Mellow Yellow - ThomasNATION Fanstory
June 25, 2022
A long time ago, Thomas was sent to work at the Blue Mountain Quarry after Paxton derailed. There, he met a little engine named Luke who had a terrifying secret that he...well, I'm sure you know the story. But in the aftermath, Thomas had been mysteriously invited to the Steamworks, and he didn't know why. He didn't need repaired, he wasn't due a check-up, so what was the matter? When he got there, he was greeted by his new friend Luke, as well as Victor.
"Hello, Thomas." greeted Luke.
"Hello, Luke." said Thomas, "Hello, Victor."
"Hello, Thomas!" laughed Victor. "I know you've been looking for a yellow engine. Well...I think I've found him!"
Thomas looked confused at Victor. What did he mean? "Thomas...meet the yellow engine!"
"Ta-da!" The yellow engine emerged from the Steamworks. And who was it? None other than... "Rheneas!"
"It's me!" laughed Rheneas.
Thomas was utterly gobsmacked. "Wow, Rheneas, you look incredible!"
"Thanks, Thomas! It was all Luke's idea. They hadn't even run short of red paint, he just suggested painting me yellow."
"Yeah, I thought you’d find it funny." chuckled Luke.
"And that's not even mentioning," said Victor, "that he suits his smart new paintjob. He almost looks better than I did when I was yellow!”
Rheneas blushed. "Well, I do miss my red, but I suppose I do look like a new engine."
"I know," smirked Luke. "I only suggested it as a joke, but you actually look great."
"Thanks, lads." Rheneas chuckled as he disembarked. "I'll try not to get myself any more scrapes and scratches, eh?"
As Rheneas left, the three remained at the Steamworks as Thomas realised something. "Wait, actually, you know who Rheneas looks like with that paintwork?"
"Who?" asked Luke.
"Duncan."
"...again, who?"
"Oh, that's right," Thomas thought, "you've never been outside the quarry. See, Duncan is the other yellow narrow-gauge engine on Sodor. He's always grumbling and complaining."
"Oh. Do you reckon he'll mind?"
"If I know Duncan," thought Victor, "probably."
That night, everyone took a moment to gander at Rheneas' new paintjob.
"Marvellous!" exclaimed Skarloey. "Now, I trust that you won't let your fancy new paintwork get to your smokebox. You still have to be really useful as you always are."
"Please, Skarloey," scoffed Rheneas. "that won’t be an issue. I'll be back to red as soon as I get tired of this coat."
"Well, I don't mind his new look," said Peter Sam. "it's very...characterful."
"I can already guess someone who won't like it." laughed Rusty.
"Who?" asked Rheneas.
Just then, Duncan reversed into the depot, doing what he does best: grumbling. "Typical! I can't believe everyone else is just living it up in the quarry, while I'm stuck doing everyone's jobs! I'm not just some-"
Duncan stopped as soon as he saw Rheneas. "...uh...do I want to know?"
"Like it?" asked Rheneas. "I needed to get rid of my scrapes and scratches, so Luke suggested I get repainted yellow."
Duncan had a million questions. "But...why yellow? What scrapes and scratches? And who's Luke!?"
"You'll know in time, Duncan." said Skarloey, "But for now, it's best that we get a good night's sleep. It's like I always say: if your wheels aren't whirring, you're..."
"...not being a really useful engine." Duncan begrudgingly joined in. "I just don't get it."
"Relax, Duncan," said Peter Sam. "it's not the end of the world. So he's yellow, what's the worst that could happen?"
"Alright, fine." sighed Duncan. "I suppose you've got a point. It's not like he's gonna be yellow forever."
"Right!" chirped Rusty. "Just get on with your work as usual and he'll be back to the same old red Rheneas before you know it!"
The next morning, Rheneas grabbed his coaches and headed off to work. He was ready, raring to go, and most of all, excited to show off his new look.
"All aboard, everyone!" Rheneas cried.
The passengers climbed aboard and Rheneas disembarked as Duncan pulled in...into the same platform.
"All aboard! Plenty of room for everyone!" Duncan declared. But there was one problem: there was no passengers. "Hmm. Where is everyone?"
As Rheneas went along his route, the passengers were enjoying the ride until he skipped Cros-ny-Cuirn.
"What are you doing?!" cried one grumpy passenger. "That was my stop!"
"Really? But it's not on my route."
"Don't make up excuses, Duncan, this is the exact same train I've taken for 30 years!"
"Well, I'm sorry, but I..."
Rheneas suddenly hit the brakes. He was stunned by what the passenger called him. "Wait. What did you call me?"
“You are Duncan, aren’t you?”
“What? No!”
"Well, if you're not Duncan," another passenger asked, "who are you?"
"Rheneas."
The passengers were all stunned. How did they get on the wrong train? Where was Duncan? Rheneas backed up to let the passenger off.
"Sorry about this, folks." Rheneas chuckled sheepishly. "I guess I should've warned people about my yellow paint."
"Ugh, unbelievable." the passenger groaned.
"But wait, where's Duncan?" Rheneas asked himself.
"What do you mean there were no passengers?" asked Mr. Percival.
"Honestly, sir," said Duncan. "there I was at the platform, and no one was there! It’s not as if I was too early or too late or anything."
Mr. Percival couldn't piece this one together. "Hmm. Perhaps there's some delays? Or maybe roadworks? Not sure, but until we get to the bottom of this, I'll need you to deliver a new winch to Owen at the quarry."
"What?" Duncan gasped. "But what about my passengers?"
