Thomas' Tasty Trick: ThomasNATION Fanstory
August 15, 2020
It was a calm summer’s morning on Sodor. The birds were chirping, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the light from the sun reflected on Thomas’ paintwork as he puffed cheerfully down the Main Line pulling the local train. He pulled into Kellsthorpe Road as he breathed in the warm, crisp air.
“Ah, isn’t it just the most beautiful day?” said Thomas.
“You’ve been saying that at every station.” Annie called out. “I understand that it’s a lovely day, but you don’t need to go on and on about it.”
“Sorry, Annie” Thomas said, “but I can’t help it! It’s just absolutely beautiful! I don’t think we’ve had this lovely a day on Sodor in years. Nothing can possibly ruin it!”
“Why do I get the feeling he just tempted fate?” Annie asked.
“I have that feeling as well.” Clarabel chimed in.
Just then, James came dashing into the station, screeching to a halt. Thomas, Annie and Clarabel winced at the terrible sound.
“Tada!” James cried out. “Here’s James! Oh, hello, Thomas!”
“James, you need to stop braking so hard,” Thomas warned him. “you’re going to have another accident.”
“I can’t help looking this gorgeous, Thomas”, James said snootily. “Just look at how my paintwork glimmers in the sunlight! But I guess it would be easy to be jealous of my natural glow, I mean, your paintwork is old and bland.”
“Oh, come on, James,” Thomas responded. “everyone knows that blue is the only color for a Really Useful engine.”
“Pah!” James scoffed. “Red is the most splendid color for an engine you can get, and besides; red engines are few and far in-between on the railway, while everyone’s seen an old, bland, blue engine to the point where seeing it is just boring.”
Thomas took great offense to that comment. “Blue engines aren’t boring! We can be just as really useful as you!”
“Really? Because I have to take the Duke and Duchess of Boxford to Ulfstead Castle for an important gala!” James said. “And what are you doing? Pulling an old, slow and, quite frankly, an unimportant local train.”
“Well, you’re pulling a local train too!” Clarabel called out.
“Stay out of it, Clarabel…” Annie whispered as the guard on James’ platform blew his whistle.
“Can’t stay and chat, Thomas!” said James as he left. “I have some important work to do.”
Later on, Thomas had to pull some cargo to Wellsworth. On his way, he was still seething about what James had said.
“Thomas?” Edward called out. “What’s the matter with you? What’s Diesel done this time?”
“It’s not Diesel this time,” Thomas replied. “it’s James. He said blue engines like us are boring and unimportant, while red engines are grand and wonderful.”
“Oh dear…”
“I just need to find a way to pay him back, to show him that I’m not boring.” Thomas said.
Edward thought for a moment. “Well, payback is never really the mature option, Thomas. I suggest you forget about it and get on with your work.”
“Okay, fine…” Thomas said, still mad. “I suppose I should get to the coal plant…” Then, he had an idea.
“Edward, it just hit me! What’s the one thing James cares about the most?”
“His paintwork?”
“Yes!” Thomas said with a glimmer of inspiration. “So all we need to do is get James’ paintwork dirty!”
Edward thought for a moment. “That’s actually not a bad idea, Thomas.” he said. “It’s simple and harmless! I think you’re onto something.”
“Thanks, Edward!” Thomas said as he left his cargo. “Now, how do I get his paintwork dirty?”
Then, Thomas passed Mr. Jolly’s Chocolate Factory. He started to plan out his little scheme…
The next day, stormy clouds came rolling in as the Steam Team woke up.
“Good morning, everybody!” Nia called out as she did every morning.
“Morning, Nia!” Percy said, yawning. Then he noticed the empty berth next to him. “Hey, guys, have you seen Thomas?”
“No, I haven’t.” Rebecca responded.
“I think he said something about going to Wellsworth?” Emily said with confusion. “He must be visiting Edward.”
“Actually,” Thomas said, by a siding next to the sheds, “I’m over here!”
“Oh.” said Emily.
As James rolled out of his berth, he began to scowl. “Ugh, not another summer storm, and on the one day I need to look my best…aside from every other day, of course.”
“Why?” Thomas asked. “What’s so special about today?”
“Tonight, I’m supposed to take the Duke and Duchess back home to the Mainland,” James responded, “and I need my paintwork to be 100% spotless!”
“Oh, alright.” said Thomas with a cheeky grin. “Don’t suppose you’re going to Killdane, are you?”
“Yeah, one of my jobs goes right through Killdane.” James responded, confused on why Thomas was asking so many questions.
“Oh, okay, good to know…” Thomas chuckled to himself.
At Knapford, James was waiting impatiently for a goods train he had to take to Abbey. The rain was starting to drizzle down.
“Oh, not now!” James pouted. “Now my shiny paintwork will be all damp!”
“You know, James,” Emily chimed in, “you’re sounding a lot like Henry right now!”
“I can’t help it if I want my paintwork to look its best!” James argued back. Neither him or Emily realised that Thomas was hiding behind Emily’s coaches.
“It’s just a few drops of rain, James,” said Emily. “I mean, you can’t spend the day stationary at Knapford all day!”
Just then, Nia puffed through with trucks full of chickens. A feather flew off a chicken, landing on Thomas’ nose, and prompting him to sneeze. “Achoo!”
