Twin Tensions
On the Grand Central Railway, the engines love to help one another. Weather its helping another engine up a hill, or taking a very heavy load together. But sometimes, engines do disagree with each other.
One sunny day on the Grand Central, Tina and Lucy were shunting flatbeds at the Logging Station. Tina and Lucy are both Ohio 0-4-0 tank engines. However, they are both different. Tina has Knuckle couplings, as to deal with the rest of the engines that have the same couplings. But Lucy has Chain and Buffer couplings, so she can deal with engines like Josh and Spike, who also have C&B couplings. "Ready steady go" said Tina as she biffed a flatbed of logs that rolled down the line and bashed some buffers. "One biff, one bash, and there's always a crash" said Lucy as she biffed into some more flatbeds. "Calm down you two" said Lucy's driver. "We're always calm, right Tina" said Lucy. "Of course" said Tina, and she and Lucy laughed and laughed.
Then, Rose pulled rolled up to the logging station. "Hello" said Rose. Tina and Lucy puffed over "Hello, who are you" they asked in unison. "I'm Rose; I'm the new shunter at Heartland Station. I'm here to collect six flatbeds of logs" said Rose with a smile. But unfortunately, Tina and Lucy were smiling to. "Of course" said Tina. "I'll get the flatbeds. Tina, you keep Rose company" said Lucy, and she rushed off to get the flatbeds. "So, what are you" asked Tina as she looked at how different Rose looked. "Well, I'm not American; I'm British. I'm a Pannier Tank engine, I used to work on the Great Western Railway" said Rose. "Cool, was it nice working there. Did you have many friends" asked Tina. "Yes, it was very nice. There were many passengers and freight trains. But the engines were what made the railway amazing. The best engine on the railway was the same type as me. His name is Montague, but most engines called him Duck, mainly because he supposedly waddled. But he always helped me and was always nice to passengers, coaches, freight cars, and engines" said Rose. But then Tina saw that Rose's face looked weird. "Are you okay" asked Tina. Rose looked over and blushed. "Sorry, I space out when I, uh, remember my friends sometimes" said Rose.
Then, Rose felt a bump from behind her. "Here's the first part Rose, I'll be back with the rest" shouted Lucy. But Rose was confused "Why does Lucy need to make two trips to collect six flatbeds"? "Don't ask me" said Trina. But it wasn't long before Lucy arrived with the rest of the flatbeds. "All done" said Lucy as she pulled up next to Rose. "Thanks girls" said Rose, and she puffed away. Well, actually, she TRIED to puff away, but her wheels just spun and spun. "Pretty heavy for six flatbeds" huffed Rose. But then, Tina and Lucy burst out laughing. "What is it" asked Rose. "Look at your train" laughed Lucy. And when Rose did look back, she saw that she didn't have six flatbeds… she had Sixteen! "Got you" laughed Tina. Then, instead of being angry, Rose began to chuckle. "Alright, that was funny, but I must be on my way" laughed Rose. So one of the nearby workmen uncoupled the extra flatbeds from Rose. "Alright, bye you two" said Rose, and finally, she puffed away.
But it wasn't more than two minutes before Seamus and the Logging Manager arrived. "Hello Tina, Hello Lucy" said Seamus. "Hello Seamus" said the two in unison. "Tina and Lucy, I have an important job for you two" said the manager. "What is it" asked Lucy. "Seamus has to take a load of logs to the new building site. They have ordered 30 flatbeds of logs. However, Seamus can't pull that amount on one go, so he will need to make three trips. Please hurry and arrange his first train" said the manager, and then he left.
"Alright Lucy, let's get the first 10 flatbeds" said Tina. But Lucy had a different idea. "Wait, why don't we speed this up. We could give him 15 flatbeds; that way, we could cut a trip off his route" said Lucy. But Tina looked annoyed "No, we should do what the manager told us to do". Now Lucy was getting annoyed "The manager doesn't know about trains, and I'm shure Seamus can take the load". "We do what we are told" said Tina angrily. "We speed it up" said Lucy angrily. "Will you two hurry up" said Seamus "I'm going to be late". Tina and Lucy huffed, and they set off to get the flatbeds ready.
