Diesel continued speeding down the line as fast as he could, passing by stations and even other steamies.
He has good news to tell Diesel 10 and does not want to slow down while doing anything.
He had to slow down a few times to let someone else pass by or the crosswalks, so Diesel waited impatiently before continuing off.
He finally reaches Vicarstown Dieselworks and enters, honking his horn as he shouts, "Den! Dart! Where are you two?"
"Will you keep it down?" a voice huffed.
"Yeah, we're only trying to nap," another nodded.
There were two diesels with the basis of BR Class 08, one painted in purple and gray and the other painted in olive and gray.
"Oh," Diesel sighed. "Splatter, Dodge, where's Diesel 10?"
"He's still sulking in his shed," they simultaneously responded. "But why, though?"
"Because I got some news on what we were discussing," Diesel responded as he oiled onto the turntable as it rose. "Now, move so I can talk to him."
Splatter and Dodge moved back, allowing Diesel 10 to come out of his shed after the door opened as the turntable reached the upper level.
"Alright, Diesel," Diesel 10 spoke. "What's the update?"
"Well," Diesel began. "I was just passing by with a couple of trucks and saw the same little blue-haired girl walking down the road."
"Really?" Splatter perked.
"Blue hair?" Dodge asked.
"Shh," Diesel 10 shushed. "Not now. I'm in the mood to listen to what Diesel is saying."
Diesel smirked as he continued, "So after dropping the trucks off, I went to see where she was going and arrived at Ulfstead Castle, where the Earl of Sodor and the little girl took her inside, but her face was blue like her hair."
"Is that a good thing?" Splatter asked.
"No, I don't think so," Dodge responded.
"How did her face turn blue?" Diesel 10 asked.
"Walking, I think," Diesel 'shrugged.' "Because I had to hide to avoid Slow Stephen and the coffeepot seeing me, I couldn't tell."
"Alright," Diesel 10 nodded. "Keep going."
"So I stayed where I parked and watched," Diesel continued. "But she didn't come out for a long time, but I guess she went on a tour through Ulfstead Castle."
"Hmm," Diesel 10 hummed. "She's starting to learn about Sodor from what you told me. Anything else?"
"It gets better," Diesel smirked. "When she finally came out of Ulfstead Castle, she took something from her pocket and clicked it, transforming into a bird!"
"Wait, what?" all three blinked.
"'Bird?'" Diesel 10 repeated. "You like 'tweet, tweet' bird?"
"Little birds that hop around?" Splatter asked.
"Eh," Diesel paused. "Almost. She had her human appearance but with the traits of a bird, and then she flew into the air."
Diesel 10, Splatter, and Dodge looked confused after Diesel explained, and Diesel 10 asked, "Did you hear anything else?"
"Nope," Diesel sighed. "Only that I saw her transform and even collect gemstones."
Diesel 10 perked up after Diesel mentioned and said, "Maybe she was collecting those things to try to overpower us."
"You think so?" Diesel asked.
"Well, think of it." Diesel 10 nodded. "Gemstones, learning about Sodor, and transforming? That's all that a master plan would do!"
"Even with those, uh," Splatter paused. "Nightmares walking about Sodor and causing destruction?"
"That too!" Diesel 10 nodded. "I think she has something connected with those Nightmares and everything about Sodor. So I'm no longer staying here while trying to listen with my thumbs shoved up my nose."
Splatter and Dodge looked at the cameras with confused expressions that meant, 'What thumbs?'
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Diesel spoke before Diesel 10 moved forward. "You're going to search for her?"
"Exactly!" Diesel 10 nodded. "I'm not risking myself to watch her take over my job! Besides, what more harm could she do or defeat us by taking over Sodor?"
Diesel paused after Diesel 10 asked as the turntable went down, moving off it to allow Diesel 10 to be on it.
"But how are you going to find her?" Diesel asked as Diesel 10 moved forward. "There are like a million humans around!"
Diesel 10 stopped after Diesel pointed it out and moved back, mumbling, "Oh, yeah, that's right."
He stopped to think to himself before perking when he remembered something and responded with a smirk, "Diesel, I think I know a group of humans that could help."
"Really?" Diesel asked. "Who?"
Sitting on a bench was an elderly sailor with stubble, steel-blue eyes, and short graying white hair.
He wore a gray turtleneck sweater, a dark blue jacket with a collar, black pants with rolled ends, and black boots, and had his arms crossed over his chest.
Then someone approached him, and the sailor perked up, glancing up at the stranger as he sat beside him.
He has short graying hair, brown eyes, and fair Caucasian skin, and he wears a gray shirt, a black coat, gray pants with a belt, and black boots.
"Ahoy, Boomer." The sailor greeted him with arms crossed over his chest.
