Stephanie struggled a little with keeping her Dust Crystals apart, and she sighed as she sat in her room, seeing she needed a cabinet to keep them in different places.
She had been placing them into her desk's cabinets, but they were small enough for her to keep all the Crystal Dusts in.
Stephanie sat in her chair, thinking about what she should do, wondering if she could either make a cabinet to hold all these Dust Crystals or get a job to get money to get a cabinet.
…That thought of getting a job made Stephanie feel a little angry, not wanting to get one, as it reminded her of them.
But it was the only way to get a cabinet, so Stephanie decided to go with that and take a trip around Sodor to see what kind of jobs were around.
Stephanie pushed her chair back and looked down at Notches, gently petting his head as he purred before gently scooping him into her arms as he slumped.
She chuckled after watching Notches slump in her arms, knowing cats do this strange thing whenever they are in a deep sleep.
Stephanie carried the sleeping Notches over to the bed and placed him down, watching him curl on the pillow as he continued purring.
She gave Notches one last rub before removing her hand from his head as he continued sleeping on her pillow.
She walked over to the door and opened it to the mansion's front door.
Stephanie closed the door after stepping through and sighed, double-checking as she had her Dust Whistle and Zodiac Pocket Watch with her.
The warning Jackson gave her echoed through her mind, giving her chills at the thought of leaving Sodor and pretending it did not exist.
But Stephanie pushed the warning away as she focused on what she was doing, walking towards the road before stopping as she glanced around.
She could use her Dust to transform herself into a vehicle to help her get from one place to another, but then she would be discovered by Jackson, and it would be over, right?
Deciding to check on Jackson, Stephanie took out her piece of crap phone and turned it on, waiting as it lit up and there was a notification from him.
Stephanie tapped on the notification, and the message read:
Jackson
Hey, Stephanie. I'm not going outside because of the dangers around Sodor. If you plan to go outside, be careful and avoid trouble with anyone on this island. Understand?
After reading Jackson's text message, Stephanie paused before responding with a single:
Stephanie
Okay.
Jackson
Let me know if there is something you want help with or if there are any questions. I love you.
'Does he even love you?' A dark voice whispered in Stephanie's mind as she clenched her hand. 'Sounds a lot like lies to me.'
Stephanie ignored the voice in her mind and responded to Jackson's message with another single:
Stephanie
Okay.
Then she turned her phone off and placed it in her blue jeans pocket before starting her journey around Sodor.
But she paused after walking a few miles down the road, reminding herself she needed a ride to get to some places where she could visualize what a job looks like on Sodor.
…Then, yet again, Jackson is staying in his apartment, so why not try out her Dust Whistle or Zodiac Pocket Watch to transform into something to help with her travels?
Choosing to check with her Zodiac Pocket Watch, Stephanie took it out.
She looked at the symbols, noting she had two of the Zodiacs unlocked, with the third already unlocked, but not wanting to use up its power by transforming into any of the Zodiacs on the fourth set.
Stephanie then took out her Dust Whistle and looked at the amount of Dust on the Silver Dust, seeing she had enough inside.
What if she could transform into a different form using the Silver Dust on the road instead of rails?
Stephanie put away her Zodiac Pocket Watch, changed the Dust Whistle's symbol to silver, and whistled.
A stream of Silver Dust came out of it and swirled around Stephanie before disappearing, showing Stephanie as a Kia Picanto with the same color scheme as her clothes.
Strangely, Stephanie's face was like Ace's, directly on the front and wearing her glasses, except they did not have arms and balanced perfectly on her face.
"Wow," Stephanie remarked as she looked at her wheels. "So this is what a car feels like? Cool!"
Wondering how she would move, Stephanie focused on moving forward and slowly started driving forward, perking up when she started moving.
Stephanie was about to pick up speed when a blur of yellow sped past her, causing her to yelp in surprise as she blinked a few times and stopped driving.
But the car screeched to a halt after passing by her and dove backward as she watched in confusion.
"Stephanie?!" It was Ace, and he was staring at her with a shocked expression. "W-Wat 'appened ta ya?!"
"I'm okay, Ace!" Stephanie smiled with a chuckle. "I used my Dust Whistle on me!" She paused and muttered, "Although, where is my Dust Whistle?"
"'Dust Wistle?'" Ace repeated with confusion. "Wat Dust Wistle?"
"Hold on." Stephanie assured him as she flicked her lights on, causing her to exclaim, "Whoop, that's the lights!"
Then her trunk opened automatically as she blushed a light blue color.
Ace perked up after witnessing it, and it automatically closed as she sheepishly chuckled, "That was my trunk."
She focused again before a horn honked, and Gold Dust appeared from over her roof, swirling around Stephanie before disappearing.
She was sitting on the ground as her human self, with the Dust Whistle around her neck.
"Oh!" Stephanie perked up as she snapped her fingers. "It's the horn!"
She glanced over at a shocked Ace as she repositioned herself to kneel, saying as she showed the Dust Whistle to him, "This is the Dust Whistle. Helps others or me transform into different forms using different Dusts."
"Ya used that?" Ace asked, and Stephanie nodded. "Oh! That's wy ya look so different. I thought Wendell transfawrmed ya awr somethin'."
Stephanie chuckled a little after Ace remarked as she wondered who Wendell was but decided to save that for later as she said, "No, he didn't. I just used my Dust Whistle to transform, just like my Zodiac Pocket Watch."
"Huh." Ace remarked before asking, "Weah ahah ya headin', though?"
"Well," Stephanie said, putting her hands together with a smile. "I'm having trouble keeping all my Dust Crystals in one place, so I need to find a non-permanent job to get money."
"Really?" Ace asked, and Stephanie nodded. "Alright. I can help ya get ta places ta av a look ahround."
"Don't you have a job or something?" Stephanie asked, sounding a little confused.
"Nah," Ace chuckled. "I'm free 'n easy! I only race in the greatest competitions 'n nothin' is holdin' me back. Climb on in."
Ace's back door opened, and Stephanie smiled, stepping into his backseat as she closed the door and buckled in.
After Stephanie buckled in, Ace sped off as Stephanie winced in surprise, gripping the seatbelt over her chest as he drove down the road.
Instead of worrying, Stephanie slowly calmed down as she looked through the window, watching everything speed past in a blur.
Stephanie gently smiled as she watched the scenery pass by as Ace drove down the road, passing by other vehicles with a honk of his horn and turning around them.
She was still a little anxious about Ace's driving skills, but she chuckled lightly as Ace continued zooming down the road.
Ace soon arrived at Knapford and parked beside him, opening his back door to allow Stephanie to exit.
She unbuckled herself and stepped out of Ace's backseat, a little dizzy but feeling a rush of excitement through her body.
"That," Stephanie spoke as Ace perked up, looking slightly worried. "Was awesome!"
Ace smirked as Stephanie continued, "You were fast and so cool at driving! You were amazing!"
Ace's cheeks blushed a little after Stephanie remarked as she perked, saying, "Oh! When I'm done here, can you take me to Drayton?"
"Sure!" Ace nodded. "Just let me know wen ya ahah done, okay?"
Stephanie nodded and walked away from him as he chuckled a little, starting to slowly enjoy her company but waiting.
Meanwhile, in the Tidmouth Shunting Yard, Gordon was napping in the yard with Romeo on his buffers, lying beside his face.
