Steam billowed from the engine's pistons, and a wall of white mist flooded the area. People on the platform—who were just about to board the Passenger train—stopped in their tracks, staring in disbelief at an engine with a face that had derailed right in front of them.
"Ohhhh crap..." Mei murmured. Even though she and the others had been tossed around inside Thomas's cab when the train suddenly halted, they were all okay. Thomas, however, was a bundle of nerves—he could feel everyone's eyes on him while he was worried sick about his friends. "Are you all alright? Carter?! Mei?!" he yelled. The onlookers gasped as they saw him speak, and Thomas felt his head spin from the shock. In his blurry vision, he caught a glimpse of what looked like a dark, human-shaped shadow standing before him. "Huh... what...?"
But the voices around him brought him back to the moment.
Thomas knew he needed to switch back, yet his friends still had to exit his cab. "Please, everyone, get out of my cab!" he demanded.
"Alright!" Mei responded, leaping out onto the platform. One by one, her friends followed. Once they were all out, Thomas closed his eyes and tried to calm his racing heart.
After several failed attempts, he transformed back into a human with a little poof.
The passengers' faces were etched with shock as they stared at both Mei and Thomas. Mei was well-known around Toronto—she didn't hide her powers, after all—so it wasn't long before someone started making connections. "Meilin!" someone shouted. "Who's this!?"
"Uh..." Mei hesitated, looking around at her equally speechless friends.
Meanwhile, poor Thomas tumbled onto the tracks as he reverted and had to scramble up onto the platform. Thankfully, Carter was there to lend a hand.
All the boxes lay ruined on the tracks, a disorganized heap of crumpled cardboard and spilled contents. "Oh no..." Abby groaned. "Mei, the boxes got mashed!" Every one of them stared at the mess.
"Shoot..." Tyler muttered.
Mei groaned in exasperation. "Ugh, now what are we gonna do?!"
They had no choice but to get out of there, and fast.
Even though Thomas was unharmed, the GO Train's engine wasn't so lucky—its front was completely dented. Noticing this, Thomas knew it was time to leave.
"Come on, guys, let's head to the SkyDome. Maybe they'll be... understanding," Mei said.
They all walked down the street toward the SkyDome.
"How'd we get away with that?" Miriam asked.
"Because we literally ran away from the scene..." Tyler replied, arching an eyebrow.
"Great, we're criminals..." Miriam grumbled.
"Hey, no we're not!" Mei countered, turning to face her friends. "There's no way anyone's gonna believe that an engine with a face collided into the GO commuter!"
"Dude, they literally know about a walking and talking red panda!" Tyler yelled.
"And Thomas literally turns into an inanimate object! We're fine!" Mei tried to reassure him before glancing at Thomas. "By the way, are you doing alright?"
Carter peered over at Thomas. "Yeah, you okay?"
Reaching out, Carter touched Thomas's cheek. "Looks like you got a bruise or something..."
Thomas's face flushed a little as Carter rubbed his cheek, and Mei couldn't help but giggle. "Now we can't tell if that's a bruise or a blush!" she laughed, and everyone else joined in. Thomas only mumbled, "I—I'm fine..."
"Mei! Watch where you're going!" Miriam gasped.
"Mei! Watch where you are going!" Miriam yelled.
"Huh? OOOF!" Mei walked backwards into a pole, sending Tyler into hysterical laughter.
Miriam shook her head. "You need to be more careful, Mei," she said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, don't do that—you might hurt yourself," added Priya.
They were nearly at the giant SkyDome. "You know, I overheard them saying they might change the name of the SkyDome to something else once the renovations are finished."
"Something Else sounds like a terrible name," Tyler joked.
"Ugh, Tyler..." Abby giggled
Mei rolled her eyes. "That's not what I meant!"
"Change the name? Do you know what they'd change it to?" Thomas asked.
"No, I don't. That's why I said something else."
"Ooh! They should call it 4 Town Dome!" Abby exclaimed.
Miriam giggled. "Girl, 4 Town doesn't live at the place!"
"I wish they did! I'd visit them every day—especially Tae Young!"
Mei turned to Thomas. "Do you like 4 Town, Thomas?" she asked.
Thomas was just listening, not knowing what to add to the conversation, but since she asked this: "Oh, well—their music's good, so yeah, I guess I do."
Abby gasped. "Yes! Thomas is 4 Townie! Who's your favorite member?"
"Um... I guess Tae Young. I love that he takes care of animals."
"WhooHOO! TAE YOUNG GANG!" Abby cheered, high-fiving Thomas. He chuckled, and Mei added, "Robaire is my fave."
"Mine is Aaron T!" Miriam smiled.
"Jesse is cute," Priya piped up.
