=|=|=| Episode 4: All Fun & Games |=|=|=
One day, Tim and Riptide were shunting in the yard. They were arranging trains for the other engines and put back the empty rolling stock in their places. With Tim and Riptide's help in shunting, the trains that they prepared always ran on time.
One day, some of the drivers in The Leafy Line were talking about Tim. They noticed some things about him, but what?
"Have you ever noticed that Tim is always a nice and happy person?"
"Yes, it's too good to be true. He must be hiding something deep inside."
"C'mon guys, can't people be happy without someone saying that they're hiding something inside?"
"Th-the thing is... is that Tim is too happy for it to be real. I know people can be happy, but I've never seen someone THAT happy. Not on a place like this anyway."
"Well, now you have."
"Hey guys, did you notice another thing?"
"What?"
"Tim dosen't have a fireman to help him. He's the one who does all the work, driving and shovelling coal. Dosen't he get tired?"
"Mr. Fred told me that the reason Tim dosen't have a fireman to help him is because he likes driving trains."
"Ok? But even if someone liked driving trains, driving and shovelling coal at the same time must be a lot of hard work."
"Tim really likes his job in the railway. Besides, Mr. Fred said that Tim said that a fireman would only get in the way."
"-WHAT?!"
"Yes yes I know, driving and shovelling coal is a lot of hard work. But we should just let Tim be, after all it's not like he's doing anything bad."
"I suppose you have a point. But the thing is, I don't know how anyone can be as happy as Tim in a place where we have to work so hard everyday."
"Well, I guess that's just Tim for you. Likes trains."
The other engines in The Leafy Line were also talking about the same thing about Tim.
"How does he do it?!"
"-I... -I don't know! He's strong!"
"Driving and shovelling coal is really tiring! How does he not get tired?! On top of all that, he still manages to smile sometimes even after a long day at work!"
"Well, I guess he's just a positive person."
"Maybe... but it feels too good to be true."
"Well, we've seen Tim in action. And we made a lousy attempt at seeing if he was hiding some sort of pain underneath him. Nothing. So I guess we are seeing his real personality."
"I guess."
Right now, Tim and Riptide were shunting rolling stock and arranging trains with Sunshine, Johnny and Snowflake. The three other engines were wondering the same thing the other engines and drivers were wondering. Finally, one of the engines- -Sunshine- got a chance to get close to Tim and Riptide. Then, she said "Hey Tim!".
"Hm?" Tim said as he made Riptide reverse and stop beside Sunshine. "Umm... I was wondering, how do you drive and shovel coal at the same time? Isn't that a lot of hard work?" Sunshine asked, "For me it isn't, I love driving trains. And I know that you need to shovel coal into them." Tim replied. "Don't you ever get tired?" Sunshine asked again, "Look, I really love trains. And I'd do anything to drive them. Even if it means having no fireman. Besides, a fireman would only get in the way."
said Tim. "Oh, ok." said Sunshine before Tim and Riptide went back to shunting and arranging trains.
A little while later while Tim and Riptide were shunting, they saw an engine on the turntable. It was a green TLL A4 named Evergreen. She had yellow linings with the number 38 on the side of her cab. She had the letters TLL on the sides of her tender with the symbol of a pine tree too. Tim and Riptide had never seen Evergreen before, "What's she doing on the turntable?" Tim asked. "I don't know." said Riptide.
Tim and Riptide watched as the turntable started to spin, it spun faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and faster until it stopped.
"-WOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" yelled Evergreen as she laughed in joy. "Again!" she said, but before her fireman could start the turntable back up again Tim said "Hey! You can't use the turntable like a merry go round!". "Oh come on Tim, I was just havin' a little fun. Besides, no one's here so I think we're in the clear." Evergreen replied. "Even though no one can see you, you shouldn't spin on the turntable like that." Tim added.
As Tim and Evergreen were talking, a yellow JNR (Japanese National Railways) C50 with light green lining said "Hey, that looks like fun!" when he saw Evergreen. The engine's name was Jack, a reference to his theme. Which were jackfruits. Speaking of jackfruits, there were many painted all over him. including one on both sides of his tender with the TLL logo. Jack had the number 17 on both sides of his cab.
"Umm... you're not allowed to spin on the turntable..." said Riptide, "C'mon, it's just a lil' fun. No one will notice." Jack replied as he went onto it. Then... the turntable started to spin again. It spun faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and faster until it stopped. "WOO! That was fun!" said Jack. "Evergreen, Jack, please don't spin on the turntable. The both of you could get in trouble." said Riptide. But Jack said "Ok, let's play something else instead!".
"I've got an idea!" said Evergreen, "What?" asked Jack. "Engine tag!" Evergreen replied, "Engine tag?" Jack said in confusion. "Yes, it's like normal tag. But with engines! We just try to tag and run away from each other!" Evergreen answered. "Okay, you're it! Hahaha!" Jack then replied as he raced off. "Come back here!" said Evergreen laughing as she followed Jack. "-NO STOP!" yelled Riptide as he and Tim tried to stop the two engines, but to no avail.
"Hey! Don't go so fast!" said Snowflake, but it was no use. Jack and Evergreen were already having too much fun.
"Tag, you're it! Now you chase me! Hahahahaha!"
"I'll get you! Hahaha!"
