Chapter 2 - The Good Diesel

After their failed attempt to get Diesel Ten to help, the Logging Locos decided to turn to Sir Topham Hatt instead; and all three of them promised to keep their encounter with Diesel Ten a secret.

With the high quantity of fallen trees and mudslides, Sir Topham Hatt was already quite busy with trying to help everyone else. This meant he was stuck at the Sodor Search and Rescue Center, so that he could make preparations and send out teams. And just as Bash, Dash and Ferdinand showed up at the center, Thomas had beaten them to it and rushed up to Sir Topham Hatt.

"Sir, it's an emergency!" Thomas shouted as he came to a screeching halt.

"Thomas, there is far more than just one emergency right now, and there are other urgent matters I must attend to," Sir Topham sighed with exhaustion.

"But it's Henry's Tunnel, Sir! James was pulling a fallen tree on a flatbed, but it fell off and blocked one of the tunnels."

"Yes, I heard about that, and I have made an arrangement with another railroad on the Mainland to lend us some help. They are sending us another engine to help us with the rest of our problems."

"You did?" Bash asked out of surprise, as he and the other two Logging Locos approached.

"We could really use their help, too," Dash added.

"I know you do. Don't worry. This new engine should have arrived at Brendam Docks this morning, and I want you to show them all of the areas that may need their help, Thomas."

"And then, we can take them to Misty Island?" Ferdinand quickly asked.

Sir Topham smiled and nodded, "Of course."

With this news, Thomas and the Logging Locos raced to Brendam Docks to meet this new engine and hopefully get them onboard to help clean up. Sure, Sir Topham said that he called in this engine, but something at the back of their fireboxes gave them an unsettling and doubtful feeling.

Eventually, they reached the docks and stopped, quickly looking around to find any engine that looked new and unfamiliar. The good news is, it didn't take them long to spot the new engine slowly approaching them. The bad news is, they finally discovered why they had an unsettling feeling.

The new engine was a dark blue BR Class 42 Warship, which was the exact same model as Diesel Ten. And it wasn't just their model that was similar, for they also dawned a long and metal arm with three claws atop their cab. As the new engine took notice of Thomas and the Logging Locos, they stared at them suspiciously while gently tapping their claws together in thought.

The blue engine continued to creep closer, and finally stop when they were just a few feet away. Finally, their lips curled into a friendly smile.

"Hi!" they spoke, their voice friendly and feminine.

"U-Uh…hello," Thomas muttered before smiling politely, and tried to forget his fear, "I-I'm Thomas. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too. Name's Fern," the female greeted.

"Huh—you're pretty cheery for a diesel," Dash admitted under his breath.

"Don't be rude!" Bash snapped at his twin brother.

"Oh, he's fine. I get that a lot, anyway," Fern reassured with a chuckle.

"Fern, this is Bash, Dash and Ferdinand. They're the Logging Locos that work on Misty Island," Thomas explained.

"Ok. Never heard of either of those things, but sounds cool!" Fern went on, but then gasped with realization, "Shoot, I forgot! I was supposed to clear a fallen tree at Henry's Tunnel! …Uh, do you think you guys could show me the way?"

Upon arrival at Henry's tunnel, Fern and the others were surprised to see just how big the fallen tree was. If it was just a bit larger, it would have easily blocked off the other tunnel.

But not wanting to waste much time, Fern approached the trunk of the tree while the claws on her arm spread out to make way for a hidden buzz saw. Once the saw was unsheathed and spinning, she lowered her arm and slowly cut through the thick tree.

Thomas and the Logging Locos watched in amazement, for they had never seen an engine bearing such equipment before. Sure, Diesel Ten had come pretty close, but they were glad that he was never given a buzz saw.

It wasn't long before the tree trunk was cut into smaller pieces, which allowed Fern to pick them up and place them into a pile beside the track.

"Alright, that's that mess cleaned up. What's next?" Fern questioned while sheathing her buzz saw.

"We've still got a lot of lines to clear on Misty Island. You up for it?" Dash asked with a smirk.

Fern was just about to answer when the sound of horns echoed in the other tunnel, and multiple diesel engines raced out of the tunnel in a blur. They were so fast that Fern and the others didn't have time to make out the details of the engines, let alone tell who they were.

"Who were those guys?" Fern spoke slowly, assuming that Thomas or the Logging Locos would know more about anyone or anything on this island than she did.

"I don't know, but we'll have to worry about that later," Thomas regretfully informed, as he and the others began to make their way towards Misty Island.

Surprisingly enough, not a lot of engines were injured after all of the storms, which left Victor with more time to clean the Steamworks without having to worry about any patients.

But that doesn't mean that he couldn't get any visitors. In fact, the group of engines that darted through Henry's Tunnel had set their minds on coming to the Steamworks in hopes of finding something important to them. And when Victor finally noticed them waiting in the entrance, he was confused and curious about their features. Victor could count at least four engines, and they all appeared to share them same models of BR Class 40s and 45s. He also noticed that most of them looked a bit old, judging by the wrinkles and faded scars on their faces.

