#diesel hat

[aagdolla]

[bruhstation]

keeping up with the sudrians and their favorite sports, coleslaw vs potato salad. I mean world cup fifa 2022

[perpetualexistence]

PERP PLEASE PLEASE GIVE ME DIESEL BACK I WONT SAY IR DO ANYTHING BAD TO HIM PLEASE PERP I *NEED* HIM

[11oh1]

[a-ridgeback]

fr needs train apparel. fr operates on 1920s-ish tech right? that time period has two of the three main types of locos in use (steam and electric, surprisingly)!! dont even try to tell me lightning flight hasnt figured out railways!! those guys would love trains!!!!!!

[emilykat-artblog18]

Tillie’s Travels: Far From Port

(chapter 5)

.:: Missing Tug ::.

Meanwhile in Bigg City Port…

The storm had long passed in Bigg City Port but it had caused a great amount of trouble throughout the port.

Luckily all of my tugs had survived the ordeal, but there was plenty of work for them to do that day.

“The railway bridge down the canal has collapsed during the storm so Big Mac, Warrior, you two are to help with repairing it with Mighty Mo.”

“Right away Captain,” Warrior affirmed,

“Meanwhile Top Hat, you’re to report to the Railhead and help with taking away any destroyed rolling stock to Burke and Blair’s yard.”

Top Hat hooted his whistle and departed from the Star Pier,

“O.J and Sunshine, you two are to head up River to help Billy Shoepack and Little Ditcher clear any fallen trees and to see if Boomer made it through just fine afterwards you’re to go dredging in the estuary, the dump, and the quarry in case any rocks or garbage were blown into the water,”

“Yes sir!” Sunshine chirped and followed O.J to the Up River canal.

“and finally as for you Ten Cents,”

“Yes Captain Star?” Ten Cents acknowledged,

“You and Tillie are to head to the various piers in the harbor and help retrieve or take away any cargo that may have been tossed or destroyed by the storm.”

“Right then sir,” and Ten Cents headed off to the Coal Depot to reload on coal and to tell Tillie their jobs that day.

When Ten Cents arrived however, Tillie wasn’t there.

“Strange,” Ten Cents commented.

At that moment Tianna, a J50, came puffing up with a very anxious look.

“Did Tillie return to the Railhead last night?” Ten Cents puzzled,

Tianna frowned, “No, did she not end up morning at the Star dock with the rest of you tugs?”

“No, I’m afraid she didn’t,” Ten Cents faltered, “Maybe she ended up mooring off somewhere else when the storm hit.”

“Hope you find her soon!” Tianna called worryingly as Ten Cents headed to the Railhead.

At the Railhead, Ten Cents found Top Hat waiting with Frank and Eddie as Little Owl shunted cars onto the two rail barges.

“Ten Cents, have you not found Tillie yet? You two have plenty of jobs to do today,” Top Hat huffed.

“I know Top Hat, I haven’t found her yet but I was wondering, when was the last time you last saw her?” Ten Cents quizzed.

Top Hat thought for a moment, “Well, the last time I saw Tillie, she was taking her barges to the Melon Produce Warehouse. She said that it was her last delivery.

“Is that all?” Ten Cents quizzed,

“If I knew anything else I’d tell you.” Top Hat replied bluntly.

“Alright, thanks anyways.” Ten Cents sighed

Ten Cents departed from Railhead and made his way to the Melon Produce Warehouse. When he arrived, it was in quite a state: cargo had been blown off the quay and into the surrounding water, Tillie’s barges were tied in their place despite the mess however. But there wasn’t any sign of Tillie anywhere and Ten Cents was getting more worried for her.

“Where could she be?” Ten Cents pondered as he helped to retrieve any spilled cargo out of the water.

As Ten Cents finished he spotted something differently colored floating on top some splintered wood aways from him, he chugged up to it and realized it was a torn piece of a light lavender ribbon.

“That’s… That’s Tillie’s ribbon.” Ten Cents examined, looking up to the direction of where the ribbon went out in the open ocean, Ten Cents felt his boiler churn.

His crew grabbed the ribbon and in order to make haste he headed out to Dem Der rocks.

When Ten Cents arrived at Dem Der rocks, he looked around and breathed a sigh of relief that he didn’t see Tillie holed on the rocks but it didn’t make any sense to him.

If she wasn’t swept onto the rocks from the storm, where else could she have been? As Ten Cents turned back to port he heard a foghorn.

He looked where he heard it and saw it was coming from Lillie Lightship.

“Lillie?” Ten Cents uttered.

“Ten Cents!” Lillie shouted trying to get his attention.

Ten Cents’s boiler bubbled and he hurried over to Lillie; As he drew closer he noticed that she looked distressed, her mascara was running as if she had been crying the whole evening.

“Lillie! Lillie what’s the matter? Are you sinking again?” Ten Cents panted out of breath.

“No, it’s not that, Ten Cents, but something awful happened last night!” Lillie wept

“What? What happened..?” Ten Cents plead.

“It’s Tillie… she was swept out to sea by the storm.” Lillie blubbered.

The news hit Ten Cents hard like a stone.

“I saw her being taken away by the currents, I tried to radio for help but… a ferocious wave swept Tillie away into the open ocean. I couldn’t make it to her if I tried… it was too late, all I could do was listen to her cries for help… I’m very sorry” Lillie lamented on the verge of tears.

Ten Cents comforted Lillie the best he could, he felt bad for Lillie but he knew he had to tell me immediately about what happened to Tillie.

