"Dieseasel" is the 11th episode of TUGS: The New Series.
Story[]
The Zinc Mining Company on Bigg Lake have recently aquired a pair of ex-LMS 0F Kitson 0-4-0ST engines named Robert and Richard. They are indeed a shameless pair, and they are allways up to mischief. Even so, they have good intentions, and are hard workers. They take freight cars of Zinc from the mining facilities, and take them to the other side of the lake to be loaded into barges, which the Star Tugs and Z-Stacks take to the factories to be put to good use.
It was an average Tuesday morning for the Twins. They had just delivered some cars to the transfer yard, and had gone to get more. When they retured, they were suprised to find that not only the Zinc load was gone, but so were the cars! Their drivers went to the company office to call Johnathan Star. "He says that the cars where gone when Big Mac came to take the morning delivery." they said when they came back. That was when they saw a patch of oil on the rails. They inspected it closely. "That's a Diesel." they said, wiping the rails clean. "It's a whatel?" asked Robert. "A Diseasel, I think." replied Richard. "There's a notice about them in our shed." "I rember! 'Coughs and Sneazels spread Diseasels!'. said Robert. "Now, who had a cough in his smokebox yesterday?" Richard acused." "Driver cleaned it, didn't he?" retorted Robert. "Yeah, but the dust made him Sneazel! That means it's your fault the Diseasel came!" "It isn't!" argued Robert. "It is!" screamed Richard. "Break it up, you two!" laughed their drivers. "Now, let's go rescue our cars!" The twins were agast at the very though of such an idea. "But The Dieseal will magic us away, just like the cars!" they both cried at once. Their drivers chuckled. "He won't magic us! We'll more likely magic him! Listen, since he dosen't know you're twins, we'll take off your names and numbers, and then here's what we'll do..." The twins got a devious look on their faces as their drivers whispered the plan into their metaphorical ears. "Come on, let's go!" they said egarly. So the drivers took away their nameplates and painted over their numbers. Since they had idectial paintwork, they now looked exactly alike. Once they were done, they set off to put their plan in action.
Creeping into the main yard, they spoted the diesel on a siding with the missing cars, still fully-loaded. Richard hid behind some boxcars, but Robert went boldy alongside, facing the Deisel on the points out to the main line. The Diesel looked up. "Do you mind?" he asked. "Yes, I do." said Robert. "I want my cars back, please." "These are mine." said The Diesel. "Go away." Robert pretended to be frightend. "You're a big bully!" he wimpered. "You'll be sorry" He moved over the points, ran back, and hid behind the cars on the other side. Richard now came forward, forcing The Diesel to stop suddenly. "Car stealer!" he hissed. Then he ran away too, and Robert took his place. This went on and on, until The Diesel couldn't stand it any longer. "STOP!" he begged. "YOU'RE DRIVING ME INSANE!". The two engines gazed at him, side by side. "Are there...two of you?" he asked, slightly confused. "Yes! We're Twins!" the engines said. "I might have know it." he groaned.
Just then, Danny busled up. "Robert n' Richard, why are ye playin' here?" "We're not playing!" protested Richard. We're rescuing our cars!" squeaked Robert. "What in the name of Bonnie Scottland are ye Hevering 'bout?" "You never come into our yard without asking!" said Robert. "And when you do, you only take the cars we give you." "BUT!" both twins squeaked at once. "This Dieseal didn't! He just took the lot!" "Now, now, there ain't a cause to be rude. This engine's a BR Class 35 "Hymek" Bo-Bo." The twins were most impressed. "We're sorry Mr...Uh..." "Nevermind that." The Diesel smiled. "Just call me Elton. I'm sorry I din't understand about the cars." "That alright, then." said Danny. "Alright, ya wee ones, off you go. Fetch Elton's cars, then take these. I'll be havin' a blether with yo later, once I tell Mr. Jones." The twins scampered off. Danny smiled. "There ain't no real harm in the wee bairns, but they can be maddening at times." Elton chuckled. "Maddening," he said "Is the word."