The elevator rolled into position on the upper floor, and several adults got out and walked forward.

"Interesting choice of building," Argyle said. "But then again it fits our needs quite nicely. The view of Lake Michigan is very good!"

"Which is precisely why I suggested it," Lady Haven replied. "I went up this when I last visited Chicago as my tour guide told me it gave a much better view of the lake and surrounding skyline. Much better than the Sears Tower, anyway."

"I thought it was the Willis Tower now," Argyle said, scratching his head in surprise. "Or maybe jumping time zones so rapidly has done a number on me."

"People around here pronounce Willis as Sears, or so I'm informed," Goldie said. "Not too different to some of the bars or high level restaurants I've been invited to after business has concluded."

"Did you do that often?" Lord Haven asked.

"You'd be amazed at how many European business trips seem to end up in fancy meals and opera," Goldie yawned. "Berlin was going to be a highlight, but the revolving restaurant at the top of the TV Tower stopped working years ago, and they haven't bothered to fix it."

"Perhaps we could give it a look!" Argyle said. "Given we seem to have fixed a lot of things over the years."

"Focus," Lady Haven said. "See the searchlights swinging across the harbour?"

The assembled adults looked down, and sure enough they could see numerous dots of light floating about on the water.

"That's quite the sight," Argyle said. "Now to see if these radios are working." He picked one up and turned a dial. "Sunny, you there?"

"Hey dad. How are things up there?"

"Sightlines are good. I'll keep you posted on anything that happens that I can see."

"Understood. I'll fill in the others if we find anything."

Argyle put the radio down. "So far, so good," he said.

Suddenly, somebody walked past. "Time travellers!" he said, referring to Lady Haven. "Somebody from the past has travelled forwards to our time! Are you finding modern conveniences fine?"

Lady Haven shook her head as he walked away. "I get this quite a lot," she said. "When in crinoline I sometimes get asked if I'm having a Scarlett O'Hara moment. But you learn to ignore it after a while."

"Why are you dressed as an Edwardian aristocrat?" Goldie asked.

"I was at the Green Door Tavern earlier today and I'm rather too old to portray a flapper," Lady Haven replied. "And I haven't had a chance to get cha-"

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion, and a person cursed. "That went all over my suit!"

Argyle looked over to suddenly see something bizarre; the drinks that patrons of the bar were holding were exploding in their hands and showering them in alcohol. "That's not normal."

"You can say that again," Goldie said.

"That's not nor-"

"Haven't we done that joke to death?"

Suddenly, another loud horn blast echoed across the harbour.

Grampus was operating at the bottom of the lake as he steamed along. Well, not steamed in the literal sense as he was diesel powered, but steamed in the colloquial sense of the term. As he rattled along he could see lots of ships moving about on the surface.

"At least radios are still working," he said. "Unfortunately, the SONAR is kaput so I'll have to navigate on the surface."

He quickly surfaced to take a look around, and sure enough saw not very much. The light of the moon was barely enough to illuminate the lake, and as such lots of indistinct black shapes were moving about, combined with puffing sounds and the odd horn blast every now and then.

Grampus quickly dived underwater as he resumed his search. "Hope my batteries don't go flat," he said to himself as he continued on his way. His propellers continued to churn up the water as he continued his search along the bottom of the lake.

Suddenly, a series of explosions sounded overhead, and Grampus stayed lower to avoid them. "What the? Are they dropping depth charges or something?"

It soon dawned on him that nobody was dropping depth charges- the explosions were entirely on the surface, and presumably directed from one ship to another.

He switched to his radio. "A battle seems to have broken out on the surface," he warned. "Stay clear of the area around Lucky's Yard."

"Thanks for the warning, Grampus!" Sunshine radioed. "I'll be sure to spread the word!"

"Roger, wilco."

"My name isn't Roger."

"Come to think of it, I don't know anybody called Roger," Big Mac suddenly chimed in.

"Let's keep this channel clear for important information!" said OJ.

Grampus adjusted his rudder and got on his way, moving under some other shipping and slowly navigating his way through the waters of the underwater landscape. The bottom of the lake was a dark and foreboding place, and without his SONAR it was very slow going, as he couldn't afford to bump into things or knock objects over. There could even be sea monsters down here, for all he knew.

He fired up his searchlight for ease of vision, but that did little good as the light kept distorting underwater.

Just then, Grampus heard something, and switched off his engines to listen.

Sure enough, another submarine suddenly passed to one side of him. Grampus adjusted his light to hide his location, then glanced back to see what was passing.

A small submarine, which appeared to be a model designed for one person to use, slowly steamed past and onwards into the deep.

"Well, that's new." Grampus hadn't gotten a good look at the pilot of the submarine, but suspected something was odd. As far as he was aware he was the only submarine operating in Lake Michigan.

"Well, let's see what they're up to," Grampus said to himself. He let the submarine gain a bit of ground, and then set off himself, keeping a safe distance to the target.

"This weather is positively frightful!" Top Hat said, as he moved his searchlight back and forth. "And as it's only November and Thanksgiving hasn't happened yet, you cannot start quoting Christmas Carols yet!"

"That's a relief, because I wasn't planning on doing so," Pipp said. "Anything yet?"

"No, nothing," Top Hat said. "The fact it's so dark can hardly help. It's like being inside a coal cellar at the moment!"

