
"Hey Amber! Over here! I think I found it." I ran over and saw it too. Behind the pedestal was a mural. It was a mural of Lady pushing back a dark wave of some sort. I also saw behind Lady, a girl glowing with light. I was guessing that it was me and that I was going to help Lady in some…
"Hey wait! I'm on the mural! Cool!" I took a picture and then walked up to the pedestal.
…
'Now that I think about it, Lady never had to push back a wave when I was around four months ago. What could it mean?' I knew I'd have to check out the photo when I got back to Knapford, that being the place that I assumed the others had left our stuff. I looked back up and discovered that Sam had just handed Tat a tomato from one to the nearby stalls and I threw all my strength into catching her arm before she threw it. The masked man stood up to go.
"Heed my warning. If you four are not gone soon, I will hunt you down." He turned and was about to leave when I called out to him.
"Is there another way to undo it? The dark energy Mr… uh… I never caught your name." The masked man shook his head.
"No. You four must leave to stop it. And never come back." He gave a smile in our general direction.
"And call me Victor. Not to be confused with the Steamworks owner Victor." And with that he ran off. Although I could have sworn I heard a crash and a bang, almost as if he'd tripped and fell into some trash cans. My suspicion was confirmed when I heard his cry of profanity. Tat shouted after him.
"And change ya clothes! Ya look terrible!" I chuckled and looked to Taylor. She seemed to be flushed a light red. I smirked a devious smirk and sidled up to her.
"What's up with you?" Taylor jumped before sighing.
"He called me a dame…"
"Maybe you should ask him out next time we see him. I'm sure it won't be long…"
"AMBER!"
…
After the excitement at the Showgrounds, Thomas came to pick us up. He and Percy (After saying goodbye to Shane.) brought us back to Knapford station. Turns out, I was right, and our stuff was safely locked away in a large locker. Thomas offered to take us to a hotel for the night. I knew exactly where to go, and we were soon down by the seaside of Brendam Docks. Thomas whistled as he left.
"See you tomorrow Amber!" I waved as he disappeared around the bend. Sam spotted Salty, Porter, Cranky and surprisingly Carly and told us he'd catch up. I gave him the address of the hotel and I took Tat and Taylor up to the hotel. The reception recognised me and after a little bit of chatting, set us up in the room Matt and I had stayed in four months ago. Tat, being the one to care about her body the most, immediately snapped up the shower. Taylor opted to check out the roof, leaving me to sit on my bed alone. I'd fished out my camera from my last adventure and had found the picture I was looking for.
It indeed, showed the engine form of Lady floating in the air. Behind her, a girl seemed to be feeding her energy which kept the dark wave, that took up most of the mural, at bay. I couldn't make heads or tails of it, but I decided to keep it a secret from the others, not wanting to freak them out. I would, however, tell Matt when I saw him next, seeing as he'd been around when we found the mural.
Speaking of which, I hadn't heard from him since the party at Knapford. I expected him to call me at least ten times. But he hadn't. This made me wonder, what had become of my blue haired boyfriend. My thoughts were derailed as Tat came out of the bathroom only in a towel, Sam coming in the room from outside and Taylor walking in from the roof on the other side. I sighed as I knew what was going to happen to poor Sam.
Just another day with my friends.
…
"Whoa! This is bumpy!"
"Sorry! It's been a while since I've teleported with another person."
"Yeah I guessed that. Hang on you two. We're nearly home!"
There. Happy? Two years. TWO FREAKING YEARS!
*sigh*
I've been sitting on the start of the chapter for some time now. I've only now realised how much of fool I was for letting it sit there, right under my nose for two years. I'd like to apologise massively and I hopefully (Don't you dare quote me on that!) will have more chapters up soon. I think I'll make it a shorter story, just so I can finish it, but I know you'll understand. Also, Victor is a new character I thought about not too long ago. He'll play a part in the story and as you may have guessed, he may or may not be a love interest for Taylor. As a little gift, I'll give you the next chapter name.
"Return of the Blue Haired Hero!"
I know, you know who it's referring too. Anyway, see you lovely readers later.
PS- Sam… Sorry for making you wait this long… Sorry man.