Chapter 4: Return of the Blue Haired Hero!
I'm back! Time for the fourth chapter! Now, I've pulled together my baring's, and I'm going to make this story 8 chapters long. Sorry for the shorter story but I don't think I can make it much longer. Sodor only has only so many major places to go and I don't know how long this motivation streak is going to last. So we'll go with 8. Anyway enjoy this chapter!
After we'd had dinner and went to bed, I tried to call Matt. I figured that he would pick up because I was calling him, but all I got was his answering machine.
"Hi! You've called Matt. I can't get to the phone right now… probably because I'm plying something or I can't find my phone, but feel free to leave a message! I'll try and get back to you ASAP. Have a great day and I'll talk to you later."
I sighed and left a message. After that I tried to get some sleep. But with no answer from Matt and Victor's warning, I just couldn't. In the end, I grabbed a map of Sodor and sat at the table with a lamp. I went across the map, looking for a place to go in the morning. After a while, my eyes felt heavy and I drifted off to sleep.
…
I woke up later to the clattering of plates and utensils. I lazily opened an eye to see Taylor standing in the small kitchen. She had a frying pan in her hand and a stack of pancakes to the side. I felt my mouth drool unintentionally and I lifted my head off the table. Taylor's pancakes were to die for! It was when I raised my head that I discovered that someone had draped a blanket over me. Taylor must have heard me because she turned her head towards me and smiled.
"Hey sleepyhead. How you doing?" I gave a huge yawn and a stretch before sighing.
"I'm fine. Didn't sleep too well, but I'm doing fine." Taylor grinned her extremely cute smile.
"Oh well. As you can see, I've cooked pancakes. I don't think Tatalia or Sam have tried them yet. Go and get them up will ya?" I nodded and got up.
"Will do. And call her Tat. She doesn't like being called by her full name." Taylor gave a knowing nod.
"Gotcha."
I headed over to the bedrooms and opened the door. Taylor, Tat and Sam slept in the guest rooms while I had been given my old king sized bed (Yes, king sized!), which was located by the window in the master bedroom. Anyway, when I opened the door, I found Sam sleeping soundly in his bed, which was neat and tidy. Tat on the other hand, was sprawled over her bed on her back. Her head was down at the foot of the bed and her arms were over the edge. Her feet were curled up and her clothes were completely crinkled over her body. I was glad I got there before Sam woke up, otherwise there would have been a similar incident from last night.
I tapped Tat on the forehead. She gave a loud snore before bringing an arm up. I was about to go wake up Sam when I was grabbed by Tat. I found myself on the bed next to Tat as she cuddled up to me, as if I was her teddy bear. I nearly shrieked when I felt her hand worming around me.
"Hey Tat!" I bopped her nose which seemed to do the job. Tat's eyes opened and found herself cuddling me. She gave me a sly grin.
"Wasup? How long have I been cuddlin' ya?"
"Just now. And get your hand off my boob."
"Soz." I got up and brushed myself off.
"Seriously. I try to wake you up and you attack me." Tat rolled over to lie on her stomach. She would have if she hadn't been sleeping so close to the edge. She ended up falling off the bed and landed on the ground with a loud thump. That woke up Sam and he bolted upright.
"The aliens are invading!" I raised an eyebrow.
"What?" Sam seemed to wake up pretty quickly and he looked away with a blush.
"Nothing."
…
We all sat at the table, having just finished Taylor's pancakes (And yes, Tat and Sam both fell in love with them!), around a map of Sodor. I had told them that we could go where ever they wanted to go but they had to agree on it. Sam peaked up immediately.
"I want to check out Great Waterton! Ever since The Great Discovery, it's always been on my places to visit." Tat shrugged.
"Harwick looks nice. It's right on the beach." Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Can we have ah beach day?"
"Maybe later." Tat pouted. Taylor, being a little bit of a history nut, spoke up.