As Jack and Evergreen were racing along the tracks, Tim and Riptide continued to chase and try to stop them. "STOP! STOP!" yelled Riptide, but it was no use. "Wheeeeeeeeee!" Evergreen suddenly shouted as she avoided a line of trucks with some points. But then, she saw Jack coming from the opposite direction! "I'm gonna get you!" Jack said as he buffered up to Evergreen. "Tag, you're it!" Jack then said as he reversed quickly, "Come back here!" said Evergreen laughing even more.
"Stop! Stop!" Tim and Riptide continued to yell, the other engines decided to help them too. Sunshine tried to block Jack but Jack used some points to go around her. However, Evergreen managed to get in front of Jack and buffer up to him. "Tag, you're it!" she said as she reversed while Jack tried to chase her. Tim and Riptide tried blocking Evergreen's path but she avoided them as Jack continued to follow her.
Johnny was trying to chase both Evergreen and Jack, but they were so fast that he sometimes got confused. "Oh come on!" said Johnny as he missed Jack.
Then, Jack and Evergreen decided to take their game further down the line. Tim, Riptide, Snowflake, Sunshine and Johnny chased after them! "Come back! Come back!"
Snowflake yelled. "Hey! Get back here!" Johnny then added.
When Jack and Evergreen took their game further down the line, Jack almost hit a train that was being pushed by a non living engine! Luckily, the driver applied his brakes! "Hey! Slow down!" the driver yelled, but Jack and Evergreen were having too much fun to notice or hear him. "Get back here!" said Riptide panting.
As Jack and Evergreen continued to play engine tag, they almost hit three more trains! But they were so busy having so much fun they didn't notice!
A little while later, Mr. Fred came into the yard. He wondered why there were different engines there. "Hang on, where's Tim and Riptide? Where are the other engines?" Mr. Fred said as he scratched his head in confusion. Then, an engine driver drove up to Mr. Fred and said "Uhhh... the other engines are chasing Jack and Evergreen. Those two are playing "engine tag", and the other engines are trying to stop them.". Mr. Fred was mad! "-WHERE ARE THEY?!" he yelled, "Hop on my engine and I'll show you." replied the driver as Mr. Fred hopped in his engine's cab before he drove off.
When the driver got to where Jack, Evergreen and the other engines who were trying to stop them were, Mr. Fred got even more mad! "-HEY! -HEY!" Mr. Fred started yelling, but it was no use. So he said "-HEY! -HEY!" again even louder! But still, it didn't work.
"Get back here! Stop!" said Riptide as he chased Jack and Evergreen, meanwhile Condor was running out of breath. Mr. Fred called him and said "-HEY! CONDOR!". "Huh?" said Condor as he stopped beside Mr. Fred. "-WHY ARE JACK AND EVERGREEN PLAYING TAG?! -Don't they know that's dangerous?!" said Mr. Fred, "Me and the others are trying to stop them sir, but we can't." Condor replied. "I'll stop them!" said Mr. Fred, then he remembered he had a whistle in his pocket. Mr. Fred grabbed his whistle and blew it loudly!
The whistle caught all the engines' attentions, -including Jack's and Evergreen's. The whistle was followed by a "-JACK! -EVERGREEN! -COME HERE AT ONCE!", Both Jack and Evergreen were surprised and said "Uh oh..." before going to where Mr. Fred was.
When Jack and Evergreen got beside Mr. Fred, the man said "Why are you two playing "tag" along the line?! Don't you both know that's dangerous?! Why are you two even playing anyway? The both of you have work to do, and other engines are taking care of it right now!". "Sorry sir." said both Jack and Evergreen, but Mr. Fred wasn't satisfied. "-Sorry isn't enough! Don't you both know how dangerous what you two did is?! The both of you will go to your sheds and think about how you both will improve yourselves later!" he added, "Yes sir." said Jack and Evergreen. "As for your drivers and firemen..." Mr. Fred continued before having a word with them.
Mr. Fred had a word with both Jack and Evergreen's driver and firemen, while Jack and Evergreen stayed in the sheds. Meanwhile, the other engines did their work.
"That was dangerous." said Johnny, "Eh, I'm sure they've learned their lesson now." Tim replied while he and Riptide continued to shunt. "I just hope they don't do it again." Snowflake added, "Pretty sure they won't." replied Condor.
Just then, Tim recieved a text message from Mr. Fred. He pulled out his black old style phone that you had to flip up to open it and went to his messages. There were phones in this timeline, but it's the old style kind. Y'know, the ones where you had to flip them open or you had some keys that you needed to press multiple times just to type the letter you wanted or when the screen didn't have any color and was just pixels. Anyway, when Tim read Mr. Fred's message he saw that it said "Tim, tell your friends at the yard that you all can have a break.". When Tim told everyone else what Mr. Fred had said, he, Riptide and the others started to take a break while other engines and drivers took over their jobs.
I'm going to tell you all something, phones in this timeline are very expensive. The reason why is because they were so revolutionary and innovative during the time. Now, I know all of you are asking "So, if phones are expensive how come Tim has one?". Well, a friend of Tim's mother gave it to him after she heard that he was going to start working on a railway. She thought Tim might need it. And he really did need it for fast communication and a bunch of other useful stuff.
While Tim and some of the other drivers and firemen ate sandwiches, one of the drivers said "Hey, I was thinking. We should play something while we're on break.". "But what?" another driver asked, "This." said the first driver as he took a rubber ball out of his small backpack.
