Many days had passed since his accident, and Henry was now completely repaired. Dante had also been repaired, but his engine wouldn't start, and he wouldn't wake up. The workmen had informed Sir Topham that if he wouldn't wake soon, he likely never would.
Having been informed of this himself, Henry decided to pay Dante a visit. As he steamed into the Dieselworks, he spotted the big diesel in the main shed. Henry's boiler ran cold upon seeing him; Dante looked deathly pale, and if he didn't know better, Henry would have thought that Dante was already gone.
Henry wanted to talk to him, to say that he was thankful for Dante's kindness, but the words died in his mouth. Before he could speak, James thundered into the yard with a line of trucks, grumbling loudly. James was quite filthy; his red paint dulled by a thick layer of dust and grime, and he was in a foul mood.
"Hello James," Henry said sadly.
James shot him a dirty look. "What are you doing here?" he snapped, wheeshing steam angrily.
"Visiting Dante," Henry said, looking down.
"Pah! You should be working, not wasting your time with that retarded rattletrap!" James scoffed. Unfortunately, James failed to notice the black warship that sat idling by Dante's side. That is, until Daniella shot out of the main shed, bumping into James harshly. "How dare you!" she hissed, raising her claw. With one swift motion, she struck the side of James' smokebox, causing him to topple on his side. James watched in horror as Daniella raised her claw to strike again. Closing his eyes, he braced himself for a painful blow, but it never came. Opening his eyes, James saw that Diesel 10 had coupled to Daniella from behind, and was struggling to hold her back.
The black warship was hissing and snarling like a rabid animal; her one remaining eye was fixed on James' terrified face with a look of burning, explosive rage. Daniella violently struggled against her brother, jerking forward, slashing and swiping with her fearsome claw.
"Dani, stop! DANI! James is a horrid, disgraceful excuse for an engine, but killing him will do no good!" Diesel 10 said as he struggled to hold his angry sister back. He desperately hoped that she would listen, for he knew that he couldn't hold her back for long.
"No one treats sick engines like that! NO ONE!" Daniella shouted, jerking forward and nearly swinging her claw, missing James' nose by inches. "I am gonna shove my claw down your throat and rip your boiler apart from the inside out!" she snarled.
"Dani, no! Stop! Please!" Diesel 10 pleaded, pulling her back a few inches.
James looked over to the side and spotted Dante. Upon seeing him, James felt a sharp pang of guilt. A million thoughts raced through his head, for all he knew he was about to meet his end at the Reaper's claw. Yet, the thought that stood out the most was not his own potentially painful and gruesome demise. No, it was what the Fat Controller had told his engines when he first found out how badly they had treated this newcomer. Dante was a defective engine, he had clearly been treated horribly his whole life because of it. All of the insults, and having his defect constantly rubbed in his face had made Dante feel worthless, useless. Dante had ignored a serious injury because he thought that no one wanted to bother helping an engine that was built broken, and now he sat motionless in the Dieselworks, unconscious and barely alive.
James felt a tear roll down his cheek as Daniella snapped Diesel 10's coupling chain. He looked at her as she raised her claw to strike. "Go on. I deserve it," he said.
To his surprise, Daniella paused, still holding her claw in a menacing gesture. She glared down at him, though she seemed to be contemplating something. Finally, she rested her claw on her roof and reversed back into the main shed. "Diesel 10 is right. You're not even worth scrapping," she spat.
Later, James had been set back on the rails, and immediately sent to his shed. The Fat Controller was very upset with him, and told him to stay there until further notice.
That night, Daniella returned to the Other Railway. Though she was well aware this may be the last time she saw her cousin alive, she knew that he wouldn't be alone, and that he was in good hands. As much as she didn't want to leave him, she couldn't leave the many sick, dying engines at the scrapyard alone for a long time.
All was quiet at the Dieselworks as a black class 08 trundled inside, stopping a few feet in front of Dante. Diesel looked at the bigger engine; a deep frown on his face. He swallowed thickly as he took in the sight, then said quietly, "I…I'm sorry, Dante. I doubt you can hear me, but…I'm one of those jerks." Diesel looked down at his buffers. "I may never get to correct my mistake now. If anyone's an idiot, it's me…" unable to take any more, Diesel reversed away from him, and headed back to the quarry to sleep. As he did this, Diesel failed to notice that for a brief moment, Dante's eyes had fluttered open.
Author's note: First off, huge shoutout to DeviousWeasel for helping inspire Dante's character development. Second, this story is intended to deliver a strong message. Many disabled people in real life get ostracized and bullied because of their conditions. Oftentimes, this leaves deep psychological scars, and in some cases, results in the person committing suicide, or neglecting to care for themselves, feeling insignificant, unwanted, and unloved.