Stephanie had to wait for the police to leave after they checked around the area, and after the last police car left, Stephanie gingerly stepped out, still gigantic and now had Diesel and P.T. Boomer on her shoulders.
"Okay, that's the last of them," Stephanie nodded as she stepped out.
"Wait," Diesel spoke as Stephanie looked down at him as he clutched onto her sweater's hood. "How are you going to get back to normal?"
Stephanie smiled as she reached up to the two, gently taking them off her shoulders before placing them back down on the ground, which Diesel was silently grateful for.
Once they were placed on the ground, Stephanie removed her Dust Whistle from around her neck, turned the knob to the symbol of gold, and blew into it.
After blowing into the whistle, Gold Dust flew out and swirled around Stephanie, eventually transforming her back to normal height and standing next to the trunk she discovered.
"Well, you're right about Gold Dust being the one to reverse effects," Diesel remarked.
"Yes," Stephanie nodded before glancing to the side and noticing the trunk. "But we need to get into the Shining Time Station. It's unsafe out here while there are still people out here."
"But what about the buffers?" Diesel asked, mentioning to them.
"Right, right, right," Stephanie nodded before walking away from the trunk.
But she paused from walking away from it, silently reminding herself she could not leave a random truck out in the open.
She turned around and grabbed one of the ends, picking it up as she dragged it while Diesel and P.T. Boomer went to the buffers.
Diesel and P.T. Boomer headed directly towards the buffers, expecting the Magic Railroad to be there… when they instead crashed into the buffers themselves.
P.T. Boomer landed on his back after being launched backward, while Diesel wheezed after impacting stomach-first on the buffers, wobbling backward before crouching.
He thought his body was a little like his buffers when he was normal, but the pain shooting through his body from his belly was enough to make him realize humans are more fragile than he expected!
Stephanie perked after watching the two collide into the buffers, and she stopped dragging the trunk and asked, "What happened?"
"I don't know," P.T. Boomer responded as he pushed himself up. "We headed towards the buffers, but nothing happened!"
Stephanie placed the trunk down and walked over to the buffers, moving her hands forward but going through nothing, only solid buffers.
"What?!" Stephanie exclaimed as she repeatedly tried, only touching the buffers constantly with no portal.
Diesel gingerly stood up as he felt the pain ebb away, silently reminding himself to protect it the next time it happened.
Stephanie looked up at P.T. Boomer with a worried expression, asking as she had her hands on the buffers, "Why isn't the Magic Railroad working?"
"I don't know," P.T. Boomer responded as Diesel's expression reflected Stephanie's. "I never saw this happen before!"
Then P.T. Boomer paused and added, "Unless something happened to Lady."
A bad feeling sank in Stephanie's stomach after P.T. Boomer explained while Diesel looked panicked.
"If we can't get back to Sodor," Diesel gulped. "How am I going to get back there?! Who's going to take over my job?!"
"Diesel!" Stephanie walked over to Diesel as he started asking multiple questions at rapid-fire as he was tugging at his cap, "Am I going to be stuck here? How can I live here? Am I going to be captured if the Dust wears off? Is-"
Diesel suddenly stopped asking rapid-fire questions when Stephanie grabbed his overall straps and tugged him down to her height, then gently cupped his face into her hands, saying, "Diesel, calm down. Everything will be alright. We'll find another way to get back to Sodor. You're going to be fine."
Diesel started slowly calming down as Stephanie gave him comforting words of assurance, but Diesel's mind was a little more focused on how surprisingly soft Stephanie's hands were.
And he had never had anyone touch his face before, but it felt strange that he was not pulling his face away from her.
…Is this normal?
Stephanie continued to cup his face with her hands and asked, "Are you calm now?"
"I… think so?" Diesel responded, although a little confused.
"Okay," Stephanie nodded, removing her hands from his cheeks as he returned to his height. "Now, since we basically can't get to Shining Time without getting caught by gang members," she turned to a confused Diesel, rubbing his cheek with a hand. "And yes, they are dangerous, if you are wondering," she turned back to P.T. Boomer, "Now what?"
