Thomas...

Thomas...?

I'm still here... You won't get rid of me...

Not that easily at least...

Thomas was panting a little, he felt like he couldn't move. He was in an area of black. 'Not this again...' Thomas worriedly thought. He felt cold wind slam into his body. The wind was howling, it felt strange. It felt weird.

I still need this dimension's energy... And no matter how many times you try to stop me, I'll always be back

Thomas could see a dark figure in the darkness of this area, in front of him.

He then felt the ground shake. He gasped at the feeling, it felt like the whole area was vibrating. The darkness went away. Reveling him to be in Toronto. His home. Nerraw appeared in the air. "Why are you here? Get away from me!" Thomas yelled. Nerraw smirked, then vanished.

Thomas could see the CN tower in the distance. But what happened next, made him very shocked. The CN tower collapsed and fell over. "W-What?!" He gasped. There was nothing he could have done, he had to watch the tower fall, and destroy the Skydome. "No! Not the skydome!" Thomas yelled.

The tall skyscrapers on the horizon started to glitch. Thomas had no idea what was happening. All he knew was that it looked freaky. The glitching started to move through the buildings until it came up directly to the area where Thomas was. The buildings were probably about 20 miles from where he was, but the glitching moved quickly throughout the land. It stopped just by his feet. The ground opened out like there was an earthquake. The grass didn't look like grass anymore. It looked like colorful glitching fabrics of strands, that were shape-shifting. Thomas got control of himself at this moment and backed away.

But there was nowhere he could go. As too, the area behind him was also being destroyed. The only part intact was the spot of grass he was standing on. The buildings in the distance were shifting and glitching like they were going in and out of existence. Buildings were disappearing and reappearing, all while looking like a glitching mess.

The noise of all of this was also extremely loud. It sounded like the universe was screaming in pain. The ground started to shake again. "Oh shit!" Thomas gasped. The spot of grass he was on, was now starting to wither away. He had nowhere to go. The ground gave out. Thomas fell into what seemed to be an endless void.

Thomas gasped awake, he still felt like he was shaking. The area was still vibrating. "Ahh!" He gasped. "T-Thomas!? Woah, calm down!" He heard his father say. Thomas looked around to get his senses together. He was on a plane.

The same plane he left from Toronto in. He blinked, then looked out the window. The sun was almost rising. You could see the faint glow from the horizon of the Atlantic Ocean. Thomas blinked, then looked over at his dad.

"Yeah, that turbulence was horrible wasn't it?" His dad said. "Shook you awake?"

Thomas blinked. Did he see Nerraw again? Or was that really just a dream this time?

Thomas adjusted himself on the seat. But then the plane dipped down for a bit. He got scared and held onto the back of the seat.

"Don't worry Thomas, it's just turbulence," His dad reminded him. Then he sighed. "It woke me up as well. I was in the middle of a bloody good nap too. Well, at least it's almost time for some breakfast. I need my cuppa tea,"

Thomas rested his head on the back of the seat. He just tried to relax. He started to wonder what Carter was doing. "It's almost morning, I wonder if Carter's awake,"

"Maybe, maybe not. We're in a different time zone by now, it seems to be early morning, Carter's probably in bed by now," His dad said. Thomas forgot all about the different time zone mess. 'Shoot, I'd probably need to talk to Carter when it's night on the Island,' He thought to himself. "Hey, dad, what's this? Are we there already?" Thomas pointed out the window. There was some land creeping towards the plane. But, they were still high up and were showing no sign to be landing soon. His father looked over. "That son is Ireland. Which means we'll be landing in Manchester in a half hour or so,"

Thomas had to smile a little at that. He forgot how cool it is to ride planes and see the land below. "Ah, here's my tea," His dad said when the flight attendant gave Thomas and his dad their breakfast.

In a half hour like what his dad said, they reached Manchester Airport.

The plane touched down on the runway and taxied over to the airport. After they all got their bags, and all their belongings. Thomas was now feeling a little excited. He was back in his home country! Even though he was far from his old home, Brighton, he still felt like this was very exciting. "Ok, son... uh..." His dad looked around. "I... should have probably researched on how this airport looks..."

They had to take a train to get to Barrow-In-Furness. The city that's on the west coast of England. Just beyond the city, is the Island.

"Come on, let's walk around anyways, we'll have plenty of time. You want anything to eat before we really head off?"

