#Jon you messy toad

[starbound-wanderer]

I love that Jon’s just being messy. There’s no reason for us to be getting this involved in the workers lives but Jon’s just being chismoso about it all

“Drama 👀👀👀 in the office 👀👀 let me check it out 👀👀”

[style-of-story-telling]

Sunrise After Darkness

In this chapter, The Fat Controller comes to visit, we learn about the crew, and the future looks brighter for Oliver and Toad!

- - -

Chapter 2: Sir Topham Hatt

Sir Topham Hatt, known more fondly by the engines as "The Fat Controller", sat in utter disbelief in his office as he listened to the extraordinary tale from the two dishevelled men who had asked to speak to him urgently.

It had been in the very early hours of the morning, when he had received a phone call from the foreman with word of Douglas returning to Sodor with a "scrapped train in tow". Needless to say, all feelings of annoyance from an interrupted sleep were quickly replaced by intrigue. His engines would never bring over something they should not to his railway, unless it was a particularly unusual matter.

He had raced down to his office as fast as he could. There, he found Douglas and his crew waiting for him, along with the foreman. They explained everything; the journey to the goods yard, them coming across the frightened Oliver and his crew, then the journey back and getting temporarily stopped. The Fat Controller had never heard anything like it!

"I should like to speak to his crew", he said. "And then later on, the engine himself."

So here he was now, at a more reasonable time, and listening to Oliver's crew finish their tale.

"You must understand", said the driver nervously. "We wouldn't just invite ourselves onto yer railway without yer permission, Mr Hatt. But we were desperate."

He brushed a trembling hand through his messy brown hair. The fireman spoke up.

"The railway we come from, they 'ad already started scappin' their engines by the time we left. Oliver was the only one left. We not got any ties yer see. We're bachelors, right? We had nothin' over there. We wanted to take a chance. Us and Oliver. We just couldn't leave him behind. We couldn't.

The Fat Controller raised his hands.

"I understand."

He smiled at them.

"You two and your engine have gone through a remarkable feat. Of course I can't simply turn you all away after that!"

He stood up from his desk.

"I'll put a good word in to the local inn. They should be able to take you both in until you get yourselves settled somewhere. In the meantime, I'll quietly notify the other staff on the railway of the situation. What are your names?"

"Matthew", said the driver. He held out a damp, coal-smeared hand. "Just call me Matt!"

The Fat Controller gingerly took it and gave a firm shake.

"Pleased to meet you", he said cheerfully.

"I'm Jonathan", said the fireman, taking the Fat Controller's hand even more enthusiastically (and with an even dirtier hand). "Or jus' Jon."

"Pleased to meet you both!", said the Fat Controller giving a nod. "I'll arrange things for you both in due time."

"Pretty sure there's no point askin' our railway if they'll take us back", laughed Jon. "We've likely already been fired!"

"I'll sort all of it out", said The Fat Controller airily. "But first, I would very much like to speak to your engine next. You say he's at the works?"

"Yes", nodded Matthew. "Douglas' crew promised to find him a place. We should get there now. He's probably worried where we are."

"Happy to head there now", smiled The Fat Controller. He started to walk out of the office.

"I must ask you both", he said carefully. "How was he when you left him there?"

"More relieved than anythin' I think", said Jon. "But it's been 'ard for him, as you probably expect."

"I must warn you", put in Matthew. "He's very nervous. Not scared mind, but just unsure abou' all this. He doesn't know what's gonna happen."

"Of course", said The Fat Controller.

They arrived at the works in due course. Engines were already bustling about the lines, but the works remained quiet.

The Fat Controller strode confidently in. He spotted Oliver and Toad immediately. A GWR 1400 class steam engine, and a GWR brake van. They were both fast asleep. Although The Fat Controller couldn't help but notice that the engine seemed to have just nodded off.

"I'll go wake him up", said Matthew. "Just so he's not startled."

He walked quietly up to Oliver, and then gently ran a hand along his footplate. Then he hoisted himself up and carefully patted his hand on Oliver's large cheek.

"Hey, Oliver", the driver whispered. "Wake up. The controller is here. He wants to meet you."

"H-huh?", Oliver stirred.

He opened his eyes. He was conscious of his driver's warm hand against his face, patting and soothing him. And then he startled as he took in a stout gentleman staring up at him. All at once, Oliver felt so small, which was ironic given that he was much bigger than anyone else in the room. He knew from his experience that anyone wearing a suit and top hat like this gentleman meant it was someone of authority.

The Fat Controller's gaze turned to one of sadness as he looked over Oliver and Toad. Their previous GWR paintwork had been taken over by layers of rust, and Oliver in particular was an orange red all over. Moss and leaves had gathered along his footplate and under his smokebox, and his wheels looked like they couldn't go another mile. His face was even covered in layers of dirt and soot.

"Hello there", The Fat Controller smiled. "Are you the brave engine I've been hearing about?"

"B-Brave?", asked Oliver, stunned at this gentleman's immediate kindness.

"Your crew told me everything", The Fat Controller went on. "My name is Sir Topham Hatt. I run this railway. You may address me as 'Sir'.

