The next morning, Sonny, the hydrock foundry well tank and Wellsworth and Suddery Railway's number one steams into Vicarstown station with the local train from Great Waterton. Rick and Lizzie are sitting in the station, snowploughs on and a workcoach between each other's tenders. Rick finishes his explanation as Sonny comes to a standstill. "Good morning Sonny, how are you today?" Rick greets the red engine. He rolls his eyes. "you are way to energetic for the time of day." he grumbles. Rick chuckles softly. "What did you expect from me?" His expression becomes serious. "did they find out who set Adam off yesterday?" he asks. Sonny huffs. "Yeah, they arrested a lorry driver. Apparently Lilly saw him climb into Adam's cab right before he took off." Rick looks the well tank over. "You seem bothered by something." Sonny sighs. "The road vehicles, especially the lorries, have been giving us rather dirty looks lately. I am concerned that they are planning something nefarious." Rick looks sceptically at the well tank. "You might be overthinking the situation. You have a bad habit of doing that." Sonny glares at the green engine. "I'll let you know that that's gotten better." Rick releases a small cloud of steam. "If you say so." he says before remembering something. "I don't think I've introduced you to my daughter yet. Sonny this is Lizzie. Lizzie, this is Sonny, an old friend of mine." Sonny looks the red tender engine over. "I am not even going to question it. Take care of this idiot young iron." "Hey!" Lizzie giggles. "I will, don't worry." "The signal is green, let's go Lizzie." Rick says. "See you Sonny." Lizzie says as they leave the station.

Melody steams into the Ffarquhar Quarry pulling a rake of empty trucks. "Good morning Mavis, and merry Christmas." she greets the black BR class 04, who is shunting some trucks underneath the chutes. "Good morning and merry Christmas to you too. Please put those trucks in siding five." Melody runs around her train with a frown on her face. "What's wrong Melody?" "Huh? Oh, I am a bit worried about Rick." Mavis raises an eyebrow. "Is it about this so called encounter he had with a ghost last night?" Melodies looks shocked at the diesel. "What!? Do you know who's ghost it was?" Mavis thinks for a moment. "From what the rumours say, it is a woman around 45 years old, and they had a peaceful conversation. I honestly think it is just a made up story though. Did this help you in anyway?" Melody thinks for a moment. "I think so, I've at least something to think about now."

Edward steams into Crovan's Gate Steamworks and stops in front of the turntable. "Hello Henry, and merry Christmas." he greets the Black Five. "Merry Christmas to you too Edward. Although, I wish it was under different circumstances." "Ah, Edward. Glad you're here." Sir Topham says as he walks to them with Victor. "You wanted me to bring Henry to Bea Works sir? Don't we have enough room for him here?" the blue engine asks. "We have enough room for him here my friend. We don't have the manpower to start work on him immediately though. That's why I suggested sir Topham to send Henry to the Bea Works." Victor explains. "Bea Works has told me that they can repair Henry in about two weeks, much faster than we can do here." Topham chips in. Edward looks confused at Victor. "You seem like you've heard of Bea Works before Victor." The saddle tank chuckles. "Bea Works is famous amongst us works engines." Edward hums. "I forgot that Obbeeys has had some limited interactions with the wider world of this universe for about one and a half century now." A whistle rings throught the air and a red Black Five steams into the building and comes to a standstill next to Edward. "Good morning, you must be Sir Topham Hatt." Topham nods. "You must be the replacement engine the OR has send us." "That is correct sir. My name is Heather, nice to meet you."

Rick and Lizzie stop at platform one of Knapford station, while Donald and Douglas are sitting at platform four and Duck at platform two. "I am telling you two, there is a big increase of passengers at Tidmouth. If sir Topham doesn't do something soon Oliver and I will be overwhelmed." Duck complains to the twins. "Are ye sure it isnae in yer head? Dougie and ah havenae had an increase in goods lately." Donald counters. Duck scoffs. "Just you wait for it. I've heard that Tidmouth's council has introduced a plan to reduce the amount of cars in the city. It won't be long before the amount of goods going by rail from Tidmouth will increase as well. If I were sir Topham, I would restore and reopen the entirety of Tidmouth station." Douglas scoffs. "Better ye tell him than ah. Ah am happy tae just be working still." Duck's guard blows his whistle and the pannier tank leaves the station in a huff. "To be honest, I've been wondering why Knapford became the terminus of the mainline for some time now." Rick wonders outloud, startling the Caledonian Twins. "Dear lord Rick, how long have ye been standing there?" Donald yells. "We've been here for about two minutes now. Anyways, do the two of you know why Knapford is the mainline's terminus these days?" Donald tries to answer, but Douglas interrupts him. "Are ye two trying tae take our job frum us!?" he scoffs at the two triplexes. "Of course not! We've been asked to assist you two with clearing snow." Lizzie says panicked. Douglas glares at the red engine for a while, before laughing. "Donnae worry lass, ah am just messing with ye. We appreciate th' help." Donald and Rick share a look and chuckle softly. "All things aside, may I get an answer to my question?" Donald sighs. "Back in 1972, th' level o' road traffic in Tidmouth increased tae th' point th' station wasnae used tae much anymore. Because o' that, sir Charles decided tae move th' terminus frum Tidmouth tae Knapford." "What ah donnae get is why Tidmouth's council would reduce th' amount o' cars in th' city." Douglas wonders. "That's probably because a city worth o' cars causes quite th' amount o' pollution and greenhouse gasses. Ah think they are trying tae reduce th' emissions they produce." The four engines look over to see that Pyty has stopped on platform five with a coal train. "Ye must be Pyty. Rick has told us about ye in th' past." Donald says. "And ye two must be Donald and Douglas. I've heard about ye frum Rick and th' Railway Series." Douglas looks confused. "Ye have th' Railway Series in Freayltys as well?" he asks the CR 600. Pyty giggles. "We dae, it has several stories about th' two of ye." Nore chirps in. "In beyond Dovan the Railway Series exists as well." Donald looks surprised. "What are th' chances." "But if they want tae reduce th' emissions, why would they want us tae reopen th' entire station?" Douglas asks confused. "That's probably because o' th' Peesh coal th' North Western is importing. Peesh coal produces very few emissions. When ye use this coal th' ye produce less emissions then cars compared tae an equivalent amount o' work done by road vehicles." Pyty explains.