But Thomas didn't feel hungry. He was too excited. "No, thank you, dad," Thomas told him. His dad chuckled. "Just stoked being here aren't you? Alright, let's try to find the train platform,"

After collecting their baggage, they walked down the hallways of the airport. Thankfully, a sign directed them to the right place. The sign said "This way to Manchester Airport Station,"

Transport To Wales - Llandudno

Transpennine Express - Glasgow Central - Edinburgh- Cleethorpes

Northern - Manchester Piccadilly - Liverpool - Blackpool North - Barrow-In-Furness

"There! That's what we need!" There was a timetable up ahead, which meant they entered the station. Thomas looked up at it. "Northern? Is that what we need to take?"

His dad nodded. "Yes, It's the only one that says it goes to Barrow-In-Furness,"

They had paid for their tickets, and his dad used his credit card because he couldn't bother to go exchange the American currency for British Currency at the moment.

Waiting on the platform, was when Thomas was the most excited. There were a few trains there, but it wasn't the ones they had wanted. "Wow... The trains look so much smaller in comparison to the ones back home," He said. "Yep, trains here are sleeker in design. Probably why most of them are faster,"

Thomas just couldn't wait to tell Carter all of his via email later. "Carter would love all of this! I wish he was here with me..." He said a little sadly. His dad put his hand on Thomas's shoulder. "I know son,"

One of the trains pulled off, blowing into its horn, which sounded very different from the loud thundering K5la horns that the Toronto engines use. Thomas giggled at it. "They're so high-pitched!"

"I believe they sound like that, to be like a warning alarm," His dad said.

After a few, the train they needed arrived at the station. Thomas watched the two-car train slowly roll up to them on the tracks. "Here she is," His dad said, grabbing his suitcase. Thomas grabbed his. Once the doors opened, they boarded.

Thomas sat in one of the seats, followed by his dad. Once they settled, the train started to move off. "Alright, so after looking at the schedule, we'll be here for 2 hours and 19 minutes,"

"Geez, that long?"

His dad nodded.

But Thomas didn't mind, he looked around the window. He couldn't care less if he was on the train forever. Watching the green valleys of Britain go by, and the small British townhomes. It was comforting.

Despite him being British, had to question some of the names. He knew if Carter was with him, he'd just tease him about all of these weird city names. At every other station the train stopped at, Thomas arched an eyebrow.

"Ardwick?" Thomas asked, arching his eyebrow. His dad chuckled. "These names are centuries old," He said.

After that, and after riding for longer, then came Farnworth, then Lostock. Thomas blinked at that one. He read it wrong and thought it said "Lost Sock". He knows if Carter was with him, and heard him say that he'd have a giggle fit.

After a half hour, was Grange-over-Sands. Thomas tilted his head and looked at his dad. "I don't even know," He said. Thomas snorted.

But then, another station said "Flookburgh"

"Ok yeah, if Carter was with me, he would just be laughing at all of this," Thomas snorted.

In a few minutes, they reached their destination.

Barrow-In-Furness

Once the train stopped at this surprisingly small station, Thomas got his belongings, and so did his dad. "Okay, son I know where the island is, let's just walk more here," He said. So that's what they did.

Passing by some buildings, it was a long walk. But the sights were a little worth it. There was a dock. Since this place was on the west coast of England, there was the ocean. But setting right there, was the Island.

And Thomas could see it coming up. There was a bridge, that went from Barrow-In-Furness to the Island, but it was blocked off. In the distance, you could see tall mountains that reached the sky on the Island. Thomas couldn't believe it. He was finally back here. After all those years. He was seeing the Island again. Thomas and his dad walked up to the gate, there was a man there.

Seemingly like he was waiting for him. "Mr. Hatt! Or should I say, Sir Hatt!" The man said. "Burnett. ! It's been such a long time! And sir? What do you mean?"

"You bought the Island! You do know that if you buy land here in the UK, it automatically makes you have the 'Sir' title, don't you?"

"Bloody hell, I forgot about that!" Thomas's dad exclaimed. Burnett.

The man looked over at Thomas. "I'll be if it isn't Thomas!" The man smiled. Thomas blushed a little bit because he didn't expect this random person to know who he is. It felt like he was a celebrity or something. "Thomas is probably wondering who you are," His dad said. "Son, you can trust him, he's an old friend of mine, you can go with him,"

"Huh?" Thomas asked, blinking. "Trust me, I'll just be here, I'll book a hotel for myself here in Barrow. You go get acquainted with Mr. Stone,"

Thomas looked over at the man. He then nodded. "Have fun!" His dad said.