Stephanie noticed Gordon sleeping while searching for Sir Topham Hatt, and she saw he was not in his office when she poked her head inside.
So she went into Tidmouth to search for Sir Topham Hatt, only to come across a napping Gordon and Romeo.
She perked up when she noticed the two napping friends and was about to leave them, but her curiosity sparked when she saw Gordon's body.
Not wanting to wake them up, Stephanie carefully walked towards them as they continued to nap, stopping as she placed a hand on one of the trucks and peeked around it.
Gordon looked so cool to Stephanie as she stared in awe, looking at every inch of Gordon from a distance as she peered around the truck.
She wanted to get closer to Gordon to look at every inch of him, but she did not want to wake a sleeping cat as Stephanie watched.
However, the truck Stephanie was peering at from around had a face, and Stephanie's hand was directly on the truck's nose, waking it up from its nap and staring at her hand cross-eyed.
The truck was made of cherry wood, and its face was different from the others, looking younger than the others.
Instead of being irritated at Stephanie putting her hand on its face, it sort of just stared at Stephanie's hand with curiosity and confusion.
It was strangely soft and smooth, and it did not feel gross from the other trucks telling their tales of how children would walk up to them and place their little hands all over their bodies.
Stephanie leaned a little around the truck curiously to have a somewhat better look, gently pushing against the truck's face as it grunted a little, causing Stephanie to look over.
She flinched as she stepped back after realizing she was touching the truck's face, accidentally stumbling over her feet and landing on her bottom, knocking against a flatbed with metal poles that made clattering noises.
That woke Gordon and Romeo with a jolt, as Romeo instantly bolted up from where he was sleeping.
Stephanie instantly became worried as she stood up, and Gordon and Romeo glanced at where the noises came from as the metal poles stopped clattering.
"Stephanie?" Romeo spoke, sounding confused. "What are you doing here?"
"Ah, I was looking for Sir Topham Hatt," Stephanie explained as she stepped away from where she was. "I didn't see him in his office, so I walked out searching for him. Then I came across you both napping here, and I didn't want to wake you both up, so I sort of hid and, well, spied, and I didn't mean to-"
"Stephanie," Gordon chuckled as the tip of Stephanie's ears turned light blue as she stopped rambling. "It's alright. It was an accident."
Stephanie nodded sheepishly as her ear flicked a little, and the truck Stephanie had her hand on was staring with confusion at her long blue hair and pointed ears.
He had seen ugly faces before from different kids whenever they approached the trucks and messed around with them, but this one looked slightly different.
Almost cute-looking.
"Why don't you come over here?" Romeo asked. "You can come over since we're awake now."
Stephanie chuckled a little as she stepped close to Gordon, the blue blush fading as she looked up at him, seeing how grand he looked.
Heck, even how big this guy was compared to her small size.
"Ah," Stephanie glanced away from Gordon as she switched back to what she was doing, not wanting to entangle herself with curiosity. "Have you two seen where Sir Topham Hatt is?"
"No," Gordon responded. "We don't."
"He's usually around other stations to check on how we are doing," Romeo explained. "Or see how work is done on rebuilding the tracks."
"That's how a conductor does it?" Stephanie asked.
"No," Gordon chuckled. "That's how the controller does it. Not conductor."
Stephanie blushed a little with embarrassment as giggling came from the trucks around them.
"Hush," Gordon huffed as steam blew at their sides.
They immediately shut up after Gordon huffed at them as Stephanie asked, "Alright. So what's the difference between a conductor and a controller?"
"A conductor is responsible for operational and safety duties that do not involve the operation of a train," Gordon explained. "A controller is someone who keeps the railway in check and gives out orders for every engine."
"Oh!" Stephanie perked up as her ears moved up with interest. "That makes sense! Thank you, Mr. Gordon."
Gordon is again taken aback by Stephanie's generosity, and Romeo notices that her ears almost resemble a rabbit's.
"What about an engineer?" Stephanie asked, stepping closer to Gordon and Romeo as she stood beside them.
"An engineer can both scoop coal into an engine's firebox and drive one too," Romeo explained. "That's like me and Henry."
"Which Henry?" Stephanie asked.
"Linus' engineer, Henry," Romeo explained. "Then for other engines, like Gordon," he mentions to Gordon with a hand. "They have two people in their cabs. One a driver and the other a fireman."
"One who drives and one who scoops coal," Stephanie perked, piecing everything together.
"Exactly." Gordon nodded, feeling proud in front of Stephanie.
"How come most of the engines move by themselves?" Stephanie asked. "Like, Linus when he didn't have Henry with him?"
"That's because each engine has their own magic," Romeo explained. "I'm no Einstein, so I don't know much about that."
"Can Gordon do the same?" Stephanie asked, mentioning Gordon.
"I can," Gordon nodded. "But I can't work alone without my driver and fireman, as they are important to me in case something goes wrong."
"Like what?" Stephanie asked.
"Popped safety valve," Romeo listed. "Broken axles, even things that cross in their paths too."
"Oh!" Stephanie perked. "So one person and another can't work alone without each other!"
"That's one way of putting it," Gordon nodded.
"Do diesels have the same methods too?" Stephanie curiously asked.
"Yes," Romeo nodded. "But some of them are dangerous."
"Like Diesel 10?" Stephanie asked.
They both perked up after Stephanie mentioned Diesel 10 as she added, "I came across him when he and a group of humans, including Diesel, were attempting to find out what I was doing, but I saved them from being attacked by a Black Zodiac and moved them to safety."
"You rescued Diesel 10?" Gordon asked.
"Yes," Stephanie nodded. "Not everyone deserves to be harmed. Even if they seem dangerous."
Half of Gordon wanted to tell Stephanie that 'it is not true and most engines can trick you,' but not wanting to dwindle Stephanie's positivity, Gordon just stayed silent.
"Alright." Romeo nodded. "Want to take a look at Gordon's cab?"
Stephanie's face lights up more as her ears point upward, excitedly asking, "Can I?"
Romeo nods as he leads Stephanie to the cab, and Romeo walks before her, and she follows behind like a duckling.
Stephanie watched Romeo climb in before turning to her and holding out his hand for her to take.
Stephanie took Romeo's hand and stepped into Gordon's cab, glancing around with curiosity as she noticed how wide it looked, even at how many pipes, gauges, and levers there were.
She had been in Gordon's cab before, but she did not have a chance to take a closer look because she was taken to Sir Topham Hatt's mansion.
"Wow," Stephanie remarked as she looked at the firebox and the controls. "This looks like something out of Super Mario Bros."
Romeo chuckled a little at Stephanie's remark, as Gordon felt confused about the game but was listening to the conversation.
"Which lever is which?" Stephanie asked, looking up at Romeo.
Romeo pointed to which lever was driving Gordon as Stephanie listened to Romeo curiously, slowly soaking in every little detail.
"And this one is blowing Gordon's whistle," Romeo explained, pointing to the string over their heads. "Go ahead and pull it."
Stephanie reached up to the string to blow the whistle, but she kept missing it a little because of her small size as Romeo watched.
She stood on her tippy toes and finally grabbed ahold of the string, tugging it twice as Gordon's whistle blew twice.
"I think I need to bring in a stepstool to pull Gordon's whistle," Stephanie chuckled as she released the string.
