Sunshine and quietness spread across Pontypandy as Sarah and James were walking past Price's General Store.
"Norman Price, come here!" shouted Dilys Price through her shop. She took her son Norman by the ear outside with her.
"Ouch! You're hurting me, Mum!" cried Norman.
"Not as much as you hurt me when you pinch all the sweeties I have to buy and try to sell to the public," snapped Dilys. Then she let go of Norman and turned to Sarah and James. "Hello, you two. What are you going to do today?"
"We're going to help an old lady who lives in the open country," said Sarah.
"Want to come with us, Norman?" asked James.
"Of course he does," said Dilys. "You don't mind helping them help an old lady, do you?" She grabbed his ear again. "Do you?"
"No, mum," sighed Norman.
Then Trevor Evans's bus arrived in front Dilys's shop.
"Come on, Norman," said Sarah, as she and James got on the bus. Norman got on, too.
"Where to, my sugar lumps?" asked Trevor.
"To Jugster Cottage, please, Mr. Evans," replied James.
Jugster Cottage was in the countryside; about a couple of miles away from Penny Morris's cottage. It looked like no one had lived in it for a century, yet there was noise and chatter behind the garden gate. The gate opened and Texas Pete had a peek out.
"Hurry up, you two numbskulls!" he shouted to his minions, Bulk and Skeleton. "Those kids will be here any minute."
"But this barrel weights a ton, Tex!" moaned Skeleton as he and Bulk, who wearing safety gloves, were moving a barrel of chemicals. They put it near the stone wall near the gate. Next to the barrel was a bag of white chemicals.
"Uh, why are we doing this, Tex?" asked Bulk.
"This is a trap for SuperTed and his pimple-headed friend," said Tex. "We trap those little kids in this garden, they get the Fire Brigade to come and rescue them, but we trap them too. Then when SuperTed comes to their rescue, we blast him and his spot-headed friend out of existence! Then no one will stop me taking over the world, starting with this small pathetic town!" He laughed evilly.
Then a bus horn hooted.
"Is it the milkman?" asked Bulk. "I could use a drink."
"That's the bus bringing the kids here, you moron!" snapped Skeleton.
"Be quiet!" yelled Tex. "Now let's go!"
Tex jumped over the wooden wall leading into a big field. Bulk tried to climb over, but he struggled due to his weight. Tex nastily helped him.
"I'm not going in there!" protested Skeleton. "There might be dirty animals in there, like pigs and – "
But Tex's lasso didn't listen to Skeleton's protests.
The garden gate opened and Trevor walked in with the kids.
"Are you sure this is the right place, my sugar lumps?" asked Trevor.
"It says so on this piece of paper, Mr. Evans," said James, showing it to him.
"Maybe Mrs. Bulk must be out," said Sarah.
On the other side of the fence, Bulk was listening to them. "Mrs. Bulk? Hey, that's me!" He got up and waved to them. "Yoo-hoo!" he cried to them.
Then Tex pushed him back down. "Shut up, Bulk!"
"Tex, just how are we going to trap those kids in the garden?" asked Skeleton.
"Well, this whole town was built on a rabbit warren of old mining tunnels," said Tex. "Remember the strange-looking truck you and Bulk sent down in the mine?"
"No, Tex," replied Bulk.
"I do, Tex," said Skeleton. "Here's the model."
"Press the red button," ordered Tex.
Skeleton did and the model grew some arms and whacked his skull. "Ow! That hurt!"
"Not as much as it will to those poor kids when my machine knocks the posts under the mine and cause a lot of tremors," Tex chuckled evilly.
Then he got his remote control out. On it was a little screen and it was showing a mine tunnel.
"Where is that train going?" asked Bulk.
"That's not a train, Bulk," said Skeleton. "That's Tex's machine on the mine tracks. We can see where it is on the screen, thanks to the camera on the machine."
"And it's right under the garden now," said Tex. "So let's get down to business!"
"Uh, what business, Tex?" asked Bulk.
Tex and Skeleton just sighed.
Trevor and the kids were still in the garden.