"I want to check out at least one castle before we go." I nodded. The only castle I'd checked out was Ulfstead and going to a new castle wasn't a bad idea. In the end, I pulled Lady's flyer for the Great Railway Show out and placed it to the side of the map.
"Ok. The show is on Friday, which gives us three days to explore." I pointed to Great Waterton.
"How about we go to Great Waterton today…" Sam's face lit up.
"…Harwick for a beach day tomorrow, because the weathers supposed to be nice then…" Tat grinned.
"…And maybe… Callan Castle on Thursday. Then the Show on Friday. Sound good?" Taylor nodded.
"I don't mind."
"Sounds good to me."
"Aye girlfriend!" I stood up.
"Right. Let's get ready to go to Great Waterton!"
…
After organising ourselves, we heading down to the docks. It was about nine in the morning and Henry had just left back to the sheds, as Porter had told me. I looked around at the different sights of the docks before looking up to Cranky. He was busy loading and unloading a ship that was parked next to him. He spotted me staring at him and glared at me.
"What do you want?" I waved politely.
"Nothing. Just watching."
Well stop it. You're distracting me." Carly rolled closer to Cranky and turned to me.
"Don't worry about him. He's just being himself." I turned my attention to the large yellow crane.
"I wasn't. When did you get here? Last time I was here, it was just Cranky." Carly chuckled.
"I got here not too long ago. Three weeks ago to be exact." I nodded.
"Cool."
Thomas rolled into the docks with a line of trucks as we finished talking. He gave a whistle.
"Morning Amber!" I waved.
"Hi Thomas!" Thomas stopped near us and was uncoupled from his train. He rolled up to the four of us and let us hop in.
"So, where to today?" He asked curiously.
"We're heading for Great Waterton. Any chance you can get us there?" Thomas whistled with excitement before taking off.
"Of course." His face fell though. I almost instantly his change in mood.
"What's up?" Thomas sighed.
"I'm probably not going to be able to spend as much time with you and your friends this time. With the show coming up, everything's just flat out. Like even today, I'm going to have to drop you off and run, because I've got to help set up the yard for the special expresses from Knapford to Killdane. I believe Norman has to set up the Vicarstown side for Friday…" Tat stuck her head out of the cab.
"All good! We can get ourselves around the Island. Ah'm sure we can take train's like ah normal person. Not everyone's a VIP like Amb's here!" Thomas chuckled.
"That's a fair point." I patted him.
"You go ahead and get you're spot in the show. We're all rooting for you!" Taylor, Tat and Sam agreed. Thomas gave a loud whistle.
"Thank you. Don't get into too much trouble on your own then."
"We won't."
"Ah mean… What's the worst that could happen?"
…
"She's headed for Great Waterton?"
Diesel 10 hung just above the ground in the Dieselworks as workmen began work on him. Diesel, who sat on the lower part of the works, looked up to him.
"Yes. That's what Salty told me anyway." Diesel 10 cackled.
"Well. I need someone to get down there to get her." Diesel raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"Don't ask me questions. Just do it." Diesel sighed.
"Look. Going this far to mess with a human? It's almost as if you…"
"Just do it!" Diesel 10 sighed before adding…
"Your full of surprises, aren't you?" Diesel's eyes lit up.
"Yes! I am. I'm full of surprises…"
"Don't you dare start singing." Diesel's mouth shut rather quickly. Diesel 10 resumed.
"At least pull a "Surprise" on Amber. I hate her with a passion and I don't need her running around the island anymore. I want you to bring her to me." Diesel went wide eyed.
"Wait… You don't mean…"
"No, you idiot!" Diesel 10 smiled wickedly.
"Leave that part to me."
…
We reached Great Waterton by ten in the morning. Thomas pulled up to the station platform and let us all out. I looked around. To my left, was the big water tower that Stanley had toppled in The Great Discovery and a few warehouses. To my left was the other platform and the urban shops and houses. I heard Sam gasp at the sight and then a thump. I turned around and sure enough, he was on the ground unconscious. Taylor sighed.