"Hello, Jonathan." The other, 'Boomer,' responded. "What have you been doing recently?"
"Nothing much," the sailor named 'Jonathan' responded. "I can't do much 'cause o' this stupid thing on me ankle."
He lifted his pants leg to show the police tracker, to which Boomer sighed after he showed it, moving it back down.
"Right," Boomer sighed. "Any progress, though?"
"Not much," Jonathan sighed. "Even wit' fishin', I haven't made a buck in a while."
They paused after talking a little before Jonathan asked, "Wha' about ye 'n Lady?"
Boomer went silent after Jonathan asked, reaching up to his shirt, feeling something around his neck underneath his garment, and responding, "I haven't been talking to her since."
"You still don't feel like she would trust ye aft wha' happened?" Jonathan asked.
"Yes," Boomer nodded with a sigh as he moved his hand down. "Still."
Suddenly, someone was huffing and puffing and went over to the two, revealing a man with a 'dad body.'
He has short, dark brown hair, light brown eyes, and fair skin.
He wears blue jeans, brown shoes, and a long-sleeve dark green shirt stained with a mysterious liquid.
He approached the two before rudely sitting down on the other side of Johnathan as Boomer groaned, lifting his hand to his nose to cover it.
"God, you smell bad," Boomer remarked as Johnathan looked at him.
"It's not my fault," he moaned. "I got fired from my last job!"
"That fast?" Johnathan asked.
"Yep," he groaned.
Then two people approached them, and one asked, "Mind if we join?" as they both glanced at the person who asked.
One was tall and thin, with short brown hair, brown eyes, a pencil-thin mustache, fair skin, and wearing a gray suit with a fedora of the same color, a tie, and brown shoes.
The other was short and round, with short curly brown hair, fair skin, and brown eyes, and wore a pink neckerchief, a white v-neck button-up shirt, a light brown jacket, brown pants with a belt, and brown shoes.
"Oh, Baz, Bernie," Jonathan sighed. "Wha' are ye goin' t' ask us this time?"
"Nothing," Bernie huffed, lifting his pantleg with Baz and showing the same police cuff as Jonathan. "Remember?"
"Don't play innocent!" Boomer frowned. "You both nag at us to get you two out of trouble."
Bernie protested, "Only a few times," but Baz silenced him with a jab to the chest with his elbow.
"Other than that," Baz spoke as Bernie went silent. "We just discovered something new while searching through Ulfstead Castle."
"'n wha's that?" Jonathan asked with an unamused expression.
Baz looked at Bernie as Bernie nodded before responding, "A blue-haired girl is wandering around Sodor."
"What, her?" Boomer asked. "We knew who she was, Baz. She appeared on television."
"But she has Fat Hatt's friend's whistle." Bernie pointed it out, catching them off guard.
"Bernie," Baz huffed. "I was about to say that."
"Never mind about that," Boomer spoke. "But she has the whistle now?"
"Yes," Baz nodded. "Remember we saw him use that whistle to transform at one point?"
"Aye, wha' are ye trying t' lead us t'?" Jonathan asked.
"We saw her at Ulfstead Castle using a pocket watch to transform," Bernie said as Baz sighed.
Now, this piques the group's attention.
"I thought that was a hallucination," Boomer mentioned. "I saw that happen before while waiting for the express."
"Aye, I saw that too." Jonathan nodded.
"Well, there goes the surprise," Bernie moaned.
"Never mind that, Bernie," Baz sighed. "But do you think it is connected to something? I mean, those items are really powerful."
"And your point?" Jonathan asked.
Little did they know, something in the background was approaching, and a claw was hovering over them like a butterfly net.
"My point is-" Baz was about to continue when Bernie noticed the hovering claw and flinched, exclaiming, "Duck!" but in one swoop, they were all grabbed, and the object zipped backward into a forest.
Diesel 10 was moving backward as he was smirking towards Pinchy, who managed to grab not only one but four people simultaneously!
Those people were squirming in Pinchy's grip and could hear noises coming from within Pinchy but could not tell because it was all muffled.
"Good work, Pinchy," Diesel 10 smirked as he watched some limbs squirm around. "Now, be careful with them, alright?"
Pinchy made a noise of affirmation, and Diesel 10 continued moving backward to move out of sight before stopping deep in the woods.
Diesel was there waiting for him before he pulled up, saw limbs smacking against Pinchy or kicking around, and looked nervous as he asked, "Uh, 10? What do you have in there?"
"Well," Diesel 10 smirked. "Guess."
Pinchy moved down and opened, dropping Baz, Bernie, Boomer, the guy, and Jonathan down on the ground as they landed in a pile.
Bernie and the guy were on top of the group, looking slightly startled, while everyone else was underneath him and squirming.