Ten Cents chugged as fast as he could back to the pier. I practically could hear him panting outside my office. I went to my megaphone and called out to him,

“What’s the rush, Ten Cents?”

“Captain, Tillie’s been swept out to sea!” Ten Cents cried in exhaustion.

“Oh dear, well… I’m afraid there’s not much we can do at the moment, Ten Cents. Hercules is away working in another port and communications with other harbors are down due to trees taking out the power lines at Control. You’ll just have to carry out your duties on your own until all these inconveniences are rectified.”

Ten Cents didn’t like the sound of this but what more could be done? As he worked he thought long and hard about the current circumstances, as he was helping to clean up a pier, O.J. paddled over to him,

“Penny for your thoughts?” he queried.

Ten Cents told him what happened to Tillie and the old paddle wheeler listened closely.

“Oh dear… and there’s nothing that can be done to get Tillie back?” O.J. added,

“Not at the moment. With communications down and Hercules not around there’s nothing anyone can do, but I can't just sit here and not do anything either. Tillie’s probably out there by herself in who knows where.” Ten Cents maintained,

“And what are you going to do then, lad?” O.J. quizzed,

“Well… this might sound crazy but, I was thinking of going out to find her on my own.” declared Ten Cents

O.J. was taken aback, “Are you sure about it lad?”

“Yes, I'm sure. If no one else can, I can at least try.” affirmed Ten Cents

“Ten Cents, while I appreciate your bravery and persistence to bring Tillie back, I don’t think it’s possible to do it on your own. How would you even know where Tillie ended up or if she even did end up anywhere at all?”

“I’ll ask Lillie where she saw her swept away, then I’ll travel to the nearest port and ask around, if she’s not there then I’ll travel to the next until I reach the last possible port,” Ten Cents explained

“and if she isn’t there...” he began again before O.J. interrupted him

“It's a bold plan Ten Cents, but you couldn’t possibly last the journey out there, not without enough coal or water.”

“Then I’ll… borrow some barges here and load up on more at the ports” Ten Cents persisted

O.J was about to interject again but Ten Cents cut him off before he could.

“Even if she’s nowhere, at least I tried. And if I run out of coal and water along the way or back, so be it, I’ll still try to find a way to press on” Ten Cents vowed

O.J didn’t know what to say, he took a deep breath and chose his last words carefully.

“Alright lad, as long as you know what you’re doing, then I wish you luck.” OJ said before heading back to work.

Ten Cents continued his work as usual but throughout the day he slowly began putting his plan into action.

Ten Cents had put the first step of his plan into action. He had to be careful the best he could as if he was caught taking barges, much like Zebedee did once during the high wind season, he’d be in big trouble. Ironically though he went to the coal depot and picked up a coal barge, as he was turning to leave he heard an engine whistling trying to get his attention.

“Hey Ten Cents, where are you off to? Have you found Tillie yet?” Tianna called with a slight panic in her voice.

Ten Cents stopped and tried to think of what to say, “Uh… no I’m afraid I haven’t,” he started, Tianna’s face fell, “The truth is she had been pulled out to sea, once communications with the other ports are back on, Captain Starr will send Hercules to go searching for her” Ten Cents reassured her.

This managed to put Tianna’s mind at ease for a moment, “Okay then Ten Cents,” Tianna said with a small smile, “But where are you going with that coal barge? I thought you were scheduled to help clean up the harbor”.

“I uh… Captain Starr wanted me to take coal to one of the factories. He said it was important,” Ten Cents fumbled.

“Alright then, well good luck with that, I hope Tillie gets found soon though,” Tianna said finally.

“So do I…” Ten Cents said as he headed to the waterworks for a water barge. Little did he know however that another tug was watching him from afar.

Ten Cents crept into the waterworks and tied onto one of the water barges near the dock. As he was about to pull away he heard a voice,

“Where do you think you’re going with that?”

Ten Cents turned towards where he heard the voice and then he froze. It was Zorran.

“Shouldn’t you be clearing the docks with that other switcher friend of yours?” Zorran snarled.

“Uh no, Captain Starr took me off that for another job.” Ten Cents quivered.

“I see, did it require you to deliver water and coal to a client?” Zorran added

“Yeah.” Ten Cents replied.

“You’re lying, No one’s been giving out orders because the telegraphs are down because of the storm last night.” Zorran snapped.

Ten Cents went pale.

“I’ll be sure to report this to your Captain. I’m sure he won’t be pleased to hear one of his tugs have committed mutiny.”

“Now wait just a minute Zorran, I-”

Ten Cents was interrupted by the sound of a horn and the humming of an engine approaching. Zorran too was silent,

“Now what’s going on here huh?” quizzed Jacob,

Jacob was a Diesel Tug built at Lucky’s Yard. He did odd jobs around the port but he had no allegiance to the Stars or the Z-stacks.

Zorran scowled, “None of your business Jacob.”

“Well I’m here, so it is my business. Unless you don’t want to have a problem, you’d clear out of here.” Jacob said bluntly.

Zorran scoffed and then he puffed slowly away.

“Thank you for that Jacob, I’ll be on my way now,” Ten Cents sighed.

“Not so fast,” Jacob said, blocking Ten Cents’ way.

“You’ve gotta tell me what's the deal with that load of yours”

“Yeah? And what if I don’t?” Ten Cents growled.

