Steam engines, Skullgirls, and Universes

Chapter 19: Kidnapped

Percy chuffed against his will. He couldn't see anything, and he was very scared. 

"Where are you taking me?" he asked shakily. 

"Shut it stumpy!" snapped the female voice. It was clear there would be no answers from them. Percy kept to himself, but thought of why this was happening. 

'It doesn't make sense.' Percy thought to himself. 'I don't know what I could've done to warrant this.' Percy was one to tease others for their misfortunes, play the occasional trick, but they were normally harmless. For one to go this far, to not only knock out his crew, but to blind him and take him somewhere else was something he could have never predicted. 

A thin man in a suit leaned out of Percy's cab side. 

"Hold it, we got to switch the points." he said to the big man driving. He pulled on the brakes and stopped Percy. The man hopped out of the engine and went over to the lever. He flipped it to the other side and set the points in the direction they needed. He then walked along the track to see if there were any others that need to be flipped. He soon returned. 

"All clear, we can go again." the man said. 

"Ugh, took your time little man." she groaned. 

"Well do you want to ram him into the station wall, or into some vans!" he snapped back. 

"Quit your whining, and get your ass back in, or we'll leave without you!" The thin man mouthed profanities at the women, and climbed back into the cab. Percy started off again. The points were switched onto the now abandoned Medici tracks that went to the branchline terminus. The Medici's branch ran though the hills and mountains that lay beyond the station, they made cuttings through the mountains for ease of transport. As they puffed up the line, and were switched onto another line Percy felt the rails change. They felt rusty, little bits came off as they puffed along. They went on for quite some time before stopping again. 

"Is this the place?" the thin man asked. The women looked at him with a deadpan expression. 

"Oh no, we just stopped her for a drink of the old whiskey. Of course this is the place damn idiot!" she snapped. 

"Oh go suck a railroad spike old hag!" he replied before leaping out of the cab to help with the door. 

The place was a giant warehouse, it had rails so that the cargo could be dropped off from the roads. It looked old, with rust around the edges of the doors and windows, some cracks in the windows, and rusty rails inside to match the rest of the line. The door to the inside was a slide door that needed two men on each side to open. The big man went to one side of the door, the thin on the other, then both pulled on the doors. The big guy had no problem, but the thin struggled with it, his feet scraping and slipping on the ground. 

"For trinity's sake, give scrawny a hand would you big guy?" she asked the big man. He nodded his head and walked behind the small man. He grabbed onto the door and pulled it back making the other man fall flat on his back. 

"Ha!" laughed the older women. The thin man grunted and reached for his dapper hat. He put it back on top of his head, and walked inside the warehouse to scope it out. The warehouse was all but empty say for a few empty barrels and crates covered by tarps. The big guy flipped on the lights for the building, sparks flew from some of the bulbs. A select few lights still worked, but others blew themselves out. 

"Alright, bring the metal can inside." he called out. The women moved Percy inside until Percy was close to where the line ended. she grabbed a bucket of water and doused his fire. 

"The boss will speak with ya tomorrow night, so sit tight greenie." she cackled as she got out of Percy's cab. The three then left out of the shed doors, and closed them on their way out. Percy was left with a tarp over his face, and only his own thoughts to keep him company.