Work Text:
Felix was the happiest engine in the whole world. After his restoration, he was excited to work every day, to roll around, wanting to see as much of Sodor as he could. Well, sometimes it was even a little hard for his crew.
"Where are we going now? To the copper mine? Or are we hauling a passenger train today? Tell me, pleeease!"
"Easy, buddy, let me think," Jerry, his driver, answered. "The boss told me we need to take some trucks from here to there, then, uh..."
Felix was glad to work. Having managed to circle the entire line twice that morning, he now stood on a siding while his team uncoupled him from the cars. Then Jerry pulled out a thermos with tea and some snacks and handed it to Mark, the fireman.
"Where will we go? I do not want to stay," Felix chirped impatiently.
"Everything in its time, buddy. For example, we have a proper lunch break here."
"Ah, you people always need so much rest," Felix drawled with slight disappointment. "But I really do not want to stay! Mr. Jerry, please, can I do something? I hate standing still."
Jerry sighed good-naturedly.
"Okay, then. Here, move these trucks. There is mining equipment that is no longer needed here. Haul it to the sorting station in Everett town, then return. Twenty minutes there, twenty minutes back, and we will finish our lunch."
"Great!"
After a couple of minutes, Felix was cheerfully rolling along the track, heading to Everett. Soon, he reached the sorting station. There was a technological hub there for loading and unloading mining equipment and decommissioned junk. Felix rolled into the shunting yard. Then, somewhere ahead, he heard the sound of clashing metal. Curious, he moved forward and then saw a huge yellow engine, who was busy folding the broken blades of a grinding machine into a cart with his claw manipulator. Felix was surprised. He had never seen engines like this before. Then the engine noticed him.
"What?" he asked, frowning. "If you brought another broken drill, then wait. I need to deal with this one first."
Felix ignored his harsh tone. He continued to look at the claw of the strange locomotive with admiration and surprise. Diesel 10 grew puzzled.
"Hey, I am talking to you. What do you need here?"
"Is that a real claw? Wow!"
"...what?"
"Sorry, maybe this is rude, but I have never seen locos with additions before!" the cheerful olive engine replied. He kept asking, "Do you like to work here? What actually is this place? I have never been here. My driver said this is where mining equipment is delivered. Oh, I am so excited to see new places! May I ask, who are you?"
Suddenly, Diesel 10 realized who this could be. It was Smudger, the annoying engine, long lost and then found on an abandoned line and restored. This was the one Paxton, who worked with the Blue Mountain Quarry, had been talking about all day. Diesel 10 looked closely - and saw the nameplate confirming his guess. The little narrow gauge engine, who looked even smaller in Diesel 10's presence, was looking at him with eyes full of brightness and wonder.
And Diesel 10 smiled.
His expression went from puzzled to charming in a matter of seconds. A plan began to form in Diesel 10's mind. The smile tugged at his lips. Everyone on Sodor knew this smile and what it could foreshadow. Everyone, except Felix.
"Oh, yes, I do work here," Diesel 10 answered friendly. "My name is Diesel 10. I think you have already met some other diesels before, have you?"
"Yes! Rusty works with me at the quarry, and a week ago I got a new friend. It is Paxton, he is a very good engine. He said he works and lives far away from the quarry, in some place called Vicarstown, and at the docks sometimes."
Diesel 10 smiled even wider. The fact that the first diesel Felix met was Paxton would come in handy. He only knew nice guys, so he would expect the same.
"I also live in Vicarstown, for your information, and I can assure you it is a beautiful place. Wait, let me ask, have you seen much of Sodor already? I bet many things have changed during the time you was sleeping."
Felix's expression drooped slightly, but then he brightened up again.
"It has," he replied. "And I really want to see everything. I love the quarry and our branch line, but there is also a little problem. I can only travel on narrow gauge rails and cannot see all of Sodor."
"So, you want to?"
"Of course! But there is no way to do it for now."