“I’ll report your thefts to the coast guard. He won’t be pleased with this, nor will Captain Starr when he finds out,” Jacob dagged.

Ten Cents gave in and told Jacob his plan. The Diesel Tug was perplexed by it all,

“There, can I go now?” Ten Cents hissed.

“Not yet.” Jacob smirked,

“I must commemorate your willingness to go out and search for your work colleague as stupid as it may be. It’s no loss if you wind up lost with her, however I’ll keep this a secret under one condition:”

Jacob paused.

“Yeah? What?” Ten Cents queried.

“You let me do all your jobs in your absence.” Jacob finished.

Ten Cents was worried. He didn’t want anyone else to know he was leaving to find Tillie. He didn’t know if he could trust Jacob but what choice did he have?

“Alright Jacob, you have my permission,” Ten Cents caved.

“Good. Leave these barges with me, I’ll meet you at Burke and Blair’s yard tonight to give them to you” Diesel instructed.

“Why there?” asked Ten Cents.

“It’s the most discreet place for you to depart from. Not to mention, you have work to finish today.” Jacob explained.

“Oh uh alright then.”

The two parted ways, as Ten Cents went to see Lillie.

“The storm swept her northward,” Lillie explained through her streaking make-up,

“I only hope she’s alright.”

“So do I,” Ten Cents said before steaming back to Port.

Ten Cents helped Sunshine dredge in the estuary for the rest of the day. He didn’t talk much during the operation, he was beginning to have doubts about his decisions; Not just to go out to look for Tillie but to give his work to Jacob to keep his plan a secret.

“Everything alright Ten Cents?” Sunshine puzzled.

“Not really,” Ten Cents sighed, “Sunshine, if you had to do a good thing at the cost of something bad would you do it?”

Sunshine pondered for a moment, “Well it depends I suppose. How beneficial would this good thing be, and what would the cost be?”

“It benefits you and our fleet personally, but it costs well… I don’t know, it's hard to explain” Ten Cents stammered.

Sunshine conceded, “So something similar to what happened a couple 4th Julys ago?”

“Well yeah,” Ten Cents admitted, “We could’ve gotten into a lot of trouble with the Navy for that maneuver”

“Indeed, but we didn’t and you know why?”

Ten Cents was about to reply but Sunshine interjected, “Because Captain Starr understood our intentions and he forgave us.”

Ten Cents added, “And you said before that that friends are valuable”

“Not sure what that’s got anything to do with this conversation but if the good thing is as important as our mates then I’d say it’s worth doing” Sunshine smiled.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Ten Cents said, “thank you Sunshine”.

“Any time Ten Cents.” Sunshine winked.

That night Ten Cents crept out of the dock and steamed towards Burke and Blair’s yard where he found Jacob.

“It's all here for ya,” Jacob called in a hushed voice,

Ten Cents mosied over to his “borrowed” barges.

“I was starting to think you weren’t going to show up. Do you know how hard it was to sneak these things here without those two demons knowing?” Jacob huffed.

“Well I’m here now and I’m going through with this” Ten Cents retorted.

“You do know you’re going to be in trouble regardless if you come back with that friend of yours right?” Jacob quizzed.

Ten Cents shot him a dirty look,

“I’m just saying,” Jacob sighed, “This friend of yours must mean a lot to you if you’re willing to do this.”

“She does,” Ten Cents admitted,

Jacob gagged “You’ve got a lot of guts, a stupid kind of guts but guts nonetheless. Good luck out there.”

Ten Cents headed out of the port; he didn't know whether or not to be thankful or slightly suspicious about Jacob but he knew he had to do one thing, find and bring home Tillie.

[End of Chapter 5]

<-Previous Chapter • Next Chapter ->

[transette]

Get you a girl who can do both

[thesopwithcamel]

The Three Hat's AU: Large vehicles

The large Vehicles in A hat in Time take many large, in my au I want to give some more technical aspects about them or even make some pretty drastic changes to the lore about them.

These concern the Owl and science expresses, The Trains in the metro, Ol' Stella and the SS literally can't sink which has been abrieviated to LCS(and by extention its younger sister the SS Absolutely Will Not Sink or AWNS).

The Owl Express:

The railway the Owl Express travels on was built in 6478 ATB by an independant railway company in the Confederation of Avian States (C.A.S), the Owl Express isn't the only train in 1HT but it is the first and only mainline transcontinental service. Its quite a surprise how it hasn't been taken over by the goverment due to how many unautharised stops are made each journey, it is also a miracle that the locomotive and rolling stock are in peak condition especially with its use in films and regular incidents.

The Owl express runs on a 1435mm railway gauge and has a consist of around 5 wagons and a caboose being pulled by an oil-burning tank locomotive capable of reahing speeds of 75mph, The wagons pulled by the owl express are around 55.5 feet high and are around 10.7 feet wide albiet the interior is quite a bit larger than the exterior.

The locomotive is an oil burning 2-6-4t which can rumble at speeds of up to 120kph and with its rather sizable boiler can generate enough power to go at these consistant speeds, the reason why an electric horn was the original steam whistle was shot off during production of the 3rd Conductors 1st movie. The current conductor has been trying to recover it ever since. It was built at around the same time the railway was finishing construction

There have been 4 conductor's since the trains construction, including our current one.

The Science express:

Basically 2HT's version of the Owl Express but unlike the Owl express was more serious and made use of many advances in experimental technology, causing the Alice in Wonderland size shennaniganry. The science owls use this train for their experiments and also for transport.

