Well fellow readers, here's the seventh episode re-edit and once again, it's thanks to SF64Rules. Episode 8's edited version will be coming out real soon.
Sodor High School: Thomas & Friends Tales
Written by: ThomasZoey3000/2016 Version Edited by: SF64Rules
Based on the Railway Series by: The Rev. W. and Christopher Awdry
Based on the Television Series by: Britt AllCroft, David Mitton, Lionsgate and Universal Pictures
Final Fantasy IX and its Characters: Square Enix
Episode 7: The Ghost of the School
It was getting close to Halloween, the Sodor High School was being decorated by the many teachers and staff to make the school get into the Halloween spirit.
"Halloween sure is a scary holiday." Percy thought to himself in fear. "B-but I'm n-not s-s-scared!"
Unfortunately, he was quickly proven wrong when someone sneaked up on him from behind and gave a: "BOO!"
Poor Percy let out a frightened shriek and ran for cover behind a nearby rubbish can. Then, as the green-haired boy poked his head out, he heard some mean laughter. It was Diesel who had snuck up and scared the wits out of him.
"Don't be frightened, Percy." he snickered. "It's only me."
Percy's fear quickly turned into anger. "That wasn't funny, Diesel!" he snapped while standing back up.
"Unfunny to you, but-" Diesel chuckled. "-it was hilarious to me!"
"But you didn't need to go and scare me like that!"
Diesel shrugged. "Fine, but you've been warned-"
"And maybe I should warn you-" spoke a firm voice. Diesel looked behind him and saw that it was Thomas and Emily. The former was looking angry and had his arms folded, while the latter tried to keep a neutral look on her face despite the urge to get angry. "-is that if you, Arry, or Bert...whom I know are both hiding in the lockers nearby, try anything to any of my friends, you'll have to deal with yours truly."
Diesel growled crossly and walked past Percy towards two nearby lockers. Once he reached two yellow and orange lockers, he opened them up, and in an instant pulled Arry and Bert both out (Arry to the left, and Bert to the right).
"You idiots, Thomas knew you were in there the whole time!" Diesel snapped.
Arry and Bert both had surprised looks on their faces, but their surprise looks quickly turned into anger as they glared seethingly at Thomas.
"Come on!" Diesel pulled his two friends/minions away. "We'll get him if it's the last thing we ever do."
As soon as they were gone, Thomas and Emily both approached Percy.
"Thanks, you guys." Percy said in relief. "But Thomas, how did you know Arry and Bert were both in those lockers?"
"That's easy Percy." Thomas smiled. "Because one: They are predicable. They do this every time Halloween approaches, and two: they always go for the bright yellow and orange lockers to hide in. As a result, they can't hide themselves very well."
"You're good." Percy smiled. "I guess if I was as brave as you, I would've not been so scared."
"Think nothing of it, Percy." Emily said soothingly. "Now, come on. We don't want to be late."
Thomas, Emily, and Percy made their way down the hallway. They soon arrived at their homeroom classroom with ten minutes to spare. Suddenly, they heard a voice calling out to them.
"Hey, Thomas, Percy, Emily!" It was James' voice. "Check this out!"
Walking into the classroom was James, but only, he was wearing a white and black disco suit (from the sixties). He even had his flaming red hair all slick and smooth too. Needless to say, if this was an anime, Thomas, Percy, and Emily would have all sweat dropped at this point.
"All right, James I give." Thomas groaned. "What in the world are you doing wearing that getup?"
"Isn't it obvious?" James smiled. "I'm going as Elvis Presley this Halloween."
Then, without warning, he did an imitation of said man.
"Thank you, thank you very much." James said in his best Elvis impersonation. "So, what do you guys think?"
"Your costume is a little boy making a complete idiot of himself." Gordon muttered quietly from his seat.
James overheard him. "It does not! I think it makes me look cool."
"Um, James, correct me if I'm wrong." Henry piped up. "But aren't Halloween costumes suppose to be scary?"
