This is a couple days late, but it's here at last. First off, I'd like to say Merry Christmas to everyone out there, and I hope you're all still doing well in keeping yourselves safe and healthy during these uncertain times. 2020 has been a rough year for all of us, but with hope and luck, 2021 will be the best year we can ever ask for. Now for this story, I have a special thank you going out, and that's to the latest writer of the series; Reptisaurus King, who got me out of a real jam when I was writing up this story. Also, a special thank you goes out to the rest of our Sodor High School team, thanks to you, more than five episodes made it out this year, and with luck, we'll get the remaining seven episodes of Season 2 out soon. Don't worry friends, there will be a season 3 after this season.
Sodor High School: Thomas & Friends Tales
Written by: ThomasZoey3000
Based on the Railway Series by the: Reverand Wilbert and Christopher Awdry
Based on the Television Series by: Britt AllCroft, David Mitton, Hit Entertainment and Mattel
Episode 45: The Monsters of Sodor
Based on "Tale of the Brave" by Andrew Brenner
When school had ended for the day, both Thomas and Emily returned to Brendam. Emily was still curious about what she saw, and hoped that with Thomas' help, they'd be able to find her footprints and figure out what they really belonged to. When they arrived though, they found wagons full of rocks waiting to be taken away.
"That looks to be half of the avalanche zone," Emily commented. "Oh I hope they haven't moved the footprint already."
"Well if they have, maybe we can just look in the wagons for it." But before he could take a step forward, a guard's whistle was heard, followed by a locomotive whistle and the wagons pulled away, "or maybe not."
"Darn it!" grumbled Emily.
"What? Were you hoping to get on that train?" asked another voice. Both teens looked to see a 19 year old with dark grey hair and wearing a striped shirt looking to them, "cause that's a goods train, not a passenger train."
"We know that," said Emily. "We were looking for...wait a minute, who are you?"
"Oh sorry, I guess I wasn't quick on the introduction. Name's Porter, one of Salty's crew here at Brendam, and if I'm guessing right, you're Thomas and Emily."
"You know of us?" Thomas asked in surprise.
Porter chuckled, "of course, Salty's told me all about you two and the adventures you've been on. Quite the daring pair I must say, but enough about that, why were you so interested in that train?"
"It's not the train we were after. You see, Emily saw something at the China Clay pits and wants some answers."
"What sort of something?"
"A giant footprint in the rocks," Emily answered. "I couldn't get a good look at it, but it looked to be pretty big. I was hoping to go down to the pits, and or look in those wagons for it."
Porter shook his head, "it's not a good idea to go down there right now. The walls are still unstable following the avalanche, plus Ms Marion wants all those rocks gone as soon as possible. Besides, if we had seen a footprint, we would've put it aside, I'm sorry you two, but it looks like your search is over."
Thomas and Emily groaned. Suddenly, there came a shout, followed by laughter.
"That sounds like..."
"Yep, it's Bill and Ben," groaned Porter, "and from the sounds of it, they got to Cranky."
Cranky was the nickname of the Crane operator at the docks. He was indeed shouting at Bill and Ben, who put in party poppers inside the crane and rigged them to go off when the operator closed the door. Now he was covered in confetti, and waving a fist at the giggling twins.
Porter sighed, "I guess I better go catch them. Boys, get back here!" he shouted and ran after them.
Emily looked down sadly to her feet. Thomas tried to comfort her, "so we didn't get a chance to get to see the prints this time, but who knows, we might come across them one day."
"I hope so."
Not that far off, Percy was on his way to Brendam. He was meeting up with Edward for one of the guy's nights he and the other lads had. As he rode along though, the fog began to come down. It was light at first, but then it got thicker. So thick that it became hard to see anything.
"We wouldn't get fog like this back at Ffarquhar," he said out loud.
His thoughts were interupted at that moment as he heard something that sounded like a roar. He looked back and saw something shining through the mist.
"Hullo?! Who's there?" he called out loud.
