Chapter 2: Medusa and Tenders (The Story of Karen the Living Dead Engine)
A new day dawned on the Island of Sodor, Henry was at the wash down tower getting a much needed clean. His crew scrubbed hard cleaning off of the gunk and filth that had accumulated on his boiler. Henry had spent so much time in the shed that spiders weaved their webs in his cab. Some even laid their eggs. The Fat Controller stopped by to see how he was doing. "Ah, good morning Henry." He greeted. "How are you feeling, old boy?"
"A lot better, thank you." Henry answered cheerfully. "I'm still trying to patch things up but I can work through them."
"Excellent, excellent." The Fat Controller beamed proudly. "It's good to see you're ready to return to active duty."
"Oh, I am, sir. Ready and raring to go, sir." Said Henry as his driver rinsed him off.
"Very good." The Fat Controller smiled. "I've got an important job for you. There is a new engine that has just arrived on Sodor. I want you to go to Wellsworth station and show the newbie the ropes." Henry grunted and rolled his eyes.
"Oh no, not another new engine."
"Now Henry, don't argue. With the increase of tourism to the Island and a shortage of engines, I've had to look to other railways for engines to purchase. That's why there has been so many new engines arriving on Sodor as of late."
"I understand that, sir, but how can you afford to buy these new engines? You must be in the red by now." Henry wondered.
"Don't you worry about the Island's financial situation, Henry. As long as you do your job right, this railway will never go bankrupt." The Fat Controller's reassuring words soothed Henry's disposition. As soon as his driver and fireman finished cleaning him up, Henry was ready to go. "Now, off you go, Henry. And be the best damn engine you can be." The Fat Controller finished proudly.
"As you wish, sir, and thank you." Henry tooted cheerfully and he slowly puffed away. As Henry steamed along the track, he was greeted by every engine he passed by. They were all glad to see him back, apart from Diesel who tried to stare Henry down. Yet he returned Diesel's evil glare while his crew gladly gave him the finger. At Wellsworth, Henry saw the new engine waiting patiently at the platform. The engine was a Black Five 4-6-0, just like Henry. It had glossy black paint work with fiery red trim. The engine was clearly female as it wore black lipstick and eye makeup. Henry was surprised to see such an engine. "Are you the new engine?" he asked cautiously.
"Yeah hi, I'm Karen, Karen the Goth engine. Also known as the Living Dead engine."
Henry was a little confused and a little intimidated by the engine's gloomy response, but decided to make nice. "Very nice to meet. I'm Henry the, uh, the Green engine." He smiled at her yet Karen looked blasé. "I've been assigned to show you around the Island; it should be loads of fun."
"Yippee." Karen clearly sounded unenthusiastic. After making a quick turn-around, Henry led Karen to all the focal points of the Island. They chuffed side by side, creating such a stir amongst the community. They had never seen an engine like Karen before. Henry took Karen everywhere around the Island: Brendam Docks, Abbey Station, Tidmouth sheds, Knapford station and the Arlesdale Railway where the miniature engines roamed. The last stop was Crovan's Gate station, the major station for both the North Western Railway and the Skarloey Railway. Henry gladly introduced Karen to Rheneas who had stopped with his passenger train. Karen seemed a little distant which offended Rheneas slightly. As the two Black Fives powered away, Rheneas mused about the new engine.
"She and Duncan would probably get along; they are both rather rude engines." Rheneas huffed to himself. The day was coming to an end; Karen was feeling rather tired and wanted to get some sleep. Their wasn't any room at Tidmouth sheds for Karen, but the Fat Controller told her about an old abandoned shed along a pair of disused tracks near Knapford. Karen didn't mind that the shed was old, she thought it was cool. Throughout the day, Henry tried to be as friendly and warm as he could be, yet Karen seemed to be quite the opposite, rather cold and detached. Henry wasn't impressed with her attitude and thought she was rather rude. He wasn't sure whether she would fit in to the bright and sunny atmosphere of Sodor. Then he remembered that not all new engines that arrived on the Island were greeted with open arms and friendly hellos. Yet they would eventually fit in at the end but not before proving themselves. Still, with this new Goth engine acting so strangely, Henry thought she wouldn't survive. She hardly even spoke throughout the tour. That wasn't until they were close to her new shed when…
"So Henry, I see that you're a Black Five like me." Karen broke her silence.
"Yes, that is correct." Henry answered.
"So that kinda makes us family, right?" said Karen.
"I guess so. You don't talk that much, do you?" Henry asked.
"Nope, is that a problem?" She smirked.
"It is, if you want to be friendly in this place." Henry shuddered and thought; this really isn't true, but she really isn't going to get anywhere with that attitude. Still, don't be a dick. You can't choose family.
"Hello, Earth to Henry." Karen called out, breaking his train of thought.
"What? Oh, sorry about that. So, uh, were you built at Crewe Works?"
"Nah, a bunch of wacko historians actually built me. I was given birth at Crewe, cannibalized from other dead engines to create me. Hence, Living Dead Engine." Henry was not impressed.
"I'm kidding." Karen laughed. Henry still didn't understand.
"Sorry, I just don't hear that kind of humour too often, especially from a youngling like you."
"Yeah, well, when you're a Goth like me, your sense of humour can take a strange turn towards the macabre." This made Henry feel somewhat perplexed. Engines never really thought of themselves as belonging to any type of human-made subculture; the idea of cliques or tribes based upon what you wore or what music you listened to. Oh sure, they understood friendship groups and "culture"; Alicia Botti, the painter that came to Sodor, the Sodor Brass Band and all that, but never took part in it. They were content with the sort of lives they were built for. Besides, you need hands to do anything creative, something which the engines clearly lacked.