"Let's use the Shining Time Station as a temporary house for now," P.T. Boomer said, jabbing his thumb at the abandoned station. "None of the members come up here anyway."
"Good idea." Stephanie nodded before turning to the trunk and placing her hands on it to pick it up.
"Actually," Diesel spoke as Stephanie stopped picking it up. "Let me and Boomer carry that for you."
"Oh," Stephanie perked as she removed her hands from the trunk. "Thank you. I'll hold the door open for you two."
Diesel and P.T. Boomer picked up the sides of the trunk on both ends and started carrying the trunk together as Stephanie held the door open.
Once they stepped into Shining Time Station, Stephanie closed the door behind her back, and they stepped into a somewhat dark station and placed it on the ground.
"Thank you." Stephanie thanked the two.
P.T. Boomer only silently nodded after Stephanie thanked them, while Diesel, on the other hand, was a little bashful.
He never heard anyone thank him for anything he did, except for certain engines, but never from a human before.
Diesel pretended not to be impressed but secretly felt warm as Stephanie turned to the trunk they helped her carry into Shining Time Station.
It looked like it was made out of mahogany wood, but it had darkened over time and had rust and dried barnacles covering some parts, including the lock.
"What do you think it could be?" P.T. Boomer asked.
"I don't know," Stephanie responded as she continued looking at the trunk. "But I think there could be something in it."
"Are you insane?" Diesel hissed. "What if there is something cursed in there?!"
"Have you been watching Indiana Jones a little too much?" Stephanie asked as her fingers trailed to where the lock was supposed to be. "I don't think there is-"
Something pricked Stephanie's finger, which caused her to exclaim, "Ow!" and quickly remove her hand from where it was trailing, looking at it as her first finger had a small dot with some blood coming from it.
"See?!" Diesel exclaimed as Stephanie put her finger into her mouth to stop the bleeding. "I told you! Cursed!"
"It's just a splinter!" Stephanie protested as she showed her injured finger to Diesel. "It's not-"
Suddenly, the lid of the trunk revealed writing that perked all three's attention, which read as they glowed in a light ocean blue color, and it was in a different language.
"What does all that mean?" P.T. Boomer asked as Stephanie looked at the symbols.
"I don't know," Diesel responded as he stepped back slowly. "And I don't want to know."
Suddenly, Stephanie's bracelet glowed and removed itself from Stephanie's wrist, transforming into a staff as she took it into her hand while standing up to her feet.
When she took the staff into her hand, Stephanie looked down at the trunk, and the writing changed from its original language to English.
Stephanie looked confused after watching the letters turn to English and released the staff as it floated, watching it turn to normal.
She took the staff in her hand, and it turned to English, confusing Stephanie as the letters, now in English, read, "The chosen one who wields the staff shall be the one who unlocks the treasure chest. Speak the creator's name, the crest will open, and the rest shall be yours."
Stephanie looked at the staff with confusion before perking up when she noticed the crystal had letters inside as they magically appeared, reading "Cetus," and she read, "Cetus?"
Just as she said the word in the crystal, the letters disappeared, and a click came from the trunk, causing all three to perk up after hearing the noise.
Diesel stepped back more after hearing the clicking noise, accidentally stumbling into a jukebox as it toppled, but Diesel whipped around and grabbed it before it toppled over as he put it back flat on the ground and glanced back.
The staff transformed back into Stephanie's bracelet as it wrapped around her wrist as the trunk opened, revealing scrolls and items inside.
Stephanie's curiosity grew as she reached inside, taking out one of the scrolls and having a symbol on the band keeping them together.
It looked familiar to Stephanie as she rubbed her thumb over the metal badge, as the symbol was a sideways nine.
P.T. Boomer knelt to Stephanie's height next to her as Stephanie looked at him, saying, "Well, this is better than a curse, hmm?"
