[Don't mind me. I'm a line bump]
Eighty Feet in the Air
Written by Hufflepuff Batboy and Broa Island
Based off "Cranky Bugs" by Britt Allcroft and David Mitton
1941; a very important time for the Second World War. The Great Depression in the United States had come to an end, and the Allies were in demand for war supplies from the new world.
Among the Allies was the Island of Sodor. The engines of the North Western Railway – Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Ruby, Yang, Sarah, Edwin, Harry, Kirk, Jenny, and the Red Engines – were doing their best to cope with the ever-increasing workload war usually brings for the railways. The big engines would bring soldiers to Barrow via the rolling bridge over the Wanley Channel.
Two other engines were on the NWR at the time, namely Sandra the Z Class and Archibald the 2P. They were on a siding out of the way due to their rudeness and bad behavior against the other engines.
As other engines passed, Sandra and Archibald would shout profanities and rude remarks their way, but they took no notice.
One August afternoon, the Fat Director had sent Harry and Edwin to deliver supplies to Brendam Docks where a ship would take them the rest of the way to France.
The two tank engines were very excited for the change in scenery. But that excitement quickly faded once they arrived at the docks. On the main loading bay stood two 80 feet tall cranes, both non-faceless, and both painted the same grey-colour as the concrete dock as par Blackout Protocol. Big Mickey seemed friendly enough, although he didn't talk much, but Big Mikey was a different story. So different in fact, that the docks' personnel knew him by a different name.
Cranky.
When Cranky saw Harry and Edwin approaching, he was livid! "Oh no," he groaned, "not more noisy steam kettles!"
"I beg your pardon?" squeaked Edwin, he and Harry were quite offended.
Cranky glared down at Edwin as if he had just insulted a loved one, "You lot puff in and out of these docks, hissing and clanking, day in and day out! It's drives my bloody head in! Steam engines should be seen and not heard. No! Scratch that! Steam engines should not be seen nor heard!"
"Now that's not very nice," said Harry indignantly. "When I was working with my brothers and sisters, the cranes there were very nice, and they never complained about things we couldn't control!"
"I'M NOT COMPLAINING," screamed Cranky, "I'M VENTING MY FRUSTRATIONS! TWO VERY DIFFERENT TERMS!" In a fit of rage, Cranky slacken his cable and the tank he was loading onto a ship suddenly dropped like bricks and crashed onto the pier directly in front of Harry, who let out a high-pitch scream!
"What is your problem?!" Edwin nearly yelled, "What would've happened if you'd set that turret off?!"
"Peace and quiet for starters!" snapped Cranky, ignoring the angry shouts of the workmen directed his way.
"Come on Harry," Edwin soothed, "let's blow this joint." The J50 silently agreed and, once the mess had been cleaned up, the two tank engines scuttled away, leaving their trucks for the cranes to unload
"You'll just a big bully!" Harry muttered, but it was lucky for him that Cranky didn't hear him.
Now, Cranky wasn't down-right horrible like Sandra and Archibald, he was just sleep deprived. Very sleep deprived. The poor crane had never taken a nap since the war started, he never gotten to sleep early, he works all the time. And his only company were the seagulls that settled on his arm.
Because of all this, Cranky… was always cranky.
And it didn't help matters that everything that could go wrong did go wrong when Harry and Edwin were sent back to the docks to help him the next day.
While in the dockmaster's office, Harry's driver picked up the wrong paperwork and thought they were to bring some vans to be loaded with fish for the Flying Kipper to pick up later that night. It was an utter nightmare maneuvering his way through the packed shunting yard, but once Harry had found the vans, he quickly brought them over to the dock where Cranky and the workmen were waiting.
Cranky was livid! "I need flatbeds! Not vans!" thundered the crane, who was unloading creates of food and clothes off a non-faceless American ship.
"But… But…" stammered Harry.
His driver sighed, "I think this might be my fault," he said. "Oh dear-"
"Don't you 'oh dear' me!" Cranky roared, "Get your engine back to the yard and bring the right trucks back here NOW!"
