The Mystery Begins

The Mystery Begins is the forty-fourth episode of Sodor High School: Thomas and Friends Tales.
==Synopsis==
As Thomas comes to terms with how he feels about Emily, they wind up trying to uncover another mystery. 
==Plot==
Now alone in the kitchen, Emily asks Thomas to be open with her and if he was jealous of her going out with Leo. Thomas admits it and when asked if he likes Emily (and nothing interrupts them this time), he confesses that he does but isn't sure he's ready for a relationship. With that, Emily accepts his response and says they can slowly work things out over time. After talking about her date, the two teens head to bed, Emily worrying about Diesel 10 possibly harming Thomas, who is convinced that once Emily returns home, he will never see her again.
As the days went by, the weather changes from sunny and warm to cloudy and quite cold, a sign that autumn was coming in fast. At school, Bill and Ben tease the new Junior High students Mike, Rex, and Bert, by trying to frighten them. The first two boys aren't fazed, thinking the twins are getting an early start on Halloween scaring when the holiday isn't for a few more weeks. Bert is scared since he's heard of past incidents about damage to the school and harm befalling students until Thomas explains what happened with Diesel 10 to them (while omitting the part where Diesel 10 is still on the loose so as to not scare the boys.) Thomas tells off Bill and Ben for their pranks and shoos them off, which they do while saying to beware of monsters during storms. Emily tells the boys not to believe them but while Mike and Rex listen to her, Bert's fear makes him skeptical.
Just then, a scream and laughter is heard and everyone finds a boy with dark blue hair covered in what appears to be glue. The boy introduces himself as Timothy, a boy who moved to the Mainland only to move back as his parents didn't enjoy their work there (and he didn't enjoy putting up with Spencer at the mainland high school) and had been a regular victim of Bill and Ben's pranks even before then. Timothy walks away but stops and warns everyone to be careful since he remembers how dangerous Sodor storms can be. Thomas responds that it's not like there's a hidden danger waiting to reveal itself, and Emily groans about her crush tempting fate like that.
After classes end for the day, Thomas and Emily head to Brendam to meet up with their three old friends Dash, Bash and Ferdinand. Not long after their arrival, they meet the trio standing beside a log-carrying lorry. Greeting one another after such a long time, they learn that they've been so busy with orders for their wood, they had to hire some youngsters from Brazil who had been looking for work. Dash and Bash soon move to question if Thomas and Emily are dating or still just friends; when Thomas gets nervous, Emily tells them they're figuring things out and will need time before giving an answer. As the brothers complain, Ferdinand reveals they've been betting on what their relationship status is. Before they can talk more, Ferdinand has to go make a delivery to the china clay pits where Bill & Ben and Tmothy's parents work. Emily asks if the duo could go but Ferdinand's truck only has room for two people, so Thomas volunteers to stay behind with Dadh and Badh since Emily wants to see what's beyond Brendam (and because he doesn't want to meet Bill and Ben again after what they did to Timothy earlier.) Emily leaves with Ferdinand with Thomas wishing for her to stay safe.
The drive to the clay pits goes smoothly but Ferdinand and Emily notice dark rain clouds coming in, so they'll need to be careful when they leave. They reach the main office where a woman named Marion, who is the manager, was waiting for them. She compliments Ferdinand for being on time and he introduces her to Emily, who explains how they met as Ferdinand and some workers unload the Jobi wood from the truck. 
Once they're done, Emily and Ferdinand leave but by now, it's started raining. The rain quickly becomes heavier and it becomes difficult for Ferdinand to drive as Emily grows scared from the rock-face of the cliffs have become weak due to the soil getting very wet and resulting in rocks beginning to fall. Ferdinand swerves to avoid them, but one hits Emily's door and to her shock, it seems to have a footprint imprinted in it. Soon the rock-face comes down fast but rather than being crushed, the truck is bump-drafted by another lorry and they evade the rockslide, which blocks off the roadway into the clay pits. Emily and Ferdinand discover that their saviors are Bill, Ben, their father Wilbert, and a worker named Ted. As everyone gets their bearings, Emily tries to go back and find the rock but is stopped by Ted since another rockslide could happen. As such, Emily leaves with Ferdinand wondering where the footprint (if it was even real) came from.
At the docks, they met up with Thomas, Bash and Dash. They had waited patiently, but they did look worried, "why are you guys looking at us like that?" Emily asked.
"We heard there was an avalance in the pits," said Bash.
"And we were worried you guys had..." but Dash couldn't finish as small tears appeared in his eyes.
Ferdinand walked up to the twins and hugged them, "don't you worry chaps, takes more than an avalanche to keep me down. Besides, God was looking out for us, through the wonderful duo of Wilbert and Ted. They could be Reverands if they weren't working in the clay pits. Now enough of this chit-chat, let's go get something to eat and enjoy an afternoon with our friends."
As the group started walking away, Emily spoke with Thomas, "I saw something in the pits."
"What sort of something?" Thomas asked.
"Well, it's kind of hard to tell really, but when Ferdinand was struggling to get the lorry out of the pits, I saw a rock land near us. It appeared to have a footprint on it."
"A footprint, to what excatly?"
"I don't know, I didn't really get a good look at it, but it was big."
"Like one of the animals at the animal zoo?"
Emily shook her head, "no, from what I did see, it looked bigger than any of those animals."