"A rubber ball?" said Tim, "Yes." the first driver replied. "What are we going to do with that?" Tim asked, "We could make up our own game or something." the first driver replied. Then, the first driver started do some horseplay with the ball. The driver did this for a while before kicking the ball a bit far away.
Another driver picked up the ball and kicked it back to the first one, the first driver then kicked it to another diver. Who kicked it to Tim, who accidentally kicked it onto a bucket.
"Whoops!" said Tim "I'll get it." said the first driver as he took the ball out of the bucket. "Hey, you know what guys I just got a great idea!" said the driver who kicked the ball to the first one when the ball was kicked a bit far, "What?" Tim asked. "We could play this like soccer or something, but the ball is small." the driver replied. "That's a great idea." said Tim. "We should group ourselves." another driver said, and so that's what he, the other drivers and Tim did.
After Tim and the other drivers had grouped themselves into two teams, one of the drivers said "Go!". Tim was the first one to kick the ball, but another driver kicked it back and hope it would shoot in the bucket. Another driver prevented the ball from getting into the bucket and tried to kick it ont another bucket that was far from the other one.
Tim, the other drivers and the firemen had a wonderful time, they played what's basically their own version of soccer. "Look at them, they're having fun. Why can't we?" said Jack, "First, we're engines. We can't move so fast and horse around or we could get into trouble and maybe have an accident. Second, at least they're not playing somewhere unsafe." replied a green LNER V3. The V3's name was Todd, he had white lining with the letter on his sides and the number 18. "It's not fair, why can't we engines have fun?" Jack added, "I just said why." replied Todd.
Meanwhile, Tim had just kicked the ball as it was in mid-air. It flew high and landed on the bucket he was supposed to shoot it on. "We won!" Tim said to his team as they celebrated. A few minutes later, Tim and the other drivers continued their game.
After a while, their break was over. Mr. Fred sent a message to Tim again that said just that, when Tim told the other drivers and firemen he and them went back to their engines and started to work again.
While Tim, Riptide and the other engines, drivers and firemen were working, some boys were playing ball too. But they weren't paying attention to where they ended up going.
"Pass it to me! Pass it to me!" yelled one of the boys, another boy threw the ball at the boy who said that. Then the boy who got the ball threw it at another boy, the boys passed the ball around for a long time. However, as the ball was thrown again one of the boys tried to catch it. But he accidentally hit it with his hands instead. The ball flew into the air and accidentally hit Condor's window as he was pushing a line of empty trucks.
Condor's driver and fireman were startled, when the ball fell down they got out of the cab and the fireman picked it up. Then, one of the boys came rushing over to them and said "Sorry! We weren't paying attention to where we were playing!". "Next time, pay more attention to where you're playing." said Condor's fireman as he gave the ball back, "Thank you!" said one of the boys as he took the ball before he and his friends went elsewhere.
That night in the sheds, the engines chuckled as they talked about what Jack and Evergreen did. "I can't believe they actually did that." said Rainwater as he chuckled a bit, "They shouldn't have done that." agreed Lightningstreak. "I think they've learned their lesson now." added Thunderstrike, Jack and Evergreen didn't like having what they did being talked about. So they sulked a bit for a while before they and the other engines went to sleep.
Meanwhile, Tim was already home. He was inside his room playing Snake on his phone. He was waiting for the time when his parents would fall asleep so that he could go to The Leafy Line, bring Riptide along and compete in games in the underground locomotive hangout. Tim would occasionally secretly check through his parents' door to see if they were asleep from time to time, but his parents weren't asleep yet. So he played Snake some more until his parents went to sleep.
Eventually, it got darker outside. Tim checked to see if his parents were asleep, this time they were. "Yes!" Tim thought as he snuck outside.
When Tim got to The Leafy Line, he did the same things he did yesterday. He woke up Riptide, he lit Riptide's fire and they went into the underground locomotive hangout.
When Tim and Riptide got there, it wasn't like before. It was quieter, not totally quiet though. There were lots of people chatting, but it was certainly less noisy than when there was loud music blasting back then.
"So... what do we do now?" asked Riptide, "I guess we should wait here until Mr. Patterson announces or something." replied Tim as he and Riptide did just that.
A little while later after Tim and Riptide started waiting, Mr. Patterson was finally on stage. He picked up the mic and said "The next game will be starting soon, so prepare yourselves everyone.". When Mr. Patterson finished announcing, Tim said "Hey Riptide, wanna go check out this place a bit?". "Sure, why not." Riptide replied, then Tim got in his cab and started him.
[Some Time Later...]
After Tim and Riptide checked the place out a bit, they went back to where they came from. Then, Mr. Patterson went on the stage again and tapped the mic to make it echo to get everyone's attention.
"Hello everyone. The next game will be a stunt race. The rules in this game are simple. The one who makes the most stunts might win! Drivers are allowed to switch points using the extendable shovels that will be given to them, but they cannot take out another driver this time. So there will be no combat. Each stunt will earn you points, and the driver who has the most points wins. Bumping and crashing into someone will take away 50 points from you or disqualify you on the race. Depending on the situation. Now, I will choose three racers. Tim, Jack and Rodger. Alright racers, please follow the red arrows on your tracks to the modification room."