"But that place is packed," Harry protested, "and I'm tired-"
"Yes, I'm tired too, Harry! Tired of useless little green bugs like you creating more work for me NOW GET OUT OF HERE!"
HONK!
"Hurry up, shit-face! I'm rusting over here!" the ship bellowed at Cranky, blasting her horn long and loud.
"I'M COMING! I'M COMING!" Cranky wailed.
Luckily, Edwin's driver had picked up the right paperwork and the V3 quickly brought the flatbeds to the dock, Harry using this opportunity to go find a spot to rest. Attracted by the commotion outside, the dockmaster exited his office inside the Sodor Shipping Co. building and walked down the stairs to the docks below. As he did so, he noticed Edwin pushing the flatbeds onto the line closest to Cranky.
"Wait! Stop!" the dockmaster called to Edwin's crew. "You've brought this stock to the wrong track!"
"The wrong track?!" cried Edwin, he was most surprised.
"Yes, they're supposed to go on the outside line, where your standing now is too close to the crane!"
Edwin sighed, and did what as the dockmaster said. What they didn't know, however, was that the dockmaster had miscalculated the length of Cranky's arm and didn't know that the flatbeds were fine where they were. But it was too late now! Once Edwin had moved the trucks to the outside line, Cranky set his sights on loading them when-
HONK!
Another blast of the ship's horn took Cranky off guard and he dropped a crate of fruit onto the tracks, instead of the trucks! Apples, oranges, pears and peaches flew everywhere, covering everything in a thick mussy substance! The dockmaster covered his mouth with his hand, realizing his mistake.
But this was the last straw for Cranky. "YOU BLOODY IDIOTS!" he screamed at Edwin, the dockmaster, and the ship, "YOU SHOULD'VE KNOWN MY ARM COULDN'T REACH THAT FAR!" These setbacks caused confusion and delay.
The Fat Director soon arrived on the scene, and needless to say, he wasn't happy. He spoke to Harry, Edwin, and the dockmaster severely. "Cranky has an important job to do," he said crossly, "but I hear from him that you have not been helpful at all!"
"It wasn't our faults," Harry and Edwin sulked.
"I am in no mood for back chat!" boomed the Fat Director. "Mr. Mathews, I shall be speaking with your superiors, and you two will go back to the sheds and think of how you can improve your behavior tomorrow!"
Not wanting to drag this on for longer than it should, Harry and Edwin did as they were told and puffed sadly out of docks. They were most upset.
That afternoon, boats from the coast guard sped into docks and harbors all over the island, reporting that a violent hurricane had been spotted traveling in from the Atlantic Ocean. And Sodor was smack-bang in the middle of it's path! The Fat Director called a state of emergency, he cancelled all trains and ordered his engines to find shelter before the storm hit them!
Gordon, Henry, Kirk, and Ringo were able to make it back to Tidmouth where Edwin and Harry were serving out their punishment. Ruby took shelter within the Ffarquhar Branch Line with Thomas and Toby. Yang and Jenny booked it to the Steamworks when they heard the news, as did the remaining Red Engines. Percy, James, and Sarah had to sleep with Edward underneath the Sodor Shipping Co. building, where all four faced Cranky's wrath.
Night came, and with it, the storm!
"He's so mean," Percy complained about Cranky, "I wish I were at Tidmouth."
"We can't," said Sarah, "Tidmouth's too far away, and even so, the sheds there are full."
"Just be thankful you found cover from this blasted rain, Percy," said James.
CRASH! went the thunder as the rain pelted down and the wind howled loudly!
"I CAN'T STAND THIS NOISE!" bellowed Cranky, "MAKE IT STOP! THE NOISE! MAKE IT STOP, PLEASE!"
Just then, another noise began battling against the storm… a low droning sound… that grew loud each passing second… Cranky's eyes widened and the engines' boilers ran cold.
It was an air raid siren!
But it wasn't a plane approaching the docks…
An old tramp-steamer was battling it's way through the storm! It's rudder had been damaged and the captain was franticly trying to regain control, but it was no use! With a thunderous CRASH!, the ship ran aground tearing through the concrete dock like the blade of a plough tearing through earth!