"Alright…Sir", replied Oliver nervously.

"Now then", said The Fat Controller. "As I said, your crew told me everything. You four are nothing short of remarkable for what you have achieved. Especially you, Oliver!"

"I ran out of coal, Sir", replied Oliver meekly, suddenly feeling more brave. "I only got as far as Barrow."

"Only just to Barrow?!", The Fat Controller laughed heartily. "That's pretty much on the border to Sodor. And a small tank engine, making it so far with limited coal. No Oliver, I'm astounded by what you have done."

Oliver could feel himself going pink from the praise, but he needed to ask the nagging question at the back of his mind.

"Please Sir. What are you going to do with us?"

By this time, Toad had woken up and immediately sussed out the current situation. He stayed silent, waiting for what the controller would say next.

The Fat Controller looked surprised.

"Well, I was planning to keep you both here. If that, of course, is what you want."

Oliver beamed. It was such a change that The Fat Controller could almost see the true engine behind the strained face and the tired eyes.

"You mean it, Sir?!"

"I do indeed", smiled The Fat Controller. "Now, of course there will be some things I will need to sort out. Namely, with your controller."

Oliver trembled.

"Please, Sir. Don't let them make us go back. We'll be turned into scrap!"

"I know that, Oliver", The Fat Controller said softly. "I know as well that you technically still belong to your old railway. But rest assured, Oliver and Toad, I will fight to keep you both here."

Oliver could feel all kinds of emotions welling up inside him, but he couldn't think of the right words to say. Instead, all he could manage was "Thank you, Sir."

"Thank you very much, Sir!", Toad piped up.

The Fat Controller smiled at the both of them.

"I do have some idea of where exactly to station you both. But I'd like to discuss that much nearer the time. For now, let's focus on getting you both repaired and back to your former selves", The Fat Controller beamed.

Then his face went sombre. He turned his full attention to the engine again.

"Tell me now, Oliver. Are you in any kind of pain at all?"

Oliver thought about it.

"Nothing hurtin', Sir. I just feel…so tired."

The Fat Controller nodded.

"That's more than understandable. You've travelled a long way. I doubt you had much of a chance to rest. You must be feeling exhausted."

"Yeah", Oliver agreed. He had hardly given it any thought, but now that the controller had acknowledged it, Oliver could feel every inch of his frames weigh down on him. All his time spent just running non-stop along the rails to Sodor had finally caught up with him.

"I'll leave you both to rest now", said The Fat Controller, beginning to step away. "We'll get you set for repairs as soon as possible. But in the meantime, take all this time to recuperate."

"Thank you, Sir", Oliver and Toad replied.

Oliver stifled a yawn. As soon as the controller had left, Matthew was back at his side. Jon down at his footplate.

"You 'ear that Oliver?", said Matthew, laughing and nudging his engine playfully. "He wants to keep you both!"

"I'm so glad", Oliver whispered.

"You got nothin' to worry about now, old boy", said Jon, and he gripped his hand on Oliver's buffer. "You're safe now."

"I'm so tired…", Oliver replied, his eyes beginning to droop.

"Rest now", said Jon. "Both of you."

"We'll be here when you wake up", said Matthew, his hand laid on Oliver's cheek. "Promise."

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[neverdoingmuch]

okay! tma au time!

so i’m gonna start off by saying jgs is elias in this au. i dont care what you say about elias’ sexy voice or charisma or whatever, they’re both slimy and evil. also gertrude, so to speak, is wen chao. (bear with me pls)

most other people are assistants. i think? i mean lwj, wwx, jzx and a few others are?

(my brain says it would be funny to have lwj as sasha and su she as not!sasha but lwj deserves better than that)

i’m not really gonna follow the plot of tma bc rip

anyway!

the assistants are just kind of vibing in the archives when they discover that wrh, who’s like the chief of police and is an avatar of the slaughter, is actively killing people for the fears bc acab

does he have a deal with jgs and that’s why wen chao is the archivist? yeah probably. wen chao is the archivist bc daddy had connections. wrh put jgs in charge and sent wen chao to make sure everything was running how wrh wanted it to be

yeah, wrh wants to have control over all the fears or something idk

so wen chao is the archivist. but unlike gertrude who purposefully made things really messy and a nightmare he’s just really incompetent. wen zhuliu is the avatar of the distortion and theyre tight bc zhuliu owes wrh or whatever.

so the wrh stuff comes out and a bunch of people band together to try and bring justice to him and thus we have the sunshot campaign

maybe all the families have their own fears? the lans are the lonely and the nies are the hunt. jfm and yzy are avatars of the bad parenting idk. 