"Fair enough," P.T. Boomer nodded as Stephanie placed the scroll into the trunk.
Diesel gingerly stepped close to the two as Stephanie looked carefully through the trunk, taking out some items and looking at them before putting them back.
They ranged from compasses to scrolls as Stephanie looked through them before a shimmer of blue caught her attention.
She reached inside and took out a hand-sized blue round crystal that was somewhat glowing as she stared at it with curiosity and awe.
Stephanie gently rubbed her hand over the crystal as the brightness brightened a little, perking Stephanie's attention as she moved her hand up from it.
"Uh, Stephanie?" Diesel worriedly spoke. "What's that?"
"A huge gemstone," Stephanie responded, showing it to Diesel, who backed away. "It looks like a gypsy's crystal ball, though."
"Yes, don't break it," P.T. Boomer warned as Stephanie lifted it to her eyes to look closer at it. "You don't know where that crystal has been, Stephanie."
Stephanie said nothing as she stared at the crystal, seeing something inside that seemed to catch her attention.
Something large swimming inside looked like a snake at first, but it had the upper body of a human with fins.
A mermaid?
"Stephanie?" P.T. Boomer touched Stephanie's shoulder, which caused her to flinch.
She looked up and said, "Hmm, what?" as she moved the gemstone to her chest.
"You didn't hear what I said," P.T. Boomer responded. "What are you staring at?"
Stephanie looked at the gemstone in her hands, pausing when she noticed the color faded to a darker blue color with no shine.
"Uh oh." Stephanie lifted the gemstone to look, but it crumbled in her hands. "Well, that was weird."
Diesel felt worried after witnessing the gemstone crumbling in Stephanie's hands before her bracelet glowed, causing the trunk to close and disappear into thin air.
"And that was also weird," Stephanie remarked. "I haven't looked at the scrolls yet."
"Best if you don't," Diesel frowned. "The last thing we wanted was a title wave crashing on us and-"
Another clank happened behind them that caused Stephanie and P.T. Boomer to perk, and Diesel sighed, exclaiming as he turned to what clanked, "Oh, what is it this tim-ahh!"
Stephanie and P.T. Boomer glanced over at what Diesel shrieked about and saw a puppet lying on its front after what looked like a jukebox's front opened.
The puppet wore what looked like a retro green bus driver's uniform and had short, dirty blonde hair and fair skin.
But the puppet was moving slightly, seemingly trying to get up onto its feet, but was stuck underneath something that had collapsed inside the jukebox.
Diesel scrambled to Stephanie and P.T. Boomer, exclaiming as he hid behind P.T. Boomer, "Wh-What is that?!"
"It's a puppet!" Stephanie perked.
P.T. Boomer said nothing after seeing the puppet but watched Stephanie gingerly walk over as said puppet looked up after seeing her appear.
Gingerly, Stephanie took the item on top of the puppet and picked it up, allowing the puppet to stand up after it was removed.
"Sorry about that," Stephanie apologized. "Are you okay?"
The puppet said nothing after Stephanie apologized before silently making the 'one-minute' mention before heading into the jukebox as Stephanie watched curiously.
She noticed the inside of the jukebox looked like a stage, with speakers and drums and such, but there were signs of age as it wore down.
The puppet returned with a large notepad and pencil, scribbling down something on it as Stephanie watched before showing it to her as it read, "I'm alright. The inside of the jukebox collapsed after someone or something outside crashed into it."
Stephanie looked over at Diesel as Diesel asked, "What? What did it say?"
"He," Stephanie responded before pausing as she looked at the puppet.
They nodded, knowing what she would ask about their gender, and Stephanie turned back, continuing, "He said someone crashed into the jukebox, and everything inside collapsed, thus trapping him."
"Oops." Diesel blushed after Stephanie responded, while P.T. Boomer stayed silent.
Stephanie turned back to the puppet and asked, "What's your name?"