Soon, Tina had shunted a line of flatbeds behind Seamus. "There you go Seamus" said Tina. But then, Lucy arrived with some more flatbeds, and surprisingly shunted them up to Tina's flatbeds. "Lucy, first off, How are you doing that. Second, we already have the right amount of flatbeds" said an angry Tina. Lucy glared at her "I may not be able to pull trains with Knuckle Couplings, but I can push them. Also, NOW we have the right amount of flatbeds". "Ugh" said an angry Tina, and she reversed back towards Seamus. "Sorry Seamus, but you'll have to wait a little more" said Tina sadly.
But Seamus was cross "I don't have time to wait; I'm already late, I have to leave" said Seamus. Then his driver opened the throttle and Seamus' wheel began to turn. But Seamus wasn't moving very fast, in fact, he was crawling along the line. "Great (huff) now I'm (huff) going to be even more late" huffed Seamus as he rolled away.
When Seamus was gone, Tina rolled back to Lucy and glared at her. "Great Job Sis" she said angrily. "How is this my fault? I'm doing the more efficient way" said Lucy. The two glared at each other for five minutes before they puffed away in opposite directions. They were so cross, that they refused to speak to each other for the rest of the day.
The next morning, Tina and Lucy were sulking in their shed when a black car pulled up. The twins were surprised when Mr. Copper stepped out and walked over to them. He glared at the two and said "Care to tell me what happened yesterday". "You mean with what happened to Seamus" asked Tina. "Yes what happened with Seamus. You two gave him more flatbeds than instructed" said Mr. Copper sternly. "Sorry sir, but it was Lucy who gave him extra flatbeds" said Tina. "I gave him more because that way he could cut a trip out of his job" said Lucy. "So, all together, you think you gave him 15 flatbeds" asked Mr. Copper. "Yes sir" said the two in unison. "Then how come when he arrived at the construction site the first time, he had TWENTY ONE FLATBEDS" shouted Mr. Copper. Tina and Lucy were very surprised, they thought for sure that they had given Seamus, at most, 15. "Sorry sir" said the two in unison. "So, who gave him more flatbeds" asked Mr. Copper sternly. "I counted right sir, so I'm certain it was Lucy" said Tina. "All wrong, I counted right, I'm shure it was Tina" said Lucy. "Wasn't" said Tina. "Was" said Lucy. "Wasn't" said Tina. "Was" said Lucy. "THAT'S ENOUGH" shouted Mr. Copper. The twins immediately fell silent. "If you two are acting like this, then I have no choice but to split you two up" said Mr. Copper. "What" asked Lucy. "What I'm saying, is that Tina will work here at the Logging Station, but Lucy will go and help Spike, Josh, and Samantha at the quarry" said Mr. Copper. "Fine by me" said Lucy sternly to Tina. "Same here" said Tina sternly to Lucy. So then Lucy's driver opened her throttle and rolled her out of the sheds, towards the quarry. "I hope you will work hard" said Mr. Copper to Tina and her crew. "Yes sir" said Tina and her crew. And with that, Mr. Copper left.
Soon Lucy arrived at the quarry. It was very different from the logging station; there were big machines, high cliffs, and slabs of stone everywhere. "This is going to be great" said Lucy as she pulled up to the turntable. "Hello Lucy" said a voice. Lucy looked to her right, and saw Josh pulling up to her. "Hello Josh, I'm here to help" said Lucy with a smile. "Oh, great, well then you should go talk to the quarry manager; he'll tell you what to do" said Josh, and he puffed away. Lucy smiled "This is going to be way better than working with Tina" she said as she went off to find the quarry master.
Meanwhile, at the logging station, Tina was doing her usual shunting duties. "I'll get much more done without Lucy here" she said as she arranged a train that was to be taken to the yards. Then Seamus arrived "Hello Tina, I'm here for my train". "Here it is" said Tina as she shunted the flatbeds up to Seamus. "Great job, that didn't take long" said Seamus with a smile. Then he puffed away, leaving a happy Tina behind. "I knew I could get more done without Lucy" said Tina, and she went off to do more shunting.
At the quarry, Lucy was pushing freight cars loaded with stone towards the crunching sheds. "This is great, no sister to mess things up, working on my own, I've never felt happier" said Lucy. She was enjoying herself, but later that day, things started to go wrong. Lucy had to push some cars of slate to the quarry entrance for Jake to pick up, but Lucy wanted to have some fun. "One biff, on bash, and there's always a crash" said Lucy as she biffed into the freight cars. But then the cars shot down the line. "Uh oh" said Lucy. Then the cars smashed into the back of Samantha. "Ouch, what was that" asked Samantha. Lucy rolled up to her "sorry Samantha, I biffed the cars too hard". "Well don't let it happen again" said Samantha sternly, and she puffed away. Lucy frowned "Tina would have laughed at that, not get angry at me". Then she went to collect the other cars.