The train is ran by Gregg, Walter and Redd as well as 2HT's version of the Conductor, externally the Science and Owl expresses are almost exactly the same but internally there are many differences which make both of them stand out.

The Science Express was the development location of New Earth's KL-11, an alternate version of the Korean K11 assault rifle , which was rejected by the Metro's police force because of its cost in favour of the KL-7 (K7) Submachine gun, Caitlyn recieves the original KL-11 prototype after she stops the Shapeshifter's rampage.

The external dimensions of the Science Express are the same as those on the owl express.

The locomotive of the Science express uses an experimental steam-Diesel hybrid system, it looks like it's working to since a more conventional locomotive hasn't replaced it yet. (the system exists irl look it up).

Shapeshifter is Natalie's shadow but had been originally contained in the Science express and experimented on for most of her life, when he escaped she decided to go on a murder spree before being kicked into the firebox of the Owl express.

The Metro Trains

Run on a hollowrail system, a system created in the metro seperate of the original railways, originally these rails were served by more conventional diesel-electric Multiple Units on more conventional rails but concerns about hygene and the carbon emmissions caused a full conversion to Hollowrail which started in 6544 ATB and ended in 6611 ATB but due to them being unable to purchase specially built rolling stock and lacking the material to make their own they instead removed the engines and genetically created these giant fuckoff cats to run them.

Can average the same speeds as your average London Tube train while being similar scale to the most up to date New York Subway units, the cat's aren't very fast when pulling the trains but can hit 100Kmh if pressed and without a burden.

The Empress has some say in what funding is put into the Metro since the Nyakuza was originally created by workers running the original Diesel Electric multiple unit's who grew disatsfied but due to several anti Union laws passed at the time they had to form this group to get their opinions and points across, violently.

The Metro's technology far outstrips the rest of the planet unless you count Caitlyn's ship as part of the rest of the planet.

Sirius Model yacht MK 14 conversion 'Ol' Stella'

The above is the full designation of Caitlyn's ship, since it is the 14th conversion of the Sirius Model Yacht.

Caitlyn built this out of a decommisioned Sirius Yacht and whatever shit she had lying around on hand to weild or bolt on which included starfighter engines and a bomb bay in the engine room, turned out to be surprisingly durable which was placed on full display when a prototype starfighter colided with it and Ol' Stella casually strolled away with little to no damage.

Stella's top speed in atmosphere is mach 54 and can has a 7 second accelaration from standing still to lightspeed.

Stella is armed with several pairs of plasma cannons and can be converted into probably the scariest close air support/ground attack platform ever due to Caitlyn's insistance that cluster munitions because they aren't forbidden by any intergalactic treaties.

Due to Stella making so many long distance high speed trips the Time Piece vault was expanded and modifed to feed into the core fragment tank in order to refill it without having to stop anywhere.

The events of A hat in Time were indirectly caused by Caitlyn neglecting proper maintenace on the vault door and the window due to her being far away from anywhere and hoping to get it fixed up at the next space station, while Stella has no interior defences it has an alarm system which can often be either too effective or next to useless. She got hell for it when it was discovered and was banned from flying for a whole Terran year while Stella was retrofitted with the newest technology.

Caitlyn dislodging her friends with a broom is a courtesy not given to many, if the system hadn't activated the emergancy stop the ship would have shot into hyperspace killing all those hanging off (except the Snatcher) in pretty nasty ways.

Low flyovers are not advised.

Literally Can't Sink class (SS LCS and SS AWNS).

The SS LCS was built in 6600 and was originally christned by the Walrus Captain's hero figure, the ship was 128.3 meters long and could carry up to 470 passangers on cruises up to the arctic circle, it weighed in at 6,690 tons and featured technology donated by the Metro. Both the SS LCS and its successor can reach 19 knots in a calm sea.

Its sister ship the SS AWNS was built in 6628 and was originally going to be called the SS Hat Kid but evidence of Caitlyn being the one causing the sinking was found, fortunetally the company who ran the ship decided to cover up this actual reason because Caitlyn rescuing everyone and then saving their collective arses at Times End was enough of a repayment but even so extra security and safety measures were poured into the new ship. SS AWNS is bigger and heavier than SS LCS and has more to pack in its relatively small shell with it carrying an onboard motorboat for recovery of things like Time Pieces as well as two more lifeboats.

The name SS Hat Kid went to the most modern recovery ship built which ended up being a massive help when the calamity occured.

Both the LCS and the AWNS are used as junior crew training ships for younger crew.

The AWNS is famous for the infamous arctic flyover when a Time Piece spotted and collected by the seals as a present for the captain ended with Stella showing up and scaring the hell out of everyone.

The SS AWNS is the largest vehicle in this post while the metro trains are the smallest.

[neutrallyobsessed]

basically...

and here's the template if you wanna do the ttte version (or any other hf you may have), i havent watched enough episodes to know exactly where they would land.

to me, everyone would purchase fast food and disguise it as their own cooking lol

[riconastyfan]

[moaningwhilehighfiving]

Das date war nicht so gut and by that I mean really good aber I very much do not see this developing at all and also Luke

[platinumrest]

my diesel hat, a gift to aidan

[nyc-looks]

Juliette, 26

“My hat is from Charles Loverboy, top from Diesel, skirt from Heaven by Marc Jacobs, boots thrifted from China. It’s my first time at NYFW, so I guess just the whole NY really inspires me recently!”

