Best Experimental Friends Forever - ThomasNATION Fanstory
April 30, 2022
One calm, bright afternoon on Sodor, Thomas was travelling down his branchline as he encountered Ruth's workshop. He decided to stop and say hello as it had been a while since he'd seen any new inventions from her. As he pulled up, he noticed Cleo, her road engine. "Hi, Cleo."
"Hey, Thomas," said Cleo, parked outside the windmill. "sorry, but Ruth's a little busy at the moment."
"Oh," Thomas pondered. "what's she working on today?"
"She noticed how Stafford's old charging station was rusty and broken down, so she's building a new one."
"Really?"
"Yes, but she's really devoted to making the port. She hasn't taken me out to get parts in ages."
"Aw, I'm sorry, Cleo," Thomas sighed before noticing a strange station. "Whoa, is that the new charging station?"
"Yep."
Suddenly, Ruth rushed out of the windmill, holding a small device. "Haha! I did it!"
Thomas was intrigued by the machine. "Hey, Ruth, is that that charging port you were working on?"
"Sure is, Thomas!" Ruth cried. "And after all this time and effort getting it just right, I think I finally perfected it!"
As Ruth booted up the charging station, Thomas noticed something a little off with it. "Uh, Ruth? Not that you aren't a fantastic inventor, because let's face it, you are, but...is that thing safe?"
Ruth playfully scoffed. "Just because I haven't slept in two days and have been drinking nothing but coffee doesn't mean I haven't fixed this up to the smallest detail. Now...stand back."
Thomas braced himself as Ruth powered up the charging port. The electrical circuits sparked up, everything was in place, it seemed to be going smoothly.
But then there was trouble - the station's generator shot out of the machine, almost hitting Thomas. Lightning shot out of the frame of the device. It was out of control!
"Ruth! Shut it down!" Cleo shouted.
"I'm trying!" Ruth cried, desperately trying to deactivate the charging port. She eventually succeeded by jamming the cogs with a twig, but the machine was a tip and the generator was fried. Ruth sat down, exhausted. "That machine took me four days to build!"
"You'll be alright, Ruth," Cleo said, "but maybe it's time you take a break. You're so stressed from trying to perfect this machine."
"You know, maybe you're right," Ruth sighed. "maybe a little vacation's what I need."
"That's the spirit, Ruth..." Cleo responded, that last sentence sticking in her head. "...wait, a vacation?"
"Yeah, maybe it's time I go on a little trip to clear my mind," said Ruth. "Uh, Thomas, you wouldn't mind looking after Cleo, would ya? She gets lonely when I'm not around."
"I'd love to, but I can't," Thomas responded. "I have too much to do on my branch line. Tell you what, though, I have some friends coming over from the mainland tomorrow, maybe one of them can look after her."
"Really?" Cleo chirped.
"Ah, thanks, Thomas," said Ruth. "I owe you for this."
The next day, Ruth was away on her vacation as Thomas' friends from the mainland, Lexi and Theo, arrived at the workshop.
"Oooh, isn't this exciting, Theo!" Lexi chuckled. "The two of us, on Sodor!"
"Yes, but...I'm a little nervous about this place." Theo whimpered. "It's all so different and a little bit scary."
"Heh, you're overreacting, Theo, old buddy!" said Lexi, "There's nothing scary here at all. Just an old windmill."
Just then, Thomas rolled up to the workshop. "Hi, guys! Long time, no see!"
"Hey, Thomas," Theo lightly smiled. "what is this place?"
"This is my friend Ruth's workshop," responded Thomas as Cleo rolled up. "and this is Cleo."
"Hello." Cleo said shyly. "I take it you're Thomas' mainland friends?"
"That's what they call us!" Lexi declared.
"But no one calls us that, Lexi." responded Theo.
Thomas chuckled. "Ruth's on a holiday right now, so I need some help watching her so she doesn't feel alone."
