The Shareworks - ThomasNATION Fanstory
September 17, 2022
It was a tragic day on Sodor. That morning, a fire had broken out at the Dieselworks. Thankfully, no one was hurt and the fire was put out safely, but the Dieselworks were in absolute shambles. As the diesels watched, Den and Dart didn't know what to do.
"So what caused this fire anyway?" asked Dart.
"We don't know for sure," responded Flynn. "but with all the damages to the building, it'll take at least a month to repair."
"A month?!" cried Den. "That can't be right!"
"What he means is," added Dart, "we can't wait a month. Diesels need repairin' now."
"Sorry to say it, fellas," sighed Flynn, "but all your equipment was destroyed in the fire. Even if you wanted to, you couldn't fix those guys anyhow."
As Flynn left, Den and Dart were out of ideas. They weren't sure on how to get everyone fixed without their equipment. "Well, now what do we do?" Den asked.
"I don't know, mate," Dart sighed. "I think we need to find someplace else to do our work."
"Somewhere else?" Paxton asked. "Where would we even go?"
"Isn't that the question of the day?" Den remarked.
"What he means is, we don't know where we can go." Dart added on.
Then, Diesel had an idea. "Wait a minute. What about the Steamworks?"
"The Steamworks?" asked Paxton. "I thought we were banned from there after we tried to take over the place."
"I'm sure Victor won't mind," Dart thought. "after all, I know him, I think he'll understand."
"I don't understand." Victor gasped in shock as Den and Dart pitched him their idea. "Why do you want to move operations here?"
"Believe me, Victor," started Dart, "in any other situation we wouldn't even be asking. But the Dieselworks burned down and we've got no place to repair the diesels!"
"I'm sorry, guys, but I'm already swamped as is! It’s not just the diesels that need repairing, y’know.”
“Please, Victor?” Den pleaded. “It’s just for one month.”
“A month?” Victor gasped. “That’s very serious, but I don’t know where to move my business. Besides, I’m not sure I can trust you two in here after what happened a few years back. I’m sorry, boys, but my answer is no.”
“Then how about this?” Dart suggested. “We share the Steamworks.”
“Share the Steamworks?” Victor thought. “I’m listening.”
“We take one half, you take the other!” Den suggested.
“We’ll even let you pick what side you want.” added on Dart.
“Hmm…” Victor pondered. “Let me consult with Kevin.”
Victor shared the idea with Kevin, and he was on board with the idea.
“I don’t know, boss,” thought Kevin, “I mean, if they’ve got nowhere to go…”
“Trust me, Kevin, I want to help them,” Victor sighed, “but every square inch of this place is important for repairing the engines.”
“Well, what if you take turns in each side?”
“Hmm. You could be onto something!” Victor smiled as he approached Den and Dart again. “We’re in, but we have just one request.”
“Name it.” said Dart.
“We have to take turns on either side. I was thinking an hour on each side so we all get ample time to fix our engines.”
Den and Dart thought for a moment, before coming to a conclusion.
“Alright.” “Fair enough.”
“Then it’s settled!” Victor exclaimed warmly. “Shall we get started tomorrow?”
Den and Dart smiled. They were finally back on track!
The next morning, Den, Dart and Victor were already up and ready to repair the engines. Their first customer was Edward.
“Edward, my friend! Welcome, welcome!” Victor smiled. “What’ll it be today?”
“I’m just here for a checkup today, Victor,” Edward chuckled before seeing Den and Dart on another side of the Steamworks. “What’s Den and Dart doing here?”
“The Dieselworks burned down.” Victor replied. As he explained, Rusty trundled into the Steamworks.
“Hello, Rusty!” Den chirped. “What’s up today?”
“I think there’s something up with my horn.” said Rusty.
“No worries, mate!” Dart chuckled. “We’ll have you shipshape and seaworthy before you can say-“
Dart was interrupted by the horn of another diesel. This time, it was Sidney.
“What’s up, Sidney?” asked Den.
“Uh…augh, what was it?” Sidney struggled to remember what was wrong with him.
Dart couldn’t help but notice a bunch of scrapes on his side. “Could it be a new paint job perhaps?”
“Uh…was it?” Sidney thought some more. “Oh! Yes! That’s it!”
“No problem. Just follow me to the repainting booth, which is…” Den started before noticing that the booth is “…on Victor’s side.”
“Sorry, Sidney. What he means is you’ll have to wait another 20 minutes.” Dart explained.
“Oh. Alright then.” Sidney sighed as Toby rolled in.
“You alright, Toby?” asked Victor.
“Yeah. I’m just a little worried some of my planks are starting to rot.” Toby explained.
Den chuckled to himself. “Hey, Dart. When no original plank remains, is he still Toby? Oh, and what about if the removed planks are restored and reassembled free of the rot? Is he still Toby then?”
Dart laughed. “Neither are the real Toby. Both are the real Toby.”