Sep 12, 2023 ∙ East Village

[jungle-angel]

Two's a Blessing (Rhett Abbott x Reader)

Summary: The day has finally arrived when you and Rhett come face to face with your twin boys

Warnings: Depictions of childbirth, breastfeeding etc.

It had been a damn good night as far as Rhett was concerned. He had taken first place in the riding competition with the prize being another $15,000, just enough to put towards building your home up in Bozeman. Not only was the house falling into place, but so too was everything else. Amy and Hannah were thriving at their preschool, a place which placed a heavy emphasis on the outdoors, nature and hands-on types of crafts while you yourself taught at the grade school just up the path. The ranch too was doing well, as well as it had in recent years with the help of your father and mother-in-law running the place.

"C'mon Cody you've got this!!!" Rhett shouted to the rider in the ring.

Cody Two-Bulls hung on for dear life, just as Rhett had done earlier in the first half. Cody was an absolute MONSTER in the bull riding ring with only Rhett as his equal. Rhett grimaced when he saw the bull buck Cody off his back and the rodeo clown jumping in to steer the ornery son of a bitch away from Cody.

Rhett swore loudly when the buzzer went off and the times were put up. Cody climbed over the fence and into the rider pen a minute later, his face contorting into weird looks as he clambered to the ground.

"That bull," he loudly announced. "Is the ANGRIEST fuckin asshole I've ever seen!"

"Hey third is at least better than the bottom twenty," Rhett told him, helping him down.

"Says you," Cody chuckled. "I need the money to pay off the last truck bill and re-shingle my grandma's roof."

Rhett had been about to say something when he felt the phone in his pocket vibrating. He pulled it out and as soon as he saw your contact picture and name pop up, he answered.

"Hi sweet-pea," he greeted cheerfully.

"Hey," you greeted, sounding a little more tired than usual.

"What's goin on?" Rhett asked "You ok?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm still at the rodeo grounds," Rhett answered.

"Can you come home?"

Rhett felt a pang of fear deep in his chest. "I'll be home in thirty, what's wrong?"

"My water just broke."

Rhett went absolutely wide eyed with Cody, Kayce, Rip and the others asking him what was going on. "I'm on my way out right now," he assured you.

"Ok good because your dad swears we're getting a snowstorm tonight too," you told him.

Oh shit, he had forgotten. Already Wabang was beginning to hit the deep freeze with fall having ended the day before Halloween when Rhett had taken the girls trick-or-treating and to the Halloween party at their school.

"Alright sweet-pea," he told you. "Just sit tight till I get home, ok?"

"Ok, I love you."

Rhett bid you goodbye before hanging up the phone and booking it to the truck to get home. It was thirty full minutes on a straight road back home with only two turns back to the Abbott land, the heat blasting in his truck and the radio going to keep him distracted until he could get home. The lights on the porch were still on, a few loose flakes visible in the biting cold air as Rhett clunked up the porch steps in his heavy boots and riding gear.

As soon as he opened the door, there was Diesel, waiting to greet him along with Ruby, the little squished nose cocker spaniel who belonged to Cecelia. Rhett kicked off his boots and hung his hat on the door.

"Darlin you home?!" he called up the stairs.

"I'm upstairs!"

Up the stairs he went, shooing the two dogs back down the steps before he found you in the bathtub with a washcloth on your forehead and the strong smell of lavender in it.

"You ok (y/n)?" he asked, kneeling next to you and taking your hand.

"Yeah I'm ok," you told him. "The pain's not too bad but your mom thought it'd be a good idea to help me relax for a bit."

"So it broke?"

You nodded. "I thought I had to pee really bad and the next thing I know, it all rushed out at once."

You suddenly squeezed Rhett's hand, your face scrunching up in pain as a sharp stab in your lower belly hit you out of nowhere, running into your lower back. You let out the breath you had been holding in and the tension leaving your body as Rhett's hand relaxed with yours.

"You good?" he asked.

"Yeah," you answered. "I'm good, I'm ok."

"How far apart?"

"Um.....forty minutes?"

Rhett nodded. "Can you gimme a minute to switch outta my clothes?"

You nodded.

In a flash he was gone, but came back quick in a new pair of jeans and a dark blue-grey t-shirt, kneeling on the bathmat beside you to hold your hand. Cecelia had come back with her midwife's kit and to help you out of the bath.

"Alright sweetheart," she said as she and Rhett helped you up. "Lets get you back into bed. I'll check you in a minute."

Rhett helped you into a warm short-sleeved nightdress while Cecelia set up the bed for later. Every couple of minutes, you walked up and down the halls with Rhett, watching the snow fall outside as it came down faster and faster with the dogs occasionally sneaking upstairs for ear scritches or kisses.

Things were a little slow in coming but the back pain often said otherwise. "Good Lord, why does it have to take so long?" you half laughed. "Even Hannah wasn't this impatient."

Rhett chuckled softly as he pressed his warm lips against your cheek and his hands trailing to your large bump. You took in and let out a deep breath as Rhett's hands found their way to your lower belly, able to feel his son's little head in his palm.

"You feel him?" you mumbled as the pain began to recede.

"Ain't gonna be long darlin," Rhett assured you. "If he's that low it's gonna be quick."

You had hoped.....oh God you had hoped.

The next hour and a half was one of the most painful you had ever been through, the pains coming closer together as you lay back in your bed. It was a little awkward with your mother-in-law having to be the midwife, but you trusted Cecelia more than you trusted even the most skilled nurses.