"Ow!" "Bernie!" "Get off!" voices would respond underneath them as they gingerly got up, accidentally shifting more weight. "Wait, wait, wait, don't move!"
"Get yer foot off me back!" Jonathan exclaimed.
Luckily, no one was hurt, but they were agitated about a giant metal claw suddenly grabbing them.
Boomer glanced at whoever had grabbed him, only to groan with irritation as he stood up, helping Jonathan, who was gritting his teeth in slight pain.
"Diesel 10," he sighed. "What is it this time?"
"You know this diesel?" Bernie asked as Baz was adjusting his clothes.
"Of course!" Diesel 10 grinned. "He was with me while chasing after Lady and was the one who was with Wendell too."
"Can you drop that?" Boomer blushed, not realizing his whistle was sticking out from his garments. "I'm not with Wendell or Lady."
"Then what's that whistle around your neck?" Diesel asked with a smirk.
Boomer huffed as he hid the whistle back into his garment, and Baz asked, a little offended, "Why did you kidnap us?"
"A little birdy told me that this familiar blue-haired girl has two powerful artifacts," Diesel 10 smirked as Diesel approached him. "And they are related to the problems on Sodor."
They all perked up after Diesel 10 explained and glanced at Diesel, who said, "What? It is the truth, isn't it?"
"We're not sayin' ye're wrong," Jonathan responded. "Ye're also wantin' t' find out wha' be happenin' t' Sodor too?"
"Correct." Diesel 10 nodded. "And if you help us stop whatever's making this ruckus, we'll hand you something in return."
The group glanced at each other after Diesel 10 suggested it, and Bernie asked, "Wait, how can you-"
"Ah," Baz spoke, shushing Bernie. "Let me do the suggesting."
Baz placed his fingertips together and asked, "So you are willing to get what we wanted?"
"Yes," Diesel 10 nodded. "Isn't that what human standers of what trade is? Or was it scratch my back, and I'll scratch mine?"
"It's the same thing," Jonathan nodded. "But that be a good trade. Ye'll get Cap'n Callan's booty from the museum fer me."
"And us with getting the flying car from Ruth," Baz nodded as Bernie nodded in agreement.
"Even getting back at Bob the Builder?" the guy asked.
Boomer stayed silent, knowing he had sort of dropped the plan of 'getting back at Burnett' since Burnett Stone passed away long ago and stopped chasing after Lady.
But everything about this strangeness happening around Sodor seemed to perk Boomer's attention, and he needed to keep them all on the reigns from going overboard and getting into trouble with the police.
So he responded, "I'm just coming along the way, so I have to keep you all from getting into trouble."
"Really?" Diesel asked. "Don't you want riches or expensive stuff?"
"No," Boomer frowned. "Does it look like I want that?"
The others glanced at each other with 'so-so' mentions and some shrugs while Boomer pinched his nose bridge, mumbling, "Lord, give me strength."
"But may I add one little problem we have?" Baz spoke, lifting his pants leg to show the police tracker on his ankle.
"What's that?" Diesel asked.
"It's a police tracker," Bernie explained as Jonathan showed his along with Baz.
"It lets the police know wha' we be doin' if we wander too far whence we be supposed t' be at," Jonathan explained. "Meanin' that we can not move too far wit' this around our ankles."
Diesel 10 smirked as Pinchy clacked together, sending a nervous shiver down their spines.
"I think Pinchy can get those off," Diesel 10 smirked. "Easier like getting a metal screw off a boiler."
"But this 'screw' is attached to our legs!" Baz fretted as Diesel nodded in agreement. "You'll-!"
But Pinchy moved down, and with one careful press, the anklet snapped from the pressure and fell, breaking into pieces.
"See?" Diesel 10 huffed. "Don't be a big baby over it."
Baz blushed with embarrassment as he huffed as Pinchy did the same to the others, snapping them as they slid off, breaking the tracking.
"What about you?" Diesel 10 asked Boomer.
"N-No," Boomer responded with a slight stutter. "I didn't get one myself."
"Lucky!" huffed Bernie, who was rubbing his ankle.
"Alright," Diesel 10 smirked. "Since I fixed that tracking problem, what's your name first?"
They glanced at each other after Diesel 10 asked, and Jonathan responded, "My name is Sailor John."
"I'm Baz," Baz smirked.
"I'm Bernie." Bernie pointed at himself.
"I'm Conrad," the guy smirked cockingly.
"And I'm P.T. Boomer." Boomer nodded. "And your Diesel 10, right?"
"Exactly," Diesel 10 nodded with a smirk before mentioning over to Diesel next to him with Pinchy like a gesture. "This is my brother, Diesel."
"Pleased to meet you all," Diesel purred.
"Now." Sailor John clapped his hands together. "Where t' start?"