"Not always, Henry." Emily pointed out. "They can be anything you'd like. Frightening like Frankenstein. As silly as a clown. Or even heroic like Hercules."
"Right as rain, Emily." James grinned.
Gordon suddenly chuckled. "Still, James. To me, your costume makes you look like a trainwreck."
James fumed. "Take that back, Gordon!" he snapped angrily.
Just before an argument could take place, Edward, Duck, Oliver, Rosie, and Toby all walked into the classroom. They were all covered in strawberry jam and feathers from head to toe.
"Oh my!" Emily gasped. "What happened to you guys?"
"Two guesses, and the first doesn't count." Duck replied.
"Diesel, Arry, and Bert." Thomas and Percy both said at the same time in dismay.
"We were just heading over to class." Oliver explained. "We were minding our own business, not even bothering anyone. As we approached the staircase, they suddenly ambushed us, with Arry and Bert both going and dumping jars full of strawberry jam all over us. Diesel then went and dumped a bucket full of feathers onto us."
"Once they finished, Diesel added this; 'if it isn't the chickens of the school!' and then they laughed at us and ran away." Rosie concluded unhappily.
Thomas was unhappy to hear what had happened, but before he could speak, Emily spoke up.
"I still don't know them too well, but do those guys always do this kind of stuff to you all?" The dark green-haired girl asked, though she did recall being harassed by both Arry and Bert on her first day.
"All of the Smelter Class teens do that to us." Gordon explained. "Minus a few, who's names escape me right now."
"I wish someone could put those jerks in their place though." Duck sighed. "Then maybe they would tone it down a bit."
"I'm afraid that might not be possible, Duck." Edward explained. "Once a trouble maker, always a trouble maker."
"You never know though, Edward." Toby started. "It could happen."
"If it does, then I hope it's soon." Rosie groaned.
And everyone in the classroom agreed to that.
At lunchtime, Thomas and Emily were both walking to the cafeteria to get something to eat. As they walked inside, they saw something that didn't make them too happy. In the middle of the lunch room, there was both Arry and Bert, and they were picking on poor Molly.
"Gosh, they have some nerve." Emily sighed. "Who do they think they are?"
"The Smelter Class teens, that's who!" came Diesel's oily voice.
The black-haired Smelter Teen had snuck up behind both Thomas and Emily and attempted to stuff two opened cans of cream corn he had down the back of their shirts. However, as quick as lightning, Thomas turned around and stopped Diesel by grabbing both of his wrists.
"Diesel, how many times do I have to tell you and your pals to leave myself and my friends alone?" Thomas asked crossly.
"Many times." Diesel snickered. "But we never listen to you guys anyway."
Emily turned around and saw something behind the devious teenager that put a smile onto her face.
"Well you may just listen if you've noticed who was behind you, Diesel."
Diesel's eyes widened nervously as he heard a coughing sound, so he turned and looked behind him, which was a big mistake. Standing there were both Hank and Murdoch. While the latter wasn't exactly a violent person, he didn't take too kindly to people being bullied.
"You looking for trouble, buddy?" asked Hank, sounding threatening.
"Uh no," Diesel said nervously, and then called out; "Arry, Bert, leave the girl alone!"
"Why should we?" asked Arry.
"Just do as I tell you, or I'll give you a few knuckle sandwiches!"
Arry and Bert both didn't like that idea, so they ran off and left Molly alone, who sighed in relief and resumed eating. Diesel looked up to the two taller teens in anger before running off after his two friends/minions.
"Thanks you two." smiled Thomas. "You were a big help."
"Always glad to be of some help pal." said Hank proudly.
"Besides, I don't like those smelter teens disturbing the peace around here." grumbled Murdoch as he walked off to get something to eat.
"I don't think any of us do. Oh and Murdoch, tell Spencer he needs to pick up the pace!" called Thomas. "I can see a long line up out here!"
"I'll tell him!"
Within minutes, the students were going in and coming out with food. Thankfully, Spencer finally took some advice to heart and started to cook better than from last time.