"What?" you chuckled, noticing the smile on your mother-in-law's face as she checked you.

"Grumpy was right," she chuckled. "Not gonna be long before they're here."

It felt like forever as Rhett stayed with you, rubbing your back and your sore thighs, letting you squeeze his hand whenever the pain became too much. As it grew closer and closer, the hand squeezing became more frequent, even as he dabbed at your head with a sweat rag.

"Oh God this SUCKS!" you loudly declared when another pain flared in your belly.

"Alright sweetheart, ya'll are definitely ready to push," Cecelia concluded. "Rhett you good?"

"Good to go Ma," Rhett answered.

"Alright (y/n), go ahead and push honey."

Rhett held one of your legs and you held the other as he supported your neck, your face scrunching up and reddening at the hard push you gave. Your husband and your mother in-law kept encouraging you every step of the way, with each shallow breath and painful push. Your head and your whole body hurt like hell, the muscles in your belly tightening and relaxing with each one bringing you and Rhett closer to meeting your little boys.

"OH SON OF A BITCH!" you swore as you pushed.

"You're doin great sweetheart, we're almost done," Cecelia assured you. "Rhett, you wanna catch him? He's almost out."

Rhett nodded, his eyes wide with excitement and nervousness all at once. "You uh....?"

"I've got her, I've got her."

Cecelia took your leg as Rhett switched off with her, rolling up his sleeves and waiting to catch the baby which was only halfway out.

"C'mon sweetheart, one more," Rhett encouraged. "Gimme one more push."

At the guidance of your husband, you gave one last big push and a huge wave of relief suddenly washed over you, a long repressed whimper escaping your throat before your mother-in-law and husband cheered and those little cries filled the room.

"You did so good sweet-pea," Rhett said tearfully as he leaned in to kiss you.

"Yeah but we're not done yet," you told him through your heavy breaths.

Sure enough, you were right. Just barely minutes after the first boy was born, the pains began again and you instinctively pushed as soon as Rhett told you. Four pushes later, another little boy fell into Rhett's hands, the both of you in tears at the sound of their little cries filling up the room. Cecelia placed the older of the two onto your chest, covered in a clean white cotton towel while Rhett cut away the cord that kept him tethered to you. His twin was placed next to him before Rhett did the same, cutting away the cord before Cecelia took care of the rest.

"Sweetheart, I am so proud of you," Rhett croaked, placing a gentle kiss on your lips.

A tired smile formed on your face as you held your little boys and Rhett kissed their heads, overjoyed that now he had two sons, both born of your flesh and blood and each carrying a piece of you in them.

As soon as you had been cleaned up and everything had been taken care of, Cecelia helped prop you up just a little so you could feed your boys, each of them rooting at your breasts as your husband nested in close beside you.

You didn't even remember nodding off or sleeping for that matter, until you awoke the next morning to the heavy snow still falling outside your window and the whole of the land outside covered in white.

"Look who's awake," Royal chuckled. "You doin ok (y/n)?"

"Never better Roy," you yawned.

One of the boys began to whimper, the older of the twins, wriggling in his little blue blanket as he rested beside his brother in the crib at the foot of yours and Rhett's bed.

"Little guy's probably hungry," Rhett remarked.

"Either that or the I want Momma and Daddy cry," Royal told him.

"You wanna get him?" Rhett asked.

Royal reached in to pick up his new grandson when something stopped him, a little tag at the top which read:

"Welcome to the world Tatum Royal and Tanner James, two little angels born December 7th at 3:33 am."

You saw your father-in-law's hand suddenly move to his mouth as if to stifle a noise that never escaped. "You....did you....?"

Rhett nodded.

You could already see Royal going glass-eyed at the sight of the twins' names right before him, his hands shaking as he picked Tatum up into his arms, cradling him as he had once done when Rhett was first born.

"Son I......"

"Dad you don't have to say anything," Rhett told him. "I know these kids have the best grandpa in the world.....and they're gonna know that each and every day."

Royal, still biting his lip, trying to hold back the emotions inside, handed Tatum off to you so he could feed. It wasn't long before Tanner had begun to cry too, Rhett carefully picking him up and cradling his tiny form against his broad chest, all snug in his little Irish knit blanket.

Cecelia had let the girls in as soon as they had woken up, both of them excited as ever to meet their little brothers. You and Rhett looked around at the sight before you, the both of you grateful that you were surrounded by your family and that you had been blessed with two new lives and all you had gained with them.

[sowritten]

𝐁𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍

cursing, violence, all that good shit. feel free to adjust as you please!

you never know what horrible fate your bad luck has saved you from

thank you for taking the job on such short notice.

you are getting the new and improved me.

you put peace out in the world, you get peace back.

you don't have bad luck.

it's good luck. it's all in how you frame it.

you picked me second?

you have the strangest requests.

hey, this is nice!

it's like I got a compulsion or something.

I have to take it if I see it.

a goldfish biscuit? I mean, I don't understand it.

why didn't you tell me to bring that gun?

you're bleeding, mate.

oh shit, who the fuck did I kill?

I don't bleed.

what the fuck is wrong with you?

they're adaptable, like me.

no one likes lemons.

what's the catch? there's always a catch.

oh well, look at this! sleeping beauty!

technically, we're outside contractors.

you ever watch thomas the tank engine?

I always bring my stickers with me, you know that.