James steams into the Steamworks sometime later. "Good morning Victor. Can I visit Jasmine?" "Sore thing my friend." The red engine moves over to his sister, whom has received a new boiler. "Merry Christmas Jasmine." he greets her. Jasmine smiles. "Merry Christmas James." "Rick told me you needed to tell me something. Is something wrong?" James asks concerned and Jasmine's smile falters. "Guess there is no point in trying to hide it anymore, is there. James, I had metal fatigue in my old wheels." James' face goes pale. "How bad was it?" "It wasn't too bad, and it didn't spread. They've already removed it and examined me for more patches. You don't have to worry too much." James sighs in relief. "Thank the lord. I don't know what I would do if I lost you again. You are the only good thing from the Lancashire and Yorkshire I have left." Jasmine smiles reassuringly. "Don't worry James, I won't be going anywhere."

Angel shunts the coaches for the express to platform one, ready for Rebecca to take them. "Good job Angel. You are getting the hang of it pretty quickly." Philip praises the black tank engine. "Thank you Philip, I don't have too much experience with coaches, so that is reassuring. Philip smiles. "Can you take the coaches for the local to platform four?" "The coaches on track one from the carriage shed right?" "Yep." "Alright." Angel moves over to the coaches and couples up to them. As she tries to pull them out of the siding, her wheels start spinning around, not finding any grip on the icy rails. "Come on, move." she groans as her wheels spin around helplessly. "Cut it out Angel, your sandboxes must be empty." Anon tells his engine. Angel sighs and blows her whistle. After a minute, Philip moves over to her. "Is something wrong Angel?" "It seems we've forgotten to refill my sandboxes. I'm not able to move these coaches on my own." she says with a slight blush of embarrassment on her face. Philip chuckles. "We've all been there, haven't we. Alright, lets get you filled up after we get the local ready."

Alfred steams into Vicarstown station with the local and comes to a standstill. Gordon is sitting in the station, waiting until he can depart. "You don't seem to be in a good mood Gordon. Is something the matter?" the green engine asks the pacific. Gordon huffs. "I need to wait until a railtour arrives before I can depart. I am going to be late if they don't get here soon, and that will never do." "Who do you think is visiting?" "Beats me." A familiar whistle rings through the air. Gordon looks surprised. "Why is she here?" he wonders. A minute later Tornado steams into the station and comes to a standstill beside the A0. 'Merry Christmas big brother." she greets Gordon. "Merry Christmas Tornado. What are you doing here?" "Sir Topham invited me to your Christmas party." Alfred looks confused from Gordon to Tornado. "Am I missing something here? I didn't know that you had a surviving sister Gordon. She doesn't look like a A1 or A3 though." Gordon hums. "That's right, you and Scarlet came here in 1944. She technically isn't my or Scotsman's sister, as she is a newbuilt Peppercorn A1, but Scotsman took her in as if she truly is his sister because she was bullied by a lot of the steam engines on the mainland. The both of us consider her our sister." Alfred still looks confused. "How come this is the first time I hear about her?" "You were having an overhaul when she visited. Besides that, at the time we were really talking about her you were doing a lot of night runs." Alfred hums. "Well the, nice to meet you Tornado. My name is Alfred." Tornado smiles at the B12. "Nice to meet you too." Gordon's guard blows his whistle and waves his flag. "That is my que to leave. See you at the party Tornado."

"I am sorry sir, but the next train to Knapford has been canceled." the stationmaster of Vicarstown informs the passengers on platform three. "But we need to get to Knapford on time." one of the passengers complains. Rick moves over to them and releases a small cloud of steam, grabbing the attention of both the passengers and the stationmaster. "I could take them along with me on my next goods train sir." The stationmaster shakes his head. "If you do that, the ride won't be smooth. Besides, are you even able to pull that much weight at speed?" he asks the green engine. Rick smiles reassuringly. "I've pulled mixed passenger and goods trains back in the First World War, and your railway hasn't given me a train yet that was anywhere near heavy enough to make me struggle. I am confident that I can get these people home on time, as long as I can travel at speed." The stationmaster thinks for a moment. "Do you think control will agree with that?" Nore pokes her head out of Rick's cab. "I've already asked and gotten permission from control. We just need to get permission from you and a guard for the coaches." she informs the man. The stationmaster thinks for a moment, and grabs his radio. "I am going to call the yardmaster over to confirm some things." After a couple of minutes the yardmaster arrives. "This engine has offered to take these passengers to Knapford with his goods train. Is that in any way feasible?" The yardmaster looks something up on his tablet, before nodding. "All the numbers are pointing to the conclusion that he would be more than capable to do so. His tractive effort is off the charts, even at speed. Besides that, he has a assigned brakevan with immense brakingpower. I don't see any problem with his offer as long as they communicate well and control gives permission." The stationmaster nods. "Well then, I'll go look for a guard. Can you get Rosie to shunt some coaches onto his train?" The passengers cheer.

Sometime later Rick backs onto his train in the yard. He pulls it into the station and stops at the platform. The passengers quickly board the coaches. Hanne and Nore give each other a look, before Nore speaks up. "Rick, I think I'll leave this to you. I have no idea how to handle a train like this." she tells their engine. Rick chuckles. "Of course, I don't mind. This is a rather difficult consist for an unexperienced driver after all." They hear both Alyssa and the other guard blow on their whistle and Rick departs.

Gordon comes near Knapford station when he hears a familiar, high pitched whistle. Moments later the Flying Scotsman pulls up next to him and matches his pace. "Merry Christmas Gordon." the apple green engine greets his brother. "Scott, what are you doing here?" The apple green engine chuckles. "I am here for your Christmas party. Didn't Tornado tell you?" "She didn't. She probably wanted to surprise me."

