Diesel Ten woke early in the morning. Having nothing better to do, he decided to talk to his claw.
"Well, Pinchy," the diesel mused, "I'd never thought I'd see the day. A steamer working for diesels." He sighed. Then he realized something, and his eyes bugged out. "A steam engine...at the Dieselworks?! He doesn't have the right kind of fuel here!"
His driver arrived. "Driver! We need to go out and find an extra coal car!" Diesel Ten exclaimed. His driver raised an eyebrow. "No, I'm not up to anything. I'll explain on the way."
His driver jumped into his engine's front cab and turned his ignition on. Now that he was started, Diesel Ten was able to move under his own power, and away he went.
Lady awoke to a beam of light in her eye. Molly had backed out of the shed.
"I have to go now," Molly said. "My crew left some food for your driver, and an oil can for you."
"Well I'll be," Burnett Stone said, sitting up. "Your crew is as sweet as you are." With that, he began to attack one of the bagels.
Molly giggled. "Much obliged."
"So...you know of anything I could do?" Lady asked. "I mean, I can't hide here forever. That wouldn't be really useful of me, now would it?"
"There's a shunting yard up at Tidmouth," Molly replied. "It's not much, but then again you are a shunter, right?"
"What's a shunter?" Lady asked. Molly stared at her, confused. "Oh, you mean switcher. I forgot about the whole language barrier thing. Yeah, I can do that."
"She's got a gift," Stone remarked. "She can organize a train in under two minutes. And since here everything's more her size, she's probably going to be even faster."
"Well, good luck. Bye!" Molly called. She got herself turned around and left.
Stone opened Lady's bunker and began to pour the contents of the oil can into it. Lady sighed happily. "Ah, I love the smell of fossilized algae in the morning."
"Alright, you should have enough fuel to last today," Stone said. "Let's go, girl." He climbed back into Lady's cab, started her, and released her brakes. Lady, swiftly and quietly, began to make her way to Tidmouth.
Diesel Ten was nearing Tidmouth Harbor. "C'mon, there's gotta be some coal cars here somewhere!"
"What do you mean, sixteen?!"
Diesel Ten heard this and decided to investigate. He found Duck, a long train of coal trucks, and a foreman. Duck did not look amused.
"We were only supposed to get fourteen trucks!" Duck complained.
"I'm sorry, there must've been a slip-up and we accidentally got two extras," the foreman was saying.
Duck sighed. "This never would have happened on the Great Western, I tell you."
"Let it go, Duck," his driver soothed him.
"Oi! Pannier!"
Duck looked up and saw Diesel Ten. He gulped, but then set his eyes into a glare. "And what do you want, diesel?"
"Diesel is elsewhere. This is Diesel Ten. Don't confuse us. Anyhow, I think I may be able to take those extra cars off your buffers."
"Are you going to try and destroy our fuel?" The No. 8 inquired.
"No, contrary to popular belief, I DO have standards. I need them for legitimate business purposes."
Duck sighed. "Alright, but I'm warning you, if you're lying, you'll be facing my wrath."
"Which one of us has the claw again?" Diesel Ten reminded him.
Duck's eyes widened and he quickly gave the two extra trucks to Ten along with a brakevan.
"I want no trouble out of you," Ten rumbled to the trucks. The three girls quickly shut their mouths.
Diesel Ten blew his horn and left the harbor, leaving Duck shaking in his wheels.
Lady made it to Tidmouth Yards, narrowly missing meeting Diesel Ten by virtue of Hiro being on the track between theirs, preventing them from seeing each other. She looked around at the trucks before her. "Not bad, not bad, setup seems pretty basic. This'll be new model's play," she smirked.
"Hey there little engine!" came an annoyingly cheery voice. A diesel boxcab not much bigger than Lady rolled up next to her. "My name's Philip. What's yours?"
"Lady, as evidenced by it being on my tanks," his fellow American replied. "You work here?"
"Yep! Most of the time, anyway. Sometimes I get to deliver things. Have you ever delivered anything?" Lady was about to reply when he cut her off with "I've never seen an engine like you. Hey, I should tell everyone you're here! They like making new friends."
"No no no, don't...how do I say this?" Lady quickly thought up an answer. "I'm actually kinda shy, so...let me introduce myself to them when I'm ready. And don't tell anyone I'm here."
"Oh, okay!" Philip said. He raced off.
Lady chuckled, then rolled into the yard to begin her tenure.
"MOVE IT, STEAMER!" Arry snapped.
"I want to, but I can't! I'm out of coal!" Billy exclaimed. He had gotten stuck in front of the sheds on his way out. Arry needed to be inspected, and he didn't want to be late.
A familiar horn blared in the distance. Soon, Diesel Ten rolled up with two coal trucks and a brakevan.
"Oh, thank you, Diesel Ten. You're a lifesaver," Billy sighed, relieved. His crew grabbed some buckets and began to fill them with coal.
"No need to do that," Diesel Ten said. He raised his claw, then pivoted it behind him. It dropped down, but it couldn't reach the trucks. Diesel Ten then did something surprising – he began to extend the length of the arm until it hit the coal. Ten scooped it up, pivoted it back around, then dropped the coal into Billy's bunker.