"What?" Lexi asked. "Thomas, no offense, but we ventured to Sodor to have an adventure, not to be stuck on babysitting duty."
"Oh, right, sorry." responded Thomas. "I'll see if I can find another engine to watch her while I work on my-"
"I could look after her." Theo suggested. "This place looks...pleasant. Besides, it's not like I have to do anything scary, right?"
"Exactly, it'll just be you and me!" Cleo chuckled.
"Then it's settled!" Lexi cried. "Come along, Thomas! To adventure!"
Thomas and Lexi left, and soon it was just Theo and Cleo.
As Theo sat around with Cleo, he couldn't help but enjoy the scenery. "So, what kind of vehicle are you? I don't think I've seen someone like you before."
"I'm a road engine." Cleo responded as she whizzed around on the grass.
"Does this mean you can travel on both rails and roads?"
"No, that's Flynn you're thinking of. I just look like a steam engine."
"Oh."
"But if it makes you feel any better," Cleo continued, "Ruth's been trying to work on giving me a new set of wheels that work on narrow gauge rails."
Theo was impressed with Cleo's design. "I was put together in a flurry of excitement, but...well, let's just say I was rushed and I don't work too great."
"Oh, don't say that," Cleo chuckled. "I'm sure you work great!"
"Not in the slightest, mate," Theo laughed. "I'm always falling to bits. I'm almost as useless as the guy whose wheels were logs!"
"That happened?"
"Yeah, he was always so sad about how useless he was."
"Wow. So what happened to him?"
"I don't know. Merlin never told us."
Theo then noticed Ruth's busted charging station. "What's that thing?"
"Oh, that? It was meant to be a new charging station, but it blew up."
"Aw, really?" Theo asked as he took a closer look. "Hmm..."
"Hmm? What's 'hmm' mean?"
"Here's your issue." Theo said. "Looks like its power source thingy is missing. Plus, there's a cog here that doesn't fit."
"Really?"
"It's got 18 teeth, but the cogs connected to it aren't wide enough for it to connect properly."
Cleo was gobsmacked. Who knew Theo had such a talent of identifying problems with machinery? "Theo! This is amazing!"
"Was it? What'd I say?"
"Ruth said she paid close attention to every detail, but she was so tired! So some of the cogs must be in the wrong place!"
"And its power source is just not there. You know what this means, Cleo?"
"What?"
"If we find the missing pieces, then we might be able to fix this!"
The two of them had all the right parts to fix the station; all they needed was a new generator. They decided to look at Brendam Docks, where Lexi was enjoying the view.
"Hello, Carly," called Cleo. "do you have any spare electric generators anywhere?"
"Can't say I do, Cleo," Carly called back. "we have plenty of wooden planks, though!"
"Why would we need wooden planks?" Theo asked.
"Well, as I live and breathe," Lexi chirped excitedly, "if it isn't my old friend Theo!"
"Hey, Lexi," Theo stammered. "don't mind us, we're trying to look for a generator."
"It turns out," Cleo explained, "that Theo figured out what's wrong with Ruth's charging station."
"I thought that Ruth was a genius inventor," Cranky grumbled. "how did she make that sort of that mistake?"
"The thing is," replied Cleo, "she was so tired and overworked that a few things were out of place, so we're going to fix it before she comes back from her holiday."
"Whoo-hoo!" Lexi cheered. "See, Theo? I told you you were useful! All that intelligence packed away in that wee brain of yours!"
"Wait, guys, why not just use Ruth's generator?" asked Thomas as he pulled in. "She told me that with all the energy surrounding the workshop, she can power anything."
"That's too big," Theo protested. "we'll never get it to fit in there."
"Unless, we find some cables to hook it up!" cried Lexi.
Theo was impressed with Lexi's idea. "Wow, I didn't know you knew so much about electricity."
"I didn't know you knew so much about machinery," Lexi chuckled, "and yet here we are."
"Then it's settled." Thomas declared. "We just need some cables."
"And some new cogs!" added on Cleo.