"I suppose we could make a start in the garden and surprise Mrs. Bulk," suggested James.
"Yeah, good idea, James," agreed Sarah. "Let's get on with the – "
Then the whole garden began to shake like an earthquake.
"Everyone, out!" yelled Trevor. He began to run out, but the shaking made him fall down and the wooden shelves on the wall and the plastic roof fell down onto him, trapping him.
Sarah managed to get to the gate and turned around to see what was happening. She saw the garden steps opening up.
"Oh, no," she said. "It's a mine tunnel opening up. I'd better phone Uncle Sam." Then she ran into the house to look for a phone.
"Come on, Norman!" shouted James.
"I'm trying!" yelled Norman.
Then the garden began to split in half and both boys fell into the hole.
Then everything went silent and calm. Then Sarah came back through the garden gate.
"I can't find a phone in the house," she said. Then they saw there was no one in the garden at all. "James? Norman? Mr. Evans?"
Then a hand came out of the soil. Then another hand. Then Sarah saw James's head come out of the soil. This happened once to her Uncle Sam and now it's happened to her twin brother.
"James, what happened?" asked Sarah.
"I don't know," replied James. "Norman was with me when we fell down the hole but he doesn't seem to – " Then he was coughing.
Sarah looked left to see a wooden stand that was holding the plastic roof had landed into the barrel of chemicals. The chemicals were pouring on a bag of white powder and it was producing a green gas. It once happened to Trevor and now it was James's turn.
"I have to go and call the Fire Brigade," said Sarah. "Hang on!" She quickly disappeared.
"Hurry, Sarah," whispered James, as he used both hands to protect his mouth and nose from the toxic gas.
At Pontypandy Fire Service, the fire alarm rang.
"Now who needs the fire service?" asked Steele as he got up from his desk, tore the scroll off from the teleprinter and read it. "Good grief! Boys trapped in garden and suffering from toxic fumes at Jugster Cottage! On the double, men!"
Steele, Fireman Sam and Elvis Criddlington got into Jupiter.
"All present and correct, sir," reported Sam.
"Right, let's go!" ordered Steele.
With the lights flashing and the sirens roaring, Jupiter set off.
Sarah had to run two miles on the road to reach the nearest telephone box.
"If only I could get back there quick enough," she said. Then she looked across the fields. "If I cut across the fields, I should get back there quicker."
So she stepped over the public footpath stiles and quickly ran through field to field. After running through a couple of fields, she saw Jugster Cottage in the fair distance.
"I'm getting close," she panted, with her eyes fixed onto the cottage. "I'll be there in – Oh! Oh, no!"
Her feet had stopped running and were covered in deep mud. Then the mud was catching up to her knees and under her chest. She was in sinking into mud for the second time!
Then she heard Jupiter's sirens. She looked left to see Jupiter passing by.
"Uncle Sam! UNCLE SAM!" Sarah shouted. She waved, too, but Jupiter drove past her.
"Oh, dear," Sarah sobbed. "Now no one's going to rescue me."
"The Fire Brigade's here," Tex reported as he saw Jupiter approaching the cottage through a pair of binoculars. "Bulk, is my invention ready?"
"Ready when you are, Tex," replied Bulk, as he looked on the screen on the remote. "But there is this boy on the camera."
"What?" Tex yanked the remote from Bulk and saw he was right.
The screen revealed a coughing Norman who was getting up.
Down beneath the house, Norman had actually fallen through to the actual mine. It was a different coal mine shaft, but it was just as poisonous as the last one he fell through.
"Oh, no, not again," he coughed as he got up. "What will I do now?"
Then he saw a strange looking machine. Unknown to him, it was Tex's machine. "Perhaps this thing might help me."
He went to touch it, but the machine opened its arms out like Tex's prototype. Then it moved along the track.
"Hey, wait for me!" cried Norman, as he started to follow the machine.
Then one of the machine's arms knocked the posts down behind it. Norman stopped before the roof caved in on him. He was still alive, but was now completely trapped. And, worse of all, he fell down coughing loudly and his eyes were closing slowly.