Knapford station is filled with engines as the evening grows nearer. Lizzie looks around the station. "Where is dad?" she asks Melody. "He should be coming in with a goods train very soon." As she says that, they hear a whistle and three strong headlights appear in the darkness. Rick soon enters the station and comes to a standstill at platform two. Gordon looks surprised at the green engine. "Why are you pulling coaches? Don't you prefer goods?" Rick chuckles. "I am pulling goods as well right now. I just offered to take on the passengers of a cancelled train." Gordon frowns at the green engine. "You took passengers on your goods train? That must have been a slow journey. I can't imagine that the passengers liked having you as their engine." "Are you implying that he doesn't know how to handle a mixed passenger train Gordon?" Edward asks the blue pacific. Gordon stammers for an answer under his glare. He is spared from answering by Tornado and Scotsman stopping in front him. "Good evening Rick. It is nice to meet you again." Scotsman greets the triplex. "Hi sir. It is nice to see you. Could you tell me another story tonight?" Rick chuckles at the blue engine. "I don't see why not young iron. Although, I've got the feeling that the three of you will be quite busy tonight." Gordon groans. "You are right about that. With Scotsman here there will be plenty of railfans that will ask for our attention." Edward chuckles. "Someone would think that you'd enjoy being surrounded by your fans Gordon." he teases the bigger engine. "They are here for Scotsman, not for me Edward." "Sir, why are you smirking like that?" Tornado's question drives the attention of the other two pacifics and Edward towards Rick. "It is nothing young iron. Don't worry about it." Edward looks amused at his older brother. "You weren't talking about Scotsman's fans when you said that these three would be busy tonight, were you?" Rick chuckles. "You know me too well dear Edward. And to answer your question, no, I was not." "Then what were you talking about?" "All I'll tell you Gordon, is that Emma Hodgson will be attending this party as a representative of the Obbeeys Railway." Gordon starts to protest, but Rick takes his attention to some of his passengers that were watching their conversation. "Can I help you?" he asks the small group. "We just wanted to thank you for the relatively smooth journey. We know how difficult it is to have a smooth journey with a mixed train. It is quite impressive." a smartly dressed man says. Rick blushes slightly in embarrassment. "Thank you sir. The key to it is experience and good communication." The man nods. "My name is Issac Edwards. I am one of the representatives of the A1 Trust. We've heard about your Obbeeys Railway and we're wondering if we could request parts for our newbuilt Gresley P2." Rick looks confused. "If you're from the Trust, then why didn't you come with Tornado?" Issac scratches the top of his head. "Had some matters to attend to back home and had to take another train." Rick hums. "I think I could help you with that sir. Although there will be someone attending this party that could get you in contact with the Works much easier. Please do tell me sir. How much do you know about the appearance of Obbeeysians? Especially the younger generation." Issac looks slightly uncomfortable. "I've heard rumours that the youth of your island. That they are born with animal features." Gordon laughs. "What a ridiculous thing to belief. There is no way people are born with animal features." "Ignore Gordon sir, he doesn't know what he's talking about." Gordon Sputters in protest, but one glance at Edward shuts him up. "You are indeed right sir. The daughter of our controller will attend this party. She is a fox-kin with blonde hair and blue highlights. Just tell her I directed you to her." Issac nods. "Thank you."

Rick shunts his train back into the yard and moves toward the station. As he comes to a standstill, Melody looks at him. "Is something wrong Melody?" "I've heard that you've met Bella's ghost." she states, looking intently at her older brother. Romy, Edith and Edward stiffen up in surprise. Rick smiles gently. "I did. We talked and I've been feeling a lot better since then." The four K2s glance at each other. "Are you really feeling better? You know you can tell me if something is bothering you." Romy tells Rick. The green engine chuckles. "I know, I know. You don't have to worry though. I am fine. Bella actually told me she doesn't blame me for her death and that I should forgive myself for it. It helped reduce the guild I was feeling quite a bit." The four K2s sigh in relief. "Why all the questions though?" "Thank goodness, I was worried she would be vengeful towards you." Edith explains. Rick frowns at that. "Did you really think she would act like that?" Edward smiles sadly. "You have to understand that we didn't know her like you did. We weren't sure she wouldn't come after you with malicious intent." Rick sighs. "You didn't have to worry. She isn't the kind of person to hold a grudge." Lizzie looks confused from her father to the rest of her family. "Who is Bella?" "Remember that ghost you told me about a while back?" Melody asks. "yeah." "Well, that was Bella Adams." Lizzie still looks confused. "But what is your relationship with her dad? It doesn't sound like the relationships between humans and engines I've seen so far." Rick chuckles. "I can imagine that. She was my lover from 1897 till 1918. She died because of German sabotage in Belgium during the First World War." Lizzie looks surprised. "I didn't know that humans and engines could be lovers." Rick chuckles. "It isn't that common, but it does happen from time to time."

Sometime later a shrill whistle rings through the air and the sound of a steam engine approaches. Flying Scotsman looks shocked at the sound of it. "That sounds like your whistle Scotsman." Gordon says. "I know that whistle." the green pacific says. Moments later Pretty Polly steams into the station, pulling a single coach. "Merry Christmas Scotsman, Gordon." she greets her brothers. The tow look shocked at the A3, before Scotsman finally manages to stammer something out. "Polly?! How are you here? Weren't you scrapped?" Polly chuckles. "My crew didn't want to give up on me, so they managed to get me to the island of Obbeeys, where I was saved by the Obbeeys Railway." Tornado looks confused at her older brother. "What is going on Scotsman?" Scotsman chuckles. "Tornado, meet Pretty Polly, one of our siblings. Polly, this is Tornado, our adoptive younger sister." Polly looks the blue pacific over. "I wasn't aware that there was a A1 Peppercorn named Tornado." Tornado looks to the ground. "I am a newbuilt miss." Polly scoffs at that. "None of that. Call me Polly dear. It is nice to meet you Tornado." "It is nice to meet you to Polly." "Thank you for the smooth ride Polly." a woman's voice thanks the A3. "Thank you miss. It was my pleasure." A blonde woman with blue highlights and fox ears and tail stands next to the pacific. Gordon looks surprised at her, as do Scotsman and Tornado. She smiles at the three pacifics. "Hello. My name is Emma Hodgson. It is nice to meet you." Scotsman regains his voice first. "Hello ma'am. It is nice to meet you. I am the Flying Scotsman. This is my brother Gordon and my sister Tornado." Emma nods and smiles again. "Excuse me ma'am, can I speak with you?" Issac walks over to the fox-kin. "Can I help you with something sir?" "Yes, I wanted to make some connections with Bea Works and Rick suggested I'd speak with you." Emma nods and smiles. "Alright then sir, let's talk business."