At the logging station, Tina was working with Colleen. Colleen was a Shay 2 Truck steam engine. She was new to the railway, and she had been assigned to help Tina while Lucy was at the quarry. They had to arrange a train of logs for Sam to take to the yards. But when Tina rolled up to Colleen, she saw the logs she had shunted were near the sheds. "Did you shunt those flatbeds onto the other line" asked Tina. "You said you wanted them on the other line" said Colleen. "Not that other line, the other other line" fumed Tina. As she puffed away, she spoke to herself "Lucy would have known what I meant".
That night at the sheds, Colleen was talking to Seamus about Tina. "And she got really mad at me when I didn't understand what she meant" said Colleen. "That's not like her, she usually is upbeat and funny" said Seamus. Colleen thought for a moment, and then it hit her. She turned to Seamus "When did she start acting like this"? Seamus also thought for a moment "It was today… after Lucy left". Then, Seamus realized what was wrong. "I got it; Tina misses Lucy. They used to have fun together, shunt together, and get into trouble together" said Seamus. "So why does she hate her now" asked Colleen. "Because they got into an argument about how many flatbeds I was to take. But this is silly, I have to put this right" said Seamus.
Then, Seamus' driver and fireman walked up to him. "Seamus, we have one more job to do" said the driver as he and the fireman climbed into Seamus' cab. "Where are we going" asked Seamus. "To the yards; we need to deliver some logs" said the driver. Then, Seamus had an idea "Can we stop by the quarry on the way back" he asked. The driver thought for a moment; the quarry was on the way to the yards, so stopping there on the way back wouldn't be a problem. "Okay Seamus" said the driver, and then Seamus pulled out of the shed.
After Seamus had delivered his flatbeds, he was soon rolling along the line that led to the quarry. His light was on because it was very dark. Soon he reached the quarry; he looked around for Samantha or Josh. "Samantha, Josh" said Seamus. "Seamus" said a voice. Then an engine puffed over, shinning its light onto Seamus' face. "Aw, who is that" said Seamus as he squinted his eyes. "It's me, Samantha" said the voice. The light turned down, revealing Samantha's face. "Oh, Samantha, good thing I found you" said Seamus. "Why, what's wrong" asked Samantha. Seamus looked around "first, where's Lucy" he asked. "At the shed, talking with Josh and Spike" said Samantha. "Good, because I need to talk about her and Tina" said Seamus. "What about them" asked Samantha?
Seamus paused for a moment "I think Tina misses Lucy. What I want to know is, does Lucy miss Tina" asked Seamus. Samantha thought for a moment "Well, she did seem kinda down halfway through the day". "Then I think they do miss each other, which means we have to get them back together" said Seamus. "How, Lucy told me about what happened, and I don't think they'll be talking anytime soon" said Samantha. "I don't know, but I'll think of something" said Seamus. And then his driver reversed him out of the quarry.
The next day, Tina was doing more shunting with Colleen. This time, Colleen was doing her best to do exactly what Tina said. "Is this right" asked Colleen as she pushed three flatbeds together and shunted them into a siding. Tina looked at her for a moment "that's fine, for now" she said as she puffed away. Colleen frowned; she had tried hard to get Tina to say she had done a good job. Seamus pulled up to her and gave a warm smile. "I think you did great Colleen, its Tina, I think she misses Lucy, and so she's taking her anger out on you" he said kindly. "Thank you Seamus" said Colleen with a small smile.
But then the logging station manager walked over. "Seamus, I just got a call from the factories; they have a big load of new machinery coming in. The train is very heavy, so they wanted to know if you could take the train" said the manger. "Why me sir, I'm a logging locomotive" said Seamus. "Because all the other freight engines are busy with other jobs. So you are the one they wanted" said the manager. Seamus was about to say yes, but then he had an idea. "Wait sir, what if Tina and Lucy take the train together" he asked. "Take it together, but how? Tina and Lucy have different couplings" said the manager. "We can use one of the duel coupling flatbeds" said Seamus. The manager thought for a moment, and then he looked at Seamus. "Okay Seamus, I'll call the yards and inform them to make the last car a duel one. I'll also send a call to the quarry master and ask for Lucy" said the manager, and he walked away. Seamus smiled "This is going to work out good".