"So, Thomas! I've heard so much about you!" He said. Thomas blinked, "You do?"

"Yes!"

Thomas was wondering. Yong Bao knew who he was. And now this Burnett Stone also knew him as well as him. Could he be an engine too? Thomas looked at him as they were walking over the bridge. "Um... Mr. Stone... are you... um... an engine?"

"Me? And engine? Oh no, no. Of course not. Although, I do know a lot of the magic of you, and this Island,"

"You do?"

Burnett nodded. "Yes. This Island is called Sodor. It was just an ordinary island. But when she used her magic to make people turn to engines... It's not exactly what she had in mind. She just wanted to give normal engines, magic to turn living. She had no intention to turn human beings into machines,"

Thomas thought about it. It kinda made sense. "She loved engines a lot. There was no one at that time with more passion for these locomotives, than her,"

Thomas looked at Burnett. "How do you know this, Mr. Stone?"

"Because she was my wife,"

Thomas gasped. "W-What?!"

Burnett just softly smiled. "We were just 20 years old at the time. Me being a locomotive buff didn't help with winning the 'cool point' as you kids call it these days. But when I met her, it changed all of that. She was more of a train buff than even me. Hell, she even knew more of locomotives than me on top of all of that!" Burnett explained. "One day, she got the job at a young age to be a locomotive engineer. These were different times, so you could have driven these machines at young ages like this. She first became a fireman, then she moved on to be a driver. She got so good, she could have done the whole job by herself. But as time went on, North Western was replacing their steam engines with diesels..."

Thomas couldn't help but get intrigued by the story all over again. This is exactly what his father was talking about. "It caused her so much stress. She got so attached to her engine. I don't know where her powers came from. I don't know how long she had it, but either way, she used it. Just, it was from the wrong purpose,"

"What happened to her?" Thomas asked.

"Well, when she used her powers... she vanished. No trace of her anywhere. I was devastated. When she left like that, I couldn't move on. I knew I had to do something, just didn't know what. After a while, I started to find out. People all over the Island reported that they could change to an engine, and back to an engine. I don't know why, but I knew what was the culprit. So, I racked enough money together, to buy the Island. This Island was magical. I couldn't let it be accessible to the outside. So, after buying it, I didn't know what to do. That, was until your father came into the picture,"

Thomas tilted his head. "My dad?"

"Yes. Here, take a look at this-"

They were walking across the bridge, then stopped. Thomas looked down at what seemed to be a scroll, that was in Burnett's hands. Thomas took it. "Open it, and read,"

Thomas opened it up.

There were pretty markings on it. Art of engines and magical gold-looking sparkles.

-Engine of the coat of blue, with the number of confidence, will be the one to wake her from her slumber-

Thomas blinked at it. Was this the Prophecy Yong was speaking about? Thomas looked up at Burnett. "This... thing truly exists?"

"Yes. I had it for quite some time. I discovered it on my table one night in the 80s, and I knew it was from her. Who else could it have been? You are the one who might bring her back and probably can fix her mistakes. But, I don't know if it was indeed written by her. I mean, maybe it is. She wasn't good at rhyming words, and this screams that, but she was a damn good artist. But why would she talk in 3rd person?"

They both started to walk off again. "Are you saying someone else wrote it?" The man shrugged, "I don't know. But either way, they knew about you before you were born. Whoever it is, is helping me, help her,"

"Mr. Stone... If... If you owned this Island, why does my down own it now?"

"Well, upkeep of it got rough, and as much as I'd love to be in full ownership of it for my wife's sake, I'm getting told old to keep up with all of this, and I needed some help. I needed someone trustworthy to own this place though. Any randoms wouldn't cut it. So, when I heard of this man in Toronto, who has a son of the one on the Prophecy, who else would be a more suitable land owner?"

Thomas nodded. They finally reached the other side. "I named that bridge Jubilee Bridge. One of her favorite locomotives was the LMS Jubilee,"

"Aw that's sweet," Thomas said with a smile. Burnett grinned. Then, he sighed. "This Island contained so many trains back in the day, once all this chaos began to ensue, it got abandoned,"

But then Thomas thought. He came here when he was very young when his father wanted to buy the Island, but couldn't. "Say, my dad took me here years ago, how I don't recognize you?"