"You must be Emma." Sir Topham says as he walks over to the fox-kin. Emma smiles. "And you must be sir Topham Hat. It is nice to meet you sir." The two shake hands. Emma pats her suitcase. "I have some proposals in here that we need to discuss." Sir Topham nods. "I have a little time this evening, but the rest needs to be done at a later date." "Good thing I'm planning on staying a couple of days then."

After sir Topham has given his Christmas speech, where he announces the NWR's partnership with the Obbeeys Railway, and they start counting down to the fireworks show. Once the fireworks starts going off, Rick starts trembling and whimpering softly, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. Melody and Romy notice his disposition and sigh. Melody moves gently forward and couples up to the green engine. She gently begins dragging him out of the station, alerting Emma, Lizzie and their siblings. "What is going on with him?" Emma asks worried as she jumps into Romy's cab. "I'll tell you when we get him out of here." she tells her as she starts reversing as well. Edward, Edith and Lizzie follow suit.

When they return to Tidmouth sheds Melody shunts Rick into one of the berths before all the K2s take place on both sides of him. "Can you tell us what's going on?" Emma asks as she climbs out of Romy's cab. The engines ignore her as Melody turns to her older brother. "You are alright brother, you are not in danger. We are all safe." Rick's whimpering quiets down and slowly opens his eyes. "What did you see brother?" "I heard the sound of distant artillery and the smell of gunpowder and blood. I could see the destruction of towns and villages, and the thousands of injured men being send back home. I could feel the explosion tear and twist my boiler and cab and bend my frames. I was back at… the harbour…" Melody sighs. "How many times have we told you to get some help with your trauma. This is getting ridiculous." "You don't need to worry about me Melody. I can handle this myself." "No you can't." Romy interjects. "If Melody didn't drag you out just now you probably would have completely broken down. I really think you need to find a therapist to help you get over your trauma. It is starting to disrupt your life." "I think you're overexaggerating. I can handle it just fine." Melody scoffs. "Rick, stop denying it. If you keep bottling your traumatic experiences up inside of you, eventually you will burst. I know you don't want to relive those events, but this isn't healthy. We are only going to keep worrying if you don't get help soon." "Dad, I want you to get better, please. What happened to you at the station was scary. I don't want that to happen ever again." Lizzie begs her father. Rick is silent for a moment before sighing. "Alright fine. I'll admit it, I need help with my trauma. But where would I even get it? As far as I know, there aren't any therapists that deal with engines." Emma perks up. "There are a couple of engines back home that can give therapy. Although the engines I think would be best for you are Michael and Michelle. I could request for them to be shipped back from the Netherlands to give you therapy." Rick looks confused. "I know about Michael, but who is this Michelle. It sounds like she is related to him in some way." Emma nods. "She is basically his clone. He was in an accident in 1923 and his smokebox was put on a faceless member of their class to try to keep him alive, but when they fired it up basically a female version of him appeared instead of Michael himself. The ROD then repaired his damaged engine and when he was fired up again, he woke up again." Rick looks intrigue. "That is quite the anomaly. Has something similar happened since?" "Not that I know of. I've been thinking of calling them back to the island anyways, since Veldanava seems to be in need of therapy as well." "I can agree with that. That engine is way too anxious for his own good. He shouldn't worry so much." Rick glares at Romy. "You shouldn't be so hard on him. He is trying to live up to the character he's named after." Hanne sprints over to the front of her engine. "Veldanava? As in the true dragon Veldanava?" she asks exited. Romy looks confused at the girl. "Yes, he is the first member of the True Dragon class. What is so exciting about that?" Rick chuckles as Hanne deflates in disappointment. "He is an engine Hanne. He does have a connection to the anime though. Afterall, he is named after that true dragon." "So he was named after a fictional character?" Melody asks curious. Rick hums. "All engines of the True Dragon class are named after the true dragons from the anime 'That Time I Reincarnated As A Slime'." Romy rolls her eyes. "Shand ta aen jeecheeard gurish ainnym aenn greiennsean crastyl." "Romy, I don't think you can criticize the naming convention of the True Dragon class. You started naming trucks after the most mundane things in Old Obbeeysian in 1845. Your naming skills are disastrous." Romy jolts back in surprise. "Deyrleas tigheairn. Where did that come from?" she asks. "You shouldn't make fun of someone's name. You should know that by now." Romy sighs, visibly ashamed of herself. "I'm sorry brother." "Good." Melody chuckles. "it isn't often that you're firm like that. I've been wondering, what kind of character is Veldanava in this anime?" Rick grins. "Hanne, would you like to do the honours? After all, you're the reason I know so much about this anime." Hanne smirks at him. "As if you don't enjoy our research and anime watching sessions. Anyways, Veldanava is the creator god of the world of Tensure, the world in which the anime takes place. So this engine has a lot to live up to." "Oh moaym. That kind of pressure isn't easy to deal with. And for someone that young, poor engine." Lee and Emrick lean against Melody's cowcatcher and nod in agreement with their engine. " here you are. Miss Hodgson, I have been informed that a blue pacific has been heading towards here. It has contacted control under the name Veldanava. Might that be one of your railways' engines?" sir Topham asks Emma as he comes jogging over to them. She and the engines glance at each other. "He is. How far is he from here?" the fox-kin asks. Before the controller can answer a whistle rings through the air and a blue pacific comes into view. "Good evening Veldanava. Would you like to join us and explain why you are here?" Rick offers the engine. The engine is trembling slightly as he replies. "I-I would l-love that." He steams into the roundhouse and turns around on the turntable and backs into one off the berths. "So, could you explain why you are here? It isn't like you to go somewhere you've never been before without asking for permission." Veldanava looks around nervous. "H-h-he's b-been fo-following m-m-me." The engines look confused at each other. "Who is?" "The real Veldanava. I am sure I'm not hallucinating this time. He's really after me this time!" Romy sighs. "Veldanava dear. You aren't being followed by someone. And the person you're named after doesn't exi-" Suddenly one of Rick's hydraulic claws shoots forward and seems to grab into the air. "Nydè nythe helfrinn!?" Romy exclaims. Rick glares at something near his claw. "Sorry mate, but it seems you aren't as invisible as you think you are. Care to show yourself?" They hear a sigh and suddenly a man with yellow eyes, black hair that seems to have white dots in it and a pair of horns sticking out of his forehead appears, being held by the collar of his shirt by Rick's claw. "It seems that you are correct. I have had a suspicion for a while now, and this confirms it. Could you let me go now?" Rick chuckles. "Most certainly sir Veldanava." The green engine lets go of the man, and he slowly floats back to the ground. Veldanava turns to the engine bearing his name and bows. "It seems I've been unintentionally upsetting you, you have my apologies for that. I wasn't aware anyone was capable of seeing me." The blue pacific looks surprised. "I-I ain't going to say that you haven't caused me any distress, but I'll accept your apology. I would've liked it if you hadn't followed me all the way here though." Veldanava's driver walks alongside his engine, running his hand over his runningboard. "I am sorry for not believing you Vel. I should've kept in mind where we live. It was foolish to dismiss your problems without investigating further. Could you forgive me?" Vel chuckles. "Sthiu'tta aenn blebmadam. Of course I forgive you Steve. You were the first driver I've had that didn't abandon me because of my anxiousness. I would've given up a long time ago if it hadn't been for you." Steve wipes away a tear. "You are to good for this world my boy." Veldanava bows down to the engine again. "I didn't mean to cause you distress. Is there anything I could do for you to make up for my actions?" Vel smiles weakly. "I would like if you come visit me sometimes, and I would like to request that you move around the island like any other person. You aren't as scary as I thought you would be." The true dragon smiles at the blue engine. "It would be my pleasure." "Uhm, excuse me." Veldanava turns towards Hanne. "yes dear?" She fidgets before asking her question. "Aren't you a god?" "I used to be one, and I still have a few of the abilities I had back then, but I am not that strong these days. One of the most powerful skills I have is one to travel the multiverse. If I see it correctly, your friend is more powerful than me these days." he says while motioning towards Rick. Rick raises an eyebrow. "I take that you mean that in a destructive sense." The god nods. "Indeed. If you tried to destroy me, you could do so in a heartbeat." Lizzie looks surprised at her father. "Is that true?" Rick hums thoughtfully. "Probably. I can be quite destructive if I wanted to be. These claws are toys in comparison to my magical abilities." Veldanava nods. "You probably are one of the strongest beings on your planet." Rick raises an eyebrow intrigued. "Only one of? Who could be more powerful?" Nore pats his footplate. "You sound arrogant right now old boy." Veldanava chuckles. "You'd be surprised. There are a couple of incredibly powerful individuals in your kingdom." He then looks back at Vel. "I think it might be a good idea to go back." The engine and his driver agree.

