The Great Aquarium Heist

By User:Miipack603

**The Great Aquarium Heist** is the eighth Thomas and Friends CGI special, taking place shortly after the events of SLOTLT. It is purely fan fiction and should not be taken as a replacement for any existing specials, but more of an addition to the storyline.

*Note:* This is the abridged version of my story.  If you wish to read the full version (complete with full character interactions/references), click here (Coming Soon)

## Summary

All the engines on the North Western Railway are working hard in light of recent events.  Sir Topham Hat has plans to build a brand new aquarium to draw more tourists to the railway during the summer months.  While working at Brendam Docks one day, Sir Topham Hat has Thomas accompany Edward up to the construction site
to assist with the workload.  Thomas is ecstatic all the way up, and his excitement grows even more when he realizes that his friends Mike, Bert, and Rex from the miniature railway will be assisting in the preparations. He also meets Jock, the Small Railway engines' old friend, and a pink miniature engine named Eileen, who was brought on to bring passengers back, forth, and within the aquarium.

As the day winds down, Thomas takes some extra supplies and equipment to the Arlesburgh Aquarium Wharf, where he meets up with Oliver and the Small Railway engines.  He drops off his cars and chats for a while before heading home to tell his friends all about his first day at the aquarium.  The next day, Thomas returns to the site to discover that the cars he brought to the wharf have gone missing; he asks around about their whereabouts, but no one knows what happened.

Meanwhile, Skiff the railboat glides along the rails until he is lured into an old warehouse by the nefarious Sailor John, who escaped prison to exact his revenge on the railway.  After trying and failing to coerce his old friend into joining him, Sailor John abandons Skiff and leaves him with an ominous warning.  That night, Thomas departs from the aquarium and tells the engines that the sea animals will be arriving the very next day.  As they talk, Diesel rattles past and claims to be strong enough to pull all the animals at once; after some back and forth banter, he fumes away, a plan already forming in his mind.

The next day, Diesel takes Paxton and Norman to the Aquarium Wharf to take the animals for themselves; they bring load after load of sea creatures to the aquarium, drawing some suspicious eyes along the way.  Meanwhile, Thomas, Percy, and Edward arrive at the wharf to discover that the diesel took their job; they rush after the diesels, who are travelling too fast to be controlled.  After taking a shortcut to the aquarium site, they come up with a plan to derail the diesels to stop them before they damage any of the buildings and tanks.  Their plan succeeds with minimal damage done to the aquarium cars, but the diesels are less than pleased.  That night, however, they receive a second chance at getting back at the steam engines in the form of Sailor John’s ambitious plot.

The diesels begin their plan the next night, using the stolen flatbeds of aquarium equipment to steal the rarest animals from the aquarium and hide them away to be shipped out at a later date.  When Thomas learns about the robbery and tells his friends, Edward decides to get some answers from the diesels themselves.  He arrives at the Dieselworks to coax the truth out of the diesels, but they remain steadfast and resilient.  After a few days with no more new information about the incident, everyone can only speculate with regard to the culprit behind it.  As Thomas departs from the Aquarium Wharf, however, Skiff calls him aside and reveals the diesels’ actions and Sailor John’s involvement; after further investigation, Thomas also discovers that the diesels plan to move the animals out at night!

When he returns to Tidmoth Sheds and tells the other engines about Skiff’s warning, they come up with a plan to stop the diesels in their tracks.  That night, as the diesels pass by the sheds, a select few engines depart and discretely follow them to the location of the aquarium cars.  When they arrive at the siding, Thomas, Percy, and Edward charge forward and knock ‘Arry and Bert right off the rails.  Seeing that their plan is going up in smoke, Diesel 10 orders Sidney to go on, only to be derailed by Gordon and Emily, who waited just outside the siding.  Fuious, he and Diesel continue onward with their cars and meet up with Norman, Den, and Dart as they make their way to the Aquarium Wharf, with Thomas, Percy, and Edward trailing far behind them.

When the trio finally arrives at the wharf, the Diesels have already prepared a
barge to sail away and defiantly stand in the Steamies’ way.  After a brief falling out with Sailor John,
the steam engines seem to be cornered until Mike and Rex appear pushing a line
of cars, blocking the diesels’ advance; at the same time, James appears with more steam engines to help the others fight off the Diesels.  With the added support, the Steamies manage to hold off Sailor John and the diesels for a little while longer, but not before cutting the loaded barge loose and losing some fish in the process.  As the others keep the rest of the diesels at bay, Thomas and Percy confront Diesel 10 on the pier and begin pushing against him, despite his immense strength holding them back.

Seeing their friends in trouble, the other steamies charge onto the pier to assist with pushing Diesel 10 back.  They succeed and manage to topple one of the loading cranes over onto the barge, preventing it from sailing all together.  They also end up pushing Diesel 10 right off the tracks and over the edge of the pier; he grabs Thomas’ buffer beam for support, but the strength of
the engines pulling back causes his claw arm to break as he splashes into the water.  The next morning, Sailor John is caught and Sir Topham Hat forces the diesels to clean the mess they made at the wharf while the steam engines work on returning the animals to the aquarium.

A few weeks later, construction at the aquarium has finished and Thomas, Percy, and Edward are selected to pull a special train of passengers to the grand opening ceremony.  When they arrive, nearly every engine on Sodor is present to welcome the first visitors to the aquarium.  Before officially opening the aquarium, Sir Topham Hat congratulates his engines for their efforts in saving the aquarium from what could have been a major disaster.  As everyone enjoys the events and attractions the aquarium has to offer, the engines of the hour – Thomas, Percy, and Edward – share a moment of peace as they remind themselves that friendship will always prevail over evil.

## Characters

* Thomas
* Percy
* Edward
* James
* Gordon
* Henry
* Emily
* Porter
* Mike
* Rex
* Bert
* Jock
* Oliver
* Ryan
* Diesel 10
* Diesel
* Salty
* Daisy
* Den
* Dart
* Paxton
* Norman
* Iron 'Arry
* Iron Bert
* Sidney
* Frank
* Skiff
* Toad
* Cranky
* Sir Topham Hat
* Sailor John
* Sailor John's Henchmen (*new*)
* Wharf Workmen (*new*)
* Aquarium Employees (*new*)
* Wharf Manager (*new*)
* School children
* Jenny Packard
* Duck (*cameo*)
* Toby (*cameo*)
* Rosie (*cameo*)
* Marion (*cameo*)
* Bill (*cameo*)
* Ben (*cameo*)
* Rosie (*cameo*)
* Stanley (*cameo*)
* Charlie (*cameo*)
* Mavis (*cameo*)
* Bertie (*cameo*)
* Sodor Construction Company (*cameo; do not speak*)
* Mayor of Sodor (*cameo*)
* Dowager Hatt (*cameo*)
* Fergus Duncan (*mentioned*)
* Sailor John's Friend (*mentioned*)

## Locations

* Island of Sodor
* Brendam Docks
* Sodor Aquarium (*new*)
* Arlesburgh Aquarium Wharf (*new*)
* Arlesburgh
* Arlesburgh Harbor
* Tidmoth Sheds
* Gordon's Hill
* Arlesburgh Goods Yard
* Vicarstown Dieselworks
* Knapford Station
* Harwick (*mentioned*)
* The Mainland (*mentioned*)

## Trivia

* Several references to Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure are made throughout the special. There are also callbacks to previous episodes and specials, including "Kevin's Cranky Friend," "The Adventure Begins," "The World's Strongest Engine," "Emily and the Special Coaches," and "Day of the Diesels"
* This marks the first official appearance of the Sodor Aquarium in the series.