"Well, it's hard to remember many things from when you were 5 huh?" Burnett said with a chuckle. "But seriously, I most likely was away during those times. I don't even remember. See? Even I forgot. Happen just like 8 years ago, and it already left my memory,"

Thomas chuckled. "So, Thomas, show me what you can do,"

They walked right up to a railway line. The track looked old, but it didn't look unstable. There was also a station, that was made out of bricks. "Woah that station looks huge!"

"Doesn't?" Burnett smiled. "It's called Vickerstown Station! When this Island was running with the North Western, this place was as busy as Kings Cross!"

Thomas stood over the tracks. How much he couldn't wait to turn into the engine.

He closed his eyes, whistles sounds, and steam hissing played in his mind, then

WHEEESH

He turned into the engine. Thomas opened his eyes. He was the engine.

He looked down at Burnett stone. He smiled. "Brilliant," He said.

So at this moment, Burnett was inside Thomas's cab, and Thomas was chugging down the track lines. He left Vickerstown. Thomas was so excited. He was on the open rails now. Not the tram lines in Toronto. An actual railway. He peeped into his whistle as he moved along.

"Now, Thomas, what I need from you, is for you to go to a certain spot on the Island,"

Thomas blinked. "Huh?" Thomas responded. He was baffled. He just came here. For him to find his way to a specific location, would be impossible. "Don't worry Thomas, I'll guide you, so don't trouble yourself," Burnett said. "The track lines are switched to exactly where I need you to go,"

After chugging for a bit, passing by a tunnel, then over a few hilly regions. "Thomas, slow down here-" said Burnett. Thomas slowed down, then felt himself turn on the track lines. "Oh, alright," Thomas said when he felt his wheels grip the rails. "Um... Is my bag ok in my cab?" Thomas asked, "Yes Thomas, your bag with your laptop is fine,"

"This is the Kirk Ronan BranchLine. Was a nice train line back then," Burnett called out. Thomas smiled. He was just happy that this old railway's train tracks were in good condition.

But, once he came up to what seemed to be a siding, Burnett told him to stop. "You see that track? Turn in there,"

Thomas looked down the line that went off to the right. He blew out some steam and chugged forwards. He turned on the lines.

The track went into what seemed to be some grassy, tree-filled area. "Oh! Ow..." Thomas said. This siding was a little bumpy. It was pretty long too. It went deep into the bushes.

But as Thomas continued to chug, he saw some buffers coming up. He gasped and gently applied his brakes. He came to a complete stop, and his metal chassis shook, with a loud steam blowing out from underneath his undercarriage. "Uh... Mr. Stone? There... is no more track..." Thomas said. "I think I chugged down a dead end..."

"Are there any buffers?"

"Yeah, there is, and it looks a little worn out and old,"

"Good. That means we are in the right place. Keep on chugging and down stop,"

"Huh?!" Thomas asked, with his voice cracking a little bit. He arched his eyebrow. "But if a continue to move, I'll hit the buffers!" Then he looked at it. "And it looks so old, I'm pretty sure at its condition, it wouldn't even do its job, and it'll snap by my weight,"

Burnett chuckled. "Just continue to chug. Trust me, Thomas,"

"But..."

"Thomas, I promise nothing bad will happen,"

Thomas blinked. Steam hissed out from him. "Okay... If you say so Mr. Stone,"

Still seeing the absurdity of this situation, he didn't want to. But what is the worst that could happen if he goes slowly? If Thomas were to move at one mile an hour, he would be able to stop in time before he could get thrown off of the rails.

Wheel turn, by wheel turn, Thomas slowly puffed up to the buffers.

Slowly, and slowly, he stopped just as his front buffers were near the pair of buffers.

"Uh... No what?"

"Keep on going-"

Thomas blinked, arching his eyebrow. 'Is he insane?'

Thomas jolted and continued to move. Then, what happened next, made him so surprised. His buffers were fazing through the pair of buffers. He gasped, shook, and quickly reversed. "C-Cinders and freaking ashes?! What the?!"

Burnett laughed. "Proceed on Thomas!"

Thomas looked down at the buffers.

"The real magical Island awaits," Burnett said with a smile.