James looked over, and examined the coaches, before…
“Here you go, James!” Stanley called to James as he coupled the goods train up to him.
“Oh, about time!” James said, exasperated. He looked back at the cargo, buying Thomas just enough time to flee.
Thomas had managed to stay far away from James for a while when he finally made it to Mr. Jolly’s chocolate factory. He switched the points leading to the siding, when he heard James’ whistle. “Showtime!”
As James approached the trap, Thomas hid behind some boxcars. Soon, James was hurtling towards the chocolate factory at full speed, expecting to go over to the next track to Abbey, but the points didn’t change. He didn’t diverge.
“Oh no!” James cried out, as he crashed through the chocolate factory. When he emerged from the other side, he was drenched from funnel to footplate in sticky, melted chocolate. “Yuck! My splendid paintwork!”
Thomas emerged from his hiding spot, barely able to contain his laughter. “Look at this!” he taunted, “Chocolate express coming through!”
“Thomas?! You did this?!” James asked, fuming.
“Who’s boring now?” Thomas teased as he left.
“Oh, how can this day get any worse?” James asked to himself. Just then, the rain started getting really heavy, and the chocolate started seaming into James’ paintwork.
Soon, Thomas pulled into Knapford, still chuckling about his little prank. Rebecca was there, talking with Sir Topham Hatt.
“Oh, Thomas, there you are!” Rebecca called. “Have you seen James anywhere? He was supposed to take some rubbish up to Whiff’s Waste Dump.”
“Let’s just say that James had himself a bit of a sweet surprise…” Thomas chuckled, much to Sir Topham Hatt’s confusion.
Just then, a slew of ambulances came racing through the roadways of Knapford.
“Oh my!” Sir Topham Hatt yelled. “What on earth is going on?!”
“There’s been a crash at Mr. Jolly’s chocolate factory, sir!” said one of the paramedics. “Eight people have been severely injured, and James is in serious need of repair!”
“What?!” said Sir Topham Hatt. “How did this happen? Thomas, I need you to take me to that chocolate factory at once!”
“But sir,” Thomas protested, “I need to work on my-”
“There’s no time, Thomas!” Sir Topham Hatt cried as he climbed aboard Thomas. “We need to go, toute suite!”
Thomas soon arrived at the scene of the accident. Luckily, there were no casualties, but a lot of people were injured and being hauled away to the hospital.
“Ooh, hello, Thomas!” said Judy and Jerome, who were lifting James onto a flatbed.
“James!” cried Sir Topham Hatt. “What on earth happened? How did you crash into the chocolate factory?”
“Well, sir, just know that it wasn’t my fault…IT WAS HIS!” James yelled, as he gestured to Thomas.
Sir Topham Hatt was absolutely livid. “Thomas the Tank Engine! You have caused a great deal of confusion and delay!”
“I’m sorry, sir,” Thomas said sadly, “but yesterday, James made me cross because he said I was bland and unimportant.”
“That’s no reason to send him crashing into a chocolate factory!” Sir Topham Hatt barked. “You do realise I have to punish you for this.”
“But sir-”
“No buts, Thomas!” Sir Topham Hatt yelled again. “I’ve had it up to here with your excuses! For your punishment, I’ll be putting you strictly on waste duty and taking your branchline away for three weeks!” And with that, Sir Topham Hatt left.
“WHAT?! You can’t do this, sir!”
“It’s your own fault, Thomas.” said Edward. “You should’ve known that this was a bad idea.”
“Edward, you said this was a good idea!” Thomas protested.
“But I just thought you meant spraying him with coal dust or mud,” said Edward, “not costing Mr. Jolly thousands in repairs! I understand you were upset at James, but causing him to have a massive accident doesn't make you any better.”
As Edward left, Thomas was nothing but ashamed.
A few days later, James was fully repaired, and Thomas was still on waste duty. James had to take the last of the debris to the waste dump.
“Hello, James!” Whiff said.
“Hey, Whiff…” James pouted. He absolutely loathed going to the dump, and seeing Thomas there was no help. “Oh, hello…you.”
Thomas was still ashamed. “James, I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean for this to happen. I really didn’t think about the consequences this would bring, I just assumed it would be closed, and-.”
“You’re just saying that to make yourself look good!” James interrupted. “You aren’t saying this because you’re genuinely sorry, you’re only saying it because you want your precious little branch line back!”
“I tell ya what, James,” Thomas suggested, “if it’ll make you feel better, why don’t I give you one free revenge shot?”
“Okay, fine. Hold still.” James said as he switched to the track behind Thomas, which was right next to the garbage chute. “I am going to enjoy this…”
And with a mighty shove, James shoved Thomas right under the garbage chute, sending trash plummeting down on the two. Scruff took notice of this.
“Thomas, James, quit mucking around.” said Scruff. “We have work to do.”
“So, James, how did you enjoy your free hit?” Thomas asked with a chuckle.
“I felt a little left out, so…” James responded. Now, he was covered in pure, vile garbage. “…I had a go at it myself!”
“But what about your shiny red paintwork?”
“Ah, who needs it?” James replied. “After all, my paintwork doesn’t need to glimmer in the sunlight all of the time…”
Thomas and James had a good chuckle. The two were finally glad to be friends again.
About the Author: JF the LOLZOR
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