I wanna fucking strangle you right now.

why do you always bring swords?

that wasn't our fault.

you sound nervous.

you're overthinking it.

you're under-thinking it.

my job is to keep you safe.

I plan on completing my job.

the case, go get me the fucking case.

he doesn't need a reason to kill people like you; he needs a reason not to.

that's fucking confusing.

you came here to kill me.

you're going to want to hear the whole story, or you'll be very, very sorry.

three words describe our situation right now; do you know what they are?

family's more important than money, right?

let me put this bluntly: there's this soulless psychotic leader with the largest criminal organization on the planet shoved right inside our fucking ass cheeks.

if you mention that one more time I'm going to shoot you in the fucking face.

he asked for pros who wouldn't fuck up.

what do you want?

I'm not in someone else's story, you're all in mine.

deny it all you want, but you work for someone who works for someone else, et cetera et cetera.

I don't know what you think I can do for you.

you're going to kill him for me.

you look so tense.

that sounds dark as shit.

nut up or shut up, bro.

right, so: slight change of plans.

you stabbed me?!

I came here for revenge.

can we just take a time-out here?

I will ruin your life the way you ruined mine.

you are fuckin' excused.

it sounds so easy when you say it.

I'm really good with faces.

we have to have a hard discussion about the caliber of people we're surrounding ourselves with.

why are we whispering?

this rude enough for you, you fucking prick?

shove that hat up your asshole, you hear me?

there's a gun underneath this table pointed right at you.

I' can't really hear what you're saying.

I'm just fucking with you, mate.

who the fuck are you?

you look like every white homeless man I've ever seen.

you shot me. you shot me twice.

I shoot a lot of people.

you also have a shootable face.

I've forgiven, I've moved on.

I've always been lucky.

every day is a fucking headache with you, innit?

what's your plan here?

I'd like to accept your offer.

simple is better.

I ain't got the time or the patience, let alone the interest.

are you following me?

eat a bag of dicks!

I'm not a diesel, you're a diesel.

jesus christ, you had a bit of a bosh.

would you describe me as someone who lives in perpetual anxiety?

wanna make an easy two hundred bucks?

is this like, a sex thing?

all right, game's up.

the innocent young girl act really doesn't get you very far if you're holding a gun.

I wanted to handle it myself.

you can't control what fate has in store for us.

we're not finished.

this is a complete waste of my time.

unlike you, I'm a professional.

get the fuck off my back, will ya?

we need to deal with that twat right fucking now.

be careful, something else is going on here.

I'm never wrong.

you shoot first, come up with the answers later.

you be careful.

we need boundaries.

I knew my luck would rub off on you.

if the gun doesn't kill him, the case will.

I brought you here to fail.

it's a stupid plan.

it's a brilliant plan.

whatever deal was made, it wasn't done with the normal channels.

there's something else going on here.

did you just say whack?

you're really proud of yourself, aren't you?

you sure you don't want to talk this out?

for what it's worth, you seem like a right fucking asshole and I'm glad you're going to fucking die with me.

why did you even bother trying?

I don't think they were in the market for fucking dildos and pantyhose.

I'll do what you want.

you don't know anything about life or how hard it is.

I haven't seen anything like that, I think I'd remember.

I still need a fall guy.

you got a better idea, do you?

I'm finding it very hard to follow this story.

I'm sorry, I get captivated by white girl tears.

I'm really good at reading people and something tells me that you are just not fucking right.

am I dreaming?

I don't know how to shoot a gun.

you are really good, you sure you didn't study?

how do you do that? it's really unbelievable!

I'm glad you enjoyed the performance.

take that, punk!

you bitch!

you gotta be better prepared!

I'm mansplaining again.

you don't seem like a religious person.

you want me to hold your hand?

are you lying on the ground in the fetal position?

how do you always know what I'm doing?

get off your fucking lazy ass and come here and finish the job yourself.

I want to look into your eyes when I kill you.

I'm so happy to see you.

please help me!

I'm sorry darling, I don't know who the fuck you are.

a pretty girl makes a good hostage.

keep your fucking knickers on.

there's been a diesel causing all sorts of fucking havoc.

it was you the whole fucking time!

what the fuck are you doing?

he said he was going to kill you and blame everything on you.

no one's going to hurt you.

we've got to go, right now!

I don't want to be alone, please!

it's not your fault.

you've got your whole life ahead of you.

make sure you do something that brings you peace.

you're not going to let me get hurt? be honest.

you're creeping me out.

I have survived much more and much worse than you.

I'll fucking kill him myself!

her intentions with you were not honorable.

a blind man could see you were the one in the dark.

I did not need to do anything; fate will do what it wills.

fate for me is just another word for bad luck.

I returned home and found nothing except ash and blood.

he had taken everything from me.

I went into hiding and I looked for a way to strike him out without endangering what I had left.

I did not think fate would ever give me the chance to make things right.

everything that's ever happened to you has lead you here.

that's a shit deal.

am I in hell?

where the fuck is my brother?

I'll shoot you in the fucking throat next time!

I'm fast to kick your ass, I swear to god!

we prepare together or we die alone.

if fate wills, I will get my revenge.

I'll get is the fuck out of here.

what are you going to do?

I'm going to buy us some time.

I came to see you and to make you finally see me.

I built myself up from the nothing you gave me.

I was the one who deserved your attention. your love.

you have never been part of my plan.

I got a bad feeling about this.

why does it always gotta be us to do this shit?

why do you do what you do?

nothing in life is an accident.