The puppet flipped the page and wrote on the back of the first page before showing, and it read, "My name is Roy, and I am J.J. Silver's assistant."
Stephanie perked up after hearing the name 'J.J. Silvers,' remembering hearing that name from Cleo's book she handed her for studying.
Roy, the puppet, returned to his notebook and wrote something on the next page, "What brought you all here?"
Before noticing P.T. Boomer with Diesel hiding behind him, she said nothing as Stephanie explained what had happened to Roy.
After explaining what happened to Roy, Roy wrote on the back of the second page, "That does sound bad. Did you and P.T. Boomer see something in the Magic Railroad that caused it to not work?"
"No." Stephanie turned to P.T. Boomer and asked him, "Did you see something when you were going through the Magic Railroad, Boomer?"
"No, I didn't." P.T. Boomer shook his head.
Roy then wrote something in his notebook and showed the written page to Stephanie, "Maybe J.J. Silvers can help you get through the Magic Railroad. But we'll need your help getting through the jukebox."
"Don't worry," Stephanie assured as she took out her Zodiac Pocket Watch, which perked P.T. Boomer. "I've got something that can help us get to size."
She walked over to P.T. Boomer, and Diesel, holding the pocket watch, said, "I can't work alone, so I need your help."
Stephanie opened her pocket watch and fidgeted with the crown as Diesel said, "How is a pocket watch going t-"
Stephanie tapped the top while holding P.T. Boomer's wrist while Diesel was holding onto his shoulder, and she transformed into her Rat Zodiac appearance, looking at her paws as she muttered, "Okay, it still works outside of-"
A rat-like shriek perked Stephanie's attention as she looked over, seeing a black rat with a red collar around its neck and an Allegheny Woodrat looking panicked.
"Stephanie, what did you just do?!" the black rat exclaimed, sounding like Diesel as the other was staring at his paws and had some graying in his fur.
"Easy," Stephanie assured, lifting her head to show the collar with the Rat Zodiac pendant as she pointed at it. "I used the Zodiac Pocket Watch to transform us into rats."
P.T. Boomer perked up after hearing Stephanie's explanation, realizing that the cow that crashed into him during the Magic Railroad was her!
And that item is what allows her to use Zodiacs.
"When will we return to normal?" Diesel asked.
"If I take this pendant off," Stephanie explained. "That's how we transform back to normal. But right now, we'll help Mr. Roy." She paused. "Speaking of which."
She looked over at Roy, who looked surprised but perked up when she turned to him with the others and asked, "Can you lead us the way into the jukebox?"
Roy nodded and led the two into the jukebox as Diesel and P.T. Boomer struggled a little with their form while Stephanie walked ahead.
They were on stage, but it looked like they were going backstage as Roy led the way.
"Stephanie, slow down," P.T. Boomer spoke, stumbling a little as Diesel was almost smacked in the face by his tail. "We're not used to being rats!"
"Sorry," Stephanie apologized as she looked over her shoulder and continued walking forward. "One paw before the other."
P.T. Boomer glanced down at his paws as he continued following Stephanie, tripping less than last time.
Diesel grunted a little when P.T. Boomer's tail went into his face and muttered, "Will you do something about your tail?!"
"I can't take it off, you know?" P.T. Boomer huffed.
"Easy, you two," Stephanie gently assured. "You'll get used to it after a few hours."
"Yeah, where's yours then?" Diesel asked.
"Mine?" Stephanie asked with a smirk. "Pikas don't have tails."
Diesel blinked in confusion as P.T. Boomer just walked backstage, and Diesel asked, "Pik-what?"
"Pikas." Stephanie chuckled. "They're a type of rat."
Diesel blinked in confusion after hearing there were now different species of rats as they soon arrived deeper in the jukebox, except it looked a little damaged.
Roy stopped walking as he wrote something in the notebook before showing it to the three as it read, "This is where everyone was at. Help me find them."
Stephanie nodded, and the three split up as Stephanie used her nose to smell different scents around backstage.