"Aaaand there he goes." Tat bent down and patted his cheeks rapidly. He woke up and groaned.
"I really need to stop doing that." Tat nodded.
"Yes. Yes, ya do."
I turned to Thomas as he got ready to leave.
"Hey. Don't be so hard on yourself. Just do your best. Thomas smiled.
"I'll try." And with a whistle, he headed up and around the bend, leaving the four of us in Great Waterton. I turned to the others.
"Right! Where do we want to go first?"
For the next few hours, we explored Great Waterton. The first place we went to, was the water tower because as it was the closest landmark. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to climb it so we took our pictures at the bottom and then moved on over the footbridge and into the urban part of Great Waterton. We spent a chunk of our time exploring the various shops, which included several general stores, three Op Shops, two toy stores (One of which I bought a model engine of Rosie, because I didn't have one of her yet!) and the supermarket to buy a chocolate bar for Tat, who had a sudden craving for chocolate for whatever reason. At lunchtime, we found a little restaurant, tucked away in a corner near the hill that Thomas had gone up. I ate this delicious chicken schnitzel while the others had their own thing. We paid for lunch and we were now exploring the area near the engine sheds, toward the back of the city. Sam was looking around at the wonderful sights. He sighed.
"I know VR's supposed to be cool and all, but it doesn't compare to this!" I chuckled.
"That's true. I felt the same way when I first came here." Tat lent on a barrel near the shed entrance.
"Yeah. But there's nothin' really here to be lookin' at. It's just engine sheds."
"But isn't it amazing still? On what day of the week do you get to stand in a literal Thomas and Friends set? Back when The Great Discovery was being filmed, it wasn't the CGI that they have now. It was being filmed with toy trains. And while it might be cool, being able to make Thomas and his Friends go or do anything by the CGI of computer nowadays, you can't beat the classics!" Tat hummed.
Well, ya got me there." I was also amazed. I didn't realise that Sam knew so much about Thomas and Friends. He might even rival ME with knowledge. I was going to reply when we all heard the humming of a diesel. My blood ran cold.
'Surely he's not up and running by now! He was completely waterlogged when I saw him yesterday!' Tat must have noticed my worry because she put a hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry. We're here." I smiled.
"Thanks."
It wasn't long before the source of the humming came around the corner. It was a black diesel, one that I knew well. The one with the most original name. He came to a stop near us.
"Diesel." Diesel smirked.
"So you must be the one who caused Diesel 10 so much trouble. Amber, right?"
"Yeah." I said cautiously. Diesel shrugged.
"Thanks."
"Huh?"
"Thanks. I heard that you made him make a fool out of himself. I'm thanking you for it."
"Oh… Well it was nothing…"
Hey Amb's. I hope you haven't forgot that he has connections to Diesel 10." I chuckled nervously.
"No. I haven't. I'm just hoping that I can keep him busy so he forgets that he's after me." Diesel laughed.
"Yeah, no such luck. I've been told to come and get you. Diesel 10 wants to have a word with you."
"Look. I don't…"
"GET YA FAT BACK END OUT OF HERE!" Everyone jumped back at Tat's outburst. She was fuming. She walked right up to Diesel and stared him square in the face.
"Amber's stayin' here. With me. With us. Ya can go back to Diesel 10 and tell him that." I was slightly relieved with that. Diesel sighed.
"Sorry. But I have a job to do. She's coming with me." The two argued back and forth for a little bit. I sweat-dropped at the scene.
"Hey Amber?" I turned to Sam.
"Yeah?"
"It wasn't supposed to rain today was it?" I frowned.
"No. why?"
"The clouds are getting dark." I looked up and sure enough, the clouds above our heads were indeed getting dark. But they were swirling in a way that was strangely unnatural. I raised an eyebrow.
"What the hell?" Taylor gulped.
"This doesn't look right." By now, Tat and Diesel had noticed it too.
"What on Sodor?"
"What's goin' on?"