"Why did you become a Goth in the first place?" Henry asked.
"To be in touch with my inner pain." Karen laughed.
"What a nonsensical idea." Henry scoffed. He knew inner AND outer pain. The idea of being "in touch" with your inner pain seemed perverse.
"That was a joke too." Karen replied in a rather deadpan manner.
"Well there has to be a reason why you chose to become a Goth in the first place." Henry urged for answers. He seemed to be getting curious in this bizarre new culture, even if he did think it was bogus.
"Well, I've always been interested in human subcultures, particularly the Goth subculture. Ever since I was built in the early '80s as a replica, my fitter told me about the world that we lived in. I became fascinated in human subcultures. I wanted to learn about them. I even wanted to immerse myself into the culture. So, I decided to become a Goth and liked I've it ever since." Henry didn't believe that for an instant.
"But you're an engine, and engines don't immerse themselves in human cultures. It's a bit beyond us as machines." Henry chuffed.
"There's nothing wrong about learning a new facet of people's cultures." Karen chuffed.
"I know, but tell me this, have you ever been worked?" Henry asked in a strict tone.
"I've been worked over." Karen sniggered.
"That's not what I meant." Henry growled.
"I know what you meant. You're saying that I'm too childish and look as if I've never worked a day in my life. I've pulled trains before, long trains, heavy trains. I know what it means to work." Henry was getting tired of his sis already.
"No, I saying that an attitude like yours, for all your teenagey cynicism, your really a bit naïve and-"
"Naïve? Ha!" Karen laughed.
Henry rolled his eyes and thought to himself, God I wish Edward was here, he'd know how to talk to her.
By time they had reached the old shed, Henry felt a little more uneasy about Karen's mentality and personality. With her attitude, Henry didn't warm to her, not yet anyway. "Well then." Said Henry, "I hope you find your accommodations to your liking." He knew how to joke as well, though not as morbid as Karen.
"Oh, I like it already." Karen answered and steamed onto the turntable. Once the turntable completed its cycle, Karen backed into her engine berth. "Better get some sleep, kid. Work starts early tomorrow, so don't be late." Said Henry sternly, acting more father-like then brother-like.
"I look forward to it." Karen chuckled. Henry tooted goodbye to Karen and started to steam back along the line.
"See you later then, brother." Karen called out.
"Yeah, see you later…" Henry hesitated. "… sister." He soon rolled onto the mainline and steamed back to Tidmouth. Phew! He thought, maybe now we can see if she's made of sterner stuff then those God awful airs and trappings she puts on. As he rolled into his berth, the other engines were curious to know anything about the new engine.
"So, Henry, how was your date with that new engine?" Gordon chuckled.
"It wasn't a date, fat arse, and it was fine. The engine was fine. She was fine, I was fine. It was all fine. Fine, fine, fine, fine fi-f-fi-fine, fucking fine! There, you're happy?" Henry huffed.
"Oooohhh come on, you can give us more than that." James wanted to know more.
"Was she friendly?" Thomas asked.
"Does she like to play in the mud?" Percy chuffed.
"Does she have a nice makeup kit?" James lisped.
"I was going to ask her for that!" Snapped Emily.
"Was she built at Crewe Works, like you Henry?" Edward inquired.
"Is she… single?" Gordon asked, raising his eyebrows, hoping against hope.
"ALRIGHT!" Henry exploded. "She is my sister, ok? She was built by Egyptian architects 5000 years ago." His reply was dripping with sarcasm.
"Oooooooooohhh!" Percy was in awe.
"She's what those naughty teenagers that spray dirty words on our sheds called Goths. She's very rude, she has a superiority complex, she's thinks she's smarter and worldlier than she really is. She looks down her funnel at everyone else and, yeah, you and she would get along, GORDON! So there, happy now?" Henry was in a boil.
Everyone was taken aback. "Then I take it that the first date didn't go as planned." Gordon chortled again. Henry saw the red mist descend over his eyes.
"YOU… ARSEHOLE!" Henry still had steam in his boiler and whished as hard as he could at Gordon, raising a massive steam cloud and kicking up dust and bugs in Gordon's face. Everyone was dead silent, except for Gordon. "Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear." He frantically muttered to himself. Gordon spat out a live bug as he examined his dirty frame.
"You don't like the new engine then?" Percy chimed. Henry said nothing; he shut his eyes and grunted to sleep.
Morning came on the Island of Sodor; Karen woke up bright and early. She was eager to strut her stuff to the others but she had to wait for her crew to arrive. The birds sang a beautiful chorus that rang through the morning air. "I hate birds." Karen muttered as the chorus became louder and louder. James, on the other hand, loved listening to the bird's song. "Awwww, I love listening to those birds. They're almost as pretty as me." He smiled and continued to listen.
Meanwhile; Karen was getting annoyed by the bird songs. It kept getting louder and louder. "Please, be quiet." Karen muttered to herself. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore.
"SHUT UP!" Karen roared. Her voice echoed across the land. A wave of birds screeched from the tree line and fluttered away. "Where did they go?" Said James sadly. Karen was relieved to see her crew had finally arrived, she was not impressed. "What took you so long?" she demanded. "We stopped to get some coffee." Her driver said.
"We even got you one." He added, pointing down the line. At that moment, Salty arrived pushing a large tanker truck filled to capacity with coffee. "Thar you go." Salty said full of delight. "One extra large café latte, bubbling hot and packed with caffeine."
