Narrator: Hurricane and Merlin found it easy to get used to their new work.
(Hurricane and Rosie shunt trucks along the sidings, singing as they do so.)
This is the Place we can have some fun,
Where we can feel like the Number 1
We've got more sunshine than the sun
We are part of a team, oh how we're living the dream
This is the Hottest Place in Town! (they laugh with each other and continue their work.)
(Meanwhile, at the Castle…)
SRN: (to Millie, Stephen & Glynn) Everyone, this is Merlin the Experimental Engine. He will be helping us with the Museum Project!
Merlin: Greetings, fellow engines.
Millie: Hello, Merlin.
Stephen: Nice to meet you.
Glynn: Salutations, Merlin!
Merlin: Tell me, has this castle been here long?
Millie: Oh, hundreds of years. It's quite a history lesson.
Merlin: Ah, thank you, mademoiselle. I look forward to learning it. (Millie blushes) Oh, I'll make sure the people get some surprises they'll never forget! I bet it will be just like on my old Branch Line, with us knights of steel charging across the rails, battling wind, weather and torment to make them proud of us. (nearby, Stephen and Glynn chuckle.)
Glynn: This one seems like a real character. I like him already.
Stephen: Indeed. I don't know much about this fellow, but I have a feeling he'll really brighten up the place.
(Transition to Thomas and James shunting trucks at the Waste Dump. Thomas still has his damage from rolling over on his side, but he does not seem to mind. Whiff and Scruff are working nearby.)
Narrator: The next day, things started to return to normal for the engines, even Thomas and James.
Whiff: Those trucks are meant for Siding 2, Thomas.
Thomas: Thanks, Whiff.
Whiff: And, James, yours are ready for the chute. Scruff is waiting for you.
Scruff: Yep. Bring 'em on!
James: I'm on my way. (after each engine fulfills their tasks, the Waste Crew are pleased.)
Scruff: Great job, James.
Whiff: Really useful, Thomas!
Thomas: Thanks again. (to James) Remember James, next time a train goes to the chute or the crusher, we rotate.
James: Got it. (sighs) You know, Thomas, I've never had so much fun doing this job before. I would have thought I'd hate it like Gordon does, but somehow it's…rather refreshing.
Thomas: I know, right? My guess is, any job would feel better after pushing all that hot slag around!
James: (chuckles) Without question. (sighs) Now that I think about it, I never thanked you for coming to help me. I have to admit, you were brave to try that.
Thomas: Sure thing; Merlin told me anything is worth a try. Huh, now that I think of it, you've been needing a lot of rescues lately. First, Percy saved you from that landslide at the Clay Pits, then Rosie saved you after you crashed into the sheds, and now you needed saving from the Steelworks by me!
James: Well, you needed rescuing by everyone else.
Thomas: (chuckles) Fair enough. I suppose, nobody's perfect.
James: Now that's the truth. (pauses for a moment) You know what else, part of me is…rather glad I got trapped as I did. Not that I'd want to do it again, of course, but…it made me realize something.
Thomas: What something?
James: Something I should have realized a long time ago. Something…important. (James starts singing, same slow tempo as last time.)
Nobody has to be the Favorite
It's not a competition in the end
It doesn't matter if you prove that you're the very best
It only matters how you put your friendship to the test
Never mind about being the Favorite
The most important thing is being friends (Thomas joins in)
The Most Important Thing is Being Friends! (they continue to shunt trucks at the dump together.)
Narrator: Around the entire island, as the engines worked, they could only agree with Thomas and James.
Everybody can help, everybody join in
When everybody has a part to play, than everybody can win (Rosie & Hurricane)
Everybody can help, red green yellow or blue
When you're ready to try, you'll find out what you can do
Everybody can help. What I'm saying is true
When you give it a try, you'll find out what you can do (Merlin, Stephen, Millie & Glynn)
Narrator: At the end of the day, Thomas and James wrapped up their work at the Dump, and were headed back to the sheds for a nice, comforting sleep with their friends.
Nobody has to be the Favorite
It's not a competition in the end
It doesn't matter if you prove that you're the very best
It only matters how you put your friendship to the test
Never mind about who is the Favorite
The most important thing is being friends
(Show Henry newly repaired, along with Victor and Kevin joining in the singing. Henry does not join in; he's rather confused about all of it. Meanwhile, James and Thomas pass by the fairground, where children, adults, the Brass Band and Farmer Trotter and his animals dance along to the song.)
(James and Thomas return home to the sheds, to the delight of Percy, Toby, Edward and Emily. STH shows up to conduct the song with a broom. As Thomas and James back into their sheds, the singing continues with everyone joining in, including (eventually) Gordon. After a cutback to Merlin and Hurricane in their new jobs with their new friends, we cut back to the seven engines at Tidmouth for the grand finale.)
Nobody has to be the Favorite (Everybody can help)
It's not a competition in the end (Everybody join in)
It doesn't matter if you prove that you're the very best (Everybody can win)
It only matters how you put your friendship to the test (Na, Na, Na, Na)
Never mind about who is the Favorite
The most important thing is being friends
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS BEING FRIENDS! (Henry's whistle is heard. He puffs in, onto the turntable.)
Henry: Hey, everyone. So, did I miss anything? (Thomas and James look at each other, and wink, with a ding sound effect to cap it off.)
(First part of credits: voice cast, played over instrumental of The Most Important Thing is Being Friends.)
THE E-
(Exterior night shot of the Steelworks, closed down for the evening. No business, no activity. There is only a single light glowing to give company to Frankie. She is alone, for once quiet and despondent. Sighing, she is about to fall asleep, when she is startled by some kind of metal-crunching sound.)