As soon as Mr. Patterson finished announcing, Tim, Riptide, Jack and Rodger all followed the red arrows to the modification room. By the way, Rodger is a lightly brown skinned man with brown eyes and a bit of a muscular build. He wore a red shirt, brown shorts, brown shoes and a red bandana around his head. His engine is a custom non living 4-6-2 red big tank engine with flame decals on the side and some other decals.
"That engine looks kinda weird." said Riptide as he looked at Rodger's engine, "Yeah, it kinda does." replied Tim. Tim knew that most of the engines of The Leafy Line had weird paintjobs too, but he never expected an engine with a weird paintjob outside of that railway.
As Tim, Riptide, Jack and Rodger entered the modification room which was the room where gold dust was sprinkled on the engines during the last race we saw Tim and Riptide compete in. Gold dust sprinkled on the engines, modifying them for the race. Once the modification was done, Tim, Riptide and the other two drivers got out of the modification room and into the race track.
Tim and Riptide could see the same TV they saw before show the people watching them and the other racers. "Alright racers, get ready! 3, 2, 1, -go!" said Mr. Patterson, before Tim, Riptide and the other racers sped off!
In the first stretch of the race, Tim and Riptide managed to get in second, with Jack in the lead and Rodger behind. Suddenly, Tim and Riptide saw a ramp on the line next to them. Tim used his extendable shovel to switch some points and make Riptide use the ramp and do two backflips before landing!
"Amazing! 200 points for Tim!" yelled Mr. Patterson as the people clapped and cheered, "Hmph, that's nothing." muttered Jack as he used his shovel to switch some points to another ramp and do three backflips. "300 points for Jack!" yelled Mr. Patterson again as the people clapped and cheered even more.
Rodger was slowly catching up to Tim, however Tim blocked him by using his shovel to switch some points to block Rodger's way. "Get out of the way!" yelled Rodger, "You'll have to find a way to do that." said Tim as he shovelled more coal into Riptide and made him puff faster.
"Rrgh!" said Rodger as he waited for some points to show up, when he did see some he switched them using his shovel and managed to overtake Tim and Riptide. Tim and Riptide tried overtaking Rodger again, but Rodger was already speeding off!
Meanwhile, Jack used a couple of tracks that were bent like ramps to score 600 more points. I'll call those tracks "ramp tracks" from now on. "JACK SCORES 600 POINTS, GIVING HIM 900 POINTS IN TOTAL!" announced Mr. Patterson. "Oh no!" said Riptide, "C'mon!" said Tim as he shovelled more coal into Riptide!
Up ahead, was a very big drop! Tim, Riptide, Jack and Rodger braced themselves for the fall. Jack was first, he collected the speed boost orb that was in his way and made his engine twirl sideways six times before doing 3 front flips giving him 1,500 points! "Amazing! Jack is taking the lead as usual! 1,500 points!" said Mr. Patterson as the people clapped and cheered even louder!
Next, it was Rodger's turn. He hit the speed boost orb on his line and managed to make five front flips and twirl his engine sideways two times, earning him 600 points. "Amazing! 600 points for Rodger!" announced Mr. Patterson.
Now it was Tim and Riptide's turn to do some tricks, "You ready Riptide?" said Tim, "Yeah! All aboard the trick train!" replied Riptide as he hit the speed boost orb and managed to do two back flips, three front flips and twirl sideways five times earning him and Tim 950 points! "That was incredible! 950 points for Tim!" said Mr. Patterson as the people clapped and cheered.
Then, Mr. Patterson added "The racers are now approaching the loop-de-loop part of the track! The drivers better hope their engines are fast enough or they will fall down and be disqualified from the race.". "Loop-de-loop? Just like loop-de-loop mountain! We've gone through that loop-de-loop mountain before, so this won't be so hard." said Riptide, "I dont think Mr. Patterson meant THAT kind of loop-de-loop Riptide..." replied Tim. "Oh yeah? Then what?" Riptide asked, "That!" Tim answered as he pointed at some loop-de-loop tracks that would be able to make an engine run UPSIDE DOWN and make it to the other side if it was fast enough. "-D...-do you think we can make it through those?" Riptide asked again, "We have to." said Tim as he shovelled more coal into Riptide's firebox. "Full steam ahead!" said Tim as he, Riptide and the others rushed towards the loop-de-loops.
The first one to the loops was Jack, he raced like the wind and had no trouble going through the loops. He soon made it to the other end. "That was easy! Nothing to it! Woo!" said Jack as he sped away.
Next was Rodger, "YAAHHHHHHOOOOOOOOO!" he yelled as he sped through the loop-de-loops as well and came out the other end! "Let's see that guy try to overcome this!" he said referring to Tim.
Next, it was Tim's turn. "Ok, let's go!" he said as he shovelled lots and lotsof coal into Riptide! Riptide started to speed through the loops, he had a bit of a hard time going through them. But in the end, he managed to do so anyway.
"We did it!" said Tim, before trying to overtake both Rodger and Jack.
Then, three big ramp tracks could be seen up ahead! "Here it is everyone! The last part of the race! Who do you all think will make it? Let's find out!" yelled Mr. Patterson as the people clapped and cheered even louder than before!
"It's even bigger this time!" said Riptide looking ahead, "Then I'll just do this!" said Tim as he shovelled lots and lots and lots of coal into Riptide faster.
Jack was the first person to got through the big ramps, he hit the speed boost orb along the way and was able to do five backflips and twirl his engine sideways six times! Earning him a total of 2,300 points! "2,300 points for Jack! He does it again!" said Mr. Patterson.