"Yeah, thank you, Cap'n Ahab. I'll call you again when I need to fight a white whale." Karen remarked sarcastically. Salty should have been hurt, but he took that rather insensitive remark as a complement. Moby Dick, my favourite book. He thought, as he shunted away. Karen's fireman attached a hose to the truck outlet attachment and then he graciously placed the other end into her mouth. Her driver warned not to drink the coffee to fast. "Now, be careful when you drink that, it is extremely-" Within seconds, Karen had sucked the tanker truck dry.
"-hot." He finished. He was very much amazed. Karen perked up right away and was more itching to get a move on. Soon, Karen was fired up and steaming down the line. Her first job on her new home was taking a passenger service to Barrow-in-Furness. As she traveled through the picturesque sea-side towns and sweeping countryside, everyone paused to admire Karen for all it's worth. They could tell that she was powerful and had a fire in her that would have matched any engine on Sodor. It's too bad they didn't know about her personality and demeanour, otherwise their opinions would have changed in a moments notice. Karen eventually arrived at Knapford, ready to take her first train. She backed into her station and coupled up. The passengers admired the new engine, having never seen such a large female engine like Karen before. One black-haired passenger wearing a pair of glasses gave her the devil horns in appreciation. Soon the passengers boarded the train and they were ready to set off, except for one detail. "Hey, maestro. Play me some traveling music." Karen said to her driver.
"As you wish." He answered. He took out a battery-powered CD player from a compartment underneath the driver's seat and placed it on top of it. He then plugged it into the intercom system that ran through the carriages. He took out a CD and placed into the CD player and pushed play. The violent sounds of Dimmu Borgir flooded the carriages. All the passengers were alarmed; they held their eyes due to the shear ferocity of the death metal music. Karen was none too affected by the violent death metal; she loved this type of music. The passengers all stepped out of the carriages and argued with Karen. "Excuse me, young engine." One passenger called to her over the metal music. "But could you turn that racket off please, you're scaring my daughter."
"What? Why?" Karen protested. "It's Progenies of the Great Apocalypse, it's a classic tune." The passengers were not impressed.
"I don't care if that song was on the Top 40 charts, you can't play that sort of thing with children aboard the train!" The other passengers agreed and talked angrily at once. The ruckus attracted the attentions of The Fat Controller. "What's all this nonsense?" he asked as calmly as possible. The passengers all talked at once at what a disobedient engine Karen was. She merely scoffed and didn't care what they thought. The Fat Controller spoke firmly to Karen. "Now listen, Karen. I'm all open for engines to listen to whatever type of music they want, in fact, it's something that I encourage. But when I have passengers complaining of the sort of… darkly laced death rock such as this, I have to put my foot down. Now, would you kindly please turn that music off and get back to work." Karen still didn't want to hear another word of it. She was acting like a spoilt teen then anything else.
"Not tae mention it's a shite song." Donald chimed in from the next platform, who was a noted devotee of the classics. This riled up Karen even more.
"Hey, I'm entitled to listen to what I want. If they don't like the tunes, then they take the bus!" she yelled at the passengers and the Fat Controller. She briefly looked proud with herself. A few hours later, Thomas came across Bertie the bus, he was full of passengers. "Hey Thom-Thom. I should thank Henry's sister on your behalf. She just increased my workload."
"I beg you pardon?" Thomas asked, cocking his eyebrow.
"Thanks to her outburst at the station, the passengers didn't want to take her service so the Fat Controller called on me to take over. Brilliant, I say! We should have another race sometime, cheerio." And Bertie sped away. Thomas was left stunned and enraged. "Not a very good start on her first day, I say." He griped. "Henry's not going to be happy about this." Thomas returned to the yard where he found Karen pulling a train of tar wagons. She clearly was not happy about it. "Serves you right." He sneered at her.
"Eat shit." Karen bit back, steaming past Thomas.
Karen's insolent behaviour on her first day wasn't just isolated towards the passengers, but also towards the trucks as well. Her next appointed task was to take some empty trucks to the Sodor China Clay Railway. The troublesome trucks had overheard that the new engine had arrived on Sodor. Naturally, they conspired amongst each other to make life miserable for the newbie. All they knew about the new engine was that it was female and "not very nice" as Thomas put it so delicately. When they saw it the new engine backing into the yard, they immediately exploded into mock cheers and wolf whistles. "Check it out, boys. The fresh meat has arrived." One truck chuckled.
"Oh yeah, baby. That's right, back that arse right up." Another perverse truck licked its lips. When they saw that it was Karen, the trucks were surprised. "Dude, the newbie is weirdo." One truck mocked her.
"Yeah, what's with the makeup? Did Sir Fatham Fatt spring her from the circus or something?" Karen's anger was growing with each insult. The trucks laughed at her as she arranged them up into one long train. Finally, one truck crossed the line. "Hey, sweetheart. What dark part of hell did you spring from?" An inner storm erupted in Karen's funnel.
"You're mother's arse!" she thundered. And with a mighty biff, she slammed several trucks into a siding, crushing them against a signal box! Splinters of wood and pieces of twisted steel flew everywhere. The trucks moaned in pain while Karen, despite herself, smiled evilly. Needless to say, her retribution was swift but the Fat Controller's retribution was swifter. He ordered her to clear away the destroyed trucks and take the remaining ones to the China Clay line. It seemed that Karen wasn't in Sir Topham Hatt's good graces and it wasn't going to get any better. A few days had passed since Karen's arrival on the Island and she was eventually allowed to run her passenger service again under the strict condition that her death metal music must not be played. She was somewhat grateful that she was able to pull passengers again but mad that her beloved death metal was given the boot. One day, Karen stopped at Wellsworth to pick up more passengers. Just then, Rosie showed up with her passenger service. Rosie had been overjoyed every since the Fat Controller gave two special coaches for performing so well Thomas' branch line. The coaches were named Jill and Valentine. They were two wise old coaches that had restored and repainted red and pink to match Rosie's paint scheme. Rosie had yet to meet Karen and had no knowledge of her dark and broody behaviour. "Hi there, I'm Rosie. You must be Karen." She said sweetly.