Lady hesitates as she stops in front of the entrance to the Dieselworks. "Are you sure about this m'lady?" Burnett asks the purple tank engine. Lady sighs. "I am not sure Burnett, but I think I've been postponing this conversation for way too long." she admits. "Let's just get this over with." Burnett ushers her into the building. Russel sits the corner of the building, some of the panels on his side hanging open or laying on the floor around him. He looks up as he hears Lady approaching him. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asks curiously as she comes to a stop slightly across from him. Lady swallows hard, gathering the courage to speak. "We need to talk." she manages to squeeze out. "I think that would be best." the diesel agrees. Burnett pats his engine on her side encouragingly. "Why did you try to kill me?" she asks. Russel looks away for a moment, composing his thoughts into something understandable for the small tank engine. "To be honest, I was angry, mislead and insecure. From the moment I came into the world, I was promised the world. They said that I would replace all the useless and outdated steam engines. I would pull the most important expresses and last forever. But soon after I was put into service, my class was deemed to be non-standard and cast aside. When my class was being withdrawn, some of my siblings and I were sold to a scrapyard. Instead of being scrapped, we were equipped with these claws, and set to work tearing engines, machines and all other kinds of scrap apart. Being cast aside and then forced to kill my fellow diesels made me bitter. The fact that steam engines were being bought from scrapyards for preservation, while my siblings and I wasted away in scrapyards in one way or another only made my prejudice only worse. When I was sold to this railway, I was dead sent on wiping out all the steam engines. I especially hated you, because you were only a small tank engine, but were treated like some kind of goddess. It pissed me off, and made you my primary target. I didn't even know you were magical at first, only finding out after I crashed you." Lady looks curious at the diesel. "What made you change?" Russel chuckles. "Edward did. That old geezer talked to me after I was returned from the barge. He was compassionate and understanding. He was unafraid of me and tried to actually help me. His continued kindness touched me, and over time I became less bitter. Edward also acted as a bridge to the other engines on the railway. Without him, they probably wouldn't have accepted me as quickly as they did." Lady thinks for a moment, then sighs. "Thank you for telling me this. I've got a lot to think about now. I don't now if I'll ever be able to forgive you, but I might be able to give you a second chance." Russel sends her a charming smile. "That is all I ask for." Lady hums. "Let's go back Burnett."

