Edward's POV:
He's gone missing, Thomas has gone missing. Vanished without a trace, well... he would have if someone hadn't spotted him. I think I need to explain what has been going on before I elaborate on what happened last night. My name is Edward, the number 2 engine on the North Western Railway. I live on an island off the coast of England known as The Island of Sodor. But I think you know that already, so I'll cut to the chase.
Recently, the North Western Railway has been having more cargo smuggled onto our goods trains bound for the docks. Smuggled goods are nothing new, but it seems like trucks and vans are constantly being tampered with to hold certain cargo almost every day now. We had to get more security on our goods trains, but it seems like the smugglers have been working hard to make sure these goods leave Sodor. All of this has caused one of my fellow engines, the number 12 engine Emily, to get very pensive, as if she knows something the others don't know. This smuggled goods thing all came to a head yesterday when Thomas took a goods train to Brendam. He overheard some people talking about something called "Vengestone" and a buyer. Thomas didn't say more, but it was clear something was about to happen. When we woke up this morning, Thomas's berth in the sheds was empty. At first, we assumed that he started work early, but the station master at Tidmouth said that Thomas never came. We were all confused about Thomas's whereabouts until BoCo told our newest engine, Rebecca, that he saw Thomas go down the Brendam branch, light engine last night. BoCo hasn't seen him since.
Gordon's POV:
At least we now know where he went. I think it's best that I start at the beginning. It was a nice sunny morning. Henry had gone to get ready to take the Express this morning while I was waiting to pull a local train at 2:30. I was waiting at Tidmouth Sheds with James, Percy, and Emily when we heard the blasting of Rebecca's whistle as she frantically came up right next to the sheds. She sounded exhausted. Percy asked her what the matter was, and she replied by saying that Thomas went off the island. Everyone else in the sheds went into a frenzy; James was confused, Percy's eyes were darting around, and Emily was muttering to herself, as if she knew something we didn't. I asked Rebecca where, and she said that Thomas went to "Ninblago" or something. This caught the attention of Edward, who was shunting in the yard at the time. He asked if Rebecca meant "Ninjago", Rebecca's face turned from a concerned face into one of confusion as she said yes. I then heard Emily ask where she found out about this, and Rebecca's response was that Cranky told her that he loaded Thomas onto a ship of goods headed there.
Both Edward and Emily looked worried at each other. I felt suspicious, and I wasn't the only one, as there was a long silence as everyone stared at Edward, and then I looked at Emily. I asked them if they had known something, and Edward then said, "Perhaps now we should come clean" as he glanced at Emily...
Edward's POV:
Ok, what I told them is the most convoluted thing Emily and I ever said, and Emily kept it in the dark because she thought the other engines could say it was nonsense.... But it happened to be the reason why Emily was so concerned about the smuggling... In 2018, the Stirling Single had two visions that would occasionally come back to her dreams in the months following. The first of which was a dream about what would happen to Sodor at a future date. What she remembered was the Island of Sodor in chaos, engines escaping or trying to escape something, and then it would change to a handful of engines on an island unknown to them. I tried asking her the next morning, but she denied having such dreams. But a little over a month later, she had another dream...
First Emily was in the middle of a mountain area when she saw an engine surrounded by golden steam. Rebecca asked who that engine was, and James almost immediately said "That's Lady!", I told Rebecca that I would explain Lady later, and I then continued the story. Emily asked her about the previous dream and what could cause those events to happen. Lady only blew golden steam around Emily. While the steam surrounded Emily, Lady explained that Emily's situation was similar to a ghost of Christmas Past situation, Emily was confused, but before she could ask further, the mountains were replaced with a purple void. Emily could only see two figures in the void. Percy then interrupted, saying that nothing made sense. I told him to be quiet before I continued. Emily was about to ask who she was looking at, and Lady replied, saying that maybe they should go somewhere else. Lady's steam soon sent the two engines into what looked to be a temple. From there, Emily saw purple crystals grow everywhere around her as a massive crystal in the middle emerged from what looked to be a pedestal. Lady explained that the being in the Crystal was a malevolent force known as the Overlord, and he intends to plunge the world into darkness...
Gordon then perked up, asking about the other figure. Emily explained everything else: that the other figure was a young woman with white hair who would later become the Overlord's third right hand, and that the smuggled goods were, in fact, Vengestone from an abandoned mine from hundreds of years ago. James then asked about there being three right hands. I explained that the white-haired person wasn't the only one who would become the Overlord's right hand. I was about to bring up Garmadon when James beat me to it. Emily asked how he knew, and James said that he saw it on TV while he was at Knapford Station in 2012 but thought it was just a TV show. Gordon then asked how I found out. Emily said that after the second dream, I asked her about these dreams. Emily was hesitant but realized that I was concerned about her and came clean about everything. The other four engines stood in shock. We apologized for hiding such a big secret for so long. Percy and Rebecca were quick to forgive, while Gordon and James were more hesitant but couldn't stay mad at us. I then told them to spread the word about Thomas and what Emily had seen. Emily was hesitant but agreed to spread the word, and so we left Tidmouth Sheds one by one.