"Yes, that would be me. What's it to you, kid?" Karen answered, her hostility was bleeding out like a deep gash wound.
"Well, everyone's been talking about you and I've been dying to meet you. We don't get many girl engines on Sodor." Rosie smiled.
"So I've noticed." Karen sniffed. "Tell me, why is this Island such a Goddamn sausage festival?" Rosie looked confused.
"Sausage festival?" Rosie wondered.
"Never mind." Karen sighed angrily. "Look, kid, I don't have time for this. My passengers are pissed off with me for playing my fucking metal music too loud, the Fat Controller is riding me for breaking his precious trucks into a million fucking pieces and my brother Henry is giving me shit for taking aboard the mannerisms and ideals of a human culture that I happen to like and enjoy being apart of! I'm stressed to the fucking limit with intolerant engines that don't get me, people that are stuck in a Goddamn time warp here and, worst of all, my makeup keeps getting ruined after each run!" Karen panted heavily.
"Maybe you're grumpy because you're lonely and have no friends. Do you want to be friends?" Rosie, despite Karen's long winded outburst, was still putting on a sweet disposition.
"Sorry, kid. I don't hang out with people who rate pink as their favourite colour." Karen sneered. Rosie's lips trembled; she was never insulted like that. With a solemn toot, she scurried away. Her coaches were most offended. "How rude." Jill fumed.
"Quite so. And such vulgar language." Valentine added.
"Indeed. A plain speaking engine would never use such foul language like that." Jill concurred. Rosie was deeply upset; she didn't understand why Karen was so mean and cold to her. I just wanted to be her friend because I don't have many friends myself. She thought to herself. Rosie told Thomas all about Karen's dark little diatribe and he in turn told Henry who was none too pleased. He knew if Karen kept antagonizing everyone she came across, she would have no one to call her friend… or sibling.
As time went on, Karen slowly adjusted to life on Sodor. But that didn't mean her demeanour improved, not one iota. During the day light runs, she pulled long express coaches and trucks effectively. She was still angry that she couldn't listen to her music loud and the trucks still teased her for no reason. At nights, she worked on Henry's flagship train, the Flying Kipper. She worked well but she didn't like the smell (but who didn't) and seemed to give her brother shit every time she came back for a wash down. That was what happened during one wash down late one night in June. Karen was complaining to Henry of yet another night of bad smells and makeup that was ruined during high speed runs.
"I don't know how you do it!" She said to him one night. "The air is terrible and that long run ruins my makeup."
"Then don't wear makeup on the job then." Snapped Henry.
"What? Are you kidding? I'd look weird without my makeup." Karen shrieked indignantly.
"No weirder than anyone else. Just try it, for once." Henry asked nicely, trying to conceal his hostility. Karen gave a deep sigh. She didn't want to let her big brother down.
"Oh, very well. But I'm only doing this for you, big bro." Her fireman sprayed her face with a hose, her makeup oozed off her face like a river. Once that was done, the wash down revealed that Karen had a pretty face. In fact, her face looked a lot like Molly.
"There, now that wasn't so bad. You look better without the makeup." Henry smirked.
"I feel so naked." Karen murmured darkly.
"Afraid of a little hard work, eh sweetheart?" Gordon chuckled from his berth.
"Fuck off, you pompous windbag!" Karen thundered. Gordon was shocked.
"Pompous windbag? Now look here!" Gordon was deeply offended.
"She's got you there, Geordie." Said Henry. "However vulgar it may be."
"I don't care who she is, she does not get to insult me, ME, the most important engine on this bloody railway." Gordon boasted, his pride was flashing like a neon sign.
"But James and I insult you all the time." Henry retorted.
"Yes, but I'm used it. And besides, I know I'm better than any of you." Gordon boasting was getting worse.
"Apart from Spencer who beat you in an all round speed test." James cackled.
"And Thomas who slaughtered you with a jet engine." Henry added.
"Those don't even count!" Gordon thundered.
"Don't they, Gordon? Don't they?" James peeped. Karen was enjoying this beat down immensely and wanted to join in the fun.
"Don't you need a license to be that pompous?" Karen called out. Gordon's face turned a nasty shade of red, he was furious. He gnashed his teeth and grumbled madly. The other engines burst out laughing, but Henry remained stern towards his younger sibling.
"Now now, leave the insults to me." He advised her.
"Awwww, why do you guys have to have all the fun?" Karen whined.
"Because you're new here. Now off to bed with you." Said Henry, acting like her father. He tooted her goodnight and steamed to his berth. Karen chuffed away a little disappointed. She wanted to rip into Gordon so much, that it made her Walschaerts valve gear tense up. But like any rebellious teenager, she was sent off before doing anymore damage.
The next morning, Karen was charged with taking lumber to the transfer yards at Crovan's Gate. It was here where she met up with the rest of the narrow gauge engines. Rheneas had told the others about Karen's rudeness the first time he met her. They didn't really believe him and wanted to see her for themselves. Rusty was put in charge of taking the lumber that Karen had transported. He greeted her with his trademark two-tone horn. "Whoa! Nice toot, man. Do you use that ward off evil spirits or something? 'Cause it is working!" Karen chuckled. Rusty was hurt. "No." He sniffed. "I like my unique sounding horn; Thomas thinks it is rather 'tuneful'." Skarloey had overheard this and steamed over to Rusty's defense.