However, things were about to go very wrong for Jack! As Tim was shovelling coal fast, he accidentally lost grip of his shovel! It hit the front of the inside of Riptide's cab before bouncing from his side rods and accidentally hitting some points! "Uh oh-" said Tim.
As Jack was watching the TV screen with all the people in there, he didn't noticed the switched tracks and crashed into where Rodger was! Both of their engines ended up derailing, causing them to be disqualified from the race and teleported out of there.
Meanwhile, Tim was shocked. But then he laughed and said "Yay!", "Oh yeah!" said Riptide as he and Tim crossed the finish line. "Tim wins!" yelled Mr. Patterson as the people clapped and cheered!
As Tim and Riptide stopped, they were teleported back to the stage. Tim and Riptide could hear the people clap and cheer for them! "Congratulations Tim, you won this stunt race! Here's your prize." Mr. Patterson said as he gave Tim 10 dollars. It wasn't much, but Tim didn't care and took it. Then, Mr. Patterson whispered "So Tim, wanna play another game?". Tim thought for a moment, it was getting late at night. And although he wanted to make more money, he knew he'd need some rest tonight to be able to have more energy at work tomoroow. Besides, he wasn't even sure if Riptide was okay with it, so he turned to the engine and whispered "Hey Riptide, is it ok if we play some more games? I know it's a bit much to ask but I really need the money. If not, that's fine. We can go home.". "Are you kidding? I'm a star here! Keep the games comin'!" said Riptide, "Alright!" said Tim as he pumped his left fist in the air.
Tim and Riptide could afford to play more games, they still had energy somehow and were willing to go for round 2 of a game. "Mr. Patterson, we want to keep playing games." said Tim, "Brilliant!" said Mr. Patterson before he tapped on the mic and made everyone settle down.
"Alright everyone! The next game will be starting soon! So prepare yourselves! In the next game, each driver will have to push so many loaded heavy freight cars using only little of whatever their locomotives run on and some sand. For example, steam engines run on coal and water. So whoever drives a steam train will only get a little bit of those. And now, it's time to choose the racers. The racers that will be in this race are... Ted, Rodger and Tim. Drivers, please head to the modification room for all your enignes to be modified. That's all. Thank you."
As soon as Mr. Patterson finished announcing, Tim, Ted and Rodger all drove their engines to the modification room. Where gold dust was sprinkled again to modify the engines in a way that would be appropriate for the game. Oh and if all of you are wondering who Ted is, he's a pale blonde haired man with brown eyes, a black shirt, blue pants and some black shoes. His engine was just a simple yellow LBSCR C3.
When the gold dust was finished sprinkling, Tim, Ted and Rodger all headed out the other end of the room and into the start of the track. They could see the long lines of freight cars (or trucks as I call them) that they had to push. They also noticed that the straight flat tracks ahead led to tracks that went upwards and would go steeper and steeper as they gradually crossed it.
Tim and Riptide were surprised, they both knew Riptide wasn't that strong. How could Mr. Patterson expect him to push those lines of trucks up the track? I guess they'll just have to push with all their might.
"Alright drivers, 3, 2, 1, go!" said Mr. Patterson as Tim, Ted and Rodger began to push the line of trucks they were given. The three of them struggled, they knew that Mr. Patterson said that the trucks were going to be heavy, but it was way heavier than they thought!
"...rrrrgggghhhh... come on..." said Riptide as his wheels slipped a bit. He, Tim and the others had only been given a little bit of coal. So they had to save it and use it wisely. There was plenty of sand in the engines' sandboxes, but they had to use it wisely too as the track that led upwards was too steep and was a bit long.
Rodger was doing well so far, in fact he was starting to take the lead. However, he ended up using a little bit of sand to start going upwards. "Come on!" he yelled as he tried pushing the trucks even harder.
Meanwhile, Ted was using a bit of his smarts. He would apply sand and shovel coal only when he thought it was really necessary. And although he was in the last place,
his engine's wheels weren't slipping that much and was going steady.
"Looks like the drivers are starting to struggle a bit, it looks like Tim and Rodger are having a hard time. I mean, Jack is too. But his engine hasn't been slipping that much. It looks like he knows his stuff here folks!"
As soon as Mr. Patterson finished speaking, Tim started to get the hang of things a little bit. And Riptide's wheels started to get a grip on the rails with a little bit of help from the sand he dropped.
Soon, all three drivers started to move upwards. They couldn't go fast yet, their engines' wheels couldn't get a good grip on the rails yet. Riptide continued to push even harder as Tim shoveled a little bit of coal into his firebox.
"-AAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" yelled Rodger as he was shovelling a bit more coal than Tim, he was struggling to get his engine to move faster.
Meanwhile, Ted was pulling ahead. His engine's wheels spun steadily on the tracks as they moved upwards. He applied a little bit of sand on the rails to help his engine move faster.
"Ohohoho! Look at them go!"
"O-oh no..." said Rodger as his engine's wheels started slipping! He tried adding more sand and coal but it was no use! "Oh come on, not now!" he said as he kept his engine running. But at a very slow pace.
Since Rodger couldn't go any faster, Tim overtook him and continued pulling ahead. However, Jack was still pretty far away.
The wheels of Ted's engine started to slip more and more too, he also tried adding coal and sand. But just like what happened to Rodger, it was no use. Ted then watched as Tim and Riptide slowly overtook him and took the lead.
