The Secrets of the Island - ThomasNATION Fanstory (Part 2)
August 26, 2023.png)
"Morning, Rebecca!" chirped Hudson.
"Hey, how ya doin'?" smirked Zeta.
"Guys!" Rebecca exclaimed with excitement. "What are you doing up so early?"
"We wanted to check in on how you were getting on with your mission." explained Zeta.
"Actually, that's not entirely true." Hudson chuckled. "We wanna help."
"Really?" Rebecca smiled. "Oh, thank you so much, I really need all the help I can get."
The three soon approached Knapford, looking for Bertie. They couldn't find him on the road harboring the station.
"Well, now what do we do?" asked Zeta. "That Bertie guy's not here."
"I got this." Hudson smirked before yelling at the top of his lungs. "ATTENTION, KNAPFORD VISITORS, WE ARE LOOKING FOR A LITTLE RED BUS NAMED BERTIE, HAS ANYONE SEEN HIM?!"
Zeta was pretty embarrassed. "I don't know him, folks."
"Bertie?" asked Paxton. "I saw him. He was up on Thomas' branch-line."
"Where?"
"Approaching Ffarquhar, I believe."
"Isn't that a one platform station?" asked Zeta.
"I got it. Only one of us can question him." Hudson suggested. "Seeing as this is Rebecca's thing, I vote it should be her."
"...or we could just all go, one after the other." Rebecca said.
"That works too." replied Hudson.
"We should probably move quick," added Zeta, "if Bertie's just approaching the station, it won't be long until he leaves."
The three raced off, hot on Bertie's tail.
The three engines had to move lightning fast to catch up to Bertie. The tighter corners were not ideal for an engine of Rebecca's size, but they managed long enough to finally catch up to Bertie.
"Hello, Rebecca!" smiled Bertie. "As well as the unfamiliar two engines. What are you doing here? Ewan's handling the branchline."
Right on cue, Ewan approached with Annie and Clarabel. "Aw, did I lose the race?"
"Actually, Bertie," Rebecca explained, "we have some questions."
"Questions? About what?" asked Bertie.
"Yeah, what about?" asked Ewan.
Rebecca explained how Ruth detected foul play in the collapsed suspension bridge, and that Emily heard that he saw something unusual when it fell.
"Oh, that?" Bertie explained. "Honestly, even I'm not sure about what happened. One minute, I'm just travelling down the road, minding my business, then all of a sudden, I hear this noise!"
"Was it more of a "reeeeewwwww" noise or a "ker-PLEW" noise?" asked Hudson.
"The last one."
The pieces were starting to fall together. "So, wait, the bridge was destroyed by a bomb?" asked Zeta.
"Did you see who did it?!" Rebecca questioned the little bus.
"No, but I saw how they got away." Bertie continued. "They escaped on an engine."
"Who?"
"I'm not sure. I was still disoriented by the explosion. All I know is that when Ryan got to the scene, he found a small bit of crumpled paper."
Well, that settled it. They had their next clue, and since he was working at the coal mines while he can’t get to Arlesburgh, they knew where he was.
“The crumpled bit of paper?” said Ryan when the three came up to the coal mines. "I can't figure it out myself."
"Do you at least know what it said?" asked Rebecca.
"No. It was all covered in ash, dirt and coal dust."
"Coal dust?" asked Zeta. "So we know that engine was a steamie. I think this narrows it down by a bit."
"But there's tons of steamies on Sodor," Rebecca said, "and even more on the Mainland, we'll never find out who did this."
"Maybe, but what if we wash the paper?" asked Hudson.
"Hud, you bonehead," groaned Zeta. "You can't wash a sheet of paper, it'll fall apart!"
"Well, who do we know that can clean it?" asked Rebecca. "We're going to need a genius."
The three thought for a second, but soon realised that there was one genius who can help.