"Excuse me, young Black Five. I would urge you to apologize to young Rusty here. He takes great pride in his fancy new horn and we all believe it to be 'tuneful' as well."
"And just who are you to make me, little red engine?" Karen scoffed arrogantly.
"My name is Skarloey, the second most senior engine in this railway." He answered sternly. Karen snickered.
"I'm sorry, did you say Scarlet? Isn't that a girl's name?" Karen chuckled to herself while Skarloey fumed.
"Well, I never." He chuffed.
"See? I told you she was rude and insolent. Why doesn't anyone ever listen to me?" Rheneas crept along side his colleague.
"And sorry, uh, other red engine. I didn't catch your name before." Karen smirked, ignoring the fact that his name was emblazoned on his boiler.
"My name is Rheneas. You met me before." Rheneas huffed.
"Rheneas? More like Rhe-anus! He he, your name's funny." Karen guffawed loudly. Rheneas and Skarloey were offended. Duke was not impressed by this show of disrespect.
"Such rudeness. That would never suit His Grace!" Grumbled Duke.
"Oh, fuck you, old man!" Karen snapped. Duke choked up on anger. Never in his life had he been insulted in such a crude manner before. His face turned red. "How dare you!" he roared. "You imprudent scallywag! If wasn't a narrow gauge engine, I'd give you such a spanking!"
"Bring it on, old man." Karen challenged him. Soon Sir Handel and Peter Sam had joined the fight. "Don't you dare insult Duke like that, you oversized standard gauge rapscallion." Sir Handel snapped. Mr. Percival had overheard the heated argument from his office and quickly scrambled over just in time to hear Duncan say something he had never said before.
"You know something, lassie, you're a real bitch." Duncan chuffed. "And that's really something coming from me." All the narrow gauge engines gasped. The yard fell silent.
Skarloey and Rheneas slowly backed away, Duncan looked puzzled. He then saw the incredible anger emblazoned on Karen's face. Now Duncan looked worried. "Oh crap!" he gulped. Karen's face twitched like a homicidal maniac.
"Oh really, little engine? Well, yoooouuuuu, are a-"
She then ripped into Duncan with a series of violent invectives which involved Duncan suffering an impossibly painful death and violation with some kind of gardening tool. Duncan shook violently, he was a plain speaking engine but he'd never in his lifetime used such obscenities or threaten any engine with a painful death. The engines were appalled… and frightened. Karen then left the station fuming; there was literally fire in her eyes. Duncan's driver stepped out of his cab to check on him. "Are you alright, my boy?" he asked. Duncan was terrified beyond anything he had ever faced. His run-in with the "ghost" on the old Iron Bridge, his accident on the incline slate line, the sudden trip into the mines, they all paled in comparison to what Karen would have in store if he crossed her again.
"I've seen many strange things in my lifetime, but that was the first time I looked upon hell in the eyes of an engine." He chuffed in a panicky tone. Later, Karen returned to Knapford complaining to anyone who was there about Duncan calling her a bitch. Meanwhile, Thomas returned from Crovan's Gate after delivering some goods to the narrow gauge railway. He heard everything and told Henry all about it. Needless to say, a storm cloud rumbled from Henry's funnel. "I see." He said; his eyes twitched with anger.
"That little demon has gone too far." He took his goods and sat in his shed to brood. The following morning, Henry wasn't feeling any better. The mere utterance of Karen's name sent his boiler into a rage, and his fire hadn't been lit yet. Though she was a hard worker, she had a serious attitude problem. It was then that he made a conscious decision to confront his sister and settle this, once and for all.
On that same day; Karen woke up early and again was eager to get to work. There weren't any birds singing their beautiful songs to bother her. "Exactly how a morning should start." Karen said to herself. It would have been her usual routine that morning: wait for her drivers to arrive, suck down another tanker full of coffee, insult another member of the Island she hadn't met yet and get to work. A rather simple day ahead of Karen as far as she was concerned. Instead, her crew arrived early, fired her up and set off immediately to the yards. "Don't I get my morning coffee?" Karen asked.
"No time to waste." Her driver replied. "We've been assigned important work here." And that was all he said. In the yards, Karen's important work was waiting and so was Henry. "Karen!" he angrily called to her. "What the hell is the matter with you?"
"What do you mean?" Karen asked innocently.
"You know exactly what I mean! Thomas told me what you said to Duncan yesterday, every single last morbid detail. Did you really say to Duncan that you were going to sodomize him with a pair of gardening sheers? My God, what the hell?" Henry was choked up with his own rage; his face had turned a violent shade of red. It wasn't the type of red you'd see on a signal, this was a type of red that spewed out from the depths of hell itself.
"Hey, that little shit deserved it! He called me a bitch and whatnot. I had to defend myself." Karen protested.
"Defend yourself?" Henry snorted. "You said that if he crossed you again that you would tear his drainage cock off with your bare wheels, set fire to his face and feed his boiler to a meat grinder!"
"That bastard had what was coming to him, what with his arrogant, smug-arse attitude and whatnot. I tell you-" As Karen continued her self-important rant, Henry's anger grew tenfold. Karen's words were muted by the red mist that descended over his funnel. His rage had to bleed out some time and this was it.
"THAT'S IT!" Henry exploded like a volcano. "I've had it up to here with your shitty attitude! I've tried to be supportive, tried to be nice to you, but you forced my hand! You've been nothing but trouble ever since you came onto this Island. What you said to Duncan yesterday was inexcusable and it's the last fucking straw!" Karen was amazed by the level of anger coming from Henry as was everyone else in the yard. They all stopped to watch what was going on.