The roar returned and as it got closer, Percy's eyes widened in horror as a big shape came into view. To him, it almost looked like Godzilla.
"MONSTER!" cried Percy and he peddled his way faster towards the docks.
Thomas and Emily were looking over the bus schedule to see what time the bus to Wellsworth would be, when suddenly, they heard a loud shout. It was coming from Porter, "slow down! Slow down! You're coming in too fast!"
Both teenagers, as well as Bill and Ben, looked and saw Percy going faster than they ever saw him go before.
"Monster! I've seen a real monster!" Percy cried. This was followed by a roar in the distance, which seemed to be getting closer.
Cranky the Crane Operator was so startled, he bumped into some levers, which made some of the bags his crane was carrying spill out. They burst open on the quayside, sending up a dust-cloud all around, covering the monster from everyone's view.
Percy shivered in fear of what it might be.
The roar got louder, then it stopped. A creaking sound was heard, followed by the sound of a door closing. Through the dust cloud stepped a man in a green jacket, "oh hullo there, didn't mean to frighten you," the man said.
"You...you're the monster?" Percy asked in surprise.
"Monster? Oh right, this lorry of mine." The man turned back, just as the dust cloud disappeared. Now everyone could see it was actually a lorry with a box behind it. Near to one of the warehouse was a statue of what looked to be a horse, or maybe it was a pony. "This lorry was meant to be in a parade in the United States, but I ended up here by accident. So while I'm waiting for another boat to either take me there or take me home, I decided to use my lorry to help out. Guess I loaded it up too much as the shape of Godzilla really brings out some fear in people, especially in the fog."
"Not me," called Cranky from above. "I wasn't scared."
"AHEM!" called a voice. Cranky looked and groaned a little as he saw Thomas covered in soft sand from the bags. Luckily, the bags didn't fall on him, but now he was covered in sand dust. "Thanks alot Cranky, now I'm going to need a shower!"
Somehow Emily didn't have any dust on her.
"I'm sorry everyone, didn't mean to cause all this mess."
"Oh that's alright matey," said Salty as he came over to see what was going on. "No one was hurt, and that's all that matters. I don't suppose you guys have met yet. This sandy one is Thomas, and his good friend Emily, the twins are Bill and Ben, watch out for them," this got a quick glance from Bill and Ben, "and the one you chased after is Percy."
Gator looked down sheepishly, "yeah sorry about that Percy."
"It's alright Mr...uh..."
"Gerald, my name is Gerald, but my friends all call me Gator."
"Why Gator?" Emily asked.
"Well back where I live, I drive a locomotive that kind of looks like an alligator. But you know what, I like the name, so I won't mind if you all call me Gator."
"Well it's nice to meet you Gator," smiled Percy.
"Alright, now that the meet and greet is done, who's going to clean up this mess?" Cranky called down. "Some of this sand can still be salvaged and put to good use."
Emily looked to the two boys and the twins, who nodded, "we'll help," they said in unison.
And they weren't alone as Gator joined in. As they worked, Gator told them all about his home and that his work often took him to the tallest mountains. Percy was in awe of Gator's bravery and thought he was the bravest person ever.
At long last, the work was done and as the fog lifted, a bus arrived to take Thomas and Emily back to Wellsworth where a train would take them home. Bill and Ben's mother came and dragged them back to her car, quite literally by the ears.
"Why is it always our ears?" groaned Bill.
"Don't know, but I do know one thing, this is your fault we got caught Bill," grumbled Ben.
"How is this my fault? You were the slow one today."
And they continued arguing the rest of the way to the car. Emily just shook her head and turned back to Gator.
"Hope we'll get to see you again one day Gator," said Emily, "and thanks for the help."
"Oh it was my pleasure my dear, and you take care out there. And Percy," the young green haired boy turned to Gator, "don't be afraid of the world. It's more scared of you, then you are of it. Besides, being brave is not the same as not feeling scared, being brave is what you do, even when you're feeling scared."