Den and Dart tried stifling their laughter at this joke as Diesel rolled in. “Are you two making that Ship of Theseus comparison to Toby again?”
“Yeah, it’s a right laugh.” Den snickered.
“What’s the matter, Diesel?” Dart asked.
“My wheel’s driving me crazy, it keeps squeaking.” Diesel groaned. ”Driver already tried oil. Nothing. Must be a problem with my undercarriage.”
“We’d love to help, but the hoist is on Victor’s end.” said Den. “You’ll have to wait a few minutes.”
Diesel groaned, leaving Dart to think. “Hey, Den? Is the Steamworks getting a little crowded to you?”
“What? No! Surely not!” Den smirked. “It’s just a few extra engines. Victor will be fine!”
It wasn’t just a few extra engines that afternoon. Soon, the Steamworks was flooded with engines! It got so bad that the lines and transfer tables were all blocked.
“This is ridiculous!” Thomas groaned. “If I don’t get a new funnel, I’m gonna pop!”
“New funnel?” grumbled ‘Arry.
“What about our valves?” groaned Bert.
“You and those valves!” moaned Stanley.
Victor, Den and Dart saw the rumpus outside the Steamworks.
“Calderas burbujeantes!” Victor cried. “Look at this mess!”
“How do we calm them down?!” yelled Den, over the clamoring.
“Shall we?” suggested Dart. “On three. One. Two. Three!” Den and Dart blew their horns loudly as Victor whistled, effectively shutting everyone up.
“Alright, alright!” Victor cried. “Now, can everyone tell me what the problem is?”
“My firebox isn’t igniting!” whimpered Peter Sam.
“My cylinder tank’s punctured.” Nia sighed.
“My undercarriage is leaking oil!” cried Mavis.
“Okay! We’ll get to everyone eventually!” Victor shouted over the crowd. “But we’ll need to start by categorising everything. First, who needs something replaced?”
Thomas, Henry and James all whistled. “Great. The three of you, come with me.”
“What?!” cried ‘Arry.
“We were here first!” moaned Bert. “Why is that little blue machine on his tiny candy wheels goin’ first?!”
“And, uh, who had checkups with us?” Den asked the crowd, to which only Mavis responded. “Great.”
The problems in the Steamworks were only just beginning. The funnel supply was on Den and Dart’s side of the Steamworks, so Thomas had to wait for them to switch sides. But then, Kevin had an idea.
“Hang on, boss.” Kevin thought. “The switching rule only applies to you, Den and Dart. What about me?”
“Yes!” Victor grinned. “You could get supplies to and from each side!”
Kevin quickly went away to get a new funnel for Thomas. And then there was trouble.
Upon getting a funnel, one of Kevin’s cables came loose, leading to him dropping the funnel. “No!”
But the problems were only starting from there. Den ran over the funnel, leading to him derailing into two barrels. One of the barrels rolled over to the slightly raised hoist, spilling all over the tracks, while the other spilled all over James. The tracks became so slippery that Victor slid right into the hoist and knocked Mavis onto the ground. “Mavis! Are you okay?”
“I think my undercarriage just fell out!” Mavis winced.
Victor looked all around at the damages. He couldn’t believe what happened. “My beautiful Steamworks! We’ve ruined everything!”
“No, Victor. This wasn’t your fault.” Den sighed. “It’s ours.”
“What did I do?” asked Dart.
“No, it was all our faults.” said Victor. “We were so concerned with sticking to our own sides that everything became so cluttered and messy.”
“So what do we do now?” asked Dart.
“Only thing we can do.” suggested Den. “We need to learn to work as a team and share our spaces.”
“How do you know that’ll work?” asked Dart.
“I don’t,” sighed Den. “but it can’t be any worse than what’s just happened.”
Soon, the three engines were back at work fixing the engines, working as a unit to get the job done. And y’know what? It was actually paying off! Soon enough, everyone that was blocking the lines was fixed up to the point where two weeks later, they didn’t have anyone to fix.
“Still no one, boss?” asked Kevin.
“I don’t think anyone’s even broken down.” Den said.
“What he means is,” Dart started, “we’ve repaired everyone on Sodor.”
“Don’t be so sure,” chuckled Victor, “here comes someone now.”
Den and Dart quickly noticed the engine coming into the Steamworks. It was Flynn!
“Den, Dart, great news!” Flynn smiled, “The Dieselworks is all fixed up.”
“Already?” asked Den.
“What he means is, it’s only been two weeks.” Dart thought. “I thought you said it would take a month.”
“The team were ahead of schedule.” Flynn explained.
“I guess this means we won’t be working together again.” Victor said.
“Yeah,” replied Den, “but that doesn’t mean we can’t still visit each other.”
“And besides,” Dart added, “this last two weeks were pretty fun!”
Victor chuckled as Den and Dart left, ready to return to their work.
About the Author: JF the LOLZOR
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