Romeo chuckled a little with her as Stephanie noticed the shovel next to the entrance to the tender, asking, "So how does the fireman shovel the coal into Gordon's firebox?"
"Easy." Romeo smiled as he walked up to the shovel and picked it up. "The fireman scoops a good amount of coal into his shovel." He scoops a shovelful of coal and walks over to the firebox as he pulls the lever to open it. "And shove it in."
Stephanie perked up after watching Romeo do so before handing the shovel to her, asking, "Want to try it?"
Stephanie nodded excitedly after Romeo asked and took the shovel, turning around as she scooped a shovelful of coal and lifted it, a little surprised at how heavy it felt in her hands.
She lifted the shovel with a little strain but did not struggle as she stepped away from the coal and headed towards the firebox.
"Are you okay, Stephanie?" Romeo asked. "Is it too heavy for you?"
"Nah," Stephanie responded with a little smile. "It's just like carrying bags of trash."
Romeo shrugged as he pulled the lever to open Gordon's firebox, watching as Stephanie tossed the coal into his firebox as he closed it.
"Hey!" Stephanie perked up with a smile. "I did it!"
"Yes, you did!" Romeo nodded. "Someday, you can be Gordon's engineer."
"I can?" Stephanie asked with curiosity.
"Yes," Romeo nodded. "It's every kid's dream of becoming an engineer."
Stephanie paused, chuckled a little, and responded, "Yeah, I guess so."
Outside, Gordon cocked an eyebrow in confusion at Stephanie's slight tone shift, noticing she seemed distant.
He does not know why but does not want to pressure her into telling him, so he stays silent.
Stephanie stepped out of Gordon's cab, and her hands were a little covered with coal, but she wiped them onto the thighs of her blue jeans as Romeo hopped out.
"I'm guessing you were finding out what kind of jobs around Sodor," Romeo asked.
"Yes," Stephanie nodded. "Just a little curious."
She wanted to tell Romeo she was searching for a job, but that seemed far-fetched, so Stephanie decided to drop the subject and go for the one Romeo asked about.
"Okay," Romeo nodded. "If you have any more questions or places to go, you can ask Gordon and I."
"Thank you," Stephanie thanked. "And Ace is helping me get around Sodor."
"Wait, Ace?" Gordon asked. "That yellow and white Australian race car Thomas once traveled with?"
"Yes?" Stephanie nodded with a confused expression. "What's wrong with Ace?"
"He's," Gordon paused, but Romeo flat out said, "He's full of himself and is really pushy."
Stephanie perked up after Romeo flatly told her as Gordon lightly exclaimed, "Romeo."
"He is?" Stephanie asked.
"Yes," Romeo nodded. "So be careful traveling around with Ace. He can get a little handful with different things."
"Don't worry," Stephanie chuckled with a smile. "I know how to handle people like him."
Gordon perked up when Stephanie mentioned 'people,' confused about why she was referencing him as a person.
"It was nice meeting you two!" Stephanie smiled as she waved her hand at them.
"You too!" Romeo nodded as Stephanie left.
"She's really adorable," Gordon remarked.
Romeo nodded, turning to Gordon, and said, "She's almost like Cleo but more curious and adventurous."
Meanwhile, Stephanie returned to Ace and stopped, noticing he had drifted asleep while waiting for her to return.
His driver perked up after seeing Stephanie appear before honking his horn, startling Ace awake as Stephanie flinched but chuckled.
"Hey, mate!" Ace exclaimed as he looked up. "Wat was that fawr?!"
"It was waking you up because I'm right here," Stephanie responded as Ace looked at her.
"Oh!" Ace perked up as he blushed a little. "Sawrry, ankle-bitder. I didn't know ya weah garn ta be done."
"I met up with Gordon and Romeo," Stephanie responded with a chuckle. "I accidentally woke them from bumping into a flatbed with metal pipes."
"So that's wat made that noise!" Ace perked. "I thought it was one of those Troublesome Trucks makin' a ruckus on purpose."
"Nope," Stephanie blushed sheepishly as her ears flicked. "It was me."
"So weah else?" Ace asked. "I still av 'alf a tank of gas."
Stephanie paused as she thought to herself before asking, "Why not go to Drayton? You can refill your tank at one of the gas stations."
"Good idea!" Ace nodded. "Theah ahah tons of jobs ovah in Drayton, too, since it's known fawr bein' one of the busiest places on Sodawr."
Stephanie smiled as Ace opened his back door for her, and she stepped inside, closing the door as Ace drove off, heading to Drayton.
However, Diesel had seen Stephanie curiously looking around Gordon and poking around from where he was hiding, looking confused about how curious she was.
"How would she react to seeing a diesel up close?" Diesel smirked. "Steamies are just complicated to drive around. Diesels are easygoing and easy as pie."
So he drove down the line to follow Stephanie and Ace, wanting to take a chance at getting Stephanie into his cab to look around.
Ace soon entered Drayton and parked at one of the gas stations, opening his back door to allow Stephanie to step out.
"Thank you, Mr. Ace." Stephanie smiled with a beaming smile. "Where are you going to park after refilling your tank?"
"Eithah at that pahrkin' lot," Ace explained as he pointed at the parking lot with his tire. "Or that one. Eithah awr, I'll keep an eye out fawr ya in cayse ya come ovah weah I am."
"Okay!" Stephanie smiled as she gave the thumbs up. "I'll see you soon!"
Ace nodded and watched her walk away as his driver started filling his gas tank as he waited patiently.
In the background, Diesel entered Drayton and saw that Ace had dropped Stephanie off, deciding to find ways to lure Stephanie to him.
But Diesel does not want to get himself into trouble with anyone around, even if he wants to cause some trouble, so he decides to wait until he can 'strike.'
It is now or never.
With Stephanie, she was walking around Drayton's city as her ears were a little sensitive to the noises, but she ignored them the best she could as her ears flicked continuously.
"Alright," Stephanie paused as she winced. "I did not expect the noise to be." A screeching noise went through the air that caused Stephanie to reach up with both hands, covering her ears as they flicked. "Too loud!"
She stumbled a little through Drayton before entering one of the shops, still covering her ears with her hands as the noise was slightly muffled.
"Goodness," a voice spoke through the chaos as Stephanie perked. "Are you alright?"
Stephanie looked up at a woman walking up to her, and she had short dark brown hair, fair skin, eyeshadow with some makeup, and was wearing a green shirt with dots, an undershirt, blue pants, and shoes.
"Not really," Stephanie groaned as she slowly removed her hands from her ears. "Drayton is a little," she winced when a loud horn blared through the air, covering her ears again and shouting, "Too loud!"
The woman walked away from Stephanie, took something from one of the shelves, and walked back to Stephanie as she watched with confusion.
Then she unwrapped something before placing something over Stephanie's ears, silencing the outside world as it was muffled.
Stephanie looked confused as she reached up to see what was covering her ears, realizing she was wearing headphones over them.
The woman was mouthing something as she spoke to Stephanie, and Stephanie responded loudly, "What? I can't hear you!"
The woman made the 'lower your voice' mention with her hands, and Stephanie mouthed, 'Oh,' before asking, with a lowered voice, "What did you say?"