"I'll keep you posted. Now, off you go."
Duncan scowled all the way from the depot to the Blue Mountain Quarry as he delivered the winch to Owen. As the winch was installed, Duncan glanced around the quarry. Blondin Bridge had been newly repaired, but all the mortar and cement used to put it back together hadn’t dried, so the area was closed off.
"Oh, thank you, Duncan!" chortled Owen.
"Don't mention it, Owen." Duncan rolled his eyes. "So, what happened?"
"Thomas and Luke, you don't know him, decided to take a joyride on my winch."
"Huh."
As Duncan prepared to leave, he overheard Skarloey and Rusty talking.
"Did you hear what happened with Rheneas?" asked Rusty.
"No, what happened?" responded Skarloey.
"Apparently, he ended up taking Duncan's passengers!"
Duncan gasped. That explained everything.
“Oh my. Do you reckon he noticed?”
“I mean, he’s not on his passenger duties today, I assume he knows.”
Duncan was absolutely furious. "So that's why he got repainted yellow! To steal my jobs!"
Later, Duncan was carrying heavy trucks of slate across the quarry as Rheneas pulled in.
"Hey, Rheneas!" laughed Peter Sam. "I heard about what happened. Did everyone really confuse you for Duncan?"
"Yeah! Have you seen him? I need to tell him about it."
"He's on the higher terrace, he's delivering a truckload of slate to the Wharf."
Rusty gasped from beside Owen. "Wait. But the quickest way to the Wharf is across Blondin Bridge!"
"Does he know it’s unstable?" cried Peter Sam.
"I don't think he does!" cried Owen, noticing Duncan headed toward the bridge.
"What are we gonna do?!" whimpered Rusty.
Without hesitation, Rheneas raced up to the higher terrace, hoping to slow Duncan down.
"He's never going to make it!" cried Rusty. "Sound the alarm!"
The alarm blared through the quarry. Duncan heard it, but didn't know why it was even blaring. "What in the world?"
"DUNCAN!" Rheneas cried from behind him.
"Huh? What do you want?!"
"Look out! The bridge!"
Duncan saw the bridge in front of him. “It’s just a bridge!”
“No! It isn’t ready yet!” cried Rheneas. “If you go onto it, the whole thing could collapse again!”
“What?!”
“Just trust me!”
Duncan reluctantly obliged and quickly hit the brakes. Thankfully, he was safe, but the same couldn't be said for Rheneas. He slammed into the back of Duncan's trucks, skidding off the rails and into the stones until he found himself plummeting to the lower terrace. As he prepared to meet his fate, he was swiftly grabbed by Merrick just in time and pulled up to safety. And luckily, no one was hurt.
"Well done, Merrick!" chuckled Skarloey.
“Great catch!” chortled Peter Sam.
"Rheneas, what was that about?" asked Duncan.
"I was trying to save you," said Rheneas.
As the two spoke, Luke noticed something off about Rheneas. "Um...Rheneas? Your, erm…"
“My what?” Rheneas looked at his paintwork gasped in horror. His shiny yellow coat was covered in even worse scrapes and scratches! "Oh no! My paintwork!"
"Sorry about that, Rheneas," sighed Duncan. He had completely forgotten he was even upset at him.
"It's fine, Duncan," chuckled Rheneas, "it isn't your fault."
"What matters now is that you're safe and sound." said Mr. Percival as he approached the engines. "Now, you, Rheneas, have caused a considerable amount of delay and confusion by taking Duncan's passengers. I expect you to follow your own route and schedule tomorrow."
"Oh, yes. Sorry, sir," said Rheneas. "it was purely accidental. His passengers thought I was him, you see."
"Wait, that was an accident?" asked Duncan. "But why did you get repainted yellow?"
"It was Luke's idea."
"Okay, honestly, I'm starting to think you lot all made this Luke fellow up."
"They didn't, Duncan," said Luke, "I'm right here."
"Oh." Duncan gasped as the narrow-gauge engines laughed.
A couple days later, Duncan was filling up with coal outside Glennock as Rheneas pulled up. Duncan was in disbelief - Rheneas wasn't yellow anymore!
"Rheneas!" Duncan gasped. "You're red again!"
"Oh, you noticed?" Rheneas chuckled. "The yellow was fun, but red's always been more of my natural hue."
"I can't argue with that." Duncan responded. "But why?"
"I didn't want to cause any more problems."
"Wait, what happened again? With the passengers?"
"Simple, they all thought I was you and got aboard my train."
"But what were you doing on my platform?"
"...I don't know, I'm too stressed to answer that, what, with Peter Sam and all."
"Peter Sam?"
"He got put in charge. He's creating a big fuss about Victor's visit, trying to fix everyone's problems himself."
"Wow. That must be annoying."
Soon enough, Duncan was filled up and ready to go. “Off I go.”
“Wait, Duncan,” said Rheneas, “sorry again for taking your passengers. I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s fine, Rheneas. No harm done.” chuckled Duncan as he disembarked. But as he pulled out, there was a strange noise. "Augh, not again."
"What's wrong?"
"It's my rods. They keep rattling, I don't know what it is! I think I’m due a checkup.”
"Hmm. I'll tell Peter Sam to go fetch Victor." said Rheneas as he left to find Peter Sam.
"But what if he doesn’t again?!" cried Duncan as he left, but it was too late. Duncan was left there alone, not ready to engage in whatever Peter Sam had planned for him. "This isn’t going to end well…”
About the Author: JF the LOLZOR
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