After the manager had informed the yards about the flatbed, he called the quarry master. He soon picked up the phone, "Yes" he said while looking through some papers. "Yes, this is James Bruce, the logging station manager. I have a request" said James. "Oh James, good to hear ya. So, what do you need" asked the quarry master. "A big load is to be taken to the factories from the yards. They need some help, so I was wondering if Lucy could come and help" asked James. "Why Lucy, if it's a big load, I could send over Josh" said the manager. James got a little nervous "Because, they uh, requested Lucy specifically". The QM thought for a moment, but then he smiled. "Well, alright then, I'll send Lucy over right away" he said happily, and he hung up and went to inform Lucy and her crew.
At the logging station, Seamus was telling Tina about the train she had to take. "It's going to be very heavy, so you'll have some help from another engine" said Seamus. "Which engine" asked Tina? Seamus smiled "Wait and see". Then, Tina's driver stuck his head out of the cab. "We have to go Tina" he said, and then he popped back into the cab. Tina looked at Seamus "Well, see ya" she said nervously, and then she puffed away.
Meanwhile, at the quarry, Lucy and her crew were being told about the train as well. "It will be very heavy, so you'll have some help from another engine" said the QM. "Which engine" asked Lucy's driver? "You'll see when you get there" said the QM. Lucy was still confused, but she had to go, so she just decided to go with the flow.
When Tina arrived at the yards, she was shocked when she saw how big the train was. "I'll definitely need help to pull this" he said as the pulled up to the train. One of the workmen told them to back down onto one end of the train, which Tina guessed was the front. Now she had to wait for the other locomotive to arrive.
Well, it wasn't long before Lucy arrived, be she was at the opposite end of the train. "Good thing I have some help" said Lucy. Then one of the workman told Lucy to buffer up to one end of the train, which Lucy guessed was the end. When Lucy had buffered up and her driver coupled her to the flatbed, she gave two big blast of her whistle. "I'm ready" called Lucy. But she was so far away that Tina couldn't tell it was her. "So am I" shouted Tina, and she also gave two blasts of her whistle. So then Lucy and Tina began to turn their wheels. And slowly but surely, the train began to move. Soon, they were rolling out of the yards towards the factories.
A while later, Tina and Lucy were more than halfway to the factories. "We'll be there soon" shouted Tina. "That's great" Lucy shouted back. It looked like it was going to be smooth sailing from here, but it wasn't. Soon, they approached a very steep hill. As they began to puff up it, the train seemed to get heavier and heavier. "Keep puffing, you can do it" shouted Lucy. "Yes, we can do it" shouted Tina. The two may have been slowing down, but they were still steaming up the hill.
And soon, they reached the top. "We did it" shouted Tina. "I knew we could" shouted Lucy. But then there was trouble, when almost half the train was over the hill, Tina and Lucy started to go faster. "Might want to slow down" shouted Tina. "I was about to ask you the same thing" shouted Lucy. But then the whole train flew down the hill. "AAAHHH" screamed Tina and Lucy as they reached the bottom and rushed down the track. The signalman saw them coming, so he switched the track so they would head to the factories. They flew down the left track and continued on.
Soon they began to slow down, but there was still trouble ahead. They could see the entrance to the factories, and the gates were closed. "BRAKE" screamed Tina. So they both screwed on their brakes, and the train went slower and slower. The men at the gates saw them coming in fast, and they had to act. "Open the gates" screamed one of the workmen. The controller hit a button and the gates began to open, but it wasn't opening fast enough. Tina could see this "Brake harder" shouted Tina. So Lucy braked with all her might and pulled back on the train as hard as she could. Thankfully, this was hard enough and the train slowed down enough for the workman to open the gate enough for the two to get through.
The train got slower and slower, and soon it stopped right near the loading platform. The workman cheered "good job you two" they said. Then Lucy's driver uncoupled her from the train. "Time to thank whoever helped me" said Lucy as she switched tracks and pulled up to the front. But when she did… she saw that the engine was Tina. "TINA" shouted a shocked Lucy. "LUCY" shouted a shocked Tina. "It was you who told me to keep puffing" said Lucy. "And it was you who held the train back when we got here" said Tina. The two looked at each other for a minute, and then they burst out laughing. "So you don't hate me" asked Tina. "Of course I don't, but do you hate me" asked Lucy. "No, why would I; you're my sister" laughed Tina. "Same here and I want to say I'm sorry" said Lucy. "So am I" said Tina.