Despite that minor setback though, Diesel, Arry, and Bert all vowed that they wouldn't give up. They continued to try their devious tricks and pranks on the students (ranging from Water Balloons, dumping paint, etc.), but they were usually foiled by the intervention of Thomas, Hank, and Murdoch, much to their ever growing frustration.
Later inside an ice cream shop after school, Diesel, Arry, and Bert (joined by Dodge and Splatter) were all there enjoying some frozen treats. Scratch that. Dodge, Splatter, Arry, and Bert were the ones enjoying some frozen treats. Meanwhile, Diesel was busy sulking over at the counter. He was in a bitter mood over his bad day.
"Darn those fools!" he complained, pounding a fist onto the counter. "They keep spoiling our fun."
"Yeah, we need to find a way to make those three fools pay!" agreed Bert, referring to Thomas, Hank, and Murdoch.
"Well, how about this?" Dodge spoke up. "Why don't we scare 'em away somehow?"
"Scare 'em, how?" asked Splatter.
"I don't know." remarked Dodge. "You tell me."
"Will both you idiots shut up?!" Diesel snarled at them. "I'm trying to think here!"
"I think they maybe onto something, Diesel." Arry spoke up. "The upcoming Halloween party at the school might be our ticket to getting revenge on those three goody-goods. If we can fool them into thinking there are real ghosts there, we can scare 'em silly."
"My brother, that's clever thinking." Bert chuckled, impressed that his twin brother came up with a rather smart idea. "We'll scare those fools out of this school."
"Agreed." Diesel added, feeling like his devious self again. "We don't have a lot of time to plan our strategy, so we'd better get started now."
Arry, Bert, Dodge, and Splatter all let out cheers of agreement.
Finally, Halloween night came. James came in his disco suit (Elvis that is), while Gordon and Henry both wore matching zombie suits.
"Henry, I was suppose to wear this suit this year." Gordon scolded.
"Sorry, Gordon, I forgot." Henry apologized.
"Sure you did." Gordon scoffed.
Thomas arrived as Zidane Tribal from Final Fantasy IX, Duck went as a Colonial Militia from the American Revolution, Oliver went as British Musketeer, Edward went as a court wizard from the Middle Ages, Toby went as a scarecrow, and Percy went as a ghost...or rather wearing a white bed sheet over his body.
"You guys look great." Emily stated, arriving and dressed as Princess Garnet (Dagger) from Final Fantasy IX (wearing the princess dress).
"You're a Final Fantasy IX fan, Emily?" Thomas asked, looking surprised at the dark green-haired girl's costume choice.
"Actually, yes I am. I've always loved playing that video game at home." Emily admitted. "In fact, I've also always liked Princess Garnet the most."
"Hi, guys!" called out a voice. It was Rosie, who walked in dressed as Eiko Carol from Final Fantasy IX.
"You're also a Final Fantasy IX fan, Rosie?" asked Emily.
"I sure am." Rosie said proudly. "I've always liked Eiko as a character."
"It's a Final Fantasy IX breeding ground." Gordon muttered. "How completely disgraceful."
"Gordon!" scolded Edward.
Everyone was chatting for a few minutes before...
"Well, come on!" huffed James impatiently. "Lets just go inside-" He suddenly raised his voice excitedly. "-and GET THIS PARTY STARTED!"
The entire party of high school students all cheered and went to the front entryway. But unknown to each of them, hiding behind a nearby tree was Diesel and his gang. They all gave devious chuckles before following the teens into the school in order to setup their little plan of payback.
The gym was packed with many students (who were either chatting, or were out on the floor dancing) and teachers (either keeping an eye on things, chatting, or even enjoying the music). Many of the nearby tables had refreshments (chips, vegetables, cookies, pizza, a huge fruit punch bowl. etc.) and lots of different Halloween candy laid out. There was even a Music DJ hired by Sir Topham Hatt for the whole evening.