"Thank you Gator."
And on that note, Percy set off for Edward's place while Thomas and Emily headed home.
"Well it's about time you showed up Percy," grumbled James as Percy finally walked in. Inside Edward's home were Toby, James, Hank, Edward and Murdoch. They were all looking in Percy's direction, "you know we had to play four rounds without you."
"Sorry everyone, but I got a little sidetracked. There was an incident at the docks..."
"Was that before or after you ran away like a scared little girl?"
Percy looked horrified when he heard that. James pulled out his mobile phone and showed off footage of Percy running into the docks, screaming at the top of his lungs.
"It's amazing how footage like this gets out eh?"
"Sorry Percy," said Toby, "but Bill and Ben captured you and posted it on the internet."
"Funny though when you look at the footage," chuckled James. "Your mouth is wide open, and I can only imagine the girl like scream you were giving off. You're such a scaredy cat Percy."
"I am not," Percy protested. "He's lucky Rosie, Molly and Emily aren't here, or they'd be whooping his butt."
"Fraid you are Percy, and this isn't the first time you've screamed like a little girl. Remember the dragon from when you were eight years old, or how about the naughty gnomes from Maithwaite? Face it Percy, you're a coward."
"For the record, Thomas tricked me with that dragon as payback, and as for the gnomes, of course I was spooked by them thanks to Donald and Douglas' stories, and the fog that night didn't help either."
"And who's to say you haven't been scared James?" Toby asked firmly. "I believe there was that one time you were asked to help Henry with a fish delivery? You ran away because you were disgusted by the fish."
"Sure sounds like the fella here was scared to me," snickered Hank.
"Nobody asked you Hank!" snapped James. "Besides, this isn't about me, it's about Percy, the scaredy cat."
Percy was about to retort when Gator's words came flooding back into his head. He looked firmly to James, "you know what James, you're right, I was scared back then and even today, but from now on, I'm going to work on being brave, then you'll see I'm no scaredy cat anymore."
James scoffed, "now that I would like to see."
"Oh don't worry, you will." Percy ran over to couch, then surprising everyone, he jumped over the back end of it and landed safely on the cushion, "alright boys, I do believe it's my turn."
After the game had ended, the boys all headed for their homes. Percy, with such confidence, rode on happily, waving to people as he did.
James meanwhile wasn't happy. Before he could make his way back to Wellsworth, he had to get some fish for his parents, "of all the things they could ask for from me, they had to ask for fish. I HATE fish!" he snarled angerily.
"So I take it you wouldn't like working here me hearty?" Salty the Sailor asked as he and Porter brought in more fish from the boats.
"You got that right Salty. I would find any and all excuses to get out of this job if it were mine. I honestly don't know how you all can stand the smelly things."
"It can be a bit smelly, but after a while, you do get used to it," said Porter.
"A while is too long for me."
With his fish now in boxes, James payed for them and after securing them to his motorbike, he set off into the night.
Despite his speed though, he just couldn't get rid of the horrible smell in the air. He tried to distract himself by thinking about Percy's words from earlier, "Percy being brave, PAH! Like that would ever happen."
His thoughts were suddenly interupted by the sound of a loud rumble. James looked around, but couldn't see the source of it. Then, two bright eyes pierced the darkness, followed by a loud roar and finally the shape of what looked like a huge creature.
"MONSTER!" he cried and revving the engine, he shot off down the road.
The source as it turned out was from Gator doing another job for the dock workers, "bother this lorry, it's too loud for it's own good."
Percy was still going along at a nice pace when he suddenly heard screaming from behind him. He looked and swirved off the road as James soared past, screaming like a banshee.
James shot down the road at dangerous speeds, passing many surprised people, including a surprised police officer, who chased after him. But James didn't stop. Not right away. As he came to a bridge over a big pond, he found himself losing control and still screaming, he flew off his bike and into the pond. He wasn't hurt, but his bike was once again ruined.