Wendy, the Furness D1, steams away from Bea on her way to her shed at Lower Bea. As she passes through a relatively small forests, she is diverted from the mainline onto an overrun siding. "Boirdraygh." she curses. "Calm down old girl. This'll just make us slightly late." her fireman calms her while patting her side. He then looks around. "What is this siding even used for?" "There used to be a small settlement not to far from here. We used to leave trucks with supplies here for them. What I find strange is that the points were switched to this siding." She starts to reverse, until her driver slams on her brakes. "Woah Dave, what is wrong?" Wendy asks startled. "Do you hear that?" he asks. The three listen for a moment. "I don't hear anything." The fireman says. "You are a wolfkin Rowel, you should be able to hear those voices." The fireman opens his mouth to retort, but his ears twitch and he looks in the direction the siding goes into. "You are right. There are voices coming from further inside the forest." He looks at his driver. "Do you think we should go look?" "We should. I know this siding better than you two do. As far as I can see, the rails are strong enough to support my weight. If they are the ones that switched the points onto the siding, then we should find them." Wendy reasons. Her crew give each other a look before nodding. "Let's go then." Wendy slowly starts moving further onto the siding, until they reach the end after about three minutes. The tracks end abruptly, going down a slight embankment. "That is strange." Wendy mumbles. "What is?" Rowel asks. "There should be buffers at the end of this siding. The rest of the siding doesn't look in such a bad shape that the buffers could have reasonably rotted away." "Hullo, is someone there?" "Rowel, Dave, grab some flashlights. There appears to be someone down there, but it is too dark for me to see anything." The two men grab some flashlights out of their toolbox and jump out of her cab. They join her at her front and shine light down. There, in a rough line, lay three rusty steam engines. "Deyrleas tigheairn! What are you three doing down there?" Wendy exclaims. "We were tryin' tae escape frum British Railways tae Sodor. We ended up bein' directed unto this sidin' and crashin' through th' buffers." Rowel looks confused. "British Railway? How would you end up here if you were trying to escape to this Sodor? I don't think that place is anywhere near here." Dave pats the young man on his shoulder. "They came from Beyond Bae. We should sent for the breakdown train to come and get them to Bae Works. I'll call them." He walks back to Wendy's cab. "Why didn't your crew look for help?" "As far as we know, they didnae survive th' crash."

The next morning Hanne and Nore return to see their engine already awake and waiting for them. "Good morning Rick, are you doing better now?" Nore asks her engine. He smiles weakly at her. "I could've been better. I had a lot of nightmares, so at some point I decided to just stay awake." She pats his bufferbeam as Hanne rushes past her to start building his fire up further. "I'll go to the station then, so we can get to work as soon as possible." Rick smiles more genuinely at her. "I would appreciate that." She nods and walks towards the station. "Do you want to watch some anime tonight?" Hanne asks when her sister is out of earshot. Rick frowns. "You have a day of tomorrow, right? Why would you want to spend your free time with me?" Hanne smacks his cab wall with her shovel. "you are my friend. If you are going through a tough time, of course I'll try to alleviate some of your pain. Besides, I enjoy our time watching things on the internet." Rick chuckles softly. "Can we watch some of those Minecraft theories you've been talking about?" Hanne giggles. "Of course we can. You'll love them!" "Sometimes I am jealous of you humans for being able to play these games." The two of them laugh softly. Nore returns not long after with a schedule in her hand. " It seems we need to bring a load of ballast from Arlesburgh to Kirk Machan. After that, we need to take a load from the aluminium works to the ironworks. After that, we need to pick some goods from Knapford harbour to Crovan's Gate." Rick smiles at her. "Shouldn't be too difficult." "Just make sure you don't go into the aluminium plant. You don't want to repeat James' mistake." Gordon advices, having woken up several minutes ago. "What mistake?" Nore asks curious. "He went into the plant, and accidentally burned down the entire place." Gordon chuckles. "It is still a touchy thing for him to this day." "Of course it is. The Fat Director punished him severely for his mistake." Henry counters. He then turns to the triplex. "You should wait at Peel Godred station for Booster to come with the aluminium. He is a fireless engine with a tender. I believe of Obbeeysian design even." Rick smiles at the black five. "Thank you Henry. I'll be careful." Anon walks past the green engine on his way to Angel. "It seems that the weather will be quite bad today. The forecast says there will be heavy rain today." Rick groans. "I am not in the mood for rain today." Nore pats his bufferbeam again. "It won't be that bad old boy." Rick scoffs. "No offence Nore, but you've never had to run through the rain while there is still snow outside. The rails will be incredibly slippery today. And the rail will be quite cold. I'd much rather would work through snowfall."

Later on the day, Rick steams into the yard at Arlesburgh, and stops next to Donald. "Morning Donald." he greets the Caly. "Morning Rick. Are ye doing alright? Ah've heard that ye had a bit o' an episode last night." Rick chuckles awkwardly. "I had a bit of a traumatic flashback, which made it all bubble up to the surface again." "Dae ye want tae talk about 't?" Rick sighs. "Not really, not now anyway. I am not ready to talk about it yet. I don't want to trauma dump on you either." He then looks around. "Is my train ready?" he asks. Donald chuckles. "Nae, th' wee engines are a bit late. If ah were ye, ah would shunt th' train under th' chutes in advance." Rick smiles at the blue engine. "Thank you, I will do that then.

Twenty minutes later Bert shunts his hoppers onto the chutes. "I am sorry for the delay, there were sheep on the line." Rick chuckles. "Don't worry about it Bert. I am quite sure I'll be able to make up for lost time." Bert chuckles. "If you say so." A big droplet falls on Rick's nose. "Boirdraygh." he says as the rains starts. Bert laughs. "What are you, a sugar cube?" he teases. Rick groans. "You don't understand. Heavy goods with this weather isn't particularly safe."