"Oh, Felix," Diesel 10 called, moving a bit closer. "I can help you, and I want to help you. I will show you Sodor. Also, Vicarstown is not far from here, so you can be back in no time. Drop your trucks here and wait for me. We are going for a ramble."
Soon Diesel 10 returned with a flatbed. He helped the excited Felix onto it, then secured him with chains using Pinchy.
"Here we go."
They left the yard and traveled along the line toward Vicarstown. Diesel 10 pulled Felix around the island. Enraptured by the new sights of Sodor, Felix paid little attention to Diesel 10's cloyingly friendly tone, the road, or the direction they were traveling. Eventually, they passed Vicarstown, and the route turned into an industrial area. Soon it became strangely quiet. They drove past unfamiliar buildings that looked like factory workshops, then a shunting yard. Felix saw fragments of a steam locomotive frame sticking out from behind one of the fences. He suddenly felt very uneasy.
"Wait. What is this place?"
Felix was puzzled. Around him were strange buildings, heaps of scrap metal, trucks and flatbeds filled with the same rusted junk. The air felt unsettling.
"Diesel 10? Where are we?"
"Oh, this is my favorite place on the island," Diesel 10 answered, smiling. "You will like it too."
"I do not think so." A growing sense of danger began to itch within Felix. Something was wrong. "I actually... maybe need to return. My crew will need me. Please, tell me, where are we?"
"At the scrapyard."
Felix gasped.
"Why did you bring me here? I do not think there is anything interesting. Can we leave?"
"No."
A piercing cold feeling froze right through Felix's boiler. Too late, he understood that Diesel 10's smile was wider than necessary, that his friendly behavior was only a disguise. With horror, Felix realized that he was being kidnapped and was unable to do anything about it, helpless on this flatbed on foreign gauge rails. He was completely at the mercy of his captor, and this was definitely not going to end well.
"Diesel 10," he asked, trembling involuntarily, "what... what are you going to do?"
"My dear Felix. Or Smudger, whatever, it soon will not be matter. Everyone has a hobby. And for me, I really like to see how scrap metal smelts in the blast furnaces, its flowing, and melting. And especially if it is steam engines."
These sentences, delivered with calm casualness, made Felix sink deep into fear - Diesel 10 appeared to be a maniac. Felix knew absolutely nothing about what to do. Worst of all, when they were moving through the scrapyard to the smelter, it was empty. He began to breathe fast. The suffocating panic pressed on him like a crushing wave. No one will hear my screams here, Felix thought. Diesel 10 seemed to read this his thoughts.
"Oh, do not bother crying," he said, when Felix began to sob. "These walls are perfect for blocking sound. Do not annoy me with your disgusting whimpering."
"P-p-please..." Felix forced out, but was cut short.
"I said stop. I hate hearing it."
Diesel 10 finally stopped inside the smelting shed. He uncoupled himself from Felix's flatbed and rolled forward onto a turntable. There were three tracks. The flatbed stood on the one closest to a furnace, and Diesel 10 now approached him from the middle track. Felix was now able to see his eyes and the terrifying, terrible grin. Diesel 10 stretched out Pinchy and moved it dangerously close to Felix's face.
"Felix, Felix. Interesting, isn't it? Being repaired only to get scrapped less than a month later? What a tragic fate..."
"D-di-esel 10... please! Let me go!"
"Heh, heh."
Felix was now crying uncontrollably. And when the grabbing crane began to move above him, he fell into complete hysteria. He screamed, jerked forward and backward in chains, even though it was no use at all. The crane kept moving, dramatically slow, almost mockingly, fueling his breakdown.
"Diesel 10, do not do this! Do not! Please, do not, let me go, let me go!"
The crane stopped above him and began to descend. Diesel 10 laughed at his desperate begging.
"Goodbye, Smudger. It seems you are not so lucky anymore."
But he was mistaken.
Abruptly, the grabbing crane stopped, as if jammed. And through the overwhelming hysteria, Felix heard a chuff chuff sound of wheels. Heavy, several. The sound of wheels of a steam engines.
"What the..."