The police officer pulled up, "young man, do you even know how fast you were going?"
"Sorry officer, but I had to get away from the monster." James shuddered as the noise got closer to him. He wanted to swim away, but before he could, a lorry came to a stop on the bridge and out stepped Percy, who Gator had picked up after seeing James run off.
"Hullo James, I see you met Gator," Percy smiled.
"Sorry lad, but it's really hard to control the noise of this lorry."
James groaned, which only got louder as he saw the fish he was suppose to bring home floating around him. The police officer only shook his head, "reckless driving, speeding and poluting the water. Young man, you better hope your parents are forgiving."
"They're going to kill me for this," James muttered to himself.
The following morning, Percy was out and about with his mail run. All along the route, he kept up his cheerful smile and greeted everyone as he went along. He was having such a wonderful morning.
At the high school later on, Percy heard chuckling from the other students.
"Uh, what's going on here?" he asked.
"It's James," whispered Gordon, "oh here he comes."
James came walking in through the front doorway, looking miserable. He looked to the other students, "go ahead and laugh, I know you all want to."
And they did, minus Emily, Thomas and Percy.
"I wish I had been there," chuckled Bill, "that would've made a great desktop picture."
"Or a perfect picture for my mobile phone," added Ben, who was finding it hard to speak while laughing.
Even Henry couldn't help but join in the fun, "James, I know you're not a fan of fish, but take it from me, it's better to just give them to your parents, not throw them back into the water."
They all laughed. James turned redder than ever, "shut up!" he snapped. "Because of that visitor, I'm grounded! AGAIN! And my bike's been taken away. To make matters worse, my parents are making me work at the scrapyards at Wellsworth to pay for the damage to the bike."
"You really don't have a good reputation with bikes do you James?" chuckled Gordon.
The laughing continued until Thomas piped up, "alright guys, that's enough of that. Yes it's funny how James took a swim with the fish," this only brought on more laughter from the other students, "but we have to look at it this way, James could've gotten seriously hurt or worse. Let's just drop the topic and leave him alone."
"Thank you Thomas, though I'm quite capable of saying those words."
"Are you sure?" chuckled Bill.
"Or are you afraid?" added Ben. "You could learn from Percy here. He did his whole mail run this morning without being scared, not to mention he travelled with your 'monster' to make sure you were alright."
James gritted his teeth and stormed off while some of the other students laughed at him.
"I sense trouble coming," Emily said to Percy.
"Oh I'm sure James will be alright. They'll tease him for a while, then they'll forget about it and life will return to normal. Speaking of normal, we better get off to class."
The others nodded and went off to their respective classrooms. All except for James, who scowled at Percy, "he gets scared of Gator first, yet I become the butt of people's jokes. I got to make him the fool, then they'll laugh at him, just like they're suppose to, but how?"
James was still thinking of how to pay Percy out as he arrived that evening with a load of scrap. Luckily, he was able to drive any vehicle, so was allowed to drive the yard's lorry around, though he still perferred his bike.
"Stupid Percy, stupid monsters, stupid scrap. There's got to be a way out of this mess," he grumbled as he climbed out of the cab.
"Well, isn't that why you're here?" called a voice.
James jumped, then through the scrap-piles, he saw the owner of the yard looking over towards him, "sorry about that James, didn't mean to spook you like that."
"It's fine Reg, and for the record I wasn't spooked. I'm quite brave when I want to be."
"Is that right?" But Reg sounded like he didn't believe James one bit. "Well this scrap ain't going to unload itself. Care to operate the claw?"
"Sure why not, it's not like I got anything else to do."
James climbed into the crane and moved it over to the lorry with the scrap. As he did this, James looked at the pile and for a moment, he thought it almost looked like a monster.
"Boy, if Percy saw this, he'd really be scared..." it was then that a nasty thought came into his head, "and he would if it was dark. I'll do tonight. He's due to meet up with the guys for another game night, so I'll get him then."