Lizzy smiles as Tornado backs onto a railtour at Knapford. "It was nice to meet you miss Tornado. I hope you'll have a nice trip home." The blue pacific smiles at the red engine. "Thank you Lizzy. It is not often that I meet a standard gauge engine of our size that is younger than I am. Lady of Legend had her first firing last year, but she is the only one coming to mind that is even close in age." Lizzie looks intrigued. "Who is this 'Lady of Legend'?" she asks. "She is a GWR saint class built from a withdrawn faceless hall class." Lizzie looks taken aback. "They used one engine to built another?" she asks horrified. "Tornado smiles sadly. "That is more common than you'd think. When engines are taken out of service they often are used as spare parts donors for other engines. This practice is mostly avoided with non-faceless engines, as it is considered cruel." Lizzie glances at the blue engine with a conflicted look in her eyes. "Why would they do that?" she asks quietly. Tornado looks sympathetically at the younger engine. "It is more economical to reuse functional parts then to scrap them and forge new ones." The pacific pauses. "Do the older engines on your railway treat you well?" she asks suddenly. Lizzie looks at the larger engine, confusion written all over her face. "Of course they do. Why wouldn't they?" Tornado looks uncomfortable, taking a moment before answering. "When I was newly built, the older engines often mocked and bullied me. They mostly stopped when Flying Scotsman took me under his coupling. It still hurt though." Lizzie looks horrified. "Why would they do that?" she asks. Tornado sighs. "Some were bitter that they would built a new engine while other engines were left to rot, others saw me as lesser because I wasn't built for proper work. Yet others had other reasons that I am not privy to." "You poor engine. That is horrible." Tornado grimaces at the red engine. "You get used to it after a while. So the engines on your railway treat you with respect?" Lizzie hums. "From what I've heard, it is rare that a non-faceless engine is scrapped in our kingdom. Most engines get several upgrades during their life as well, and if the engines can't keep up with normal work, they can be reassigned to less demanding roles, like the track maintenance team, or they are sold to private companies." Tornado looks amazed. "I would've never expected that. The railways on the mainland often replace older engines with newer engines and sent most of the older engines to the scrapyard." Lizzie looks disgusted. "That isn't how it should be." Tornado laughs bitterly. "That is how the world works, young iron. The old gets discarded and replaced with the new. Your kingdom is the exception."

It has started raining cats and dogs by the time Rick arrives at Kirk Machan. "I see what you meant now. This weather is horrible for rail operations." Nore admits. "Yeah, how many times did your wheels slip on the climb up here?" Hanne asks concerned. "At least twelve times." Rick hisses. Nore sighs. "At least we are mostly dry." she quips. "That must feel nice." Rick snaps, after which he sneezes, sending ash into the air. Hanne laughs. "You really don't like the rain, do you?" the girls teases her engine. Rick groans. "I can handle it in the summer and spring, but with temperatures this low, the rain is quite uncomfortable." Hanne pats his backhead gently. "Calm down old boy, I was just teasing you." Nore looks at her twin with surprise. "Since when did you start teasing people? I though you didn't like social interactions." Hanne scratches the back of her head and chuckles. "Since we started working on Sodor. I mostly do it with Rick when we're alone. Besides, I find social interactions with engines much easier than with other humans." "We are always together when working. The only time we aren't is when… " Nore narrows her eyes. "Is this the reason you disappear so often at night from our hotel room? You've been keeping yourself and Rick up." "Busted~." Nore glares at the firebox. "You shut your mouth, I have some choice words for you as well." The engine just laughs, his irritation forgotten. His driver turns back towards her sister. "I know that engines don't need nearly as much sleep as we humans do, but how do you even get enough sleep if you're up at night?" she asks. Hanne chuckles. "Unlike you, I can function quite well with less sleep. Besides, we don't do it every night." Nore shakes her head. "What do you even do?" "We watch movies, anime and YouTube most of the time. We also read books sometimes. Other times we research engine classes, physics, chemistry, biology and other subjects that are taught at schools." Rick informs. Hanne nods. "His commentary on the book series 'Master of the station' is quite insightful." Nore facepalms. "Of course you did. Why am I even surprised? The two of you are massive nerds." "And proud of it." the two announce in sync. Rick shunts the ballast hoppers onto a siding comes to a standstill. The stationmaster walks up to them, holding an umbrella. "Thank you for the ballast. The Culdee Fell has a lot of track maintenance to do before they can start running trains again in the spring. I am surprised you're on time, despite the delay at Arlesburgh." Hanne jumps out of the cab with a shunterspole and nods to the man as she moves towards the tender to uncouple the train. "We're welcome sir. Do you know of any places to get some food around here?" Nore asks. The stationmaster motions towards Lynn. "Why don't you ask your guard, they probably know some good places." Rick chuckles. "Sir, I don't know if you noticed yet, but the name on the brakevan should be telling enough." He looks with more scrutiny at Lynn. "Oh, your guard isn't a local I take then?" Nore nods. "She isn't, and neither are we." The stationmaster scratches his beard. "Well then… Where do you need to go after this?" he asks. "We need to pick up an order of aluminium from Peel Godred and take it to the ironworks." The stationmaster nods at the engine. "In that case, I'd suggest taking a break at Peel Godred. The station there has a rather large canopy and several small shops on the platforms, one of which is a fish and chips shop. I'd suggest to eat there. You can watch your engine while eating." "Hey Alyssa, do you want to get some fish 'n chips at Peel Godred?" Rick asks, as he is sitting close to Lynn. The guard walks onto the balcony. "What did you say, the rain makes quite the noise on Lynn's roof." she asks. "He asked if you wanted some fish and chips at Peel Godred." the brakevan tells her guard. "Indeed." Alyssa thinks for a moment, before giving him the fingerguns. "Of course I do." Nore chuckles. "Well then, we'll do that. Thank you for the suggestion." The stationmaster nods. "You're welcome."