I will always come for you.

if you do not control your fate, it will control you.

why are you here?

I do not know why you are here, but move out of my way.

I'm sorry I shot you twice.

you are not ruled by strength, you are ruled by fear.

just let it go, bro!

what is with this fucked-up family?

you need some suggested reading, if I may.

was that karma?

did you come to rescue me?

did you need rescuing?

what's happening to your face? are you crying?

do you think maybe there was a little head trauma?

I think you were right about one thing.

maybe you've learned something after all.

take a fucking bow!

[steam-beasts]

The Chaos Continues

Sir Topham Hatt stared silently at the sight of what he was mostly sure were his engines, hugging eachother for comfort in their strange new bodies.

Bertram had went through many things during his time as controller; nearly losing the No.1 of his railway not once, not twice, but five times. Finding out some of his diesel engines were holding some of his steam engines hostage, getting his office blown up thanks to a former Navy man, witnessing his very expensive top link express engine nearly have a boiler explosion, having to go hunt his tank engine that was kidnapped by a rally car, dealing with one of his engines having a meltdown over the changes. The last and most stressful thing he went through was being forced to watch his poor engines practically mutate into beastly creatures and abandon them for nearly two years.

Now, it was this.

You know what? He needed to sit down. Sir Topham Hatt groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose as he simply made his way back to his office, he didn't want to deal with this right now. As soon as he got there, he didn't even bother with shutting the door and sat down at his desk "...oh dear, oh dear...why do things like these keep happening..?" He groaned, rubbing his temple. Sometimes he wished he could've done more to prevent any of this from happening, but then again, how could he have known this would happen?

Before he could try to think of anything else, the stationmaster suddenly ran into his office, looking quite stressed out "Sir! There's trouble in the sheds!"

Sir Topham Hatt's eyes widened and his throat felt dry, he almost dreaded to ask, but he tried to keep his composure as he stood up "What's happening?"

The stationmaster looked very hesitant "Emily, Edward, Henry and Gordon. Th-They...well...erm" Topham walked up to him, stern but anxious. The stationmaster yelped as the stout gentleman pulled him down to eye level "My engines have what?! Spit it out, lad!"

"I believe it would be better if you saw for yourself, Sir"

________________

Down at Tidmouth, each the engines' crews were standing outside their respective engine's berth, muttering anxiously to one other. They could hear their engines letting out distressed whistles from inside, but wanted Sir Topham Hatt to see to it. Edward's oldest crew, Charlie Sand Jr and Sidney Heaver Jr noticed Thomas's new crew, Mr Conductor and Junior coming out from around the corner.

"Ah, Mr C!" Charlie exclaimed, jogging over to the pixie man "Charlie, is something wrong?" Mr Conductor asked, quickly noticing the worry."Well...yes, actually. You see, um... we're in a bit of a–"

"Oh! Are ye's on strike? I dinnae think Hattie would be too happy aboot that!" Junior interrupted cheekily, earning a small glare from Mr Conductor. Charlie rolled his eyes "No, we're waiting for Sir, actually. Because..." He then glanced at the sheds "...well, something has happened to our engines" he admitted.

"What's going on with Edward?" The conductor asked. Sidney then spoke up "It's not just Edward. Something happened to Gordon and Henry as well, and Emily too" Junior quickly frowned, now realising the matter was probably serious "They... they cannae be gaun feral again, can they? Ah thought we sorted that oot?". Charlie shook his head "No, they're mentally ok. Physically?...I'd rather not say until Sir Topham Hatt's arrived"

Mr Conductor winced and gazed over at the shut doors of Edward's berth, a sinking feeling in his stomach. Conveniently, they saw Sir Topham Hatt driving up to the sheds in his car. As soon as he parked, he came jogging out, trying to keep his hat on his head. As soon as he reached the ground of men and women before him, he took a deep breath, carefully looking at their expressions to assume the severity of the situation before speaking "Alright. What's all the fuss?"

Charlie Sand carefully approached the fat controller and guided him to Gordon's berth doors, opening the door by a few cracks "They're in here, Sir" he said quietly, worry evident on his face. Sir Topham Hatt nodded gravely and stepped inside.

He felt his heart sink to his stomach and skip a beat as soon as he saw them. Edward, Henry and Gordon had went through the same fate as Percy and the others. They were pressed up against the back wall, huddled close to each other. They stared down at Sir Topham Hatt, fear evident in their eyes.

"...Sir?" Edward whispered, the first one to say anything. Edward was quite a skinny looking creature, but he was a little bit top-heavy and quite muscular, as well as fit looking for his age, so were the other two. Though, Gordon and Henry were both on the heavier side.

"Sir...please, I-I don't know what happened to us. We were normal for one minute and the next...this" Edward explained, understandably shaken. Sir Topham put his hand up to silence him, and so he did.

"I'm not mad, Edward. Not at any of you..." he began, masking his own worry "I understand that this was out of your control, but we'll just have to make do for now. Now, where's Emily?"

Henry whimpered and pointed "She's over there, Sir..."

Topham looked over to where Henry pointed. Indeed, Emily was there, and naked. She was basically a giant naked lady. Sir Topham Hatt quickly and for Emily's sake, looked away as soon as he caught a glimpse of her body, coughing with embarrassment "Ahem! Erm...hello, Emily" he coughed.

"Oh, hello, Sir!"

Sir Topham Hatt knew this was gonna be a long week...

To be continued...