anyway, before they took any action, wwx had already started investigating bc wen chao is a lil bitch and very suspicious

while investigating wwx gets sucked into the archivist stuff and ends up being thrown into the tunnels under the institute with wen zhuliu who then proceeds to do distortion fuckery for three months

he finally escapes and kills wen zhuliu using the powers he’d begun to develop in the tunnels (it’s so strange that he stumbled across a tape recorder which he’d named chenqing and after that he kept finding statements,,, so strange)

he’s killed wen zhuliu so he goes off and kills wen chao and now he’s the archivist whoo

he joins up with the others and they go kill wrh, sweet it’s all dealt with but jgs starts spreading shit about how all the wens are terrible and must be killed (including wen qing’s family who are like paramedics who work ed with the police, so not cops but forced to work w/ them)

while jgs is touting that bs jgy is in the background slowly manipulating wwx into getting all the different marks (idk what they were called) from the different fears

he gets kidnapped by xue yang who is nikola and spends a month getting moisturised by him and told that wow he’s so impressive killing the other avatars,, im gonna follow in your footsteps (let’s say that avatars have a truce not to kill each other in this world. like they’re all equals and pretty much the same strength so there’s no real point in killing each other or trying to kill each other)

wwx escapes and im kinda annoyed we dont have enough bad guys for wwx to properly get his marks but whatever

he goes back to the archives and they come up with a plan to kill xue yang and they go off and do it

imma let you pick what happens here. does jzx die? do we let xxc and sl have the spotlight and this is where their story comes into play?

whatever happens, wwx goes into a coma for thirteen months and enter extremely hot avatar of the end who helps him wake up (mo xuanyu?? mo xuanyu.)

he goes back to the archives and lwj has been taken by the lonely while he was gone so he’s working with his uncle again (the lans are the lukases and i take no criticism)

side note: in this au wwx gets two phobias! (gee wwx! how come you get to have two phobias?)

so mr spider was definitely a thing and so were the dogs

while wwx was on the streets he found this book and he’d just started learning how to read so he decided to practise but then some other kid stole it from him and he ended up watching him get eaten by a giant spider also the dogs attacked him bc no rest for wwx

does wwx pretend not to be aware?? i’d say yes. if not bc of trauma then bc it’s super obvious and the look on lwj’s face when the jane prentiss equivalent attacks and wwx says wow those worms were a lil weird huh? is so funny to him

anyway lwj was in the know the whole time and he probably moved out of his family home and joined the archives so he could investigate jgs but then wwx dies and hes like aight yeah imma feel real lonely right now

so wwx comes back and jc, who had been the host of ghost hunt CW (cultivation world) and was attacked by an evil ghost, tries to kill him

after their fight and subsequent freedom from the slaughter and the eye (sans eye removing bc fuck that) jc moves in with jyl

im sorry that what the girlfriends isnt a thing here but i love the idea of a jyl who just isnt scared of anything because she’s seen death and just can’t get scared anymore

she still dates an archives employee though. it’s jzx, who is kinda like tim in this au i guess? did he die in that explosion? (i want to say no so jyl would be happy but if he dies and she’s mourning him and jc and wwx fought,, well now wwx is alone for bad decision times)

one day wen qing comes up and is like pls help my brother, he’s been taken by the buried so wwx runs off and finds breekon and hope (su she and jin zixun), kill jin zixun and steals the coffin

the rest of the wens are in hiding atm so he doesnt have to like monkey chain all the wens out of the coffin 

so wwx goes inside the coffin and rescues wen ning (bc jon and daisy’s relationship was super sweet)

they get out and immediately run away with wen qing and the rest of the wens

where do they go? wen qing’s cute cottage in scotland (or cultivation world equivalent)

so they’re living as farmers and wwx is getting sick bc he can’t get statements from here but he has to protect them bc the jins keep attacking (what are the jins working for?? idk. the vast? the dark? who knows, not me)

anyway lwj comes and is like you have to come back to gusu/the archives and wwx is like no! bc he has to protect the wens

so lwj is like fuck ive gotta move my timeline up and find a way to off jgs

jgy ends up doing it and lwj is like /: my revenge,,

everyone is happy! jgs is dead, wrh is dead! but then jgy starts stirring up rumours about wwx and lwj is honestly so tired of this shit

and bc people keep attacking the wens, wwx manages to collect the rest of the marks from the other fears

jgy sends his letter: dear wwx sorry for the deception yada yada yada

but wwx is aware of that shit and just kills himself before he can finish reading it

whoo apocalypse averted but lwj comes to help with the wens just in time for his burial so not whoo?

anyway we know wwx isn’t dead and he’s just vibing in another coma or something equivalent (why does he die twice in this au? bc idk how s5 will end but it’s a tragedy horror podcast and i want them to be happy so he gets to die twice)

anyway, the avatar of the web, mister manipulation and secrets extraordinaire nie huaisang is very pissed after jgy manipulated his brother into becoming an avatar of the slaughter and decides to just expose the dude

lxc kills him bc he deserves to kill jgy tbh,,, manipulative toad

nhs also restores wwx’s rep bc they were besties in uni and i refuse to accept anything else

he rocks up to the cottage/farm and is like hey guys i helped clear wwx’s name and wen qing is like hes fucking dead what help were you? and nhs is like ?? he’s not dead

so they unbury him and lwj wakes him up through the power of love and all that jazz

anyway, wwx manages to do *insert super cool thing here* and gets rid of all the fears and they get a happy ending bc i really want them to have a happy ending

do they stay living on the farm/cottage with the wens?? no but they buy a cottage nearby and happily live there together raising rabbits and growing idk pumpkins