Then, Mr. Copper arrived in his car. He walked over to the two and smiled "Great job you two; you have worked together and stopped a nasty accident". "Thank you sir. So does this mean that Lucy can come back to the logging station" asked Tina. Mr. Copper chuckled "Of course, you have proved you can work together". Tina and Lucy smiled "THANK YOU SIR" they screamed.
While all of this was going they didn't know that they were being watched. On one of the factory building rooftops stood seven girls each of whom had long hair in a different color and they all looked down at the events going on.
"Well well the little puffballs managed to get back together," the first girl said, She had flaming red hair and wore a red jacket with shorts. She also had a fireball in her hand indicating that she was a master of fire, "How funny. Now this makes our job easier wouldn't you say?"
"Indeed it does Flannery," The second girl said wearing a blue sundress and sneakers and had ocean blue hair. "Now we can terrorize the Midwest and the railways like our ancestors did in days long past. Right Elesa?"
The girl known as Elesa then spoke up, Elesa had bright blonde hair and wore a pair of black pants and a yellow t-shirt, "Why stop there Aqua, with our power we can practically terrorize the entire country."
"Easy guys," the fourth girl spoke up. This one had sky blue hair and wore a sky blue jacket and a white dress with blue markings and sneakers. "There's still the matter of actually making our presence known as well as reminding this state who we are and what we can do."
"Skyla's right, it has been a while since we used our powers and we should spread some fear and terror," the fifth girl added, She was a brunette and she wore shorts and a brown jacket. "Considering that everyone here all knows our fearsome reputation."
"But if they don't Bertha then we'll remind them by brute force," The sixth girl spoke up. She had on a black outfit and she wore a black trench coat, "What do you say we cause seven years of Darkness Hikari?"
"I think the seven years of darkness might be a bit too much Phoebe but we can just use our elemental powers to shake up this state," Hikari said wearing a white sundress and jacket. "The sheer force of the powers should drive home our point cousins."
The rest of Hikari's cousins agereed and they all set out to shake up the state.
Meanwhile the engines who resided at Ramsey Sheds were all resting up for the evening when the Sky began to get dark. On cue thunderbolts began striking the area, gale force winds began battering the scene, the earth began quaking, torrential rainfalls struck, massive heat began hitting the area and needless to say the sky remained shrouded in Darkness for a few seconds till light broke through.
"Okay that was weird," Matthias said.
"What just happened?" Josh said.
"Bad news," Roku said, "Extremely bad news."
"Bad news is putting it mildly Roku," Jaime said as Mr Copper showed up.
"Okay will somebody tell me what is going on?" Samantha asked. "How did all those natural disasters happen all at once?"
"Those disasters weren't just natural disasters," Mr. Copper said, "That was caused by the Elementals."
"The Elementals are back?" Albus said shocked, "Not them again."
"Will somebody tell me who the Elementals are?" Sam asked.
"The Elementals are a group of seven dangerous girls," Seamus said as he began to explain, "Like their group name suggests each one of them is not only a master of a different element but they're also the leaders of dangerous street gangs who've pulled off some of the most dangerous crimes on the planet. Robbery, Arson, Piracy, Extortion, you name it they pulled it off."
"Are they really that dangerous" Rose asked as Jake continued.
"They're more dangerous than you know," Jake said, "Anybody whoever faced the Elementals, human, engine or vehicle has been sent to the hospital or the works because of it."
"And they're all related to the leader of the Chicago Outfit and the Five Crime Families of New York City," Otis said, "Each of whom happens to be the daughter of that Mob Boss."
"This is more dangerous than I thought," Sam said.
"Exactly right Sam," Mr Copper said, "Which is why we all need to be on our guard and spread the word that the Elmentals have returned so we can prepare."
The Engines all nodded that that suggestion and prepaired for what could be more bad news.
Later that evening Mr. Copper was thinking to himself again.
'The Elementals have returned and things are only going to get harder from here,' Mr. Copper thought, 'Seamus may be a strong engine but I've been concerned that even he might not be able to handle the heavy trains alone. The fiasco with the 21 logs he took two days ago drove that concern home so it looks like I'll need some more articulated engines. About three more should do it. I'll go ask Albus where I can find one.'
With that Mr. Copper continued walking as he got ready for tomorrow.
Here's to the longest chapter I have ever written. I also want to give a big thanks to D.J. Scales, who wrote everything from when Tina and Lucy got back together to the end. The Elementals were his original idea.