She made the 'one-minute' mention with her hand and walked off, grabbing a pencil with paper and writing something on it, showing it to Stephanie as it read, 'Do you feel better now that you have earmuffs on your ears?'
"Yes, I do," Stephanie nodded. "Thank you." Then she paused and asked, "How much are these, though?"
The woman wrote on the paper and showed it to Stephanie, reading, "They're free for you since you helped save me and my son, Norman, from being statues."
"Really?" Stephanie asked, and the woman nodded. "Thank you, miss."
The woman wrote on the paper and showed it to her, reading, "My name is Dilys Price. But you can call me Mrs. Price."
"Okay!" Stephanie smiled with a beaming smile. "Thank you, Mrs. Price!"
Mrs. Price smiled after Stephanie thanked her and exited the store, noticing that the noises around her had been silenced.
'Finally,' Stephanie sighed as she walked through the streets with her new earmuffs. 'No more sore ears.'
Stephanie walked through the streets before perking up when she came across one of the LEGO workplaces and saw a lot of construction workers.
Stephanie's curiosity grew as she stopped safely away from the construction workers and watched how they layered the bricks and sorted through them.
It looked a little easier than the other construction workers Stephanie comes across in Shining Time, but yet again, where is the fun in that?
One of the construction workers noticed Stephanie and perked up, waving 'hello' to her with a smile.
Stephanie perked up and smiled back with a wave before continuing with her walk.
Since she was wearing headphones that could silence everything around her, Stephanie had to be extra careful around her, double-checking when she crossed the street and looking around here and even above.
Stephanie walked into a large part of the city and came across what looked like a mail company, perking with curiosity before watching something flung out from one of the windows and directly toward her!
She gasped and stepped back with her arms out, finally grabbing the package in her arms as it was large, but it did not hurt her as she sighed.
Confused, Stephanie walked up to the door and peered inside, surprised at what she saw.
Machines tossed mail packages everywhere as everyone scrambled around, trying to rearrange the items and sort out problems.
"Holy crap!" Stephanie exclaimed after seeing the chaos before catching another package that was tossed.
Stephanie reached up to the earmuff covering her ear and removed it, hearing that the noise was not too loud like in Drayton.
She removed them and wore them around her neck.
She stepped further into the mailing company and caught more flung packages with her hands, putting them down as she stepped inside.
Everyone was so busy trying to catch packages and sort through the chaos that they ignored Stephanie as she went to see what was happening.
While observing the machines, Stephanie saw one of them launch a package into the air before Postman Pat caught it.
"What are you doing here?" he asked after seeing Stephanie.
"One of the packages was flung towards me," Stephanie responded. "And I wandered into here seeing," she paused as she ducked as another package flew over her head. "This chaos."
"I'm so sorry," Postman Pat apologized. "We're still trying to figure out how to handle these sorting machines Mr. Carbunkle left for us."
"I've got an idea!" Stephanie perked up with a smile before catching another package with her hands and placing it on the ground. "Let me figure out how to work with the machines."
"Are you sure?" Postman Pat asked.
Stephanie nodded as she walked over to one of the computers, standing on her tippy toes as she looked at the screen.
She pulled back a chair and sat down, seeing it was on the homepage, and Stephanie clicked the mouse as she dodged some incoming packages while she focused on the task.
After figuring out some coding, Stephanie went into the system through the computer and noticed some over-added details, causing the catapulting.
So she rearranged everything as Postman Pat watched with confusion, noticing that the sorting machines were slowly stopping the tossing but starting to sort through everything carefully.
Postman Pat looked amazed after Stephanie readjusted the system before moving on to the others, seeing the same thing and sorting through them.
"Excuse me?" Stephanie perked up after completing everything and turned on the chair, looking over at a short, stout man wearing a mustache and a blue uniform. "Who fixed all the machines?"
"That would be me, sir," Stephanie responded as she hopped off the chair. "This Mr. Carbunkle left a little bit too much data in the system, so I re-edited the added data and sorted through it, making it useful for other systems to borrow."
"That's," the man spoke, blinking a few times with amazement. "Incredible! Pat, I didn't know your kid could do that!"
"Ah, Mr. Brown," Postman Pat spoke as Stephanie blushed. "She's not my kid."
"She isn't?" another man asked.
"No," Stephanie said, shaking her head. "I'm, ah, the kid who helped Sodor."
"So you're that kid!" Mr. Brown pointed, and Stephanie nodded. "By 'eck, I didn't realize that!"
"It's okay," Stephanie assured. "Ah, everything is fixed around, so-"
She paused when there were glitches in the machines and muttered, "I'll fix that."
Stephanie hopped into the chair and started entering further into the system, finding some bugs and starting to fix them, changing some of the machines as Mr. Brown watched.
"By Jove," Mr. Brown remarked as Stephanie felt slightly uncomfortable with the eyes looking over her shoulders. "She is hacking further into the system."
Stephanie chuckled a little as she finished fixing all the bugs, double-checking if there was anything else.
After the last bug was removed, everything in the building was back to normal, with the machines working fine and no more tossing packages.
"Fixed!" Stephanie nodded with a smile as she hopped out of the chair. "Everything is back to normal."
"Thank you so much," Mr. Brown thanked, shaking her hand. "You helped the Pencaster Sorting Office from damaging more packages."
"You're welcome," Stephanie thanked as they released their hands. "If there is any more trouble or the machines are crazy again, let me know."
She headed out of the Pencaster Sorting Office as Mr. Brown and Postman Pat waved goodbye to her, and she waved back before putting her earmuffs on and continuing walking.
Stephanie soon came across Propwash Junction and entered, looking around curiously and watching planes go by.
She walked past an open garage before hearing noises from inside, causing her to glance over in confusion.
"Ah, that's really uncomfortable," a voice winced as Stephanie peered inside.
There was a sentient Air Tractor AT-502 painted with the livery of orange, white, and hints of blue and black, looking uncomfortable as he was waiting in the garage.
But instead of having a face like Ace, the windows have eyes with a mouth underneath, looking different, which piqued Stephanie's curiosity.
There were pieces of corn all over his body, from his propellers to his exhaust pipes, which spluttered a little as he groaned.
"Uh, excuse me?" Stephanie spoke as the plane glanced over at her. "Is there something wrong?"
"Uh, well," the plane spoke, pausing as he coughed a little. "I accidentally crashed into some corn during a practice run, and a lot of it got into my tubes. Dottie promised to help, but she is helping one of the other planes be fixed."
"I can help!" Stephanie happily chirped. "I've got the right size of hands to help!"
The plane paused after Stephanie happily chirped to help, unsure if she could, but since Dottie was busy, he decided to allow her.
"Okay," the plane responded after being quiet. "Be careful."
Stephanie nodded and walked up to the plane, starting to clean off the corn from his body and being careful not to accidentally touch a sensitive part.
He watched with curiosity as Stephanie cleaned all the corn off him, using a sponge, and went to every nook and cranny, even carefully getting leftover corn from his exhaust pipes.
It was a little ticklish, as Dusty would stiffen and give some snickers and snorts but not move away from her as she got everything out.
She finished getting the last piece of corn from his wing and stepped back, saying, "And done! You're corn-free!"
He moved around a little as he started his engine, seeing that she had gotten every piece of corn out of his system, and smiled.
"Thank you," he thanked, glancing over at Stephanie. "I didn't get your name."