"Exactly." said Theo. "You leave this to us, Thomas. By the time Ruth's back, she'll be looking at a brand new charging station!"
Theo's driver hooked up the cables on the station to the generator, and soon enough, it was ready to go. Theo and Cleo looked proudly at their work.
"We did it!" Cleo whooped. "Wait until Ruth sees this! I couldn't have done this without your help, Theo."
"Let's not celebrate yet," Theo stammered. "we still need to test it."
"Oh, right."
Theo's driver revved up the charging station. Soon, everything was going perfectly well...until it started spluttering until a bunch of cogs shot out. Once again, the charging station was a failure.
"...at least it's an improvement." Cleo sheepishly chuckled.
Theo, on the other hand, groaned in frustration. "This is terrible! We'll never be able to fix this station before Ruth gets back."
"Oh, don't say that, Theo..."
"No, it's pointless, I can't do anything."
"But you can try...right?"
"What else can we do?" Theo asked. "We've tried everything and nothing fits or..."
Then he realized. 'Nothing fits'. He remembered the biggest problem with the machinery. "The gear!"
"What gear?"
"The gear with too many teeth! That's the biggest problem!" Theo cried. "All we need is a new gear!"
"Not quite, Theo," his driver explained. "I'm taking a closer look and there's another part here where the gear don't work."
Cleo thought for a bit. "Try fitting the old cog in with that one."
Theo's driver pried the six-toothed gear out and put the eighteen-toothed one in its place.
"So how does it work?" asked Cleo.
"It's a perfect fit!" responded Theo's driver. "Let me see if I can fire it up."
The driver turned on the charging station. Theo and Cleo braced for impact. But no cogs shot out. None of the electrical circuits malfunctioned. It actually worked!
"Cleo...we did it!" Theo said, astounded.
"You're a genius, Theo!" cried Cleo.
A few days passed and Ruth finally returned from her holiday, to encounter Cleo, Thomas, Theo and Stafford waiting at the charging station. "I'm back, everyone!"
"Hello, Ruth!" said Thomas. "How was your trip?"
"Oh, you know," Ruth replied. "a bit rainy, but the sights of France are amazing!"
"Fantastic news, Ruth!" Cleo added on. "We have some good news of our own. Tell her, Theo!"
"We fixed the charging station!" said Theo.
Ruth was a bit confused. "You guys? But how?"
"It turns out Theo's great at identifying problems with machinery." Thomas explained. "He noticed something off with the gears."
"I'm a little experienced in that field, I guess," Theo chuckled. "what, with me being 40% gears and all."
"Your expanded knowledge on gears is incredible," said Ruth, "but does the machine work?"
"We don't know," said Cleo. "but we're about to find out! Care to do the honors?"
Ruth prepared to flip the switch. "Ready, Stafford?"
"Ready!"
Ruth pulled the switch, and everything seemed to be going off without a hitch. The circuits were lighting up, the cogs were finally in the right place, nothing was going wrong.
"Here it comes." whispered Thomas.
"Eh?" asked Theo.
"This is the part where it all went wrong before."
But to Thomas' surprise, it didn't. Soon, the circuits stopped lighting up. Ruth approached Stafford with slight unease. "Well, Stafford? How do you feel?"
"...I feel fantastic!" Stafford cried. "It works a treat!"
Theo gasped in delight. "Cleo! We finally did it!"
"Nice work, guys," Ruth said, cheerfully. "I could use some brilliant minds like yours whenever I need to build my next invention."
"Thanks, Ruth," said Cleo, "but I think we'll just leave it to the professional."
"Yeah," Theo continued, "we're brilliant, but you're clearly more experienced."
"Well, thanks, Theo." Ruth chuckled. "Now, we have some time on our hands. You guys wanna hear about my vacation?"
"Sure! We'd love to!" Thomas smiled.
And as Ruth told everyone of her travels, Theo and Cleo smiled at each other, glad to be such a great team.
About the Author: JF the LOLZOR
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