"Oh look at that everyone! Tim has taken the lead!"
"We're in the lead!" said Riptide, "Good, keep it up. We'll be at finish line in no time." said Tim smiling.
Then there was trouble, as Tim and Riptide were getting to the steeper parts of the track Riptide's wheels started to spin! Tim tried adding more coal and sand, but that only helped Riptide a little bit. Tim didn't want to add too much coal or sand or else he might run out and wouldn't have any when he needed some.
Tim and Riptide watched as Ted passed them, "C'mon! C'mon!" said Tim as he shovelled a bit more coal and used more sand. "I'm trying! These trucks are so... -heavy!" groaned Riptide as his wheels kept slipping.
Then, Riptide started to roll back down! The heavy trucks were too much for him, forcing him to roll backwards. "Oh no! Tim! Help!" said Riptide as Tim used more coal and sand. By now, Tim used up almost half the coal he was given. "Uh oh..." Tim muttered.
"Oh! Looks like Tim and his engine are having a bit of a hard time! I wonder if they'll still be able to catch up to Jack."
As Tim and Riptide were rolling backwards, Rodger slowly started to pass them. When Riptide saw him, he said "Not gonna happen!" as he strained himself while only just managing to keep up with Rodger's pace.
Meanwhile, Ted was slowly starting to reach the finish line. As he crossed it, Mr. Patterson said "And we have a winner! It's Ted! Now, let's wait for the other two drivers to reach the finish line! Who will reach it first? Let's find out!" before teleporting Ted.
"Oh no! Ted reached the finish line first!" said Riptide, "We can still try to get second place, now come on!" said Tim as he used what little coal he had left. "I'm not giving up that easily!" said Rodger.
Tim, Riptide and Rodger were neck and neck towards the finish line. They all groaned as they were nearing it. "Oh, it looks like Tim and Rodger are neck and neck with each other! Who will reach the finish line first?" said Mr. Patterson. Then...
"Made it!"
Those words were said by Tim, the people clapped and cheered for him. "Tim wins second place!" said Mr. Patterson as Rodger crossed the finish line. As the people continued clapping and cheering, Tim, Riptide and Rodger were teleported on the stage.
Mr. Patterson made everyone settle down and said "Alright everyone. Here are the rankings. Ted wins first place, Tim wins second place and Rodger win third place!". Then, he gave the drivers their prizes. Ted got $15, Tim got $10 (as usual lol) and Rodger got a measly $5. "Dag." muttered Rodger as he and the others put their cash in their pockets.
As Mr. Patterson made everyone settle down again, he announced the next game. "Alright folks, the next game is going to be an exciting one! Iiiiittt'ssss a demolition derby! But it's going to be a little bit different. Instead of trying to wreck the engine, the drivers only have to make them fall." he said. Tim and Riptide were surprised when Mr. Patterson mentioned engines being wrecked. Then, Riptide asked "Um, excuse me Mr. Patterson. Did you say... -wreck the engines?". "Yes. But don't worry. Only non living engines actually get wrecked. There's special rules for living ones." Mr. Patterson answered. Riptide sighed in relief, but then he asked "Um, I know this is a demolition derby but... would you consider to change the rules for non living engines to just be made to fall down? Instead of being wrecked?". "Hahaha, nonsense! This is a demolition derby, and non living engines get wrecked." said Mr. Patterson. Riptide asked Mr. Patterson that question because he didn't like seeing other engines getting destroyed, whether they were living or non living. That's understandable, since Riptide is an engine. But, in this dimension living engines are simply just treated like machines with faces. Sure, there were laws and stuff about not doing anything bad to living engines. But in the end, living engines were treated as just that. Machinery with faces that people have to take care of.
Riptide was about to ask another question, but before he could Mr. Patterson said "Alright drivers, to the modification room!". "C'mon Riptide, let's go." said Tim as he made the engine go to the room. Riptide was equipped with a very tough mask to prevent his face from getting hurt. He also recieved some other modifications like increased toughness and speed. Tim and Riptide were surprised to see the mask, but they knew what it was for so they didn't have to think about that.
After the engines were modified, they went to the other end of the room. Tim and Riptide were amazed at what they saw! At the other end of the modification room was a big room with gray walls and yellow and black stripes. This was the room Mr. Patterson used for demolition derbies. "Woah." said both Tim and Riptide as they looked around. The demolition derby room was big and wide, so there was plenty of space for action. Then, three red circles appeared on some parts of the floor.
"Alright drivers, please go to the red circles." said Mr. Patterson, then Tim, Riptide, Ted and Rodger did what Mr. Patterson said. When the drivers got to the red circles, the tracks disappeared! Their engines started to float and glowing light green tracks appeared from underneath them.
"Alright everyone! We all know that demolition derbies are filled with action! And for Tim here who's a new driver on the block, demolition derbies here usually involve replacing the tracks with a magical one underneath the engines to allow them to move freely like cars. I'm sure this demolition derby is gonna be exciting! The engines have been given jump buttons so that the drivers could use it to their advantage! Who do all of you think will come out on top this time? Let's find out! Drivers, get ready! 3, 2, 1, go!"
As soon as Mr. Patterson finished speaking, Tim, Riptide and the others started off! "Let's do this babies!" said Rodger as he rammed into Riptide! "Oof!" said Riptide as he was pushed back! Ted then took the chance to ram Rodger and drag him across the arena.