As night fell over the island, Percy peddled his way to Murdoch's home. It was always arranged that one of the boys would host the game one night, then another would host the next night. Percy didn't mind, "at least I won't have to go too far to get to Murdoch's home," he thought to himself. But he wouldn't get that far.
Just down the lane, James was going ahead with his nasty plan. He had taken the lorry, loaded it up with the monster he had created and after grabbing some torches, he parked it and waited. He soon saw Percy.
"Now we'll see who's the bravest," he sneered.
As Percy approached the object, he squinted his eyes. "What is that? Some kind of construction vehicle? A overly large bush? Or is it..." Hiding in the scrap pile, James flicked on the lights, making the whole thing light up and make look like it was alive, "A MONSTER! They are real!" Percy stopped a few inches from the monster, and turning around, he peddled back to Wellsworth.
James came out of the pile laughing, "oh tomorrow is going to be so much fun."
"Hullo, hullo, hullo," said a stern voice. James gulped and looked to see the same police officer from the night before, "and what's going on here? You know you're blocking the path young man?"
"Er, sorry officer. I was looking for a lost item in here, but it doesn't seem to be here. I'll be on my way."
The officer let him go and James drove off, chuckling the entire time.
Percy meanwhile was peddling much too quickly. He was heading for Wellsworth station, and worse still, there was a train coming in. Still scared, Percy wasn't stopping. As he came into the station, someone tackled him off his bike and they landed on the platform. The bicycle sadly hit the train and disappeared with a crunch.
"Percy, are you alright?" Percy looked to see the owner of the voice was Emily. She and Thomas had only just arrived at Wellsworth.
"I...I..." but Percy was still in a state of panic.
"Percy, do you even realise what could've happened if Emily hadn't saved you?" Thomas asked. "Why did you come running through the station?"
"I...I...I saw a monster down the lane," he stammered. "It was glowing and showing it's sharp teeth."
Just then, a car pulled up and out stepped Edward, "I'm afraid it was no monster you saw Percy," he said. He pulled out his phone and showed Percy a photo of his so called monster. "I'm afraid James was trying to pull a trick on you."
Percy's scared look disappeared into the nastiest frown yet, "why that stupid idiot! I could've died just now, and all for what, because he wants to be the bravest? Well we'll see how brave he is when he gets to school tomorrow."
James arrived at the school next morning, half expecting all the students to be laughing at Percy. Instead though, he found the other students looking at him with angry stares.
"What's going on here?" he asked.
"We should ask you the same thing James," Emily stated firmly, "Percy nearly ran into a moving train last night because he got scared by a monster."
James gulped, he certainly didn't want that to happen.
"A monster that was made of nothing but pure scrap," added Thomas. "And according to Edward, it was on the back of your lorry."
"Care to explain yourself James?" Henry asked firmly.
"Er...well I..."
But before James could say anything, Percy charged in and punched James in the face, knocking him off his feet, "you stupid good for nothing moron, I could've died."
"Well I didn't mean for it to go that far Percy. Maybe wet your pants or fall in mud, not that."
Percy shook his head angerily, "so you think I'm a scaredy cat do you? You think it's funny to tease others like this, nearly killing them in the process. Well I'll show you James, I'll show you how brave I truely am. I'm going to not only find those footprints Emily found, but I'm going to also find whatever it belongs to and capture it. And then, and only then, will I prove I'm better than you." Percy turned to leave, but then spun round and punched James in the face again, making his nose bleed.
He turned once more, and much to everyone's surprise, he stormed out of the school.
James stumped as he got up. Henry and Gordon looked down at him, "do you have something to say James?"
But no apology came out of James' mouth. His ego had once again taken over, "no one gets away with punching me and gets away with it. I'll find that so called monster first," and he raced off for the doors.
"This is seriously messed up," groaned Emily. "We better get my father involved."
Thomas nodded and they ran off to the principal's office.
To Be Continued...