"This is amazing." gasped Rosie.
"That Music DJ over there is all part of the party." called another voice.
The voice belonged to Hank, who had came dressed as a trucker.
"Nice costume, Hank," smiled Percy.
"Thanks, buddy, I've always wanted to try this kind of costume for a long time." Hank then looked over to Thomas, Rosie, and Emily. "Hey! You three went as characters from Final Fantasy IX! I love that video game!"
"Thanks." said Thomas. "Turns out Emily and Rosie here both love it too."
"As do you too, Thomas." Hank pointed out, before changing the subject. "Anyway, as you can see, the party is already going on, everyone's already here. Well all except for Diesel, Arry, Bert, Dodge, and Splatter."
"After what they did to me, I wouldn't want to run into them again," grumbled Rosie.
"Same here." agreed Duck. "Now let's have some fun!"
Edward gave a whistle of admiration. "Wow, Sir Topham Hatt's really gone all out this year for the party."
Emily looked down to the ground, she was wondering if her father and mother were both okay without her around the house.
"It's okay Emily." whispered Thomas. "I'm sure that your parents are both okay."
"I hope so."
"Hey, Thomas," called Rosie. "Let's dance!"
"Um...I don't know..." Thomas stuttered nervously, just before a smiling Emily started to push him forth.
"Oh, go on Thomas." she giggled.
Thomas stopped in front of Rosie, who was smiling happily.
"Oh, sure." Thomas said in a shy way. "Let's dance."
"Great!"
Rosie held out her right hand and Thomas grabbed it softly with his left hand, then the two of them walked out to the dance floor. A romantic song started up and they started dancing in a slow circle. Rosie was blushing in a light shade of red, it was like a dream come true for her.
"You're a pretty good dancer, Rosie," smiled Thomas.
"Thanks, Thomas, you're pretty good yourself."
Emily was watching them dance, but instead of looking cross, she looked pretty happy for them.
"Why did you push Thomas to Rosie?" Percy asked.
"I don't know. Perhaps a part of me just wanted to get this party started." Emily shrugged, just before noticing something. "Um, Percy...I think you're missing a little something."
"And what would that be?" The green-haired boy asked.
"Your ghost costume."
Sure enough, Percy had lost his costume. "I'd better go get it."
And so, he ran off to the entrance of the school, where he last had it.
Percy walked slowly into the now empty entrance way, looking a little scared. There was mist was all around him and the chain decorations rattled about.
"There's no such things as ghosts. There's no such things as ghosts." The green-haired boy kept on saying to himself.
Percy looked around the hallway until at last, he found his ghost costume.
"Now I can get back to the party."
He had just gotten a hold of it, when he heard some moaning and groaning sounds from all around him.
"Who's there?" Percy tried to sound brave, but he wasn't.
"We are the ghosts of the school, you shouldn't be here!"
Two mummies appeared from the darkness. Percy just stood there dumbfounded, he was too scared to move. Then, from out of nowhere, two more ghostly figures (a goblin and werewolf) also appeared from the darkness.
"Look, ghosts." Percy said nervously and backing slowly away, "I never meant to disturb you, I'm just here with my friends."
"Get out, get out, get out!" The four voices said in a ghostly way.
"S-sure, just let me go see my..." Percy stopped walking and talking when he bumped into a suit of armour.
The poor green-haired boy turned around, and wished he hadn't, as he saw the armour looking down to him, which also shouted out...
"BOO!"
That pretty much did it.
"There are such things as ghosts! And Monsters too!" Percy shrieked, and thus running off quickly.
As the poor green-haired boy took off down the hallway, there were some quiet chuckles from the two mummies, the goblin, and the werewolf as they each disappeared, and the suit of armour returned to its post.
Back in the gym, Thomas and Rosie were both still dancing, while Emily stood near the tables minding her own business. Meanwhile, James was standing nearby and chuckling quietly to himself.
"Now's my chance to ask Emily if she will dance with me."