"Wo-ho-how! Look at 'em go! It's only been a couple o' seconds into this match and things are getting pretty heated up!"
As Ted continued to drag Rodger's engine with him, Tim and Riptide stayed far behind and tried to keep themselves from getting hit so much as much as possible. "We won't get hit so much here." said Tim as he watched Ted and Rodger go at it.
"Rrrgghhh! Get off me you!" said Rodger as he made his engine jump! The front of Ted's engine went upwards and almost made it fall! But luckily, it didn't. Ted then tried to ram Rodger again, but before he could he saw Rodger's red engine from above and smash onto his! "Take that!" yelled Rodger.
"Ack-* Ted managed to utter as his engine slid across the floor! Luckily, his engine wasn't damaged that bad. But it's dome and funnel were cracked and bent. "COME HERE YOU!" yelled Ted as he smashed into Rodger's engine, putting a dent on it's front.
Meanwhile, Tim and Riptide still weren't moving. "What're we doin'? Why are we just standing here?" said Riptide, "Because we haven't got the hang of this thing yet. And I'm waiting for the right time to strike." replied Tim. "Oh, ok." said Riptide.
"Looks like Ted and Rodger are going at it hard! Tim seems to be discouraged from taking any course of action, maybe he's scared? Hahaha! This is interesting!" said Mr. Patterson as the people in the crowd looked at Tim and Riptide.
"They called you scared!" Riptide said to Tim, "That dosen't matter. What matters is getting this right. Now, wait for the right time. And when I say go, go!" Tim replied. "Ok." said Riptide.
Ted and Rodger were still going at it! Their engines took a bit of damage already from the fight. Parts were bent and removed as the two engines crashed onto each other! Then, Rodger gave Ted a big smashing! Causing the tender of Ted's engines to get some dents, cracks and chipped parts! "Argh!" yelled Ted.
While Ted was still in a vulnerable state, Tim yelled "-GO!" to Riptide before making him go so fast! Riptide rammed onto Ted and made his engine slide across! He also broke and put more chips in it even more! "Argh!" Ted yelled again as he tried to escape. But Tim made Riptide ram his engine again and broke a wheel on the right side of his tender!
*SMASH!*
"Oh oh oh! Look everyone! It looks like Tim has finally decided to do something! Finally we get to see some action from him! Looks like he was just waiting for the perfect time to strike! What a clever guy!"
"OH YEAH!" yelled Tim as he pumped his fist in the air, "WOOHOO!" said Riptide. But suddenly, Rodger charged towards Tim and Riptide! When they saw him, Tim made Riptide reverse quickly! They were able to avoid Rodger. However, one of Riptide's buffers got broken and bent!
Riptide gasped as he saw what happened to his buffer, Tim then looked at Rodger and said "Alright, now it's on!" before he and Riptide rammed onto the back of him! "Argh! Why you lil'-" said Rodger as he reversed dragging Tim and Riptide along with him! Rodger was then able to pin Riptide to a wall!
Tim and Riptide struggled to get out of Rodger's engine's grip, but because Rodger's engine was big they found it hard to do so. "...rrr... -rrrgghhh! G-get off you!" groaned Riptide as his wheels slipped onto the magical track. "Make me!" said Rodger as he back up a bit before smacking onto Riptide again!
*SMACK!*
"Oogh!" said Tim as Riptide's cab shook. "Wh-what are we gonna do now?" asked Riptide as his wheels continued slipping. "-I... -I don't know, lemme think of something." Tim replied.
"You should've stayed home newbie!" said Rodger, "You ain't underground hangout material." he continued as he kept on pinning Tim and Riptide to the wall.
Just then, an idea flew into Tim's head. "I got it!" he said as he pressed the jump button on Riptide's controls. Riptide jumped and made the front of Rodger's engine go upwards! Rodger's engine teetered and tottered for a while before it finally fell on it's back!
"AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!" said Rodger as he was teleported away. "Oooh! It looks like Rodger's engine has gone upside down! Looks like he underestimated Tim back there!" said Mr. Patterson as the people clapped and cheered even louder!
As Tim and Riptide landed, they yelled "OH YEAH!". "We did it!" said Tim, "That was amazing!" said Riptide. But their worries weren't over yet! "-HEY!" came a voice in the distance! It was Ted, he was about to ram into Tim and Riptide!
"Uh oh!" said Tim as he quickly made Riptide reverse! Ted missed them and made his engine skid to a halt! "C'mere!" Ted yelled as he bashed into Riptide's buffers bending them! "Ow!" said Riptide as he was blown back. "Rrrggghhhh!" said Riptide as he bashed Ted's engine back! The buffers of Ted's engine were destroyed and the front of it's running board was bent!
"Argh!" said Ted as he managed to make his engine brake. "Stay away from us!" said Tim, he was a little bit scared of what Ted might do next. But he didn't want him to know that.
Ted shovelled more coal in his engine, giving it more power. After that, he made it rush towards Tim and Riptide! "Fine! Let's do this!" said Tim as he made Riptide smash Ted's engine!
"Looks like Tim has finally gained enough courage to actually do something in this game! The question is, will he come out victorious? Or will his opponent beat him first? I can't wait to see who comes out on top! The suspense is killing me!"