"Stephanie," Stephanie responded. "And you are?"
"Dusty," Dusty responded. "Dusty Crophopper."
Stephanie perked up after hearing the name and asked with a surprised tone in her voice, "You're Dusty Crophopper?"
"Yes, I am." Dusty nodded. "You're that girl who helped around Sodor, right?"
"Yes," Stephanie nodded. "Ace told me about you," she said, blushing a little. "I didn't want to just waltz up here to get an autograph out of the blue."
"Are you scared of engines?" Dusty asked.
Stephanie paused and said, "A little when I first came to Sodor. But I didn't want to be that 'crazy fan' who wants to see you twenty-four seven."
"Ah," Dusty perked. "It's okay. You can come over, but be careful whenever you walk around Propwash Junction."
Stephanie nodded as Dusty rolled outside of the garage, and she watched with curiosity as he took off into the air from the runway, and she smiled.
"That looks so cool," Stephanie remarked with interest. "I hope someday I can take off into the air after learning a few things!"
"Hey!" Stephanie flinched when a voice exclaimed and turned around, seeing a purple forklift looking confused. "Who are you? Where's Dusty?"
Stephanie panicked slightly and stammered, "Ah, I-I stumbled across him, and he told me you were busy, so I helped by cleaning him out from corn, and-and he took off."
The purple forklift perked after Stephanie stammered and said, "Let me get this straight; you were walking around and came across Dusty, helped him get himself cleaned from corn, and he took off?"
Stephanie nodded after asking, still worried she had gotten into trouble with the purple forklift.
"Well," the purple forklift said. "Thank you. But next time, don't randomly walk up to engines without their consent."
"I did ask," Stephanie gently protested. "But I will be careful next time, Ms. Dottie."
"Thank you." Dottie nodded as she exited the garage. "And it was nice meeting you."
She closed the garage door as Stephanie watched and sighed, muttering as she facepalmed, "Dang it, Steph! You need to be careful next time!"
So she continued walking through Propwash Junction and soon entered another part of the city, seeing what looked like ninjas.
"Ninjas?" Stephanie perked up after seeing LEGO ninjas as she watched the ninjas with curiosity along with the crowd.
They were chasing after something, and when they trapped it, it was a massive Nightmare, which was chunky, but it managed to pick up a huge chunk of the ground.
"Holy-!" Stephanie exclaimed as the Nightmare tossed the chunk toward the ninjas, but someone dressed in red and black jumped, pushing it to the side.
A speed of red and black went in front of the crowd as Stephanie perked up, seeing it was a young kid with blonde hair and wearing a super suit.
"Everyone!" the kid spoke. "Step back! This Nightmare is dangerous."
A police car appeared, transformed into a fifteen-foot-tall robot with the armor of the police car, and responded, "Please listen to the young superhero."
Everyone stepped back as Stephanie did the same, watching the battle curiously to see how they handled the Nightmare.
The Nightmare roared and started attacking the two groups as the young blonde superhero ran to help, each using different abilities and fighting against it as it tossed heavy items.
The ninjas all used elemental powers, while the superheroes used their superpowers to subdue the Nightmare.
Stephanie was watching everything with the crowd at a safe distance, knowing she needed to do something.
Suddenly, a flash of light shone at it, which caused the Nightmare to shriek and lift its arms up, trying to block the light as it shone again.
That same gigantic LEGO red-armored person was holding a flashing light in their hand, using it to weaken the Nightmare as it continued shrieking and trying to grab the light.
Its core was revealed when most of its shadow-like flesh was torn off from the light, and one with white armor grabbed it in their hand.
The core was a blackened, crystal-like heart the size of a normal gemstone compared to the large LEGO being as Stephanie perked.
"I got it!" the white-armored LEGO robot exclaimed. "Get the cage!"
Another LEGO robot appeared with a strange cage-like machine in its hands and approached as the white-armored LEGO robot held the core.
Suddenly, the Nightmare reappeared and angrily shrieked at the white-armored LEGO robot's chest and face, causing him to exclaim in pain and drop the Nightmare as the red-armored LEGO robot exclaimed, "Stormer!"
The Nightmare looked at the crowd as everyone scrambled but saw Stephanie as it charged directly toward her.
Stephanie shrieked and used her string ability, wrapping them around the light poles and the Nightmare, making it stop in its path a few feet away from her.
The Nightmare perked after being captured as she yanked downward, causing it to be lifted from the ground as it shrieked before being held.
"What on Earth?!" one of the ninjas exclaimed as Stephanie held the Nightmare with her hands, her teeth gritted, and she struggled to keep it up as it was heavy.
The string tightened around her fingers as she winced with pain before an idea popped into her mind.
She switched all the strings to her left hand as her body tilted backward and gripped the strings tightly as her knuckles were white.
Stephanie flicked her wrist, and her staff appeared, grabbing it as she transformed it into a spear, and the Nightmare was slowly breaking out of its grip.
Stephanie quickly tossed the spear at the Nightmare, and it roared before the spear was shot into its chest, where the core was.
The core shattered after it was shot through, and the Nightmare poofed, disappearing into thin air as Stephanie collapsed on her bottom, the strings disappearing after it was killed.
Stephanie sighed in relief after the Nightmare had been destroyed before wincing when her fingers started hurting.
She looked at her fingers as the joints were red from the strings tightening around them from having to hold that heavy, weighted Nightmare.
The spear transformed into her staff and returned to Stephanie, transforming into her bracelet and wrapping around her right wrist.
The red-armored LEGO robot approached Stephanie after the Nightmare was gone and asked, as he kneeled to her with a hand out to help her to her feet, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Stephanie nodded, taking his fingers as she stood back up. "I think Nightmares can tell who is who."
The ninjas approached Stephanie with the group of superheroes, and Stephanie started to feel a little crowded.
"That was so cool!" the blonde superhero boy exclaimed. "You just transformed your bracelet into a spear and destroyed that thing! How did you do that?!"
"Ah, it's magic," Stephanie stammered. "And I know how to defeat Nightmares too."
"You do?" A white-armored LEGO robot named 'Stormer' asked as the mask lifted, revealing his face and blue eyes. "Have you fought Nightmares before?"
"I have," Stephanie nodded. "I helped Sir Topham Hatt clean Knapford of Nightmares to spread Gold Dust."
"Then she can help with the other Nightmares we've gathered!" the blue ninja exclaimed.
"Jay," the red ninja groaned as the blue ninja, Jay, chuckled a little.
"You gathered Nightmares?" Stephanie perked. "How many Nightmares did you all get?"
"You might want to come with us," The red-armored LEGO robot nodded, kneeling at Stephanie's height with a hand out to her with the palm up. "It's over at Hero Factory's headquarters."
Stephanie nodded and stepped onto the red-armored LEGO robot's palm as he lifted her to his height and allowed her to climb onto one of his shoulders.
She held onto his metal without grabbing any hidden wires as she watched him climb onto one of the aircraft.
After climbing onto the aircraft, the aircraft took off with the group and started heading towards a massive tower at the farthest distance from Sodor, soon landing on a landing platform as they got off.
Stephanie was awed at how huge the Hero Factory was compared to her small human size as the red-armored LEGO robot walked into the gigantic factory.