The trio sat outside Ruth's workshop for what felt like hours. They were considering telling her to hurry up, but they knew it was too important to rush. Finally, Ruth came out with the sheet totally clean.
"Thanks, Ruth!" said Rebecca. "This is a huge help. I think this might me the biggest break in the case."
"What's it say"? asked Zeta.
"I haven't read it yet," explained Ruth, "but I know it's double-sided, so we may be here a while."
"We have time."
"Alright. Sit tight, everyone." Ruth said as she began reading.
This is where things get complicated. One side was straight from a history book. It was a page about King Godred. It explained how there was once a great war between his army and the Great British army. Back then, he was once known as Godred the Impaler, a nickname given to him by how many have been slaughtered by him. He had even had plans to seize control of a neighboring island, but when he was told no, he swiftly got rid of the ruler, buried him on the west of the island, and built a town over the burial site. A town everyone knows today as Vicarstown. Upon hearing this story, Rebecca was stunned.
"But...that can't be right!" protested Rebecca. "Why would King Godred do that?! All the other history books on the island said his reign was a golden age!"
"Maybe those books were authored by the winners." sighed Zeta.
"There's more." said an equally saddened Ruth. She showed the engines the other side of the page, showing a drawing of a map of Sodor, with the Sodor Suspension Bridge crossed off and Vicarstown Station circled.
"Why is Vicarstown circled like that?" asked Hudson.
Then, Rebecca realised the truth. "Because it's next."
"What?"
"The suspension bridge was only the beginning." explained Rebecca. "Their plan wasn't to just destroy that bridge to stop trains from going there - they're going to blow up Vicarstown!"
"WHAT?!" gasped Zeta and Hudson. "We gotta get going!"
"But how?!" asked Rebecca. "The bridge is down."
"Uh..." thought Rebecca. "...I have an idea. Follow me."
The three engines raced off, with little time to waste.
Rebecca's plan was simple: the foundations for the bridge were in place. While not everything was drilled down, the bridge should hopefully be stable enough. So, while it was still stable, the three would simply just speed across. Okay, I said the plan was simple, not safe. The three sped up to the bridge and started racing across. It was all going well, until...
CRACK! The foundations started falling apart again, leaving Hudson dangerously careening on the other end. "Uh, guys?! Little help?!"
"Hudson!" cried Rebecca.
"I gotcha!" yelled Zeta as she coupled up to Hudson. She started pulling with all of her strength, desperate to keep Hudson from falling to his doom. "Hold on, Hud!"
"You two, hold tight!" shouted Rebecca. "I'll get some extra help!"
"There's no time!" cried Zeta. "Just get to Vicarstown! I'll handle this!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes! Just go!"
Rebecca sped off while Zeta kept pulling. She kept on pulling with every iota of strength she had, she kept on pushing, maybe even too hard, but eventually, she pulled him back to safety.
"Zeta, you saved me." gasped Hudson. "I always just thought you were embarrassed of me."
"Embarrassed?" chuckled Zeta. "No, we still gotta stick together, Hud, we're still family, even if you're-"
"A little embarrassing?"
"Well, little's a strong word."
Hudson and Zeta laughed as they sped off to catch up to Rebecca.
Time was running out as the three raced into Vicarstown. The station was packed with people and engines just going about their day, unaware of the plan at hand.
"Everyone get out of the station!" cried Rebecca. "This is an emergency!"
"Rebecca, what's going on?!" yelled Thomas. "How'd you get across the bridge?!"
"There's no time to explain! There's a-" Rebecca started before a massive explosive blast boomed through the station. Luckily, nobody was hurt, but everyone knew the severity of the situation. "...that."
"What do we do?!" screamed Henry.
"Thomas, Percy," commanded Rebecca, "you, Hudson and Zeta, evacuate the passengers!"
"Got it!" cried Thomas as his coaches were packed like tins of sardines with passengers. Soon enough, the station was clear.
"Okay, that's everyone," panted Percy, "what now?"