"Hey, I told you that I was defending myself. That little bastard had no right to call me that and-" Henry cut her off.
"My God; you just don't get it, do you? You don't antagonize the engines and people you work with! That's not how the things work here. We respect each other here. We laugh together, we drink together and we play together. We don't go around insulting each other and make fun of each others idiosyncrasies, you… you little fucking demon! That's what you are, a little fucking demon." Now Karen was shocked.
"How can you say that? We're supposed to be family." Karen retorted.
"Family? Ha! We're not family! And you're not my sister! You're nothing but a fucking replica, a mere copy of a great line of engines built long before you! You hide behind the bogus ideals of a human culture because you're scared, scared of actually showing your true feelings. Scared of who you really are. Why don't you grow up for once?"
"But, brother…" Karen spluttered.
"Enough! NOT-ANOTHER-WORD!" Henry boomed. He was about to steam off when another thought crossed his mind.
"And another thing, get rid of that ridiculous makeup you're wearing, knock off that screw you all attitude and act like a real engine." Henry finally stormed off. The yard was in silence. All who witnessed it dared not to utter a word. They all just went about their business. Karen was hurt, but as always, her attitude bled through to salt the wounds. "Yeah well, fuck you then! I don't need you or anyone else! I'll do just fine on my own, you'll see!" Karen puffed away in a huff. She groused as she set off for her morning work details. Her first task for the day was to take some heavy trucks of coal along Ffarquhar Branch for the station waiting room furnaces. She was in a boil when she was coupled up. Karen had to make two trips along the route that day. First the coal runs and then she had to take some heavy gauge steel pipes to Ffarquhar to replace some old drainage pipes at the station. Her driver warned her that the pipes were too heavy to be connected to her current train, but she didn't care. "Just hook up the damn trucks, will you! I can get these jobs done in double quick time." Her driver and fireman weren't so sure about Karen's plan but decided to couple up the heavy trucks. Karen struggled to get a good start, her wheels slipped as she strained to get the train started. Her driver pulled back on the throttle further until Karen gained enough momentum to steam away. "I told you I can do it." Karen laughed out loud, feeling very proud of herself.
"Don't get too cocky." Her driver warned. "We still have a long way to go and it looks like the weather is shifting." Karen's driver was right. He could see from his cab that dark clouds were forming above and the wind was picking up. Lightning struck in the distance. A violent storm was approaching. But Karen wasn't concerned; she just wanted to get the job done as soon as possible. The day started out well enough, Karen dropped off a few loads of coal at the first couple of stations along the line. She could feel the load getting lighter. But the trucks were acting more childish than her. They knew that Karen wasn't at all happy and decided to piss her off. "Hold back! Hold back!" they cried to each other. Karen felt the trucks getting heavier. She struggled to find grip. "The bitch is feeling the burn!" the trucks laughed incessantly.
"Quiet!" Karen thundered.
"Oooooooohhhh!" They mocked her, feigning fear. The rain started to fall as Karen continued her run. Heavy rains and wind buffeted Karen. She tried desperately to pull the train, but the rain made the rails slippery. In the confusion of the sudden downpour, a signalman accidentally sent Karen along Toby's route. It was along this route where Toby had inspected the dam once before it was destroyed by the rising tide, sweeping him down river on an old wooden bridge and almost down a waterfall. Karen's driver was very worried. "This doesn't look right." He pondered. "We better go back and-"
"NO!" Karen shouted. "We can still do this." And she surged forward against the wind and rain. Ahead lay certain doom. A tree had fallen into the raging river and took out part the bridge. The rest of the bridge remained firm. It was heavily re-enforced to prevent it being completely washed away, but it still wasn't strong enough to hold the weight of a heavy engine like Karen. As she puffed along the slippery track, Karen drew closer and closer to the danger zone. Around the bend, she saw the bridge. To her horror, she could see that part of it had been destroyed and washed away. "Oh, bloody hell! Stop the train!" she screamed. Her driver slammed on the brakes as hard as he could. Her wheels slipped and slid along the track. Karen tried to stop but the weight of the heavy pipes shifted increasing the momentum. She shut her eyes tightly, thinking she would plunge into the raging waters. At last, the train screeched to a halt, just before the broken part of the bridge. Karen sighed with relief but saw that the water levels were rising. "That was close. Let's get the hell out of here!" she called to her crew. But the trucks were acting up. The increased weight made pushing them almost impossible. Karen's wheels tried to gain grip, but she could hardly move even with the sanding gear. Karen strained hard but she was hopelessly stuck. "We're stuck!" Her fireman cried out as a piece of the bridge came loose. "Shit, I'm gonna die here." Karen sobbed. In her mind, this was probably retribution from above.
"I hope you can swim." The trucks laughed foolishly.
Just then, Karen heard a strange whooping sound. She looked up to see what it was. It was Harold the Helicopter. He was passing by after checking the dam. He could see that Karen and her crew were in serious danger. Her crew was waving frantically for help. "Oh dear, is this a God dam?" Harold chuckled. His pilot radioed the Fat Controller for help. "Never fear, lads." Harold shouted. "Help will be on the way." Meanwhile, Henry was sitting in his shed, still seething from his tirade with Karen. The Fat Controller suddenly burst in almost out of breath and soaking wet. "There's an emergency on Toby's line!"
"Oh, what has that old hunk of wood gotten himself into now?" Henry sighed angrily.