"Welcome to Hero Factory," the red-armored LEGO robot mentioned. "It's where the greatest heroes were made."
"Like you?" Stephanie asked, looking at the red-armored LEGO robot with curiosity.
"Yes," he nodded. "My name is Furno since I didn't introduce myself."
"My name is Stephanie," Stephanie responded with a smile before perking up when she saw a hologram of a planet. "Whoa! What's that?"
"That's my home planet," Furno explained as he pointed before pointing at an area as Stephanie watched. "That's where Makuhero City would be, my hometown."
"Wow!" Stephanie smiled before looking over at Furno. "I hope someday I will see Makuhero City."
"I bet you would," he said, nodding before Stormer cleared his throat, causing the two to look over.
"I know you are showing her around Hero Factory," Stormer spoke. "But this isn't the time for a tour."
"Right." Furno nodded as he turned to Stormer.
"Maybe another time," Stephanie gently suggested.
"Sure," Furno nodded in agreement before following Stormer.
They walked further into Hero Factory before entering a large containment room filled with multiple Nightmare Cores in the same cages.
"Whoa!" Stephanie exclaimed. "Is that all Nightmare Cores?!"
"Yes," Stormer nodded as the door closed behind them. "The cages keep them from being released and transforming into their appearances. However, they are getting harder and harder to capture because of their abilities."
"It's like catching shadows," Furno shrugged as Stephanie listened.
They both perked up when one of the Nightmares' cores was jolting around, getting ready to transform as Stephanie said, "Quick, hold out your arm!"
Furno did so, and Stephanie ran across his arm, stopping at his palm as she flicked her wrist, and her staff appeared before transforming into her spear.
The Nightmare's core soon developed a black goo-like substance and transformed into one, shrieking and biting against the cage's bars.
It soon crashed out of its cage and was heading towards the ground, but Stephanie tossed the spear and went through the Nightmare's core, shattering and destroying it.
The spear returned to Stephanie after the Nightmare was destroyed, and she caught it, seeing semi-warm black liquid on its crystal.
It looked like blood.
More beating noises came, and Stephanie looked up, seeing more of the Nightmares becoming loose as Furno placed her on the ground.
"I think we should step outside," Stormer responded as Stephanie nodded.
So she got an idea to defeat these Nightmares as they slowly became free from their makeshift, technologically advanced cages.
She focused on her spear as it glowed before splitting into two and becoming swords, and she smirked, staring down at a Nightmare as it snarled as Stomer and Furno left the room.
Outside, they heard what sounded like the Nightmares' roars and slicing sounds, and Furno winced as Stormer remarked, "She sounds like she is a strong girl."
Furno nodded as the slicing and the Nightmares' shrieking continued before the last slice happened, and everything went silent.
"Okay!" Stephanie called. "I'm done!"
Furno opened the door and peered inside, seeing Stephanie looking a little tired from fighting against the Nightmares as she held her swords in her hands, remarking, "Apparently, I can use spells while my staff is in weapon form!"
Stormer and Furno looked at the containment room, seeing that every Nightmares' core they had gathered whenever they entered the city had been destroyed and evidence of spells here and there.
"I didn't know your weapons could do spells," Furno remarked as Stephanie focused again and transformed the twin blades into her staff.
She turned to the slight mess and created a spell circle, activating it as a fountain of water came out, washing away the Nightmares' blood as it all disappeared.
"And, done!" Stephanie nodded with a sigh as she transformed her staff into a bracelet after the spell circle had disappeared and wrapped around her wrist. "That's a job well done!"
She turned to the two and walked up to them, saying, "If there are any more Nightmares captured, let me know so I can handle them. It's a great way of practicing crowd control!"
Furno and Stormer looked at each other after Stephanie remarked, and Stormer said, "I think that could be one way of putting it. But do you have anything we can contact you in case it happens again?"
"I have this piece of crap phone," Stephanie sighed as she showed her phone to the two. "But it barely works and doesn't respond to calls either."
"Do you mind if we could repair your crappy phone, then?" Furno asked. "A little 'thank you' gift for destroying the Nightmares."
"Really?" Stephanie perked up as they both nodded. "Thank you so much!"
She followed them to meet their friend Professor Zib, who was around fifteen feet tall and was kind to help Stephanie mend her phone.
During this time, as Professor Zib was rebuilding Stephanie's piece of crap phone, Furno showed Stephanie around Hero Factory to familiarize her with the place in case she wanted to visit, being careful with her as she was riding on his shoulder.
Everything looked amazing as Furno continued to show Stephanie around the Hero Factory, and Stephanie was planning everything in her mind about which direction she wanted to go through the Hero Factory by herself.
Furno passed by a door leading to a 'Ballrush,' a game where contestants play against each other and knock each other out of the stage using the ball or brute strength.
Stephanie felt curious after Furno explained before the door opened, and a Hero stuck his head out, looking over at Furno.
"Hey, Furno!" the Hero exclaimed. "We're just about to start a game of Ballrush! Want to play?"
"Sure!" Furno nodded excitedly before looking at Stephanie, mentioning to her with a hand. "Do you mind if she watches, Rocka?"
"I don't mind," the Hero named 'Rocka' nodded. "She can watch from one of the seats with the others."
Stephanie's curiosity grew as Furno stepped into the Ballrush game room, and she looked around, seeing everything looked big and had more Heroes, one of them holding what looked like a round sphere in their hand.
Furno walked over to a couple of chairs with some members, and Stephanie slid off Furno's shoulder and handed her over to one of the Heroes, who held her in his hands.
"This is going to be so cool for you, Stephanie," Furno remarked. "Just watch how we do it."
Stephanie nodded and watched Furno walk onto the platform with the others, showing five holograms of other Heroes.
"Hmm, it looks a little too easy," Furno remarked. "Let's add five more."
Five more holograms appeared after Furno remarked, perking Stephanie as she watched from the Hero's hands as he held her, even watching the game.
She stepped forward a little as she placed her hands on the Hero's fingers to be comfortable, feeling like she was on the tallest part of the football stadium and watching the game.
Ten more were added to the opposing team, and the game started with them tossing the ball as it hovered in the air before Furno's team caught it and tossed it toward the opposing team.
The ball was tossed back and forth between the two teams, with the opposing team being knocked off the stage as they earned points over time.
Stephanie was awed as she continued to watch the game from the Hero's palm as the ball was tossed back and forth, knocking players out of the game and earning points.
She wanted to play like the others but paused after reminding herself she was only a human and would get squished or injured if she attempted.
So Stephanie instead watched with curiosity, getting increasingly excited and cheering the group on from the Hero's palm.
The Hero was amused at how excited Stephanie was as she continued to cheer Furno and his group, winding them up more as they continued playing.
Eventually, the last hologram of the opposing team was knocked out of the stage, and the ball hovered through the air as Stephanie happily whooped and clapped her hands together.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Professor Zib stepped out, saying, "Excuse me?"
The ball somehow mistook Professor Zib for one of the hologram players and headed toward him, causing Professor Zib to shriek in surprise.
Stephanie perked up and took out her Dust Whistle, blowing into it as Gold Dust shot out and went towards the ball.
They formed into hands and grabbed the ball as Professor Zib braced for impact, but Professor Zib opened one eye after nothing happened and looked, seeing Gold Dust-shaped hands holding the ball before disappearing as the ball was dropped.