"This will serve as an incentive," Ten remarked. "To keep doing your job if you want to stay."
"So he DOES have a heart," Billy smirked. He rolled out of the way and Arry rushed into the Dieselworks.
"Did you see what just happened, Mr. Renchmoore?" Arry asked the human supervisor of the Dieselworks.
"I did," Renchmoore replied, smiling. "Wait until Hatt hears about this."
"Why did the chicken cross the road?"
"To get to the other side?"
"How did you know that?"
"You've been reusing the same jokes for ten years." Charlie had decided to practice his repertoire with Stanley, who was not interested. "And shouldn't you be shunting James' scrap train?" Stanley asked impatiently.
Charlie's eyes bugged out. "Egads! I'm late!"
But just before he could shunt the trucks together, a smaller purple shunter beat him to it. She quickly and effortlessly assembled the entire train, then began to push it to James.
"C'mon, Charlie, get on with it!" James growled. "I hate having to take this train as it is; the least you could do is make it snappy!"
The train bonked into James' tender, the force causing the chain on the front truck to fly up and attach to James' bufferbeam on its own.
"That snappy enough for ya?" Lady asked from behind him.
James left, but was very confused as to what happened. "Who was that?" he asked himself.
Stanley puffed up to Lady. "Not bad. First time?"
"Here, yes," Lady replied. "In general, no. For me, switching is more than just tedium; it's an art form that's grossly underappreciated."
"Interesting take," Stanley remarked.
Charlie stood there dumbly. "I was going to get that!" he protested.
"No, you weren't. You were too busy focused on goofing off and not enough on doing your job. And multitasking won't cut it; you'll just make the train wrong," Lady said bluntly.
"She's right," Stanley said to Charlie. "Remember that time Annie and Clarabel were accidentally added to Caitlin's train? It happened because you were telling her a joke while working. We need you to pay more attention to your work, Charlie, and for your sake, stop joking around."
"I would've used a stronger word than 'joking'," Lady muttered to herself.
Charlie eventually gave up and left. Lady looked at Stanley and asked "Caitlin? As in, ex-B&O 5304 Caitlin?"
"Yes. You know her?"
"We were on the same heritage railway." Lady chuckled. Then she realized something. "Oh my Baldwin, they sold Connor and Caitlin?! That's sucky."
"I imagine it is, Lady," Stanley sighed.
"...You know who I am?"
"Don't worry, I KNOW the whole thing was a scam. Your secret is safe with me."
"And the perky green tic-tac, don't forget him."
"Wait. You actually got Philip to keep his mouth shut?"
"Impressive, Mr. Renchmoore! Diesel Ten is finally being really useful on his own volition. Taking care of extra coal trucks AND helping another engine in need!" Sir Topham Hatt was in his office, with painted metal dummies of some of the engines on a map of Sodor.
"Yes, sir. Do you have any other jobs Ten could do?" Renchmoore asked from the other end of the phone.
Sir Topham Hatt noticed a piece of paper with a list of places on it in need of oil. Then he looked out the window and saw, to his surprise, a Baldwin 101 1/2 shunting Henry's flatbeds, scurrying off as soon as the train was coupled to a bewildered Henry.
Hatt pulled out a metal steamer dummy that was painted reddish-purple and placed it at Tidmouth. Then, using a wooden stick, pushed a gold-colored dummy of a diesel from the bottom of the map, around Vicarstown, next to the purple steamer. A sly grin spread across his face.
"As a matter of fact, I do."
"Diesel Ten, Hatt has a job for you," Renchmoore said to the massive engine.
"Please, sir, not another scrap run."
"Not today, Ten."
"Oh, thank EMD."
"You need to get some empty fuel tankers to Burrow-at-Furness to get them refilled. Then I want you to distribute them to every location on this slip of paper," he continued, producing a list that Ten's driver got out and took. "The tankers are at Tidmouth Yard. The engines who, ahem, tolerate you are not in the area, so you don't have to worry about them."
"Alright. Fuel run. Tanker cars. England. On it." The diesel left.
"Billy, you've been called to Ffarquhar to help out. No word on what, just be there promptly."
"Promptly. I can do promptly."
"What do you mean, she's gone?!"
Derek sighed. "She ran off last night and we haven't had a chance to find her. Bill and Ben are taking her place as punishment, though," he added, his eyes pointing to the twin saddletanks pulling some trucks out of the tunnel.
"Now she's Hatt-knows-where and probably lost!" Billy groaned. "We have to find her!"
"I know, but we don't have the time, Billy! Work comes first, you know that!"
"Actually," came a timid voice, "I think I know where she is."
They looked to see Molly puff in with some empties. "I told her she may like shunting at Tidmouth, seeing that there are many shunters there and most of the time you don't see them. She's most likely there as we speak."
"I'll have to go when my jobs are done," Billy murmured.
"Don't rush," Derek reminded him. "We still need you to help out with filling the trucks for an order of stone bound for Harwick."
Billy sighed and got to work.
"Lady!"