"EVERYBODY RUN!" screamed Cranky!
The ship's bow smashed into the crane's base! It bent and crumpled, collapsing in on itself! With the roar of shearing metal, Cranky tipped over, smashing into a warehouse!
"ARRRGH!"
On his descent, Cranky's crane arm struck the roof of the Shipping Co. building, sending a large chunk of the structure crashing down in front of Edward, Sarah, James, and Percy, trapping them inside!
"HEEEELP!" the engines shouted.
"I CAN'T!" called Cranky, who now lay on his side amongst the ruins of the warehouse.
The next morning, the storm had passed, and Harry and Edwin were still sulking about Cranky. The Fat Director came to see them, Gordon, Henry, Kirk and Ringo.
"There's been a terrible disaster at Brendam!" said the Fat Director, "Sarah, Percy, Edward and James are trapped, and Cranky has toppled over on the key side!"
"I knew that jackass would get struck by karma!" Edwin muttered, but Harry heard him.
"It happens to all of us," Harry said firmly, "be reasonable, Edwin; what about our friends? Do they deserve to be left for dead?"
"Harry is right," said the Fat Director, "we must help them! Services on the main line and the Peel Godred Branch Line will continue as normal, but I will cancel all trains on the Ffarquhar, Kirk Ronan and Norramby Branches so the engines there can help with the rescue! Harry and Edwin, you're needed too!"
When Harry and Edwin arrived at the docks, they found Thomas, Jenny, and two faceless Jintys the LMS had sent when they heard the news. The six engines got to work clearing up the mess, an operation that took a few days. Cranky's head was removed from his body, which was damaged beyond repair. Both it and the tramp-steamer were sent to Barry's Island for scrap.
Once Cranky was united with his newly constructed frame, strong chains were fastened between him and three tugboats. The tugs, straining furiously, slowly lifted Cranky upright, with Edwin being used to help correct his position if needed.
Once he was bolted into place, Cranky lifted the remnants of the Shipping Co. building out of the way, freeing the engines. Sarah, Edward, James, and Percy were overjoyed to see the sun again after being trapped in the dark for almost a week!
"Oh, thank you Cranky," said Sarah gracefully, "What would we have done without you?"
"Well," chuckled Cranky, "I did have to be rescued before I could help you. But I didn't believe it would be a couple of b- Uh…" Cranky was about to say bugs but quickly corrected himself, "Er, small engines. Thank you, you four, and Harry, Edwin, I'm sorry if I was difficult to work with. I can be a bit of a grump, can I?"
"Apology accepted," said Edwin, "and we're sorry too. We should've understood the stress you must've been going through."
Harry silently agreed, looking up at his and Edwin's new friend.
Soon, all the engines had left. All shipping had been redirected to Knapford and Norramby for the time being, as such, Brendam Docks was silent. Cranky thought he would never experience true silence again. He was just drifting off to sleep, for the first time in months, when-
"Peep! Peep!"
"I'M AWAKE! I'M AWAKE!" Cranky cried. He turned his attention towards the whistle.
A viridian tank engine steamed into the docks, he had three domes and his six wheels were much too close together. "Hello," the engine said in an American accent, "You must be Cranky. My name's Porter."
"Hello… Porter?" said Cranky, still trying to figure out was the Hell was going on. "Why are you-?"
"Oh, the US army sent my siblings and I here to help you English folk out until this… war thing is over. I don't know what war is, but it sounds like something that brings hard work! I've been stationed here for the time being."
"Stationed? Here?" whimpered Cranky, "You mean your going to stay here?! All day?! EVERYDAY?!"
"Why shouldn't I?" asked Porter. "After all, I can't just ditch you in your time of need. That's what friends are for!" Porter then puffed away to find work, the sound of his pistons five times louder than that of engines of British design.
He was even louder than the noisy steam kettles Cranky had tolerated with for the longest time!
Cranky's heart sank. "No… No…! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO-