Ten months ago, I started editing the Sodor High School series, and with the aid of my friend 'SF64Rules', we've finally reached Season 2. After this episode, there's only three more edited episodes to come out, and the moment you've all been waiting for. Thanks again to SF64Rules for the character 'Leonardo' and for editing this chapter. The original version was done in 2014, while this edited version was done in 2016.
Sodor High School: Thomas & Friends Tales
Written by: ThomasZoey3000/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
OC(s) owned by: SF64Rules
Episode 27: Meets Leonardo
One lovely Friday afternoon, while on their way home from school (deciding to walk instead of going by bus), Thomas, Percy and Emily were each strolling past the big football field, watching all of the various soccer players practicing on the field. The three teens were tired however, and their right hands felt like they had blisters all over them.
"I don't think I'll be able to write for another week," groaned Percy. "I wish that the school year would end soon..."
"Oh well, just look on the bright side of things Percy," said Emily. "Summer will soon be here, and you won't have to write anything for about two complete months."
"That's true," smiled Percy, feeling better. "And that also means we'll get to hang out at the arcade, go to the Pizza Palace, and also go to the beach more often too."
"That is assuming the weather is going to behave itself this time," Thomas pointed out. "Remember the last two summers we've had? It has been nothing but rain, rain, rain."
Percy did remember it. "Well, hopefully we'll have more sunny days this year."
Emily sighed and dreamed. She had never gone to the beach before. This was because the dark green-haired girl always had used the big swimming pool in the backyard of her family's mansion. Someone, usually either the butler or one of the maids, would be carefully watching over her, just to be on the safe side. But with no one else swimming with her, it did get to be rather lonely at times. This year however, Emily had made lots of new friends, and thought it would be fun to swim alongside them, especially Thomas. Speaking of whom, the blue-haired boy was looking to the big football field and gave a whistle of admiration.
"Boy, nothing like a good old game of football to get you all ready for the summer eh?" Thomas asked his green-haired best friend.
"You said it Thomas," Percy agreed. "The big game between our school and Ffraquhar is bound to be exciting."
"Big game?" Emily quizzed. "What big game? I've never heard of something like that."
"Well Emily, our own football team from Sodor High School always plays against the team from Ffraquhar High School before the school year comes to a complete finish. The winner of the match gets the chance to play against the high school team in London, England," Thomas explained. "I guess you didn't know anything about it because it was never really brought up until now."
"Well, now I'm glad I know of it," Emily smiled brightly. "And I might even go and see it too."
"You really should," Thomas smiled back. "Gordon, James and Edward are each on the Sodor High School team. It's not surprising really since Gordon is actually one of the best football players at our school."
Emily's eyes widened with amazement. "Wow! Really?! That's so cool."
"Well, to be completely honest, we don't normally bring it up because it usually just inflates Gordon's already big ego," Percy joked, before becoming cocky sounding. "Besides, why do we even bother with the football match anyway? The Ffraquhar team has never won a game against our school's team in over five years."
The three teens then continued walking down the sidewalk and talking about the upcoming match.
Meanwhile on the nearby football field; several soccer players were busy practicing very hard. Suddenly, one of the players ran forward and kicked one of the nearby football balls real hard. The ball was now practically soaring high above the ground all the way across the field at a ridiculously great speed towards three high school teenagers walking, as well as chatting on the nearby sidewalk outside of the soccer field, causing a couple of the football players to shout out a quick warning.
"HEADS UP!" called the soccer players.
The call from the field was loud enough to catch Thomas, Percy and Emily's attentions and turn to see the football coming their way, but not in enough time for any of them to actually move out of the way. The football, the same one from the field that had been kicked so hard by one of the players, was soaring straight for the dark green-haired girl in particular, but Thomas quickly went and pushed her out of the way in time, only for the football to end up socking the poor blue-haired boy square in the face. The force of the surprisingly quick and hard blow had caused him to fly back a small distance and onto his back. Lying on the ground unconscious, Thomas now had a black eye, a small lump on his forehead, and a profusely bleeding nose. But otherwise, he didn't look all that badly hurt.
"Thomas!" cried Emily. "Are you okay?!"
"Speak to us!" added Percy, kneeling down to look at his blue-haired best friend.
"Hey, is everyone alright?" came a voice unfamiliar to both Percy and Emily.
The two teenagers both looked to see who was running over to them. It was a tall, athletic teenage boy, who looked about as tall as Hank, with messy dirty blonde hair and wearing a dark blue football uniform and shoes.
"W-who are you?" asked Percy nervously, before going into his personal thoughts. "Wow...that guy looks almost like a character from an animated TV show dubbed from Japan that I like watching on Friday nights."
The teenage boy merely ignored the green-haired boy's question and walked over to check and see if the unconscious blue-haired boy was alright. Emily meanwhile, quietly stared at the tall teenage boy and blushed at first, rom noticing that the boy looked very handsom), but then immediately went back to worrying over Thomas. As soon as he finished looking over the blue-haired boy, the dirty blonde-haired boy stood back up onto his feet with a relieved sigh and small smile on his face.
"Your friend will be fine," he stated calmly. "He's just got a bleeding nose and a little bump on the head. Nothing too serious, although he might want to tend to both of those injuries when he gets home."
The tall teenage boy went over to and skillfully kick the football up onto the top of his head and balanced it. Before leaving however, he turned and spoke to the two Sodor High School teenagers again, but mainly to the pretty looking dark green-haired girl.
"I'll see ye around soon, m'lady," the boy winked.
Emily once again blushed at the dirty blonde-haired teenage boy, while Percy just stared at his dark green-haired friend with a slight questionable expression on his face. With that said, the tall teenage boy turned back around, lowered his head a bit, and allowed the football to fall towards the ground...just before he went and kicked it back over to where he and most of the other football players were busy practicing. Upon kicking the ball back towards the field, the football player immediately ran after it. Pretty soon, once the tall teenage boy was long gone, Emily and Percy both heard Thomas stirring and waking up.
"Ow..." he groaned, rubbing his forehead (Which hurt, thanks to him touching and feeling that swelling lump). "Did anyone catch the number of the lorry that hit me?"
"Come on, let's get you back home," Percy suggested.
With that said, he and Emily both wrapped one of Thomas' arms around them and helped their blue-haired friend back up, all while leading him all the way back to his house.
Once inside Thomas' house, Emily grabbed a wash cloth from the kitchen cupboard and soaked it in some very cold water in the sink before placing it gently on the bump on Thomas' forehead, who was seated at the table and also had a towel pinched to his nose to try and stop the bleeding.
"You know, you didn't need to go and do that for me Thomas," Emily said to him.
"I couldn't risk letting you get hurt," The blue-haired boy groaned in pain while speaking in a nasally voice, due to his bleeding nose being pinched. "I don't want to see you get hurt by anything or anyone."
Emily smiled from hearing this. It was right around then Annie and Clarabel both came racing into the kitchen, looking all frantic and worried while asking their big brother, more than once, if he was okay.
"It's okay, I'm fine," Thomas insisted several times until he managed to calm his twin sisters down. Upon doing so, the blue-haired boy looked over to Emily and Percy. "Do either of you know who was the football player who kicked that football? I've never seen or met anyone who could kick a football that hard or fast since James accidentally did that to me last year."
"We saw who it was," Percy replied. "It was some guy with dirty blonde hair and looked almost as tall as Hank."
"He came over to see if you were okay," Emily added. "If you ask me, he seemed to be a very friendly guy."
"Did either of you catch the player's name?" asked Thomas.
Sadly, Emily and Percy both shook their heads.
"We didn't get a chance to ask," Percy answered. "He went right back to football practice immediately afterward."
Thomas sighed briefly from hearing that, but then a small smile appeared on his face afterward.
"Oh well, maybe we might see him again soon, but hopefully without the football."
And indeed their paths would cross again. Much sooner than they all thought...
After the weekend had finished up, it was now Monday, and the start of a brand new week. Inside the hallway of Sodor High School early that morning, Thomas, Percy, Toby and Emily were all walking towards the cafeteria in hopes of grabbing some breakfast before the bell rang.
"Gee, I'm sorry that you got hurt on Friday Thomas," Toby said apologetically.
"It's okay, Toby. In the end, I'm fine," Thomas replied reassuringly.
Just then, James and Henry both ran by the four teens and surprising them briefly.
"H-hey, Henry, James!" called Emily. "What's the rush?"
"Is there a discount on the cinnamon buns in the cafeteria today?" asked Thomas.
"Mmm...cinnamon buns," Percy muttered to himself dreamily and hungrily, mainly from the fact that he loves cinnamon buns.
"No! There's a new student in the cafeteria doing a martial arts demonstration!" replied James. "This I really want to see, because Duck was telling me that this guy is a very gifted martial artist."
"This is something I want to see too!" added Henry, looking very excited.
This caused Thomas, Percy, Toby and Emily to look at each other in surprise, and then back towards both James and Henry. There was yet another new student in the school, especially this late in the year? And the student is also a martial artist? That just couldn't be right...can it? Then again, maybe they should go check it out too.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Percy excitedly. "Let's go see if it's true!"
The four teens all continued down the hallway after their two friends all the way to the cafeteria. Once they had arrived in the cafeteria, the four teenagers could see a large crowd gathered around the main circle of the large room. Some loud 'HYAHs!' and other loud karate cries were coming from the center of the large crowd. It looked like Thomas, Emily, Percy and Toby had found the new student.
"I wonder what else this new student is like," pondered Toby.
The four teens each tried to see what was going on in the center, but they couldn't because there was far too many people gathered around.
"Maybe if you lift me up Thomas, I can see who it is," suggested Emily.
Thomas was a little surprised by that request, but agreed to do it. Very quickly, Emily climbed onto Thomas' shoulders, then he lifted her up.
"Wow, she's very light," Thomas thought only to himself.
"Can you see what's going on in there Emily?" asked Percy.
Now standing tall, Emily looked around over the crowd's heads until she spotted the new student in the very center of the cafeteria.
"Yeah, I can see who it. It's a tall person, male, and he's doing a lot of karate poses, kicks, flips, punches, the whole nine yards. I'm guessing the new student does know martial arts like James told us."
Now knowing a little bit about the new student, Thomas immediately helped the dark green-haired girl back down. While much of the student body seemed to really like, and even admire, the new student (Many of the teachers and staff present in the cafeteria liked him too), there were some students that didn't seem to like him at all. One of those very few who didn't seem to like the new kid was Spencer, who was seated at a nearby table and snorted in jealousy.
"He is nothing but a show-off!" he stated loudly and deliberately. "I really don't see why he's so popular, and I'm not. I happen to be the son of a VERY wealthy family, you know!"
James, who was also in the crowd, peeked his head out. He had overheard Spencer complaining and decided to have a little bit of fun with the silver-haired rich boy.
"Well, I bet if you were a bit nicer, then maybe you'd be liked by the other students," the red-haired boy said cheekily.
Spencer didn't like hearing that. "PAH! I am nice you see. That new guy is nothing but an arrogant show-off!"
Suddenly, the karate cries and such from the center of the cafeteria stopped. Quickly, the crowd broke away and allowed the new student to walk out and head towards Spencer. It was the same teenage boy that Thomas, Percy and Emily each had accidentally met last Friday. He was 17-years old, tall (Only slightly shorter than Hank), well-built, had short dirty blonde hair, and was wearing a white t-shirt with a black vest, blue jeans, and brownish hiking boots.
"That's him..." Emily whispered to Thomas. "That's the football player Percy and I were telling you about last Friday."
"I guess he wasn't kidding when he said we'd meet again soon," Percy commented.
The new student looked over to the three nearby teenagers (The ones he accidentally met on the Friday of last week), but mainly the pretty looking dark green-haired girl, and smiled briefly.
"Excuse me a moment fair lady," he said in a kind tone to her, just before turning to the silver-haired boy with an angry glare. "Now, what's this I hear about me being a show-off, eh?"
Spencer was a bit intimidated by the dirty blonde-haired boy's appearance, with him being both tall and well-built, but tried his absolute hardest to not show any fear.
"Y-you heard me," he stuttered in a rather snooty tone. "I bet you're nothing but an arrogant show-off!"
The new student clearly wasn't too happy with being trash talked by this rich snob. Suddenly, upon getting an idea on how to teach that rich snob a lesson, a sly smirk appeared on the dirty blonde-haired boy's face. Spencer was a bit confused to see the new student suddenly smiling like that.
"What are you up to?" he asked suspiciously.
"Oh nothing," said the new student, still smiling innocently. "Except that I challenge you to a bit of a contest."
"Contest?" Spencer scoffed haughtily. "What sort of contest?"
"It's very simple; we'll both try to break something hard, such as boards of our choosing," explained the new student. "I even bet you can beat me, seeing as you look like such a talented martial artist yourself."
Spencer grinned to himself. Oh, this would be easy, yes. Real easy, indeed.
"All right then, you're on!"
Three minutes later, after setting some agreements with the cafeteria staff and a few teachers, three hard boards were stacked and set up between two tables by someone in the cafeteria (Likely from one of the teachers watching) for Spencer to try and break. After focusing his inner chi and calming his mind for a few seconds, the silver-haired boy opened his eyes, let out a loud yell, and chopped the three boards in half effortlessly and at once.
"Oh, that was... Way. Too. Easy," Spencer said smugly, punctuating the last part of his sentence.
Very few cheers could be heard from the crowd for him...not that Spencer really cared about that anyway. The only thing that mattered to him right now was that there was no way that the new student could ever hope to try and beat him at something like board breaking.
"Not bad," The dirty blonde-haired boy applauded falsely, taking out a clean towel and placing it atop what he was going to try and break. "Now, it's my turn."
Unlike Spencer, the new student didn't have boards to chop. Instead, he had three very real bricks stacked up between two other tables nearby. This was much to the shock of pretty much everyone (Be it student or teacher) in the whole cafeteria, and Spencer's personal amusement if the new student failed to break them in half.
"Okay, NOW I've seen everything," groaned Thomas, looking exasperated.
"He could seriously hurt himself trying to break those bricks," Emily protested, sounding worried about what the dirty blonde-haired boy was about to try and do.
"Don't be so sure," Toby replied, watching very carefully. "I think the new student knows exactly what he's doing."
The dirty blonde-haired boy meanwhile went and set himself up by the tables, and started to calm his mind and focused his chi VERY carefully. After a full minute of focusing, he opened his eyes fiercely, raised his right arm upward, and, with a fierce cry, went and made quick work out of the three bricks at once with a mighty slam from his right forearm, splitting the bricks in two. This caused the whole entire cafeteria (Including Spencer) to fall into a stunned silence for a brief moment before finally going into a loud cry of applause and cheering for the new student (With the exception of Spencer, who remained stunned)...speaking of whom, also looked over to the defeated silver-haired boy with a triumph, yet firm look on his face.
"Now, I want you to listen carefully; I wasn't being a show off to anyone here. I was merely demonstrating my skills because there was someone in the cafeteria who asked if I knew martial arts, and wanted to see me do a brief demonstration if I did. As you can see, teaching is NOT the same as showing off. Now, don't ever let me hear you say something like that about me again. Do I make myself clear pal?"
Spencer quickly hurried away out of the cafeteria without saying another word, due to him having been suitably put down by the new student...so to speak.
"Wow, that was impressive," James smirked.
"About time someone else managed to put Spencer in his place," Henry chuckled.
The new student, satisfied with teaching that selfish rich guy a small lesson, turned to face Emily once more. He got down on one knee, carefully grabbed the dark green-haired girl's right hand, and gently kissed it. This made Emily blush a shade of red.
"Ah m'lady, it's an honor to properly meet you," the dirty blonde-haired boy said in a gentleman-like tone. "My name is Leonardo. May I ask what your name is?"
Emily was just amazed. "E-Emily," she stuttered, still blushing.
"Emily? Oh my, what a beautiful name, just as what I think you are too, " Leonardo replied with a charming smile on his face. "In fact, your name also sounds like a queen's name to me."
Now Emily's blush was the same shade of red as James's hair. Nearby, Thomas was watching the scene unfold as he felt a slight ache in his heart from watching Leonardo kiss Emily's hand, and the dark green-haired girl blushing in response. In addition, the blue-haired boy also had a look of jealousy on his face...though he quickly hid his stare from anyone who tried to look at him. Just then, the school bell rang, and Leonardo immediately realized that he needed to go and see Sir Topham Hatt, the high school principal, and find out which classroom he would be assigned to, but not before looking back over to the blushing dark green-haired girl while keeping the kind smile on his face.
"I'm very sorry m'lady, but I must go now. I do hope we can meet again."
He kissed her hand again and proceeded to leave the cafeteria. Emily continued to blush as she watched Leonardo leave, and the crowd began to scatter around to head for their classrooms.
"Wow, I'd say you've got some serious competition now Thomas," James whispered to his blue-haired friend.
"What are you talking about?" Thomas asked in a puzzled tone, though a part of the tone had a hint of denial in it too.
"Oh come on. Can't you even see it? The new guy clearly has a crush on Emily."
By now, Emily's blush was fading into a lighter shade of red, but she was still looking in the direction Leonardo had gone.
"Look Emily and I are just friends, and you know that James," Thomas pointed out, whilst sounding rather firm. "So, there's no competition of any kind."
Emily immediately snapped out of her thoughts and looked over to Thomas in surprise. Thomas completely believed that he could never be in a relationship with Emily, mostly due to the fact she was the principal's daughter...and is also from a very wealthy family too. But as we all know very well, Emily thinks far differently about how she felt about Thomas.
"Come on, we're going to be late for class."
Thomas started to walk away from the cafeteria and up the nearby stairs to the next floor where his classroom was located. The other teens also proceeded to follow him there. As the five friends walked down the hallway to class, the words Thomas said were playing on Emily's mind over and over again.
"Does he really consider us to be just friends?" she thought to herself.
Later at lunchtime, Thomas, Percy, Emily and Rosie were all heading off to the cafeteria for lunch. Rosie could see something was on Emily's mind and wanted to try and help.
"Is there something the matter Emily?" she asked with concern.
Emily briefly snapped out of her thoughts. "Huh? Um...no, nothing's wrong," she reassured.
While Emily did like her very much, the dark green-haired girl would still never tell Rosie the truth. This was because she knew very well that the pink-haired girl really liked Thomas too, and would practically be beaming if she knew that Thomas only saw Emily as 'just a friend'. The four teenagers finally walked into the cafeteria, and wouldn't you know it? The new boy named Leonardo was sitting in one of their usual spots, not that it bothered the four friends.
"Hey, how's that bump on your forehead?" he asked Thomas.
Thomas smiled a bit before grimacing slightly. "Oh, it's feeling better now, although it still stings a little bit."
"Yeah, sorry about that. Sometimes I don't know my own strength, and I kicked the ball a little too hard," Leonardo stated, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"A little might be an understatement, if you don't mind me saying so," said Percy innocently.
Leonardo chuckled. "Trust me, you're not the first person to say that me lad."
The four teenagers went to get some food to eat, but when they came back out, they discovered that almost all of the tables had been taken. The only free table was the one Leonardo was sitting at.
"Do you mind if we sit here?" Emily asked politely. "Everywhere else is full."
"Of course ye all can sit here," Leonardo smiled kindly. "It'd be nice having some company since I am new here."
They all sat down and joined the new student. From there, Thomas, Percy and Rosie each went and introduced themselves, although because Emily and Leonardo both had technically already became acquainted earlier in the day, they didn't need to introduce themselves to each other.
"It's a pleasure to meet ye all. As you likely already know by now, I'm Leonardo...but you can call me 'Leo' for short. I'm a transfer student all the way from Scotland."
"A transfer student...?" Rosie asked. "But it's so late in the school year."
"Yes, I am quite aware of that, but I didn't want to miss out on my education, so my parents had me transferred to this very school. I'll admit it took quite a bit of time, but they did get me in," Leonardo pointed out. "But whilst I waited, I signed up for the Ffarquhar football team and...well, that's how we first met. The coach wanted to see what I could do and I showed him and the team, a little too well might I add."
Thomas felt the bump on his forehead. "Yeah, don't I know it," he mumbled, but not in a rude tone.
"Did you say you're from Scotland?" Emily asked.
"Rather half-and-half lass," Leonardo explained. "I was born in Scotland, but I also lived in the United States for a while before moving back to my place of birth for a little bit longer until I came to Sodor."
Thomas spoke up again. "You know, we have a couple of Scots here in this high school."
"Ah yes, Donald and Douglas. I know them quite well," Leonardo said rather fondly. "They are very old friends of mine, seeing as I grew up with them just before they and their parents moved to Sodor. I even know their cousin; Olivia. Although, as you probably have noticed, my accent isn't as strong as theirs, must be because I lived in America for several years."
Suddenly Thomas remembered something. "Wait... Y-you were on the train a few days ago," he gasped.
"Indeed I was. I was visiting my grandfather in Scotland before coming back that weekend, although it was surprising that our train kept getting delayed. Come to think of it, I do recall seeing you and Emily both on the train. Although you did run off in a hurry."
The five teenagers talked and ate their food until there was nothing left on their trays. They had just finished cleaning up and were ready to leave when...
"Sorry, but you shan't pass us," said a new voice.
"Not unless you pay up," came a second voice.
The voices were from 'Arry and Bert. Both were standing in front of the doorway leading to the hallways. On the other side with the open space, many of the other bad Smelter Class teens were coming and blocking off the exits and asking (more like demanding) for money. Thankfully, Sidney, Den, Dart, and Paxton all wisely decided to just stay out of it.
"And those lame brains over there are the Smelter Class teens," Thomas sighed unhappily, watching irritably as 'Arry and Bert both started to walk over to the table he and his friends were currently sitting at (Which was the one with the new student). "Many of whom are liars, jerks, troublemakers, and outright bullies."
"Just for that little remark, you gotta pay us double you blue twerp," snapped 'Arry, having overheard the blue-haired boy make the comment.
Bert meanwhile turned his attention to Rosie. "You have to pay us double too. Why? For ruining our plans last month pinkie!" he sneered.
"Plans?" Leonardo raised an eyebrow. "What on Earth are they even talking about?"
Emily proceeded to tell the dirty blonde-haired boy the story about how much of the Smelter Class teens, with the aid of Mister Ten (Without revealing his true identity), had tried to take over the school that time, but failed in the end and nearly burned down the whole building starting with their own classroom.
"Oh, so that's why that room looked a bit burnt when I passed by it this morning," the dirty blonde-haired boy finally commented.
"Enough talk!" snapped 'Arry, now looking towards the new student. "You either pay up, or you'll miss your next class."
Leonardo stood up and stared coldly at the Smelter teen. "We won't be missing our classes, and we won't be paying you. Now, I'll kindly ask each of you to move aside, leave us alone, and let us pass."
'Arry, looking angry over being told what to do by this loser, decided to teach the new student a lesson that he would never forget...which was going to be a big mistake. 'Arry charged in to try and punch the dirty blonde-haired boy square in the face, but his right fist and arm both immediately got caught by some lightning fast reflexes, and even before he could do anything more. Within seconds, 'Arry had has arm behind his back, and was being held captive by Leonardo.
"Whoa, did he actually do that?" exclaimed Thomas in surprise.
"I've never seen anyone move that fast," added Percy, amazed at seeing how fast and strong the dirty blonde-haired boy was.
Angrily, Leonardo looked around and then shouted out to the other Smelter Class teens. "Listen up, we want no trouble here! We just want to get going to our classes. Now, either you leave us alone and forget this whole 'paying up' nonsense, or else..."
To prove his point, he pushed 'Arry's arm forward, causing him to groan in pain.
"It's your choice. What's it going to be?"
There was a moment of silence in the cafeteria, and then the bad Smelter Class teens all started to back off...while the good Smelter Class teens looked highly impressed from what the new student can do. Leonardo smirked in triumph, but 'Arry and Bert were both now very cross.
"Idiots," grumbled Bert, gazing at the dirty blonde-haired boy hatefully. "I'll take care of this loser myself."
He charged at Leonardo, but stopped when Thomas and Percy both jumped in, arms folded, and looking confident that they could handle that Smelter teen if he tried anything. At first, Bert was looking rather scared, but then he turned to his left and made a REALLY big mistake. He went and grabbed hold of Emily's right arm and used her as a human shield.
"Now you three fools listen up good: You either let my brother go and pay us triple, or the girl here gets it!" Bert ordered cruelly.
He then went and pushed Emily's arm in, making her scream in pain. That happened to be a really bad move on that Smelter teen's part.
Before Bert even knew what was happening, 'Arry suddenly flew in (Having been thrown by the new student) and smashed right into him, releasing Emily and knocking the two brothers into each other and down onto the floor.
"Why that little..." Bert growled angrily, pushing 'Arry off of him. "We'll get-!"
Before either could recover or gather their bearings, the two brothers were met upon by an extremely FURIOUS looking Leonardo, who proceeded to grab 'Arry and Bert both by their shirt collars, just before violently slamming the two Smelter Class teens up against the wall, and hold them there while gazing with a look of very intense, frightful anger on his face. His teeth were clenched, and there was nothing but fury in his usual gentle blue eyes. If the two brothers both didn't seem to know better, they could've sworn that there was a flashing red color coming from the new student's eyes, and this made 'Arry and Bert both feel extremely terrified. If looks could kill, both brothers would likely be dead a thousand times over.
"Yikes..." whispered Paxton from one of the tables, getting a nasty feeling that 'Arry and Bert were both dead meat.
Not a single other student in the entire cafeteria (Be it either Thomas, any of the Smelter teens, etc.) watching dared to try and say a single word or even make a sound about the scene as Leonardo finally opened his mouth and said some very venomous words directed at 'Arry and Bert.
"How dare you try to attack this pretty lady!" shouted the dirty blonde-haired boy, clearly referring to Emily, before finally giving the two frightened Smelter Class teens the coldest stare he could hope to ever give again. "I will warn the both of you now and only once: If either you or any of your devious Smelter Class friends in here ever try and do something like this to Emily or ANY of my new friends again, then so help me...I will make you regret it. Do you understand me?!"
'Arry and Bert both gulped. They were sweating profusely and looked afraid to answer, but since it was clear that the new student was expecting an answer from them, the two Smelter teens managed to summon what little courage they had at the moment.
"Uh, yes sir. Of course sir. So sorry sir. Anything you say sir."
"Good, now get out of my sight!" Leonardo spat.
The dirty blonde-haired boy, while keeping his fierce glare, dropped the two Smelter Class teens firmly onto the ground. 'Arry and Bert both landed with a 'THUMP', but they immediately got back onto their feet and quickly scampered out of the cafeteria as fast as their legs could carry them, while they were also followed by many of their fellow classmates.
"Oh wow..." Leonardo overheard a voice coming from his table.
The voice came from Thomas. He, Percy, Rosie and Emily were all watching in complete silence and surprise at the incredibly nasty 'Berserk Button' their new friend had just shown.
"Wow..." gasped Percy, looking a bit frightened himself. "That was really cool...yet very scary at the same time."
"Look, I really don't take kindly to any of my friends getting bullied," said Leonardo firmly, managing to calm himself down. "But a bully who actually tries to physically hurt ANY friend of mine gets me especially angry."
"So we've seen," Rosie mumbled, still looking a bit stunned from watching the earlier scene.
Regardless of the scene that occurred, Emily was just all smiles. "Either way, you've saved me Leo. Thank you."
"You're welcome Emily," said the dirty blonde-haired boy, now smiling again. "For you, I'll do anything to ensure that you are safe from harm."
This comment made Emily blush once more...while Thomas yet again watched on with a look of slight jealousy on his face from seeing the new student and Emily both interacting so positively with each other before shaking his head, and clearing it of those thoughts and before anyone else could notice. Just then, the bell rang and the teenagers had to leave for their classrooms. Before exiting, Leonardo bowed to Emily, and hurried away...which Rosie saw quickly. It didn't take the pink-haired girl long to figure out what was going on, and thus a small smirk came onto her face.
"If Emily does fall for this new guy, then maybe I'll have my chance to be with Thomas after all." But she thought it only to herself.
The rest of the day went by without anymore problems. Leonardo wasn't even called down to the principal's office for what he did, which actually surprised him greatly, considering that violence was strictly against school rules. Finally, once classes were all done for the day, Thomas, Emily and Percy each went out to the bus waiting area where they got a surprise upon arriving.
"Leo?!" They each exclaimed in unison.
Sure enough, there was Leonardo, waiting for the Ffarquhar bus.
"Hullo again my friends," he greeted, before noticing something. "Where's Rosie?"
"She takes a bus to Knapford," Percy answered. "But more importantly, what are you doing in this line?"
Leonardo chuckled as he rested both his hands behind his head. "I thought it would be obvious. I'm not only the new star player of the Ffarquhar football team, but I also happen to be a resident of Ffarquhar."
"Wow, what a small world," chuckled Thomas.
But Emily was worried. She didn't want the new guy to know where she was living, at least not yet.
"I guess we'll have to be really cautious now," she thought to herself. "It's too soon to let Leo know of my secret."
She wasn't alone in those thoughts as Thomas was thinking the same thing. It was also right around then...
"Ahh, so you're the new star player for the Ffarquhar High School team I've been hearing about, huh?" called a familiar voice.
The four teens all looked to the direction of the voice and saw Gordon walking over to them with a football in his right hand and a big smirk on his face.