Rebecca noticed a massive bomb in the middle of the station. "We have to turn that bomb off!" She raced towards the middle, time running out as she spoke, and then...
"What's going on here?" asked Ewan. Rebecca was a bit confused - how'd he get there?
"Ewan, what are you doing here?!" said Rebecca. "You have to get out of here!"
"Why?" asked Ewan. "Everything's going according to plan."
"What are you talking ab-" Then, she stopped. The engine that the terrorists used to escape, was that him? Was Ewan in on the plan? "Ewan, were you that engine Bertie was talking about? The one those terrorists used to flee the scene when the bridge blew up? Were you in on that plan?"
"I wasn't in on the plan." explained Ewan. "I thought of it."
Rebecca was shocked. "Why? Why would you do this? And what does this have to do with King Godred?"
"That ruler Godred murdered? The one he buried right here under this station?" began Ewan. "That was my driver's ancestor. His family resented this island for needlessly killing him, so I came up with a way to pay this island and its history back. I come in to help with the extra passengers, gain Sir Topham Hatt's trust, and then, KABOOM! Vicarstown's destroyed, and no one ever suspects the little shunter."
"But...there's better ways than this!" Rebecca tried to plead. "This is terrorism!"
"Is it any worse than what Godred did?!" shouted Ewan. "This plan would've been perfect had you not bumped into where you didn't belong. But I suppose it's easy for you to keep doing that, because you don't belong anywhere!"
Rebecca stopped. Everything that happened to her kept flooding back. Diesel's insults. Her not knowing her purpose. But she kept thinking more - her friends' support, their kindness, and their acceptance of her. For the first time in ages, she felt like a true Sudrian. Like she belonged. "Yes...I do."
But it was too late. The massive bomb went off and the station began crumbling. While the other engines evacuated the scene, it was just Rebecca and Ewan. Rebecca hesitated for a second - true, Ewan masterminded this whole operation, but maybe there was still some good in him, right? She quickly bumped into him and pushed him out of the station as the station fell. When the dust cleared, Ewan didn't know what just happened.
"Wait...what?" Ewan panted. "Rebecca, you saved me?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Everyone says I tend to look for the good in everyone," Rebecca explained. "and I know It's not too late for you."
Ewan was still confused. He literally just destroyed a station and she's helping him? "Uh...wow, thanks. I never thought I'd hear that in my life."
Everyone on Sodor had gathered to see the destroyed station. Vicarstown Station was well and truly gone, and Rebecca wasn't sure what to do. All the engines felt shocked and a little bit hopeless.
"Rebecca?" asked Thomas. "What are we gonna do now?"
"Wait, you're asking me?"
"You tried to save the station," explained Percy, "surely, you have an idea on how to rebuild it."
Rebecca looked at the rubble, unsure what to do with it all. But then she remembered the history book and how to. She had an idea. "King Godred built this town as a means to distract from his crimes. Vicarstown started off as a grim omen for Sodor's history. I don't want to continue that. We can build a new station, and this one will be a beacon of hope. It may be different, but what matters is we all do it together."
Rebecca's speech inspired everyone to rally together to rebuild the station. It took them the whole summer, and it certainly wasn't easy, but eventually, Sodor was looking at a brand new Vicarstown as Sir Topham Hatt cut the ribbon. Everyone was proud of themselves for banding together, but there was still one thing remaining. Rebecca still didn't know what she brought to the Steam Team.
"Thomas?" Rebecca asked. "I've been meaning to ask for a little bit, what do I add to the Steam Team? I was thinking about it for a while, and I still don't know."
"Well, if you ask me," Thomas explained, "this new station is a great example of what you bring - you're essentially a beacon of optimism and hope."
"Really?"
"That's my guess."
"Well, I like it." Rebecca smiled as she looked over the new Vicarstown. For the first time in her life, she finally knew her purpose.
About the Author: JF the LOLZOR
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