Chapter 10: The Rebellious Chess Cards Scandal
"Where was I? Oh yes." Glynn, the immobile iron giant muttered to himself. "You see, Gordon. Chess and cards were in order, minding their own affairs. But here's the thing. Gordon, what is King James' full title?"
Gordon was very impatient with waiting, although it was rather due to his bad habits, and was muttering to himself about the answer.
"If I remember, the Red King…. Or was it the King of Hearts..." Gordon had heard both titles, but was confused which one of them was the correct answer. You'd think Gordon would've gotten the hang of the logic of Wonderland by now, and so did he… or perhaps he actually did.
"The Red King of Hearts." Gordon felt a little piece of restored pride.
"Close; the proper title is James, the Red King of Hearts." Stephen's correction was very irritating to Gordon, who was only one word off. That little piece of restored pride had just shattered into even more pieces. So much for getting the swing of things, particularly things that have no semblance of logic nor reason.
"Close enough." Gordon scoffed at this revelation.
"Now Gordon, don't you think something is off with this title?"
So now they actually want Gordon to question the logic? Gordon felt like he could've given up a long time ago, reserving some sanity for when he (hopefully) returned to Sodor, but Glynn did have a point.
"Well, everyone always knows that hearts are always red, so it would be redundant to emphasise the red. Although, this is James we're talking about. It's not out of character for him to do so."
"Precisely, but there's a reason behind it."
As it turns out, Victor's logical reason is starting to come out into application, thought Gordon.
"I still don't understand why chess is involved. If we're talking about the colours, I don't think red is one of them in chess." Gordon pouted.
"It isn't now Gordon, it was back then before the scandal." Stephen added.
"You see, there were actually three colours in chess, white, black and red," Glynn started to explain, "Since chess usually needs just two to play a game, they occasionally switch colours on the board they fight on."
"Fight? Don't you mean play a match?" Gordon interrupted again.
"No, fight. For them, it was a never-ending war, having a few battles before calling it a day. Of course, everyone was fine at the end of them, just needing to rejoin the battle and go on."
"Oh, did that get resolved?"
"Heavens no! Those battles are their way of life nowadays, even just for their own enjoyment."
"Figures," Gordon rolls his eyes, "So there was something that happened between Chess and Cards, as well as James being a part of it."
"Why yes, in fact, he was a product of it." Stephen clarified.
"You mean-" "Yes Gordon, after a little odd affair one night, there was James, technically heir to both parties." Glynn concluded.
"So," Gordon pondered aloud, seeing that it seemed to be the right time to do so and he wouldn't interrupt anything, "I guess it would be safe to say that James is a literal-"
This time, a whistling screech from Glynn's spout interrupted Gordon instead, and it seemed important as a rolled up parchment of paper had smacked Gordon right in the face too.
"Oh bother, what is it now?!"
"If you don't interrupt me reading it I might find out." Glynn retorted, quickly skimming through the letter as it rolled open.
Gordon was rather curious when Glynn's expression became a worried and alarmed one.
"What is it, my friend?" "Oh my, Stephen, this is far from bad news, so much that there's almost no good news to tell!
"There's a violent rebellion among the cards, some radical hooligan group calling themselves Claws! They seem to be led by this card, 10 of Spades, some fool going on and on about old values, and how King James is an actual-"
"Terrible news indeed Glynn! Best be off then!"
"Yes Stephen, the actual good news is that Gordon is requested to return at once! They need his assistance right away! He has a very very important role now!"
"No need to tell me twice!" Gordon hastily agreed; he'd enjoyed his peace and quiet and now the storm had come, or so it seemed.
Gordon the now-extremely-urgently-not-to-mention-importantly-needed engine jumped to the call of action, puffing back into the basket carrier with no time to waste. Stephen was swift to act as well, hooking his claws onto said carrier and flapping his wings to lift himself and Gordon up into the air as they took off, hurrying back to the castle.
"What a sudden turn of events," Gordon recounted under his breath, "Just when things got too ridiculous here in Wonderland, this drama is starting to give me nostalgia for Sodor. Someone with a 10 sparking up trouble over some trivial social class matter, and James, as usual, being a total-"
Gordon was caught off guard, as the wild ride had begun once again. Gordon did not think this part through, you'd think he'd actually catch onto the pattern of his misfortune in Wonderland. But alas, it seemed that there would be a few twists and turns of Gordon's Wonderland, so he's not to be blamed for a little subversion of the events. Deep down in Gordon's boiler, he couldn't imagine if said events would turn out to be sillier, as somewhere further down was saying it might be even more grimmer than he could ever comprehend...