Diesel and P.T. Boomer were a little overwhelmed with the ability to have a powerful sense of smell, but their whiskers were something else they were not used to either.
Diesel stopped when he saw a pair of legs and helped to remove the rubble, allowing whoever was underneath to come out.
Stephanie found two people wearing the same clothes and did the same as P.T. Boomer dragged someone out from underneath a wrecked table.
Once everyone was out of the rubble and slowly regaining consciousness, Roy led everyone out of the jukebox and outside as the door closed.
At the same time, everything inside collapsed from behind the door as Roy made the 'phew' mention with his hand.
"Roy?" Roy glanced over at one of the puppets, who was wearing a yellow-green shirt, purple leggings, and makeup on her eyes. "Is that you?"
Roy walked over to the puppet and helped her onto her feet like the others.
"Is everyone alright?" Stephanie asked, standing slightly on her hind legs.
Every puppet glanced at Stephanie after she asked and was surprised to see her, Diesel, and P.T. Boomer caused some females to panic as they scrambled backward.
"Shoo! Shoo!" one of them exclaimed. "Go on!"
Roy quickly wrote something down as Stephanie went back down on her paws, watching Roy go over to the panicked group and show what he wrote.
The group read his writing, and one asked, "They are humans? How did they turn into mice?"
"Rats, actually," Stephanie spoke up, causing them to glance over after hearing her speak. "Mice have slender bodies, while rats are more of the chunky type."
"Either or," another said. "How?"
Stephanie lifted her head and showed the pendant to them, pointing at it as she said, "This helped me, P.T. Boomer, and Diesel transform. I'm the only one wearing the collar because I was wielding the pocket watch."
The puppets perked up after hearing the name 'P.T. Boomer,' as one of the puppets asked, "You're with P.T. Boomer?"
"Erm, yes?" Stephanie nodded, glancing at him with silent confusion while P.T. Boomer looked unamused.
"Look," P.T. Boomer spoke to the group. "I'm not here to cause any trouble. We're just trying to get back to Sodor."
"Exactly!" Diesel nodded.
"Well, what happened to the buffers?" one of them asked.
"It's not working," Stephanie explained. "Diesel and P.T. Boomer tried running through it, but they crashed into the buffers instead of going into the portal."
They glanced over at the eldest of the group, who had his finger against his chin, before saying, "Can you show us?"
"Sure." Stephanie nodded before pausing a little to grab her pendant. "Let's step outside, though."
They followed the three outside as Stephanie grabbed her pendant, yanking it off as the three transformed to normal, with Stephanie holding the Zodiac Pocket Watch in her hand.
Now P.T. Boomer understands how Stephanie was in contact with the zodiacs she had been searching for.
"Wow," one of the puppets remarked. "So, you're using that to transform?"
"Yes," Stephanie nodded. "It helps a lot with Nightmares and such."
Stephanie moved her hand down for one of the puppets, and the eldest stepped into her palm, allowing her to lift him up to her face.
She allowed him to climb onto her shoulder as Stephanie stood up to her feet, walked over to the buffers, and did so, tapping the buffers while nothing happened whenever she moved her hand forward.
"That is bad." The eldest puppet nodded as Stephanie looked at him. "Something must have cut off the railroad."
"Is there a way to open it, mister?" Stephanie asked, moving her hand to him as he sat in her palm as she held him in front of her face.
"My name is J.J. Silvers, hun," J.J. Silvers explained. "But there is. We could have a chance of using Gold Dust to reopen the Magic Railroad."
"That's great!" Stephanie perked up with a smile.
"Yes," J.J. Silvers nodded. "But we'll need a whistle to open the Magic Railroad."
He glanced around Stephanie to P.T. Boomer, who had his arms crossed over his chest, and sighed as Stephanie looked over at him too, "And the person who has a whistle is him."
"Wait, really?" Stephanie asked.
P.T. Boomer reached into his garment and took out his whistle, showing it to Stephanie and J.J. Silvers while Diesel had the other puppets in his arms.