"It's not Toby! It's Karen; she's stuck on the old wooden bridge. It's starting to collapse and she can't go backwards. You have to help her!" Henry was in disbelief. Despite his animosity towards Karen, he couldn't let her be washed away. She was still part of the railway and it's every engines duty to help those in need. That was the creed of Sodor. Henry wasted no time. He was immediately fired up and was on his way to the rescue. Henry gave everything he had to get to the danger zone. "Mustn't let her die. Mustn't let her die." He panted as he turned onto Toby's line. He could see the train ahead and puffed faster. Karen was petrified with fear as more pieces of the bridge were washed away. "Karen!" Henry shouted against the wind. Karen looked back to see her brother, she was too scared to be overjoyed to see him.
"Karen, are you ok?"
"Get me the hell out of here!" Karen shouted back as another piece of the bridge fell away. The bridge gave a sickening creaking noise. Henry was hooked up to the break van while Karen's crew scrambled aboard. On the count of three, the two engines surged backwards. Their wheels burned as they struggled to find grip. "Come on! Push hard! We'll do it!" Henry strained.
"I can't do it! I can't do it!" Karen panted with every puff. Their respective firemen threw sand on the rails to increase the grip. Finally, the heavy train started to budge. With their last puff, the two engines finally pulled and pushed the train onto dry land, just in time before the bridge completely collapsed and washed away down stream. Their crews whooped and cried for joy. Henry and Karen were too exhausted to join in the whooping, but they were glad it was over.
As the storm passed, the two engines steamed back to Tidmouth, side by side. The Fat Controller was waiting for them. He was very pleased. "That was a very brave thing you did, Henry. You deserve an overhaul for your efforts."
"Thank you, sir." Henry was still tired.
"And Karen." The Fat Controller turned to her. "You're very lucky to have a brother like Henry. Obviously he still cares for you, even if your attitude hasn't been the best."
"I am, sir. Very lucky." She said softly. Sir Topham Hatt smiled and patted her running board before he walked back to his car. Henry could see that the experience had an impact of Karen's psyche. She appeared melancholy and reflective. "You ok?" Henry asked.
Karen looked over and tried to put on her trademark attitude. "What? Me? Never better. I've had more terrible experiences then that. It was nothing. It was… nothing." Karen's lip quivered and her face twisted into a blubbering mess. She then burst into tears. "I was so scared." Karen wailed; her tears smudged her makeup creating long black streams down her cheeks. For the first time on the Island, Karen showed genuine emotion. Henry couldn't be mad at her; there was no need to be. He felt remorse for her. "There there, Karen. You're safe, now. I'm here for you." Karen sniffed heavily. "Really?"
"Really. It's like you said, we're family and families are supposed to look out for each other." Henry broke out a tiny smile. Karen did the same.
"Thanks, man." Karen sniffed.
"And for all it's worth, I'm sorry that I said those things to you before. I didn't really mean to say those things." Henry chuffed.
"That's ok. I'm sorry that I've acted so high and mighty." Karen puffed.
"Yes, you should. You were very rude to everyone." Henry's stern attitude returned.
"I know, I know. It was stupid of me to be so immature and cold to everyone. I now know that it was wrong and I shouldn't have acted like that." Karen sobbed. "I'm very sorry." She added. Henry grinned at her. He finally saw that she wasn't such a bad engine after all. God knows that he had met his fair share of bad eggs before, but according to him, Karen was nothing like the others.
"Well, at least you learned something from this. But at the risk of sounding weird, that black makeup actually suits you. That sort of thing makes you… unique. " Henry chuckled.
"Thanks. You're a good brother." And for the first time, Karen smiled brightly.
"And you're a… a… Oh, what the hell! My sister!" Henry smiled back. The two engines laughed. The whole experience had brought the two of them closer together as a family. It was at that point that Karen vowed to never be so insolent and rude again. But she had a long way to repair the damage she had made. Karen had to make amends for her actions and anger-filled words. Over the course of several days, Karen apologized to every engine and every person she had offended and hurt. She first apologized to the narrow gauge engines for making fun of Rusty's "tuneful toot" and for the general disrespect to them all. The little engines were amazed by the turn-around that Karen had made. They were a little skeptical at first but they saw that Karen was being sincere and honest. So they all accepted her apology, apart from Duncan who harboured some resentment and fear towards her. But then again, Duncan had always showed resentment to everybody, especially Mr. Percival. Karen learned that everyone on the Island was more forgiving than she had realized. "Everybody deserves a second chance." Skarloey put it so eloquently. Karen next came across Rosie with her two coaches Jill and Valentine at Maron station. Rosie was still feeling upset from Karen's explicit diatribe and was almost afraid of her. "Hey there, Rosie. Can I talk to you?" Karen spoke to her.
"What is it?" Rosie asked anxiously. "You're not going to yell at me again?"
"No no no, listen. I… I just wanted to apologise for what I said to you earlier. You were right about one thing. I was grumpy because I had no friends in this place. I know I shouldn't deserve any friends now for the way I acted, but if you like, we can still be friends." Karen smiled. Rosie cheered right up; she was delighted to hear that.
"Oh yes, I do." She beamed brightly.
"Cool, cool." Karen smiled back. "Glad to hear that. Oh, I almost forget. I got you something. Glen, if you don't mind?" Karen's driver, Glen, stepped out the cab and handed Rosie's driver a homemade Mix-CD. He showed it to Rosie who examined the album cover. It was made of pink cardboard and emblazoned with sinister looking writing. "Pink Metal?" she wondered.
"I know how much you like pink." Karen smirked.
"Oh, how lovely." Jill beamed.
"Yes, indeed it is." Valentine agreed. Rosie was thrilled.
"It's lovely, thank you." She said sweetly. She then read the track listing on the back. "Killing Loneliness, Love You to Death, Wings of a Butterfly, Almost Easy, Passions Killing Floor, Wicked Game, We Sleep Forever?" Rosie had never heard these songs before.