"And Aaron Z is where it's at. Plus, he's pretty cute too," Tyler added.
Thomas smiled, heartened by how something as simple as music had brought them all together—and now he was part of it, too. "What about you, Carter? You like 4 Town?"
"To be honest, I don't know much about them..."
"WHAT?!" Everyone gasped except Thomas.
"I guess... their music isn't really my style," Carter admitted.
"Oh... then what's your style?" Miriam asked.
"Definitely not one you'd like..."
Before they could continue, they arrived at the Skydome. Mei sighed. "Okay, guys. Here goes. I don't know who's in there exactly, but if it's the construction crew for either the dome or the dance, just tell them the boxes got destroyed by... falling into a river, okay?"
Priya arched an eyebrow. "A river?"
Mei rolled her eyes. "It's the best excuse I've got right now, alright!"
They stood in front of the building's door. "Come on, this way. I'm allowed inside, so stick with me so they don't think you broke in."
Tyler blinked. "Yeah, I don't want to get jailed because I came here..."
So, they huddled close behind Mei. The SkyDome looked strangely different—empty and silent—a stark contrast to its usual bustling, lively atmosphere. Repairs were nearly complete; the damaged seats had been replaced, though the change was still palpable. "It's like I haven't been here in ages," Miriam observed.
"Yeah, it feels so... weird seeing it empty, doesn't it?" Mei agreed. Ahead of them was a stage—a special addition for 4 Town to perform on. Back in 2002, when they'd been here, 4 Town rarely got a chance to perform in Toronto since the only venue was the SkyDome, a sports stadium, and reservations were nearly impossible. Thankfully, a stage was arranged for them.
Now, the stage was back because 4 Town had agreed to perform privately for Pearson Middle School's Valentine's dance.
"I still can't believe 4 Town came back to Toronto after everything that happened," Priya said.
Mei groaned. "We're still not over that? It's not like 4 Town got PTSD from what happened... right?"
Mei opened another door leading into the open stadium. "I wouldn't be so sure of that," Tyler remarked. "Your mom was really scary,"
"I'll tell you what—I'm not over the fact that we ended up here on a talking train," Tyler added, making Thomas's face turn a shade of red as he looked away.
"Hey, you're embarrassing him!" Miriam snapped at Tyler, who bristled in response. He was about to retort when Mei interjected, "Hm... where are the workers? There were so many here yesterday..." They stood on the faux green grass of the stadium as Mei scratched her head. "Shouldn't they be here waiting for the boxes?"
"Yeah, that's really bizarre..." Abby said. "Wait—does that mean they didn't even need the boxes after all?" she asked.
"You're telling me we went through all that trouble for nothing?" Tyler groaned.
"Mei? Is that you?" A voice called out.
"Huh?" The voice was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Mei and her friends turned around, shock written all over their faces.
There, approaching them, was Robaire alongside Tae, Aaron T, Aaron Z, and Jesse—the entire 4 Town group, walking straight toward them.
"UhhhHHH!—" Everyone froze in place.
"Oh no, Robaire, we killed them..." Tae blinked.
"Tae YOUNG?!" Abby yelled, sprinting over and leaping onto him. In the chaos, both tumbled to the ground with a resounding thump. "AHH! OOF!" Poor Tae cried out.
"R-Robaire?! H-How... wait... You... you know my name?!" Mei managed to ask.
"Yeah, of course!" Robaire grinned. "How could I forget the Panda Girl! And... her mom who tried to kill me..."
Mei's face flushed bright red. "I am still SOO sorry about that..." she apologized.
Aaron Z just smiled. "No big deal! We've pretty much gotten over it."
All of Mei's friends remained frozen—except for Carter.
And Abby was piggybacking on Tae's back, making him almost fall again.
"Uh..." Mei blinked , watching her friends act all sorts of crazy, then turned to Robaire. "How are you all here? The dance isn't until Tuesday..."
"Yeah, we know," Robaire explained. "We usually come a few days early to practice and get everything set up."
Mei nodded. "Ooh, that makes sense."
Another loud thump echoed as Abby tried to climb onto Tae again and they both fell over. "Woo! Fun!" Abby cheered. "Ow..." Tae groaned.
"You guys got some new friends? Who are these two?" Jesse inquired, noticing Thomas and Carter.
"Oh, I'm Carter. Nice to meet you all," he said.
"H-H-Hi... I'm Thomas..." Thomas mumbled.
"Oh man! I just love your accent!" Tae exclaimed brightly, his smile infectious. He sprang up, inadvertently causing Abby to tumble off. "Whoa! Oww..." she yelped.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Tae quickly helped her up.
"What part of England are you from?" Aaron Z asked.