Bash and Dash overheard them, "maybe those footprints are from monsters," said Bash. "Probably from the days of Kings and Queens, and knights, you never know."
"Or maybe," added Dash, "it's a modern monster, lurking around in the pits, waiting to strike."
"Alright boys, that's enough!" called Ferdinand. "There are no such things as monsters. You probably saw something that looked like a footprint Emily, it was storming over there. Lightning's known for playing tricks on the mind."
"I guess you're right Ferdinand, but still..."
The image of that print continued to play on Emily's mind, and as a result, she didn't really say much that night. Thomas ended up speaking for the both of them.
As the group spoke, a man stepped off of a boat. He looked around and groaned, "yep, not where I was suppose to go. Welp, I might as well explore, then see if I can find a way home."
The next morning, long before the sun rose for a new day, Percy was out and about delivering mail to many of the houses in Ffarquhar. It could be tiring to get up early in the morning, but Percy didn't mind. He loved delivering mail and meeting his friends in the town. One of his stops was at Thomas' house. Only one person was up, and that was Emily.
"Good morning Emily. Are you okay? You look tired."
Emily let out a big yawn, "I didn't sleep well last night Percy, I was up most of the night, thinking about something I saw yesterday," and she told him about the footprint. "Bash and Dash said it might belong to a monster, but I'm not really sure."
"Monster? As in, big scary, possibly with big teeth kind of monster?"
Emily yawned again, "I don't know Percy. I need to have a good look at the print again, but they won't let me back in until the rockslide's been cleared away. Thanks for the mail though, keep up the good work."
Percy watched as Emily turned and went back into the house. He peddled away on his bicycle, but after talking with Emily, he wasn't enjoying his run. Everywhere he looked, objects looked like scary monsters. Hay stacks looked like heads, sheets on the line looked like ghosts and pets looked like wild dangerous animals. Percy wanted nothing more than to finish his job and get home as quickly as possible.
A few hours later, he was at Sodor High School along with his friends. But even here, he felt a little uneasy. So uneasy that he wasn't paying to his surrondings. Bill and Ben had snuck up behind him and shouted 'BOO', making Percy jump and yell.
"Oh what's the matter Percy? Scared of a couple of twins?" Bill asked cheekily.
"Build a back bone Percy, and be like us," Ben boasted. "We're never scared."
"Oh really?" snapped a voice, which made the twins jump. They turned and saw Rosie staring firmly at them, "says the duo with one twin who got into trouble during a field trip and cried out for help, with a scared tone in his voice I might add."
Bill and Ben chuckled nervously, then dashed off without another word.
"Sorry about them Percy, they're always like that."
"Yeah...I, I knew that," he said with a shaky tone in his own voice.
Rosie noticed the nervousness, "you alright Percy? Bill and Ben didn't really scare you that badly did they?" Percy shook his head, "then why are you shaking nervously?"
"It's just...oh never mind, it's nothing really," he fibbed and walked away.
Rosie raised an eyebrow. She was even surprised when Percy passed Stanley without saying a word, "what was that all about?" he asked.
All Rosie could do was shrug her shoulders.
Percy continued on down the hallway towards the stairway leading to his classroom. As he did so, James came walking up, "hullo Percy, what's up with you today?"
"Nothing's wrong with me, now drop it!" Percy snapped.
James was taken aback by this. Percy realised what he did, "sorry James, I'm just on edge right now. Emily said she saw something big at the china clay pits yesterday."
"Wait, why was she at the China Clay Pits?"
"She was going with Ferdinand to do a delivery for them. Anyways, on the way, she spotted a giant footprint."
James burst into laughter, "a footprint? That's what gotten you so nervous? Seriously Percy? You need to be tough and brave like me. I mean, if people find out you're scared of a footprint, then you'll become a laughing stock, not that you aren't one right now." And he continued laughing.
"I think if you want to find the laughing stock, you should look in the mirror James."
James stopped laughing and stared firmly at Percy. Percy sighed and continued, "It's not the print I'm scared of, it's what it could belong to. For all I know, it could be the footprint of a monster."
"A monster? No, it can't be. Monsters aren't real."
"You never know James, you never know," and Percy set off, leaving James standing still in the hallway.
==Characters==
* Thomas 
* Emily 
* Percy 
* Rosie
* James 
* Bill and Ben
* Bash and Dash
* Ferdinand 
* Stanley 
* Mike (debut)
* Rex (debut)
* Bert (debut)
* Timothy (debut)
* Marion (debut)
* Leo (mentioned)
* Spencer (mentioned)
* Diesel 10 (mentioned)
==Trivia==
* This is the first of a three-part episode based on the special "Tale of the Brave".
*Thomas and Emily finally reveal their feelings towards one another, but decide to wait before becoming a couple because Thomas is still unsure about the whole thing.
** Apparently, Dash and Bash have been betting on when the two would hook up.
* Rosie mentions the events of "Retracing Your Steps".
* The title is based on the made-for-TV Scooby Doo 2009 movie of the same name.
* The two youngsters from Brazil that Ferdinand mentions hiring to work for him allude to Marcia and Marcio, the "Big World Big Adventures" characters who were wood-burning engines.
* Emily leans on the fourth wall a bit when she says it felt like Dash, Bash, and Ferdinand were "written out of the story" after not seeing them for a long time. This doubles as a nod to their television counterparts being written out of the series after Season 16.
Category:Sodor High School
Category:Thomas and Friends
Category:Episodes
Category:Fan Fiction