"Apparently, I'm Lady's 'engineer,'" P.T. Boomer coldly responds. "But doesn't Stephanie have one too?"
"You do?" J.J. Silvers asked as Stephanie nodded, reaching into her garment and taking out the Dust Whistle, showing it to J.J. Silvers. "Perfect! We can use two whistles."
Stephanie walked up next to P.T. Boomer and placed J.J. Silvers on her shoulder as P.T. Boomer looked at his whistle.
"I think I have enough Gold Dust," P.T. Boomer nodded. "Ready?"
Stephanie checked the symbol and nodded, holding the whistle as she was prepared.
Stephanie and P.T. Boomer whistled, and Gold Dust came out, creating a portal in front of the buffers as a familiar engine emerged.
After the engine appeared from the portal, Stephanie and P.T. Boomer stopped whistling.
She was a beautiful Gazelle engine, and she was painted dark magenta with gold headlamps on her front footplate, tail lamp, gold buffers, smokebox, funnel top, dome, whistle, side rods, lining, and the name 'Lady' on each side in gold.
She is also painted a very dark purple on her cab roof, lower funnel section, and footplate.
'Is this Lady?' Stephanie thought, amazed to see the engine appear before them.
"Hello, Stephanie," Lady greeted, but her smile faded slightly when she looked at P.T. Boomer. "Hello, Boomer."
"Lady," P.T. Boomer coldly responded as Stephanie frowned, elbowing him a little in the leg.
"Be nice to her," Stephanie gently spoke as she put her whistle into her garments before smiling. "Hello! Are Sir Topham Hatt and the others waiting for us?"
"He is," Lady nodded before noticing Diesel, who looked nervous around Lady. "And who is your new friend?"
"Ah, I'm Diesel," Diesel responded. "I may not look much because Stephanie turned me into a human."
Lady looked at Stephanie with confusion as Stephanie said, "Copper Dust. It transforms engines into humans and grows humans twice their height."
"Ah," Lady nodded, but she had a faintly surprised expression that P.T. Boomer noticed. "I see you've found more of Sodor's magic."
"Yes," Stephanie nodded. "And I want to learn more of this magic."
This silently made P.T. Boomer worried, as Lady chuckled as she said, "How will Diesel return to normal?"
"Easy," Stephanie smiled, walking up to Diesel as he handed the puppets to P.T. Boomer, who held them.
As Stephanie checked the gauge, Diesel stepped between the rails, seeing enough inside to use.
Stephanie nodded and whistled, watching as Gold Dust came out of it and swirled around Diesel, eventually transforming him back to his original appearance.
"Finally!" Diesel sighed. "It's hard being both a human and a rat!"
"Welcome to being human and an animal," Stephanie sighed before turning to Lady. "Can you take all of us back to Sodor?"
"Of course," Lady nodded.
Lady was coupled to Diesel with the help of P.T. Boomer, as Stephanie had the Jukebox Gang with her, carrying them like she would carry Lucy with her.
Once she was coupled with Diesel, she went backward with the help of P.T. Boomer as Stephanie was in the back with the others, finally entering the Magic Railroad.
Sir Topham Hatt, Lucy, Notches, Darius, Romeo, and Cleo waited after watching Lady enter through the buffers, hoping she would return.
Eventually, Lady reappeared from the Magic Railroad, with Diesel following in front, although a little dizzy from the crazy ride while Stephanie was in Lady's cab.
"Stephanie!" Cleo exclaimed as she rushed over to her and stepped out once Lady stopped.
Cleo hugged Stephanie as P.T. Boomer remained in the background, avoiding Sir Topham Hatt or the children after spotting Diesel 10 'psst'ing.
Pinchy made the 'come here' mention towards P.T. Boomer, and P.T. Boomer took the chance while Lady watched.
Instead of asking why P.T. Boomer was leaving or attempting to stop him from leaving, Lady only sadly watched him leave, hoping he would return sometime.