Diesel 10 did not have time to finish as two large engines rushed into the smelting shed. It was Murdoch and Hiro. Before he could even process it, Murdoch slammed into him with such force that he was thrown backwards; a loud crash and the clang of iron made the frightened Felix scream. One of Diesel 10's buffers creaked and fell to the floor.
"Aargh!"
Hiro stopped near Felix. Murdoch rolled forward while Diesel 10 not yet had time to recover.
"Listen here," Murdoch began, his voice ominously quiet, "you are going to disappear from here straight to hell right now, and if I see you within a kilometer of any steam engines again, I will send you to the scrap pile myself. Got it?"
He was usually the calmest engine on the whole island, and things rarely upset him, but now the sight of his bared teeth and dark gaze forced Diesel 10 to cut off the curses he was starting to shout mid sentence. He knew few on Sodor could match his strength. Diesel 10 knew he could scare anyone, like Henry or even Gordon. But then he realized he could not do it here. He glared at Murdoch's dangerous face and Hiro's serious eyes. Yes, these two would not give in to intimidation and would not hesitate. Diesel 10 had lost here.
"You bastards," he hissed, rolling back. "One day I'll send you to scrap, mark my words, tin cans."
With that, he backed away and left the smelting shed through the second exit. Felix still could not believe what had just happened. He kept sobbing. The logical part of his mind knew that the danger was over, but he was too exhausted to truly believe it.
"Shh, it is alright, Felix, it is alright."
Tears blurred Felix's vision, and he blinked to see that one of his unexpected saviors had already turned around and was standing on the same track in front of him. The second one, a big orange engine, was on the turntable, moving to face the exit.
"You are safe now," the black engine continued. "Breathe, Felix. We are going to get you back home."
"Who... who are you?"
"I am Hiro," the engine answered. His voice was so calm and warm, and his presence so reliable, that it soothed Felix's fear. "And this is Murdoch. We were at Crovan's Gate when Percy hurried there to say he saw you with Diesel 10. There was clearly nothing good about that. You probably have not met him before, right?"
"I'm... I am..."
"Shh. Do not worry anymore. No one will hurt you while you are with us. We are going back to the quarry, to your home, it is going to be alright. You know what? Just like you, once upon a time I was forgotten in the woods, then found, restored, and saved from scrap."
"You was?"
"Yes. Also, did you know I am actually not from Sodor? My homeland lies far across the ocean, and it is incredibly beautiful there at this time of year."
With calm, distracting conversation, Hiro kept Felix engaged all the way back, keeping the panic at bay. They coupled to him from both sides - Murdoch was pulling, Hiro was pushing. Finally, they reached the quarry. Felix heard a commotion and voices, pulling him away from another of Hiro's stories.
"I cannot believe this, I cannot believe it! Where is my brother?" Peter Sam's voice was full of panic.
They rolled into the quarry. Duke, Sir Handel, Peter Sam, and Skarloey were there, and they instantly stopped talking and looked at the newcomers.
"Brother!" Sir Handel and Peter Sam gasped in unison. But Duke was the first to reach him.
"Felix, my dear boy, are you hurt? What happened?"
Felix sobbed, and Murdoch answered for him while Felix was being unloaded from the flatbed.
"It was Diesel 10. He kidnapped him and was about to scrap him, but we interfered just in time. He is okay, no harm was done, except for the stress."
"Oh, Felix, Felix."
Duke bumped gently into him and, for a moment, regretted that he had no hands to embrace him. He had seen many times how humans did it. Muttering to himself that he should have foreseen something like this, he coupled to Felix and hauled him away. Peter Sam and Sir Handel moved to follow him, wanting to stay close to their poor brother to comfort him.
Hiro, Murdoch, and Skarloey stayed behind. For the second time, this life had been torn from the fingers of death. Skarloey began to grow angry - this heinous Diesel 10 dared to harm one of his kind. Something needed to be done.
This time, Skarloey was determined to bring this to the attention of Sir Topham Hatt and persuade him to finally throw this abominable monster off the island