The clouds swirled around and around. After about a minute had passed, the clouds opened up. Not to rain, but a hole in the middle of it. After a moment, two figures fell out of it.
"Yahoo!"
"Whoa! Hydro Pump, HYDRO PUMP!" Diesel, who was sitting right under the hole, was drenched in water as something spouted it out to slow his decent. One figure, a girl, landed gracefully on her feet, while the water propelled boy bounced off Diesel and landed behind him. Diesel grimaced and spat out water.
"Ow! What was that?" The clouds disappeared and the cloud dotted sky returned. I looked around.
"Wha…?" I was going to continue when there was a splat just in front of me. I jumped back and looked at the blob that had landed at my feet. It was a gold and pink splodge that seemed to be moving. I gave a cry of surprise when it did move. It reformed itself into a small blob with antennas that was strangely shiny. It looked around before panicking. It slid this way and that, almost knocking us off our feet. It finally relaxed when the girl grabbed it.
"Gotcha! Calm down! They're friends see?" I finally got a good look at the girl and I knew who it was straight away.
"Lady?" Sure enough, Lady stood there in all her glory, blonde hair flowing gently behind her. Her pink and purple clothes gave it away too. Lady grinned.
"Hey Amber!" I raced to her and gave her a hug, not caring for the squishy thing that had parked itself in her arms. Lady chuckled.
"Long time no see." I smiled.
"Really! I was expecting you to be around when I got here, but no! You had to disappear on me." Lady laughed.
"Sorry, but I had to get someone else to complete the reunion." She lifted the blob up to my eyes. It had stopped panicking and was now looking content.
"This little guy is Goomy! He came along for the ride back." I raised an eyebrow.
"Uh… Nice to meet you… Goomy." Lady laughed.
"He's not the one that I was getting. The one I got is…" she looked around. "Uh… Where is he?"
"I'm ok! Just got a sore butt from the landing. Brionne broke the landing for me." Came a voice behind Diesel. From behind him, came a boy with light royal blue hair. He wore a green T-shirt with a large black stripe going around his stomach and back on it and black tracksuit pants. His sneakers were blue and he wore a colourful bracelet on his left wrist. In his arms, was a blue seal of some kind that seemed to wear a tutu. It had a pink nose and two short ears that consisted of three circles. The boy looked to Diesel, who was still spitting out water.
"Hang on. Diesel?"
"Do I know you?"
"If I'm having a conversation with an engine, that then means…" He turned to Lady.
"Hey! I thought you were going to send me…" He paused when is eyes locked onto mine. There was a moment before he started speaking again.
"Home… Amber?" I gave a huge grin, knowing fully well who it was. Lady leaned over to my ear.
"Your welcome." I walked up to him.
"Matt." The boy sighed.
"If I'm back here with my girlfriend on the magical island with talking trains, that means my mum is going to completely obliterate me when I finally get home." Matt then grinned as well.
"Better enjoy it while it lasts then." He put the seal (Brionne as I later learned.) down on the ground and embraced me with a big hug. I hugged back as tightly as I could. After a moment, I felt him kiss my forehead and I grinned.
"I won't let her obliterate you. I promise."
"Good to know." The moment would have gone on longer if Tat hadn't decided to let us know we weren't the only humans on the planet.
"Ah hate to interrupt, but we're here too." I glanced to the others just in time to see Lady elbow Tat in the ribs. Taylor's hands were over Sam's eyes while he was protesting that he was old enough. I broke away from Matt and gave him a light punch on the arm.
"Good to have you back partner." Matt chuckled.
"Good to be back." He looked around. "Great Waterton huh? Nice choice." Sam broke out of Taylor's grip.
"I know right! It was the last movie that used the model trains before they moved on to CGI…"
"…In which the next one, Hero of the Rails, was the first movie…"
"To be fully CGI!" They both finished. Matt laughed.
"I get the feeling that we're going to get along nicely."