No sooner had he thought of that, Emily walked away from the tables.
"Bother!" groaned James.
Emily walked over to where Thomas with Rosie were dancing. "I'm sorry to bother you two, but Percy's been gone for quite a while."
"How long is a while?" asked Hank, who was nearby.
"Like thirty minutes long. He said he was going to get his costume, but he hasn't returned yet."
"Are you sure?" asked Rosie. "Maybe he's somewhere around here."
"Not true." came the voice of Murdoch. He was also standing close by, wearing an engine driver's costume. "I've been walking around all over the place and I haven't seen the little guy anywhere."
"It's not like Percy." said Thomas, who was still dancing with Rosie. "He doesn't usually go disappearing like this. If I remember correctly, he's usually hanging out by the refreshment's stand."
"Maybe we should go look for him?" suggested Emily.
"Can it wait till the dance is over?" asked Rosie. "I'm enjoying this way too-"
As if by magic, the music stopped and changed to a different song, causing Rosie to give a disappointed sigh.
"Never mind, let's go."
And so Thomas, Emily, Rosie, Murdoch and Hank all left the gym and headed off into the spooky empty school, while James sulked near the snack stand.
"Darn that Thomas..." he grumbled unhappily. "He's just asking for trouble."
"You okay, James?" asked Henry, who was walking over.
"Hmph!" The red-haired boy huffed, just before walking away in response, thus leaving the older green-haired boy very puzzled.
Inside the hallway, Thomas, Emily, Rosie, Hank, and Murdoch all walked over to the main lobby.
"Maybe the little fella is hiding in here." suggested Hank.
"What would he need to hide from?" asked Rosie.
"Probably ghosts and monsters." Thomas answered. "He really doesn't like to be scared that easily. Although he does love to play ghostly tricks."
"Come on then." said Murdoch, "We'd better look."
As they walked along, Emily and Rosie both looked around anxiously, while Thomas, Murdoch and Hank looked and walked calmly. Soon they found Percy's costume lying on the ground.
"Now where's Percy?" asked Hank.
Rosie rolled her eyes before gesturing up ahead. "I'm sure they can tell you."
She was gesturing to two ghostly figures approaching them down the hallway. They were a goblin and werewolf respectively, and they were moving in a spooky way. However, were any of the teens scared of them? Not one bit.
"Get out...get out...get out..." The two monsters moaned spookily.
"Hi, Arry. Hi, Bert." greeted Thomas deadpanly.
The two creatures stopped, and were shocked. Thomas, Emily, Rosie, Hank, and Murdoch all watched with bored and unafraid expressions on their faces, with Murdoch even yawning sarcastically. The two monsters then went and took off their masks; revealing them to be Arry and Bert exactly.
"H-how did you know it was us?" They both asked at once.
"You guys are predicable." explained Thomas. "Somehow, we knew you'd want to scare us after we foiled your fun."
"But I don't see Diesel, Dodge, or Splatter anywhere." Emily stated.
"Oh, I'm sure they're around." snickered Arry.
On cue, two mummies walked forth in a zombie-like matter, whist moaning and groaning in a ghostly tone. But once again, no one was scared of them. Thomas merely walked over, and pulled the masks off, revealing Dodge and Splatter.
"Oh, come on!" groaned Dodge.
"Now for Diesel." Thomas said. "I wonder where he could be?"
"How about in that suit of armour over there?" asked Murdoch, pointing nearby.
On cue, the nearby suit of armour looked over to him, as if it was shocked.
"How did you know it was me?" It (or rather Diesel) asked, walking over and removing his helmet.
"Like Thomas said, you're predicable." Murdoch said sarcastically.
"Darn it!" groaned Diesel, but then there was a slight problem. What was it? Simple, the devious black-haired boy couldn't get out of his armour. "Gah! I can't get out of this suit!"
"Good, then you can stay in there for the rest of the night." said Thomas angrily. "Unless you tell us what happened to my best friend Percy."
"Why should we tell you?" snapped Arry.