"Hello, there. Can I help you?" Victor kindly greeted while pulling up to them.

A red BR Class 40 with a large vertical scar over her left eye puffed forward, giving Victor the assumption that she was the leader.

"Maybe you can," the red engine replied, her voice raspy and heavy with a southern accent, "I'm lookin' for a diesel engine, and I'm gonna bet you know 'm."

"Well, what is his name?"

The red engine chuckled, "I don't think I gotta tell you that 'cause you'll know exactly who I'm talkin' about when I saw he's big, bad—and clawed."

Victor's eyes widened in realization. She could only be referring to one engine, and anyone and anything that were affiliated with him usually meant trouble.

"Um…I'm afraid the engine you're looking for isn't here," Victor nervously replied.

"Then where is he?" the red engine hissed demandingly.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. I don't know. Perhaps you could look somewhere else?"

"You might be right." The red engine paused, and looked back at her cronies. "Let's go. We're wastin' time here."

With that, the red engine and her group finally left the Steamworks, leaving Victor alone with his fear. If these strange engines really were looking for Diesel Ten, he guessed that horrible consequences were going to follow. Victor couldn't even tell who to be more scared of now. The new engines or Diesel Ten?

Fern figured a place called "Misty Island" would be a bit foggy, bit it was even foggier than she anticipated. Not that she was complaining; if anything, the serene environment was beautiful to her. She always loved nature, and an island covered in peaceful forests like this one was no exception.

But despite wanting to take a slow stroll down the line to take in the sights, the Logging Locos urged her on to show her where there were more fallen trees to pick up. Once again, she didn't complain and didn't hesitate to help clean up their railroad.

And like before, Fern's kindness surprised the Logging Locos since they were used to so many other diesels being devious dickheads. Eventually, they couldn't take the unexpected kindness from Fern much longer, and approached her to find out more about her.

"You know, we really meant what we said earlier," Bash was first to speak.

"About what?" Fern inquired with a cocked brow, as she continued to saw away at a dead tree limb across the tracks.

"About you being pretty nice for a diesel. We don't have a lot of those around here," Dash pointed out.

"Yeah, especially compared to Diesel Te-."

"Ferdinand!" Bash and Dash cut off their dopey coworker with a snap, who was quick to shut his mouth when he remembered that an engine as evil as Diesel Ten was supposed to be kept secret from most outside forces. They simply didn't want him, or any rumors spread about him, to scare off any visitors.

"Compared to whom?" Fern urged, even dropping what she was doing to focus on the others.

The Logging Locos exchanged nervous glances before eventually sighing in defeat, knowing that trying to hide anything from Fern now would be pointless.

"There's this one diesel who's the worst of all," Bash began.

"Yeah, he's really nasty, and he's got a giant claw like you," Dash pointed out.

"Really?" Fern asked while looking up at her own claw in confusion, "I knew a few diesels like me were equipped with claws, but I didn't think there'd be one all they way out here."

"Well, there is, and he's awful. I bet he's got enough skeletons in his closet ta be considered a serial killer," Ferdinand stated with paranoia.

"He sounds charming," Fern muttered sarcastically.

"You won't be sayin' that once you actually meet him," Bash protested warningly.

"If he's as dangerous as you say, why not just get rid of him?"

"It's not that easy. He's always been too slippery for anyone to catch him," Dash explained.

"Let alone move him to a place," Ferdinand added flatly.

"Besides, most of us are too scared to even confront him," Bash quickly pointed out.

"Well, I'm willing to see just how bad he is myself. Where is he?" Fern questioned sternly.

"H-He's usually at the Dieselworks, but you're not allowed there unless you're a diesel that needs fixing," Dash argued.

Fern realized that the Logging Locos probably weren't going to show her where this evil diesel was so easily. So, she looked around for a moment and eventually spotted a set of buffers on a nearby siding. Without hesitation, Fern sped towards the buffers, and rammed into them hard enough to crack one and knock the other right off.

The Logging Locos stared with wide eyes and dropped jaws at her sudden actions, unable to fathom why she, or anyone for that matter, would be this desparate to get to Diesel Ten.

"My buffers are broken, which makes me a diesel that needs fixing. Do you mind taking me to the Dieselworks now?" Fern stated dryly.

As much as they wanted to keep such a nice engine like Fern away from someone as awful as Diesel Ten, the Logging Locos knew they couldn't refuse taking a broken engine to get repaired. So, the three engines begrudgingly took Fern back to Sodor and led her to Diesel Ten's lair.

Diesel Ten may be a bit more reformed by now, but I think we all know that Fern has no idea what she's gotten herself into. Also, any guesses as to who the strange group of engines who visited Victor may be?

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!