"It's mostly stuff from H.I.M. and some other groups." Karen explained. Rosie didn't know what to make of this but was delighted all the same. After all, it was the thought that counted. "I'll play this when I get home. Thanks again." Rosie smiled her brightest.
"Your welcome." Karen winked at Rosie. "Take care, kid." She tooted goodbye and puffed away. Karen still had a lot of bridges to mend, but her place on Sodor was secured. A few days had passed and Karen had just about finished making amends to everyone. There was a lot of ground to cover. At Knapford station, Karen had coupled up to her express service. Karen had apologized to her passengers just the other day and they were more than happy to come back to her rail service. "Bertie likes to listen to his speed metal when he drives." One passenger explained.
"His Cannibal Corpse and Slayer stuff almost sent us deaf." Another enlightened. Karen sniggered as the passengers boarded her train. The Fat Controller stopped by to check up on Karen. She had yet to apologize to him. "Well, Karen." Sir Topham Hatt politely conversed with her. "Glad to see you've worked things out with your regulars, I see."
"Indeed we have, sir." Karen answered. "And, by the way, sir. I'm-"
"It's alright, Karen." Sir Topham Hatt cut her off, politely. "I know what you're going to say. And I accept your apology."
"Thank you, sir." Karen beamed.
"Any time, luv." Sir Topham winked at her.
"You know, it's weird, sir." Karen thought out loud. "I was so rude and heartless to all these kind people and engines for the short while I was here, yet it only took me a shorter period of time to make up for it. Amazing."
"Yes, well, I've always believed that if you do good things then good things will happen to you. Do bad things, well, they'll just come back and bite you right on the arse." The Fat Controller chortled.
"Hmm, so true. Does this mean I can play my metal again?" Karen asked.
"Well, we'll see. But, uh, out of curiosity. Don't you have something a bit more tuneful?" The Fat Controller asked.
"Maybe, maybe I don't? What did you have in mind?" Karen wondered.
"Well, I don't know. How about some Johnny Cash?" The Fat Controller requested.
"You're kidding, right?" Karen was perplexed.
"No, I most certainly am not." The Fat Controller laughed and passed a Johnny Cash CD to her driver. Karen thought this over for a bit.
"Well… ok. But only because he did that kickarse cover of Hurt." Karen smiled. The Fat Controller laughed. The same black-haired, glasses wearing passenger from before raised his arms and formed devil-horns with his hands.
"Johnny Cash rules!" he shouted.
"Och aye, don I know it." Donald agreed whole heartedly from the next platform. Soon, Karen set off for Barrow-in-Furness. The old-time Western singer blared over the coach's loudspeakers with his unforgettable track Ring of Fire. The passengers rather enjoyed it and, surprisingly, even the pessimistic Goth engine. Karen loves being part of Sodor and being part of The Fat Controller's railway. She no longer displays her original cold and detached personality that had gotten her into so much strife. On some occasions, however, Karen reverts back her old personality when ever she needs to, particularly when dealing with Diesel, who often acted cold and menacing towards her. Even though she sometimes felt out of place in the bright and vibrant atmosphere of Sodor, Karen wouldn't want to live anywhere else. She was very happy there. She had newly found friends, a beautiful place to live in and, most important of all, a family to call her own.
Chapter 2 Bonus Story: The "Doomed" Observation Coach
Karen slowly pulled up to Knapford Station, coupling onto her Dark Horse express train due for Barrow-in-Furness. Attached to her train was a brand new domed Observation coach shipped in from the United States. The other engines admired it, most having never seen such a coach before. Made of stainless steel, rounded at the end and painted black to match Karen's paint work, it was an impressive sight. The shades on all the windows were pulled shut, a curious thing to note on a coach like that. Thomas couldn't help but admire the coach; it was his first time seeing it. "That looks cool. What is it exactly?" he asked Karen.
"It's my new 'doomed' observation coach." Karen answered gloomily.
"Don't you mean a domed observation coach?" Gordon corrected her, having some knowledge on rolling stock from other countries.
"No, doomed." Karen replied, correcting Gordon. The other engines were confused by this when they heard a car pull up.
"Ah, my coach attendants have arrived." Karen grinned as she observed the arrival. The engines watched as a slick black Plymouth GTX pull up to the station. Stepping out of the car was two of the strangest looking people they had ever seen. They were a pair of dominatrix', clad in heavy leather and carrying the most diabolical of tools. The male dominatrix' heavy boots thumped and echoed in the station, the female's high heel boots clicked along the concrete. Both passengers and engines were equally surprised to see such people. Even the Fat Controller who was conversing with his wife over the phone was in disbelief, dropping his mobile accidentally onto the tracks. The two leather clad people stalked up to the coach.
"Morning Maynard. Morning Alexia." Karen cheerfully greeted them.
"Morning." The two answered in unison. The male dominatrix, Maynard, climbed aboard the train while Alexia, the other half, turned to the bemused passengers briefly and cracked her whip. Everyone jumped as Alexia was helped aboard the train by Maynard. Gordon and Thomas were horrified and turned to Karen who smugly grinned at them.
"Told you." She said darkly to Gordon. The Station Master blew his whistle and waved his flag. With a dark little toot of her own, Karen rumbled out of Knapford and steamed to her next destination. The sounds of Killswitch Engage thundered in her cab. Gordon and Thomas said nothing as Karen's express disappeared from sight. What could they say? As Karen streaked across the countryside, she smiled and thought to herself, what a wonderful world. The passengers in the observation coach hadn't realized that they would be in for a wild ride. Regardless of that, they didn't mind at all. Did they?