"I—I'm from Brighton," Thomas replied.
"Brighton? Hey, we performed there once!" Tae exclaimed excitedly.
"Of course I remember—you didn't want to leave..." Robaire chuckled.
"England has that preserved railway, right? So every now and then you see steam trains running around. We were lucky to catch one, and Tae went full-on nerd mode," Aaron T laughed.
Tae's face turned a deep red. "Hey! I just love steam trains, okay? Nothing nerdy about it..." he pouted, and every one of Mei's friends couldn't help but melt at his adorableness. Bashfully, Tae hid his face.
Thomas couldn't believe what he had just heard. 'Tae loves trains...?'
"So, you guys brought the stuff?" Robaire asked.
Mei glanced at her friends before meeting Robaire's eyes. "Um... about that..." she began.
Robaire tilted his head. "Hm? What's wrong?"
They all looked down. "They kinda got destroyed..." Mei admitted.
"Destroyed?! By what?" Jesse asked.
"...No offense, Mei, but... did you accidentally step on them as a panda?" Robaire teased.
"W-What? No! Of course not! If that were the case... it wouldn't be a big deal," Mei insisted.
"Do you think we'll need them?" Tae asked. "What exactly were they again?"
"Mics and stuff like that. I guess we can use whatever the stadium has in storage," Aaron Z replied.
Relieved that it wasn't essential equipment for the dome, Mei sighed, "Oh thank goodness! I'm really glad it was just that."
So, they helped 4 Town hunt for spare mics in the backrooms of the Skydome. There were plenty to choose from, though many sounded terrible or wouldn't adjust properly, so they had to hunt for more.
In the storage room, everyone split up to scour the shelves. Tae was deep in conversation with Robaire, and Thomas lingered nearby, listening in.
"Hey, Robaire, you know how we usually take a bus to travel around?" Tae asked.
"Mm-hmm. Yeah, what about it?" Robaire replied.
"What if, instead of a bus, we had a private train?" Tae proposed.
"A train? I mean, 4 Town could probably swing it, but... that sounds far-fetched. How would we even pull that off?" Robaire questioned.
Thomas couldn't help but think, He wants a 4 Town train instead of a bus?
Suddenly, Abby's excited voice rang out, "Guys, this mic looks pretty new!" Robaire parted from Tae's side. "You're right—it doesn't look like it's been through a war this time."
Carter chuckled. "I'll say."
"Let's go test it out on the stage," Robaire suggested, and the group followed him out.
After everyone had left, Thomas pulled Carter aside. "Hey, Carter, can you stick with me for a minute?"
"Hmm? What's up?" Carter asked.
"I...I need to tell you something..." Thomas began.
Carter raised an eyebrow. "What? Is it that you like me? We already established that... you wanna kiss me or something?" he joked. "Is that why you pulled me aside? Haha, save it for the dance, tank engine," he giggled.
"W-What? No, that's not it! I...I overheard Tae talking about something."
"Tae Young? What about him?"
"He said he'd rather have a train for the group instead of a bus!"
"Tae Young's a train lover just like you. I think that's cute—nice to know there are more people like you," Carter smiled warmly.
Thomas shook his head. "That's not the reason! He wants to have a train! I could be the train! Their own personal train!"
Carter blinked. "Y-You?"
"I can transform into a steam engine! I could be their means of transportation between cities! Maybe not overseas, of course, but when they come to North America, I can be all theirs!" Thomas exclaimed, flailing his arms excitedly.
Carter wasn't so sure. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Your cab barely fitted all our friends and boxes—I doubt 4 Town would fit with all their equipment. It might be too cramped."
Thomas knew Carter had a point.
"And besides, you need a lot of practice on being a engine again, I'm not trying to make you feel guilty, but you nearly killed us. I don't think it'd be wise to transport a famous boy band around when you're rusty at being a engine."
Thomas sighed sadly. "You're right... but maybe I could pull a coach or something."
Carter placed a reassuring hand on Thomas's shoulder. "Hey, don't beat yourself up. You just want to make someone happy, and since Tae's like you, you want to make him even happier. Just take it one step at a time—and it'd be smart to learn how to be an engine properly before trying to pull a coach." Then, leaning in, Carter gave Thomas a quick peck on the cheek, leaving him blushing furiously.
"C-C-Cinders and a-a-ashes..." Thomas stammered.
Carter giggled, "That's all you're getting until the dance," he teased with a small smirk. Just then, they heard Tae testing a mic outside, "YEA, THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL!" Abby screamed. Carter laughed, "They're something else, aren't they? Come on, let's go join them."
Thomas nodded, still red-faced, as they both stepped out of the storage room and back into the stadium.