…
We headed back to the main part of Great Waterton to catch a train back to Brendam (Thanks to all the water that Brionne had dumped on Diesel, he'd short circuited and couldn't follow us. We just left him there with him shouting after us.). Luckily, we made it to the platform just as Stanley was about to leave for Knapford with his train. We climbed aboard and watched as Great Waterton was left behind. I sat back in my chair and sighed. Diesel 10 might be out of action, but it still worried me that he was sending other diesels after me. My thoughts were halted when I felt someone poking my arm. I looked to Taylor who pointed to Tat. I was half surprised when I saw her trying to flirt with Matt.
"Hi there."
"Hi…"
"How are ya?"
"Fine…"
"So you're Amber's "Guy of her dreams" yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Ah can see why." Matt sighed, clearly annoyed.
"Look. I've fended off girls that probably have more feminine charm than you. Just because you've got the assets doesn't mean every guy is going to fall in love with you." Tat seemed offended by this before shrugging it off.
"Ah like guys who are hard to get." Matt rolled his eyes before changing the subject.
"So do any of you recognise these guys? Lady, don't answer. I know you know." He took Goomy from Lady and helped the seal up onto the seat. Lady huffed. I personally wasn't sure, but they did look familiar.
"Brionne the pop star Pokémon from Pokémon Sun and Moon and Goomy the soft tissue Pokémon from Pokémon X and Y." All heads turned to Taylor, who simply shrugged.
"What? I like to play Pokémon." Matt nodded.
"Nice to know I'm not the only Pokémon nut here." Taylor continued.
"But how on earth did you get your hands on two Pokémon let alone a shiny? Their fictional beings." Lady chuckled nervously and raised her hand.
"That would be my fault. I kinda sneezed when I was transporting him home four months ago. I teleported him to the World of Pokémon apparently. The sucker was hard to find." I looked to her.
"You knew where he was?"
"Yeah. I didn't want to freak you out though." I let out a sigh.
"As much as I wanted to know why he wasn't picking up his phone, thanks for not telling me. I would have been bugging you endlessly about whether or not you'd found him yet." Lady chuckled. Matt checked his phone and his eyes bulged out of his head when he saw how many missed calls he had.
"That was another reason I opted to not tell you." I sighed.
"Well at least he's ok." Matt nodded.
"During my time there, I did have several girls after me, but like I said to Flirty Pants here…" He gestured to Tat, who rolled her eyes. "…I fended them off." I was slightly annoyed to hear that but I let it slide. Sam then decided to butt in.
"So what's for dinner?"
…
It was about eight-thirty by the time we began to wind down. We'd had a beautiful spaghetti made by Taylor and Matt (Who wanted to chip in.) for dinner. After dinner, Matt told us about his extra journey. Taylor seemed the most intrigued by his story while I would pout with jealousy whenever he mentioned the other girls that tried to win him over. But Matt assured me that he didn't let them get to him. Even if they were pretty.
Tat, Sam and Taylor had retreated to their room and Lady had gone off to check on the island. I'd made it to my bed and was curled up under the doona. I sighed with comfort.
It was short lived as I felt two arms wrap around my waist. I nearly shrieked at the sudden contact before remembering who joined us from the sky today.
"I hope you don't mind. You didn't exactly point me to a bed."
"I was half expecting you to sleep on the couch."
"No. You wanted me to join you."
"…"
"Didn't you?" I rolled over to face my bed invader.
"No funny business ok." Matt chuckled.
Only if you agree. I'd never do any "Funny Business" without your agreement." I blushed.
"Thanks." There was a pause before I smiled. "You can kiss me though. Now that no one's around."
"I figured you'd say that." We kissed for a moment before I rolled over and pushed myself into his chest. He put his arms around me and I felt myself falling asleep.
"I'm glad you're back."
"So am I Amb's. So am I."
Chapter 4. Done! Yeah, I know not much happened in this chapter, but the main focus of the chapter is on the return of Matt. Not much else to say but I will start on the next chapter soon. Talk to you all next time.
Next Chapter: Beach Day at Harwick!