Lady jumped in her chassis. She saw Sir Topham Hatt walking towards her and gulped. "Sir, I can explain–"
"No need," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "Mr. Wellington transferred your contract to me as soon as he noticed you were missing. He figured you had been smuggled to Sodor, and to tell you the truth, he was happy you'd finally gotten away from that horrid scandal."
"So does this mean–"
"Correct. Welcome to the Northwestern, Lady. Burnett Stone, it will be a pleasure to work with you," he added towards Lady's driver.
Lady whistled in glee. "Oh, thank you, sir! I won't let you down!"
"Now, I want you to assemble a train, all fuel tankers, and push it to Track Five. An engine will be coming to pick it up soon, so get on it."
"Right. Fuel tankers are the yellow ones, right?"
"Yes. Take care, Lady."
As Lady began to race towards a lifeless yellow tanker, Hatt walked back into his office. Checking the clock, he said to himself "Ten shall be here any moment now."
And he was. Diesel Ten slid down the track, ignoring the frightened stares of passerby.
"I'm never going to get this topiary right!" a gardener groaned, staring at a massive rosebush that was supposed to be shaped like an elephant in worry.
Diesel Ten rolled past it and, using his claw, snapped a large chunk of the bush clean off, making it look a lot more like an elephant.
The gardener snipped an errant leaf and sighed in relief. "Now that's more like it."
Diesel Ten, meanwhile, neared a signalbox. A cocky smirk, showing off sharp canine teeth, emerged. Ten raised the piece of bush above him, catching the attention of the signalman. The points changed, and Diesel Ten was now headed towards Tidmouth Yard. With no further need for the vegetation, he carelessly tossed it aside.
One of the roses landed in a man's hand, and when his wife turned around and saw it, she gave him a big hug. "You remembered our anniversary!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah..."
Diesel Ten arrived and parked himself on Track Five. Behind him, Lady had just finished collecting all the tankers, and was now headed towards a live brakevan.
"Oooh, lookit the little shunter, I'm SO scared!" the brakevan said sarcastically.
"Listen, you," Lady growled, "I've dealt with cars twice your size and five times as ornery. Compared to them, your tricks are nothing. So I suggest you behave yourself. Got that, you tiny, malnourished caboose?"
The brakevan whimpered.
"I'll take that as a yes." Lady bumped him onto the end of the tanker train and pushed it to Track Five, slowing down until she hit something. Being so short, she couldn't see who it was, as the trucks were taller than she was.
"Well, talk about proper service," Diesel Ten remarked.
"I try," Lady smiled. She thought the smooth, suave voice of the male engine sounded oddly familiar, but didn't dwell too much on it.
"I admit, your promptness IS something I value. I've heard one of the switchers here spends all his time telling bad jokes."
"That would be accurate." She realized something. "Wait. Did you say 'switcher' instead of 'shunter'?"
"Yes, I'm an American citizen. Who wants to know?" Diesel Ten swore he'd heard that enchanting voice, feisty and gentle at the same time, before.
"Nothing, I just happen to also be American in origin."
"Small world, huh?"
The guard's whistle blew. "Take care, darling. We must meet again. I quite enjoy your company," Diesel Ten said as he began to pull away.
"As do I," Lady replied. "Till we meet again–"
Then, as he went around the bend, she finally saw who she was talking to, and her jaw dropped.
"Diesel Ten?!" she said in hushed tones.
"You were literally flirting with danger," Stone remarked. "I guess you must like bad boys."
"Quiet, you."
Later that day, Thomas was dropping off Annie and Clarabel when he saw a female engine he didn't recognize. Deciding to try his luck, he said "Heyyyy."
"Do I know you?" Lady asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You've never heard of Thomas? NWR Number One?" he asked.
"Oh, yes, you. We call you something else where I'm from."
"Really useful?" Thomas grinned.
"Star-billing bas–"
"Lady!" Billy said, rushing into the yard. "Thank goodness. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Hatt knows about the whole shebang, by the way, but luckily he's fine with it." She sighed, wistfully.
"What's wrong?"
"I met Diesel Ten."
Thomas' eyes widened. "Did he hurt you?"
"No, neither of us saw each other. I doubt he even knows I'm here. Still, I want to apologize...for getting him into this mess..."
Billy understood. "I'll tell Sir Topham Hatt to send you to Vicarstown by sunset, before Diesel Ten gets back from delivering the fuel."
"Thanks. You're a real friend."
"Oh, and Billy, you may want to clear out soon," Thomas added hastily.
"Why?" Billy asked.
Charlie pulled up next to his brother. "Hiya Billy!"
"OH COME ON!"
Diesel Ten returned to the Dieselworks. The sun was almost gone. "Two good days in a row. Life is looking good," he said to himself. He noticed the other engines, who looked a little frightened. "You guys alright? It looks like you saw a ghost. Or worse, Dowager Hatt in her swimsuit." He grimaced at the memory. "Anyway, I'm gonna turn in for the night."
He rolled up to his shed, but to his surprise, the doors opened for him.
Inside the shed, though, was something that made Diesel Ten's eyes narrow.
"You," he breathed.
"Uh...hi?" Lady squeaked.
End of Act One.