"I heard you've knocked my cousin down a pep or two earlier today," he said, before snickering cockily. "That's really cool, but I'd still be careful out there on the pitch if I were you."
"And why is that lad?" Leonardo asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Because I happen to be Sodor High School's star player, and this year we're going to win the game against Ffarquhar and get our chance to play London."
"Oh, here we go again," sighed Thomas, while rolling his eyes.
"Gordon usually acts like this normally, but at this time of year, he gets worse than ever," added Percy unhappily.
"Football is not about winning or losing you know lad," Leonardo said to Gordon calmly, not fazed by the older blue-haired boy's arrogant behavior. "It's all about having fun and just playing the game with your friends and teammates."
"Yeah, yeah, that's important and whatever," snorted Gordon. "But winning is still everything to me and my team. So be careful, otherwise I'll show you just how we Sudrians play the game."
Still laughing over his own boasting, Gordon climbed into his bus to go home. Thomas meanwhile could easily tell that a bit of a friendly rivalry between the two teens (Leonardo and Gordon) was about to begin now.
"Something tells me that this guy has been taken down quite a few pegs in the past," Leonardo commented blankly.
"You don't know the half of it," said the three teenagers in unison.
Soon, the four teens got onto their bus. Throughout the entire bus ride home, the three teens talked about some of their adventures and listened to the tales of wonder and amazement coming from Leonardo (As well as some of the adventures he had while living in both 'Los Angeles, California' and 'Edinburgh, Scotland'). All too soon though, they had reached the town of Ffarquhar.
"It's amazing how time seems to fly when you're talking with friends," said Percy.
Leonardo nodded his head in agreement. The four friends got off the bus and walked down the street before arriving at the football field.
"Well my friends, this is where we have to part ways for now. I need to go and do some practicing with my team before going home," the dirty blonde-haired boy said. "Hopefully, this time I won't hurt someone with that ball again."
"Hey, if you hadn't done that, then we would never have met," Thomas pointed out in a good-natured tone.
"Hmm...yes, I guess that is true," Leonardo agreed, and then said good night to both Thomas and Percy...and also kissed Emily's right hand again. "I'll see you guys at school tomorrow!"
He turned and ran out onto the field to find his teammates. The other three teenagers waved goodbye to their new friend and continued on their way to their homes.
Later that evening at Thomas' house, Emily was lying in her bed and having a hard time sleeping. This was because she was having a nightmare where the dark green-haired girl was in a dark alley and Diesel 10, who had discovered her true identity, was after her.
"Help! Someone please help me!" she cried out in terror.
But no one came out to help, and so Emily was all alone. The dark green-haired girl kept running down the alley and gasped when she saw Thomas and Leonardo both standing in her path just down the road.
"Oh good. I know they'll save me," she said in relief.
But as Emily walked closer, she gasped again. The two teenage boys were being restrained by a few of Diesel 10's gang members, and they both looked really terrified (Although the dirty blonde-haired boy looked more defeated than scared).
"So which one will it be little girl?" sneered Diesel 10 as he showed himself from the dark shadows. "Will it be the boy you've been living with until now? Or will it be the new guy who clearly has a crush on you? Which one will it be?"
The look of fear on the dark green-haired girl's face quickly turned into anger.
"Why do I have to pick? They're both my friends!" Emily snapped.
Diesel 10 smiled an evil smile. "You can only have one. Now make your choice... or else both of them, along with you, will be destroyed."
"I can't pick one. I've told you that they're both my friends!"
"Wrong answer. And now..." Diesel 10 walked closer and closer until Emily was backed to the end of the alley, just before raising his claw hand into the air. "...it's time for you to die, daughter of Sir Topham Hatt!"
He swung it down. Emily screamed and shut her eyes.
The dark green-haired girl instantly opened her eyes again and looked all around her. She was back in the room Thomas gave her when she moved in, while also being safe and sound. Emily was in a cold sweat and panting heavily, but was extremely relieved.
"Thank goodness... it was only a dream," she sighed. Lying back down and trying to fall back asleep, a thought came into Emily's head. "I hope that the nightmare I had isn't a symbol of events yet to happen. That would be awful."
And with that rather dark thought on her mind, Emily closed her eyes and went back to sleep. Yikes! This is gonna get bad later, isn't it?