Sometime later Rick enters Peel Godred station with Lynn behind him. He comes to a standstill at one of the platforms. Hanne, Nore and Alyssa step out and move to the fish and chip shop, leaving Rick to his own devices. A little bit later they hear a whistle and a large blue fireless engine with a tender moves into the station pulling a train of flatbeds with aluminium ingots loaded onto them. He smiles at Rick. "Hello, I haven't seen you before. My name is Booster, nice to meet you." Rick smiles. "Nice to meet you Booster. My name is Rick, and this is my brakevan Lynn. I take that this is the train that I need to take to the ironworks." Booster hums. "Indeed. I'll put it in the yard for you to collect." "Thank you."

Lizzie comes to a standstill with several meters between her and the crossing gates. A broken down lorry sits on the other two tracks of the mainline. "Good thing we were going slowly. This could've gotten quite ugly." Scott says with relief. Lizzie hums in agreement. "What do you think happened with the lorry?" she asks. Katie climbs out of her cab to take a closer look. "It seems that one of the axles snapped. We should contact control to set the signals to danger and call a tow truck." she says. "On it." Scott replies, holding the radio. "Where do you think the driver went?" Lizzie asks. "I don't see anyone around." Scott stiffens inside of her cab. "Friougaisck! Katie, get away from the tracks! Now!" he yells as he hangs on Lizzies whistle. Katie runs away from the railway as they hear another whistle reply to Scott's warning, the whistle rapidly sounding closer and sounding awfully familiar. Around the bend, Rick appears, running at around 30 miles per hour, his wheels slipping on thye slippery rails. The occasional bouts of grip resulting in showers of sparks as he rapidly approaches the lorry. "Brace for impact!" he yells back to his crew as he closes his eyes. He hits the lorry with a loud smash, dragging it along with him as metal folds and rips and the tires and metal shears along the ballast. He comes to a standstill about a hundred meters beyond the crossing. Lizzie sits still in shock, as Katie climbs back into her cab. "Dad!" she yells eventually and reverses to check up on her father. She comes to a standstill across from him to see that the lorry folded around his front. He seems to be in a daze, only being broken out of it after his daughter blows her whistle. "Oh, hi Lizzie." "Are you alright dad? You're not hurt, are you?" she asks worried. Rick chuckles. "I think I am mostly fine. Thank you for your concern dear." His expression turns serious. "Was there anyone in the lorry?" he asks. Scott shakes his head. "No, there is no sign of the driver anywhere." Rick sighs in relief. Hanne and Nore half climb, half tumble out of his cab, both trembling excessively. "Holy shit." Nore says softly while sitting on the ballast. Scott jumps out of Lizzies cab and jogs over to the twins. "Are you two okay?" he asks. Hanne nods. "We don't have any injuries." she says, shakingly getting up. While holding on to Rick's footplate, she makes her way over to his front. "Are you alright, old boy?" she asks. Rick smiles gently at her. "I am fine, only minor damage has been done, I believe." "I wouldn't be so sure about that." Scott counters. "It appears you have some flat tires." Rick grimaces. "Bother. It seems I'll have to go to the works for a while then." Katie looks over the lorry. "I think the Sodor Lorry Company will want to file a insurance claim for this incident." she points out. "That can wait till later. We should call for help so the mainline can be cleared." Rick says. Nore climbs back into his cab. "I'm on it." she says. Alyssa comes running along the train. "What happened?" she asks worried. She clasps her hands before her mouth when she sees the lorry. "Is anybody hurt?" she asks. "We are mostly fine Alyssa. You should put down some detonators." Rick tells the guard. She nods and jogs back to Lynn.

"Dear lord brother. What have you gotten yourself into this time." Romy asks as she lowers the smashed up lorry onto another lorry. Judy and Jerome lower the triplex onto a flatbed. "Are you implying that I get into trouble all the time?" he asks his younger sister. Romy giggles, causing Rick to pout. "Don't make that face. You yourself have to admit that out of the four of us, you get involved in the most interesting things most." Rick chuckles. "I guess you're right." A blue car comes to a stop near them, and sir Richard Topham Hatt steps out. "Are you alright Rick?" he asks as the stout gentleman walks towards them. "I am mostly fine sir. Nothing Bea Works can't fix." Topham nods. "There will be an investigation into the driver of the lorry." "Good." Ailie says as she climbs out of the breakdown coach. "Yer works cannae repair him. His wheels have hairline cracks, and need tae be replaced. He'll have tae return tae Bea Works fur several days before he can return tae service." Rick looks over at Hanne and Nore. "Hanne, Nore. You two should take some time off. You deserve a short vacation." The twins give each other a look. "Do you have any suggestions of what we should do?" Nore asks. "Visit the Skarloey Railway. It should be beautiful, even at this time of year." He then turns toward Alyssa. "You should also take some time off. Visit your family." Alyssa nods. Sir Topham looks at the green engine. "Do you have the authority to give them time off?" he asks curious. Rick grins. "Yes, I do." They hear a whistle and a blue 0-4-2 comes to a stop near them. The engine is clearly blind, and Sander Hodgson climbs out of her cab. He walks over. "I came as soon as I heard about your accident." "Hello sir." the green engine greets his controller. "Is there something I can do to help you?" the blonde man asks the engine. Rick chuckles. "Nothing for me besides just fixing me, but I believe some kind of coach retrofitted as a mobile home would be useful for the three girls." Hanne, Nore and Alyssa look surprised up at the green engine. "You knew?" Alyssa asks surprised. Rick laughs. "Lynn can be quite the gossiper. "That shed on wheels." Alyssa mutters jokingly. Sander nods. "I'll see what I can do. Sir Topham, can Rick stay at the steamworks for a couple of hours. I've got a message for Angel and Anon to return to the steelworks. I want them to take Rick back to Obbeeys on their way back." Sir Topham nods. "Of course my good sir."

About an hour later the blue engine steams into Knapford yard. "Hello Layla. What brings you here?" Angel greets the R1 class. "Hello Angel." Layla says as she comes to a stop. Sander leans out of her cab. "Angel, Anon. The steelworks has asked me to recall you back to the steelworks." Angel sighs. "Yes sir." "You need to take Rick with you to Bea Works. He collided with a lorry this morning." Angel gasps. "Is he alright?" she asks worried. Sander nods. "He is fine."