"Well-" said Hank, also looking a little angry. "-we might be the only ones who can help your leader out of his cast iron suit. So, you tell us what we want to know..."
"...or we leave him in there." finished Murdoch with an angry tone in his voice.
"We don't know where he is." said Diesel truthfully. "Last we saw the little scaredy cat, he ran off towards the computer labs."
"That's all we needed to know." said Thomas, just before giving a firm look. "But if you're lying, then we'll leave you in there until the party is over."
Diesel gulped as the five teenagers ran off to find Percy. Once they were gone, the black-haired Smelter Teen looked to his friends/minions.
"Don't just stand there you idiots!" he snapped. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"
"I think we should wait until they return." said Arry.
"Agreed." agreed Bert.
"We second that." came from Dodge and Splatter.
Diesel just growled crossly to himself, while Arry, Bert, Dodge, and Splatter all backed away in fear.
Meanwhile, with Thomas leading the small group, they walked over to the hallways leading to the computer labs. Each one then called out the little green haired boy's name.
"Percy!" called Emily.
"Where are you Percy?" came from Rosie.
"It's okay to come out, little buddy!" shouted Hank.
"Percy?!" Thomas called out.
Murdoch was about to call out, when he heard something, in a very low voice someone said;"I'm here."
"He's in the locker!" shouted Murdoch, thus catching the rest of the teens' attention.
Everyone ran over to one of the lockers. Thomas quickly opened the door and, sure enough, Percy was in there, looking as terrified as ever.
"Are the ghosts and monsters gone?" he asked, sounding like he was gonna start crying any second.
"There were no ghosts or monsters Percy." said Rosie kindly. "It was only Arry, Bert, Dodge, Splatter, and Diesel hiding in the main lobby."
"They were there?"
"Yes." answered Thomas. "Those five Smelter Teens were the ghosts and monsters."
"And Diesel was, and come to think of it, is still in the suit of armour," added Emily.
Percy felt unhappy with himself. "I can't believe I was scared of those five, but why weren't you scared, Thomas?"
"I don't know, I guess I just know that there's nothing to be scared of." Thomas answered truthfully. "You just have to be brave and know when those five are up to their nasty old tricks."
Rosie looked on to Thomas with more admiration than ever before, she was simply amazed by him, meaning her crush on Thomas became stronger than ever before.
"I think it's time to fulfil our end of the bargain," said Hank.
"Alright then." sighed Thomas, "Let's go get that silly Diesel out of the suit of armour."
They all want back to the main lobby and helped Diesel out of his suit of armour, which wasn't easy. Then, after the five Smelter Teens apologized and left for home (and vowing revenge in secret), the six teens went back to the gym to enjoy the rest of the dance.
Inside the gym, mostly everyone went back to dancing. All that is except for Thomas and Emily. They sat on a bench and watched everyone else dance.
"Thomas." Emily whispered. "Would you like to dance with me when the next love song comes on?"
"Sure, Emily, I would love to."
Emily was a little surprised by the quick answer, but was happy to hear that. Thankfully, they didn't have too long to wait as the next song was a love song. Emily held out her right hand and Thomas grabbed it softly with his left hand, then they walked out to the dance floor.
"Ready?" asked Thomas.
"I'm ready," smiled Emily.
When the music started, they danced in a nice slow circle. Emily was still worrying a bit about her parents, and Thomas could see this. So he gave her a small hug during their dance.
"Thomas, thank you for all you have been doing, I am grateful." Emily whispered.
"You're welcome, Emily." he replied.
"I'm so lucky to have a wonderful friend like you."
Thomas just smiled as they continued dancing. Unknown to them however, James was watching them nearby from the snack tables in both anger and jealousy.
"I'm not giving up on becoming Emily's boyfriend." he thought to himself. "Even if I have to fight Thomas for her heart, I won't give up!"
Henry was watching from nearby and became rather worried from hearing James make his vow. What will James do? I guess we'll have to wait and see, won't we?