"Get him!" said Riptide, he and Tim were pushing Ted backwards! Then, just like what Rodger did back then they pinned him to a wall! More parts of Ted's engine got damaged and fell off!
Ted tried making his engine get away from Riptide's grip, but he couldn't. Then he had an idea. He was going to do the same thing Tim did when he got Rodger off of his engine and managed to eliminate him from the competition. "Hehehe." said Ted softly as his hand was reaching towards the jump button.
However, Tim and Riptide knew what he was about to do. Tim made Riptide reverse and let Ted go! "-WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!" Ted yelled as he was freed. However, he didn't realize his enigne was going much too fast! And was about to crash into the walls! "OH NO-" said Ted as he tried to apply his engine's brakes. But it was already too late and he hit the wall with a mighty crash!
*CRASH!*
"OOGH!" said Ted when his engine shook from the impact. The impact destroyed more pieces of Ted engine, it was beginning to weaken a bit and make clanking noises.
*CLANK-CLANK-CLANK-CLANK-CLANK-CLANK-CLANK-CLANK-*
Tim and Riptide watched from afar, they could see that Ted's engine wasn't doing too good at the moment. Now was their chance. Immediately, Tim made Riptide charge towards Ted's engine! Ted tried getting his engine to start properly, but it couldn't as it had been damaged. Then, when Ted saw Tim and Riptide coming towards him, he jumped out of his engine's cab as Tim and Riptide smashed onto his engine and made it fall onto it's side!
*SMASH!*
Ted's engine wasn't too badly damaged, but it was on it's side. That meant Tim didn't break the "only make engines fall" rule since Ted's engine wasn't damaged enough, and Ted was eliminated from the game. "OOOH FOLKS, looks like Ted is eliminated from the competition." said Mr. Patterson as Ted and his engine were teleported out of the arena.
After that, Mr. Patterson added "Ted has been eliminated from the game, which means the winner is... -Tim!". Then, the crowd started clapping and cheering! "Well, we won! We totally won!" said Riptide, "Yeah we did!" said Tim as he pumped a fist. Then, he and Riptide were teleported on the stage.
Once Tim and Riptide were there, Mr. Patterson made everyone settle down before he said "The winner of the demolition derby is... Tim!". As the crowd started to clap and cheer all over again, Mr. Patterson said "Here's your prize money Tim." before handing him $15.
Tim couldn't believe it, he and Riptide just won a demolition derby! Of all the things they never thought they would win, they didn't know this would be one of them. Tim smiled as he waved at the audience who were still clapping and cheering. Then, Mr. Patterson muttered "Hey Tim, I think it's time you took that engine of yours to the modification room for some repairs.". "Yeah." said Tim as he clambered onto Riptide's cab before taking him to the modification room.
When Tim and Riptide got to the modification room, they found Ted and his engine there. Ted's engine was being repaired as well. Once Ted caught a glimpse of Tim and Riptide, he said "Oh, it's you two. Congratulations by the way. Although the both of you didn't put up much of a fight in the beginning, you have both proven yourselves in the end.". "O-oh, -w-well... -thanks." Tim replied, then he added "You ain't so bad either."
Ted just chuckled as he just went back to watching his engine get repaired, Tim made Riptide go over to the engine parking slot next to Ted's engine so that he could be repaired too.
It took a little bit of a while, but eventually both Riptide and Ted's engine was repaired. As Tim, Ted and Riptide were about to leave the modification room, Ted said "Hey Tim, congrats out there. You ain't so bad. You're not as weak as you look, that Rodger guy sure underestimated ya.". "Yeah he was kind of a showoff, so I think he deserved getting eliminated from the competition." said Tim. "Ah, he's not all bad. -Once you get to know him of course." Ted replied, Tim just chuckled in response.
As Tim, Ted and Riptide went back on the stage, there was Mr. Patterson waiting for them. "Ahh, here they are everybody! Tim and Ted!" the green man said as everyone gave a round of applause. When Tim, Ted and Riptide got on stage, Mr. Patterson quietly asked the two "So, would the both of you like another game?".
"Sure." said Ted, "I'd love to, but I think want to go home now. It's been a wild night! Especially with all that crashing and bashing." said Tim. "Oh, ok. Well, here's the portal for you then." said Mr. Patterson as he opened the portal between his and Tim and Riptide's world. Tim then made Riptide slowly puff off towards the portal. "Bye Mr. Patterson, see you next time!" said Tim. Mr. Patterson just smiled and waved as the man and his engine disappeared into the portal.
That night, Tim had a little bit of a talk with Riptide before he went home.
"That was a great night wasn't it Riptide?"
"Yes, amazing!"
"Well Riptide, I'm off to head for home. Good night, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Good night Tim, and take care."
And with that, Tim went home. While Riptide slept with the engines in the engine sheds.
[A few minutes later...]
Right now, Tim was already in bed. He was thinking about some stuff. Like what happened today. Here, I'll show you what's going on in Tim's mind right now.
"Hmm... that was awesome! If I could play games all day, I would! They're loads of fun and I can't wait until tomorrow night! Plus, the games are all about trains! My most favorite things in the whole entire universe! Sadly, I can't play games forever. Oh well, I guess no one can play games forever. And besides, I need to sleep. I got work tomorrow."
And with that, Tim shut his eyes and went to bed.
Y'know guys, sometimes we want all fun and games. But we can't deny that there's a time for those things, and there are times when it's not time for those things. Don't you all agree?