"Oh my gosh, are you alright?!" Stephanie exclaimed as she put her Dust Whistle away.
"I-I'm fine," Professor Zib nodded, stuttering as Furno and the others approached him. "Thank you for stopping the ball, Stephanie."
"You're welcome," Stephanie nodded after Professor Zib thanked her as the Hero walked over to him with Stephanie in his palms. "Oh, I just finished fixing your phone, Stephanie."
"Great!" Stephanie smiled. "Can I see my new phone?"
Professor Zib nodded as he held up his hands for Stephanie, and she gingerly stepped into them before being placed on his shoulder as he led Stephanie out of the Ballrush game room.
"That game was awesome," Stephanie remarked to Professor Zib as he listened to her. "Furno and his friends were so cool, tossing the ball back and forth and knocking those holograms off the platform!"
"Really?" Professor Zib perked up as he looked over at her.
"Yes!" Stephanie nodded with a smile. "It's like basketball but with a blend of dodgeball!"
Professor Zib chuckled a little at Stephanie's excitement about learning about Ballrush and entered the laboratory, showing what looked like a normal phone.
He placed Stephanie down on the laboratory table as she asked, picking up her phone from the spot where it was, "What can it do, Professor Zib?"
"Well," Professor Zib began as Stephanie listened to him. "I added a little Cybertronian technology to ours to make it more adjustable for you. The other little bits and pieces were just junk and useless."
"Ah, that's human technology," Stephanie remarked with a chuckle before looking at her phone.
It was all black with a screen, and as Professor Zib explained, "Press the button on the side, and it would light up."
Stephanie did so, and the screen lit up, having the same default appearance, but it still remembered what Stephanie's password was when she texted that into the bar.
She entered the homepage without it being slowed down, showing a little more advanced technology and clear graphics that would make Samsung and other phone companies jealous.
"This is incredible!" Stephanie remarked with a smile.
Professor Zib chuckled a little after Stephanie remarked as he said, "I even repaired most of the broken damage on your phone, from the camera to the inner wires, and it can store up to five terabytes of data."
"Wow!" Stephanie remarked with a smile. "Is it waterproof?"
"Yes," Professor Zib nodded. "It can last through anything you go through, and it will still be perfectly normal without a sign of damage."
Stephanie smiled excitedly after Professor Zib explained to her before asking, "Oh, do you mind if I get the phone number of this place so I can get calls about more Nightmares?"
"Of course!" Professor Zib nodded, a little amused at Stephanie's curiosity and kindness.
He gave Stephanie the phone number, and she placed it in her contacts before turning her phone off and putting it into the pocket of her blue jeans.
"Mr. Furno?" Stephanie spoke as Professor Zib lifted her a little to Furno's height.
"Yes?" Furno responded, turning to Stephanie as he kneeled to her.
"Thank you for showing me around Hero Factory," Stephanie thanked with a smile. "I hope someday we can meet up again."
"I hope so too," Furno nodded as she was placed down on the ground to head to the human exit with the others. "And thank you for helping us. Bye!"
Stephanie waved goodbye as she left Hero Factory, excited that she had made new friends and even had a more advanced phone than the one she had.
Yet again, she wonders if the phone could still be taking charges for the amount of data she has on it, which makes her feel confused.
A buzz came from her phone as she stopped next to the road and took out her phone, and she looked at the screen, which had Jackson's name on it.
Stephanie tapped the message, and it took her to the messaging app, where Jackson's message read:
Jackson
Hi Stephanie! How are you doing?
Stephanie
I'm doing well. I met up with a race car named Ace and went around to meet people, including Gordon and the heroes from Hero Factory.
Jackson
Wait, you went into a factory? Why did you go into a factory? Did they allow you to step foot into a factory?
Stephanie
Since I rescued everyone from being statues long when I first 'disappeared,' they allow me to go around Sodor, even when I ask. It's starting to make me feel a little spoiled. Is that bad?
Jackson
I don't know, and I think it is best if you don't do anything stupid. Sodor is a new place for me, and I don't know how I would get your ass out of jail if you got yourself arrested, okay?
Stephanie
I'm being careful. There's no reason to be worried about me, Jackson! I will let you know if something goes wrong.
Jackson
Okay. Don't forget to eat something since it is almost lunch, or if you want, you can come to my apartment to eat food.
Stephanie hesitated after reading Jackson's current text message, having that weird, faint distrusting feeling in her as she responded:
Stephanie
Maybe. But I can eat lunch with Dowager Hatt and Lady Hatt since we know each other.
Jackson
Dowager Hatt and Lady Hatt? Sir Topham Hatt's mother and wife?
Stephanie
Yes, them. I'll be talking with you later since I will continue walking. In the meantime, I can send you pictures of the places I am going if you want.
Jackson
Sure. Just be careful.
Stephanie rolled her eyes with slight amusement as she texted 'Okay' before continuing to walk, carefully passing by cars as she enjoyed the peaceful scenery.
She soon entered another city and perked up when she came across what looked like a firehouse, stopping as she turned to the firehouse with curiosity.
Stephanie had heard about safety lessons from Ms. Richards when she was much younger, ranging from calling the police to the firefighting squad.
But no sirens or other noises were coming from the firehouse.
Instead, a strange smell from one of the windows made Stephanie's curiosity grow.
Filled with curiosity, Stephanie walked carefully into the firehouse, glancing around as she looked at the large red firetruck and other vehicles, impressed at how unique they were.
Her ears suddenly heard what sounded like clattering noises, and Stephanie perked up, following the noises as she stepped further into the firehouse.
Stephanie walked up the steps and entered what looked like the kitchen.
She opened the door, peered into the kitchen, and saw two plumbers with one of the firefighters watching them.
They sounded like they were struggling with something underneath the kitchen sink.
Stephanie watched with confusion as they moved away, talking to each other as Stephanie was more focused on the problem they were attempting to fix.
They did not notice Stephanie was watching them as they walked somewhere else before approaching the problem and looking underneath the broken sink.
Stephanie reached up with both hands and felt around the area, noticing something wedged inside the pipe as she gently hummed with curiosity.
She pushed her glasses into place and continued inspecting the problem before her, moving some items to the side as she peered into the sink.
Knowing there was a garbage disposal inside the sink, Stephanie first looked underneath it and found a button, turning it off so she would not damage her hand when she reached the sink.
Something was wedged inside, so Stephanie grabbed the item and gingerly took it out, revealing it to be a somewhat dented spoon accidentally left in the sink.
Stephanie placed the broken spoon down and double-checked for anything else.
She saw the blade inside the sink was damaged, so Stephanie took it out and placed it on the table.
She went back underneath and unscrewed the pipe and had a weird feeling while having a bucket underneath, and as she slowly removed the pipe, chunks of food came out that made Stephanie gag with disgust, seeing why it was all broken.
Stephanie pushed her sleeves up and put on gloves, cleaning out the junk from the pipe as she had to turn her head from the smell.
How long has all this been backing up?
After the last junk was cleaned from the sink's pipe, Stephanie quickly took the disgusting food-filled bucket outside and dumped it into the yard waste, gagging a little as she emptied it all out.
It smelled so bad compared to the other things she had to clean out, but she kept herself from vomiting as she walked back into the firehouse.