"Do coal cellars usually have the moon in them?" Warrior asked.

Top Hat sighed. "When somebody describes something as being like the inside of a coal cellar, they mean a coal cellar with the light turned off. A lack of light results in blackness, and coal is also black, so you won't be able to see a thing. Must I always have to teach you plain English?"

Warrior glanced about with his own light. "Wouldn't it be amazing if you and I catch 'em?"

"Not with all this clanking about we won't," Top Hat said. "And I'd turn that light on your telephone off, Pipp. It'll barely make a difference in this gloom." He turned his attention back to Warrior. "Now pay attention, Warrior. This is a wartime situation. I’ve mustered up my courage and sense of tactical advantage!"

There was a moment of silence. "Err, what's that? This tactical thingy?"

"It means thinking strategically! Planning ahead! Doing your research!"

There was a moment's silence. "I don't think I understand."

"You don't seem to understand much, do you?" Top Hat said.

"That was a bit rude!" Pipp said.

"If you worked with him day in and day out I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever you'd be saying precisely the same thing," Top Hat said. "Oh, give me strength..."

Suddenly, there was a an abrupt stop of sound from Warrior. "What are you doing?"

"I'm shutting me engine off so I can listen," Warrior replied. "You see, with all the engine noise I can't hear what's going on around me. So, if somebody sneaks up on me I won't be able to hear them."

"But the-!"

It was too late. The barge Warrior was towing bashed into him, and the impact triggered the fireworks onboard. They rocketed into the sky, serving as a beacon that showed exactly where they were.

"YOU BLITHERING IDIOT!" Top Hat snapped.

Pipp glanced about. "Now where have I heard that one before?"

Unfortunately, the fireworks attracted unwanted attention. Two tugboats began to approach at high speed.

"It's Captain Star's lot!" said one. "They're on the move! OPEN FIRE!"

Suddenly, cannons began to fire, and shells were streaking through the air.

"We're under fire!" Warrior said. "Quick, run that way!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Top Hat said. "Good thing these pirates can't aim!"

Just as he said that, a shell struck his barge, blowing it up.

"You were saying?" Warrior replied.

Top Hat shook his head. "This is the worst night of my time here thus far..."

Calla Lily smiled as her submarine rumbled along the seafloor. "Those idiots are so busy fighting each other that they haven't noticed what I'm up to," she said, with a distinct look of glee on her face as the submarine continued on its way. "Whilst they play cowboys and indians up there, I can quietly search for the Nova Charm down here."

Her submarine continued to move along undetected (or at least Calla Lily thought she was undetected), prowling the bottom of the lack for the object of her desires. She frowned. "Come on. It's supposed to be around here somewhere."

She shook her head. "I can only hope Anenome chose to be sensible and stayed away from the area. That girl's an utter fool sometimes. But alas, I can always locate what I need on my own. If a job needs doing, do it yourself."

There was continued tracking along the seafloor, Calla Lily's thoughts being punctuated by the odd beep and whirr of equipment, whilst the mission continued unabated.

More of the explosions continued to sound on the surface whilst she rolled along under the sea, with a distinct lack of singing crabs to follow her on her journey. Those pirates were certainly convenient for creating distractions. She knew that woman Allura would need dealing with at some point, but if her plan worked they'd all be taken out at once anyway, so she didn't see any reason to worry.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when the submarine's collision alarm triggered. "I must be here!"

Sure enough, she switched the front lights to maximum beam, and smiled. Sitting before her was the wreckage of an old ship, which had been at the bottom of the lake for a while based on its current state of repair.

And next to it lay a glowing object. "Finally!"

Calla Lily pushed a button, and an arm extended from the submarine and pickd the object up. Once the object was safely secured, she placed it onto the shipwreck and waited.

Sure enough, the object began to glow intensely, and the light grew to fever pitch as the holes in the hull started to be patched and the rustwork repaired.

Calla Lily backed the submarine up, and smiled. "At long last, you are free to rise once again!"

"Where's the moon gone?" Sunshine asked. "It was there a minute ago!"

"This cloud's appeared from nowhere!" Ten Cents said. "I know weather conditions can change very suddenly at this time of year, but this is ridiculous!"

Indeed, the clouds had closed in, and the skies were invisible. Ten Cents looked up, and suddenly saw lightning streaking through the skies. "That wasn't forecast! THERE'S A STORM COMIN'!"

The cloud started to boom and roar with thunder as lightning crashed down. The waters of Lake Michigan started to churn and shake, and some of it was bubbling quite violently.

"Err, guys?" Izzy asked. "What's that?"

The water was churning especially violently in front of them.

And then, it happened.

Author's Note

Hello, folks, and welcome back for another chapter in Thomas and Friends: Across the Sea! This time round, we hit the waters to find out what lurks beneath the waves of Lake Michigan.

Argyle, Goldie, and Lady Haven have taken up position in the Hancock Center, a multiuse skyscraper opened in 1969. The building notably features an observation deck on the 94th Floor, which I visited during my trip to Chicago earlier this year. The view from it was superb, helped by the fact it was perfect weather out on Lake Michigan.

The term 'cowboys and indians' is a colloquial term used to refer to a number of different children's games. The rough UK equivalent is cops and robbers, and both terms are used to indicate two parties getting distracted from their actual goal.

And now, the deep has opened up. What will happen next?