Frankie: Hello? (after a moment, nothing happens. She closes her eyes again. Then, from the darkness…)
Voice: It looks like somebody has left you hanging, my dear.
Frankie: (sighs) Come here to make jokes, have you stranger?
Voice: Actually, no. I'm curious. Why did that pack of steam engines come to this place?
Frankie: To put me out of a job, and to rescue their stupid friends James and Thomas.
Voice: (stunned) Ah! I know those engines. I've never cared much for them. And when I want something done my way, they always have to ruin my plans.
Frankie: Oh, really?
Voice: Yes. When I tried to take over their Steamworks, they stopped me. All I wanted was somewhere I could call my own. Which is partially why I've taken an interest in this place.
Frankie: Huh. A lot of good this place will do anyone right now. It used to be the Hottest Place in Town.
Voice: In that case, perhaps we can make it so again. I believe this would be the perfect location to conduct my business. It could be a safe haven for diesel engines like you and me. Any imposing steam engines that happen to come this way, we can simply dispose of!
Frankie: Is such a thing really possible?
Voice: Is such a…? Listen, dearie. Stick with me, and we'll paint the town scorching hot! (gives out a nasty and haughty cackle)
Frankie: (cackles) You've got yourself a deal…with one stipulation. My name is Frankie, and I would preferred to be called that.
Voice: Of course.
Frankie: (devilishly) And who might you be, Joker?
Voice: (chuckles) Ah, good one. I like it when someone comes onto me. Well, unfortunately, I don't have a proper name compared to engines like you. But…
(he slowly slides from the shadows into the light that is kept by Frankie. It shines down, revealing his full figure.)
Voice: My friends always call me…Diesel 10! (lets out an evil cackle, and crunches his claw loudly.)
(Second part of credits: remainder of people who worked on the film, played over instrumental of The Hottest Place in Town.)
(After credits: logos for ARC and MATTEL appear, in respective fashion.)
THE END (OR IS IT?)
Author's Note: Well, there it is, folks! My attempt to improve the Journey Beyond Sodor. Hopefully, I accomplished what I set out to do: give the story more development among the characters, quicken the pace and make any necessary changes or cuts to the plotline. This final chapter is not only meant to be a conclusion to this story, but to tie into my first season of Thomas fanfiction episodes. Aside from the switches of some of the characters and the mid-credits scene I added, most of the ending I present is the same as done in canon. The biggest difference is that James is the one who leads the closing musical number, and it shows the change he has gone through in the special. I never appreciated how Thomas just seemed to tell James the moral of the story. It just felt unnatural and obligatory, like Thomas had to be the one to give out the story's message. In my version, James learns the lesson himself, and shows Thomas what he has learned, and how he did it.
The mid-credits scene was, again, inspired by KekofSodor, where Diesel 10 (who was the one who observed Percy and the rescue party leaving Sodor) comes across the Steelworks, and decides to make use of it for his evil schemes, making Frankie his partner-in-crime. The relationship was described by Kek as akin to Joker and Harley-Quinn, and I made that a deliberate reference in the final bits of dialogue between the diesels. What lies in store for the two of them? And what about Hurricane and Merlin in their new surroundings? Well, all of that is come in the Original Stories Series 21 section of my account.
With that, I take the opportunity to ask the big question: Where To From Here?
If you have read this far, some of you are probably wondering about the future I have planned. Well, first I should probably explain a bit about the past, in a continuity sense. First of all, what's with the 'Season 20 (redone)' bit on my account profile? Well, after watching the versions of Seasons 20 and 21 that we got, I noticed there were a few episodes I was not comfortable with, and decided to give them a rewrite, as well as add new content to them. But there were still some episodes that were great from both seasons, and the Season 20 we got is the greatest season of the show since Britt Allcroft's tenure. So, with that in mind, I decided to take the seven worst episodes of Season 20:
Sidney Sings, Toby's New Friend, Diesel and the Ducklings, Three Steam Engines Gruff, Buckled Tracks & Bumpy Trucks, the 2 Hugo Episodes
And replace them with the seven best episodes of Season 21:
Dowager Hatt's Busy Day, Runaway Engine, Unscheduled Stops, The Fastest Red Engine on Sodor, Emily in the Middle, Terence Breaks the Ice, Daisy's Perfect Christmas
Once that was done, I rearranged the order of the 28 episodes to give a better sense of the passage of time in the world of Sodor. The new order of my Season 20 is thus:
Henry Gets the Express
Saving Time
Bradford the Brake Van
Ryan and Daisy
Pouty James
Mucking About
Cautious Connor
The Way She Does It
The Fastest Red Engine on Sodor
Blown Away
Unscheduled Stops
Love Me Tender
Letters to Santa
Terence Breaks the Ice
The Christmas Coffeepot
Over the Hill
Dowager Hatt's Busy Day
Henry in the Dark
The Missing Breakdown Train
Runaway Engine
Skiff and the Mermaid
All in Vain
The Railcar and the Coaches
Emily in the Middle
Daisy's Perfect Christmas
Tit for Tat
Mike's Whistle
Useful Railway
This order may not be perfect, but it's the best I could do. With this new order, my series can take off on the right track. BTW, the engines moving their bodies around is not meant to be a part of anything associated with my work. As for any Season 21 episodes on my S20 list that feature the movement, hopefully there is a suspension of disbelief if someone is viewing the episodes in this order.
With that out of the way, I want to mention something else. Writing in my current format has gotten me a bit of backlash from anonymous reviewers, so I think this story will be the exception, not the rule. I shall attempt to write future stories and specials in a more standard format. I've not had much practice, but the only way you can know how good you are is to just do it, right?
For now, I thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for reading my JBS rewrite, and hope you'll join me in my 21st season of the show, and everything beyond! Let's be friends, and make tracks to great destinations together!