When she returned to the firehouse, Stephanie went to the backyard and cleaned out the bucket, washing away all the grossness from inside with soap and water.
After the bucket was washed, Stephanie placed it where it was and returned to the kitchen, looking at the garbage disposal machine she had taken out and inspecting it.
There was some damage from the spoon accidentally placed inside and a few things stuck inside it, so Stephanie cleaned the garbage disposal and repaired the broken pieces.
Some struggles were getting the pieces back into place after taking them apart, but Stephanie repaired it all, and soon it was working again after testing it.
Stephanie smiled as she stood up from her chair, walked back over to the sink, and placed the garbage disposal back into place, reconnecting it and putting the pipe back in.
Once everything was put back into place, Stephanie double-checked if anything was wrong by running the garbage disposal with water and listening to the sounds.
She nodded to herself after being satisfied that it was all working again and stopped, looking at her arms as they were covered with gross, squished food and soaking.
"Mama Mia!" After hearing someone's voice, Stephanie flinched and glanced over, seeing two plumbers looking confused with a firefighter behind them.
The first man has fair skin and is short, stocky, and portly.
He has bright blue eyes, a big nose, a thick dark-brown mustache with six bumps, and short brown hair with two sideburns.
He wears a red shirt, blue overalls with yellow buttons, a red cap with the 'M' symbol, white gloves, and brown shoes.
The second wears a green hat with an 'L' symbol and is a fair-skinned, tall human with a slim face, short brown hair, and a dark brown mustache with bright blue eyes.
He wears a long-sleeved green shirt, blue overalls, white gloves, and brown shoes.
The fireman has short jet-black hair styled in an Elvis Presley hairstyle, fair skin, blue eyes, a light blue shirt with a symbol on the left chest, black pants, and shoes.
"You were fixing the sink?" the fireman asked, and Stephanie instantly became nervous.
"Yes," Stephanie answered, not wanting to lie in front of a fireman for fear of getting herself into trouble. "I-It's complete, though!"
The two overall-wearing people checked the sink, and the one wearing green said, "What was causing it to be clogged up?"
"A whole lot of food," Stephanie responded, using her wrist to push her glasses into place since her hands were covered with gross food and soap. "There was even a broken spoon too, which could cause the sink not to work."
"Oops!" the fireman winced. "I must've forgotten to check for the spoon."
"And make sure to run water when using the garbage disposal, too." Stephanie nodded. "It helps a lot to blend things easier without damaging them."
"Wait, you did what?" the man wearing red asked.
"I fixed the garbage disposal, too," Stephanie answered, showing some broken wires she had taken out. "Some wires were snapped, and some blades were shattered. So, I repaired it."
All three glanced at each other with amazed expressions as Stephanie asked, looking worried, "Am I in trouble, though?"
"No, you're not, bella," the man wearing green responded. "You did scare us about who was in the firehouse, but you unexpectedly helped Mario and I repair the sink."
"Yeah, how did you manage to fix the sink?" nodded the one in red named 'Mario.'
"My grandpa taught me how to fix the sink when it was broken," Stephanie responded. "Since that, I've learned a little about how to repair one," she paused. "Though I think repairing the garbage disposal was from reading a book more on plumbing."
"That's incredible!" the firefighter remarked. "Maybe we should ask you for some help with Mario and Luigi."
He mentioned the two with his hands as Stephanie said, "It's a pleasure to meet you two. Erm," she paused. "Who's who, though?"
"I'm Mario," Mario pointed at himself before gently elbowing the other with a smirk. "This is my brother, Luigi."
"And I'm Elvis Cridlington!" the firefighter smiled.
"Pleased to meet you all," Stephanie nodded politely. "I'm Stephanie."
An alarm went through the fire station that caused Stephanie to flinch in startlement, and looking up at the alarm as her ears flicked, Elvis instantly went to the firepole and slid down.
"Welp," Stephanie spoke as she stepped out of the fire station with Mario and Luigi. "I guess I will be walking off again."
"Hold on, bella," Mario spoke, which caused Stephanie to stop walking. "Where are you heading off to?"
"I'm looking around at the jobs around Sodor," Stephanie responded, though her ears slightly hurt from the siren blaring.
"Oh, figuring out what you want to be when you grow up!" Luigi perked. "That's great! You can be a plumber when you're grown up!"
Stephanie smiled with a slight cringe because of the siren, but half of her was silently asking, 'What future?'
After leaving the fire station and continuing with her walk, Stephanie soon stopped at a bench and sat down, sighing as she mumbled, "All these jobs look cool… but what kind of future do I have?"
She sighed as she continued thinking about what she could do after looking at the jobs around Sodor.
The sound of scraping noises perked Stephanie's attention, and she looked up, seeing what looked like a wood carver carving something in his hands while sitting comfortably on a stool as his feet were littered with wood shavings.
The woodcarver was carving something in his hands as Stephanie watched from across where she was sitting with curiosity as he carved the piece in his hands.
"Wait a minute!" Stephanie perked up, speaking to herself. "Why am I just walking around Sodor looking for a job? Why can't I just start with hobbies?"
Then she paused and added, as she slumped a little, "Oh, that's right. I haven't figured out what I can do to even start a hobby."
When she returned to the journal she had discovered, Stephanie returned to thinking of a way to get items for starting a hobby.
"What if I could use magic to find a way to help?" Stephanie perked up with a smile as she stood from where she was sitting. "It may seem a little killing it, but it can work! Just need some-"
Stephanie stopped talking when she felt something or someone behind her, getting goosebumps on her arm.
She was about to turn around to look when she was suddenly encased in something metal that caused her to give a cut-off shriek, but it was muffled by the metal around her.
Then what looked like a diesel moved back into the forest, disappearing into the darkness silently.
The woodcarver looked up from what he was doing and glanced over where Stephanie was, shrugging before returning to what he was doing.
Diesel searched with confusion for that little blue-haired girl, wondering where she had gone since the last time he had seen her.
"Where is she?" Diesel muttered as he searched around. "I swear I saw that blue girl around here."
"Who are you looking for?" a voice asked, snapping Diesel out of his search and glanced over, seeing a Troublesome Truck.
"Nothing," Diesel snarled.
"It's nothing if you were looking for something blue and short," the Troublesome Truck snorted.
Diesel instantly perked up after the Troublesome Truck mentioned 'blue and short' and asked, "Wait, you saw her?"
"What? Nothing?" the Troublesome Truck asked, causing the others to laugh.
Diesel growled after the Troublesome Truck asked, emitting fumes from his vents as the Troublesome Truck said, "If you are searching for that kid, she had walked through here before."
"Anything else?" Diesel asked with a frown.
"Nope," the Troublesome Truck answered. "I just walked through here and nothing else."
"Well, there's a problem, actually!" A truck called from the background.
Diesel approached the truck and asked, "What is it?"
"I-I saw Diesel 10!" the truck exclaimed. "He even grabbed that kid too!"
"The blue-haired kid?" Diesel asked.
"Yes!" the truck nodded. "Do you know them?"
"Yes, I do," Diesel groaned. "Dang it, 10! Why are you always a wheel ahead of me?"
He went backward as he went down the line to go onto a turntable, knowing he needed to get to Diesel 10 before he did something stupid.
And he hopes that the blue-haired girl has done nothing to him first.