Steele opened the gate and looked around the garden.
"Good heavens!" he cried. "What an awful mess!"
Sam and Elvis in their breathing apparatus and air tight suits passed him.
"Right, men, seal the chemical barrel first!" Steele ordered.
"Come on, Elvis," said Sam.
They were about to place the sealing bandage on the canister when the garden began to shook again. Sam and Elvis fell onto the ground.
"Clear the garden, men!" yelled Steele. He ran but the rumbling made him fall to the ground. Then a wobbling fence panel broke off and fell onto Steele.
The garden was cracking up again; this time around Sam and Elvis, who both unfortunately fell into a big hole.
Then the garden went calm again.
In the next field, Tex was dancing with joy.
"Yippee!" he cried. "Easier than setting mousetraps with cheese!"
"What now, Tex?" asked Bulk.
"We wait for that meddling teddy bear to come to us," replied Tex.
"Tex, I think I can see Spottyman's rocket in the sky," said Skeleton, pointing to the sky.
Spottyman's rocket was in the sky and in it was Spotty and SuperTed.
"What a great holiday that was, SuperTed," Spotty said.
"Yes, Spotty," smiled SuperTed. "Planet Paradise was a great planet for both activeness and relaxation."
"There were enough spots to fulfil my satisfaction," said Spotty. "And it had the Planet Spot's temperature."
Then the whole rocket shook and the controls were firing up.
"Great moves of Spot!" cried Spotty. "What's happening?"
SuperTed ran to the back of the rocket, took off a hatch from the floor and looked inside.
"Galloping gooseberries!" cried the teddy bear. "Your rocket's engines have been shot. Let's bail out!"
SuperTed went to the escape hatch and pressed the OPEN button but the hatch didn't open at all.
"Why won't it open, Spotty?" SuperTed yelled to his best friend.
"Maybe the whole power's out!" Spotty shouted back.
"I'll say my secret mag – " Then a wrench hit SuperTed on the head, knocking him out. It also knocked out Spotty on the head, too.
The Spotty rocket was heading towards a field. Then – CRASH!
Tex and his friends cheered evilly, as they saw smoke coming through a field.
"Oh, Tex, you're so cruel-hearted," said Skeleton.
"Next step: to Pontypandy!" said Tex. "Onto the bus!"
Bulk and Skeleton got onto Trevor's bus. Tex got into the driver's seat and drove away.
The Spotty rocket was half-buried in the field it was aiming for. One of the rocket's green spots was being unscrewed. Then SuperTed and Spotty climbed out of the rocket.
"Something tells me that this was a part of Texas Pete's plan," said SuperTed.
"How so?" asked Spotty.
"Well, Spotty," said SuperTed, looking at the engines, "before we left, we checked the engines and they were fine. You see these holes here? They're gunshots."
"Fired by Texas Pete?"
"Spot on, Spotty."
"Help! Help!" cried a girl's voice.
"Sounds like someone's in trouble," said Spotty.
"I'll say my secret magic word," said SuperTed. But then he didn't say anything.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" demanded Spotty.
"I… I can't remember, Spotty," said SuperTed.
"Your secret magic word?" Spotty was surprised. "But you remember everything else?"
"It must be that wrench that hit my head," said SuperTed. "My head feels like some fluff has been taken out. Anyway, you get out that car that we borrowed from the Planet Spot out of your rocket, while I go and see who's in trouble."
And SuperTed ran as fast as he could and soon found Sarah's face just above the mud. "Sarah!" he cried.
"Help!" Sarah cried. "Help!"
"Don't worry!" cried SuperTed. "Help is on the way!"
Then Spotty arrived in a car – a car from the Planet Spot. SuperTed went to the back of the car and got out some rope. He tied it to the front of the car.
"Catch this," SuperTed said to Sarah, as he threw it to her.
"I got it," said Sarah, as she got it.
"Okay, Spotty," said SuperTed. "Reverse the car."
"Reverse the car?"
"Make the car go backwards," explained SuperTed.
Spotty reversed the car and slowly Sarah was pulled out of the mud.
"Are you all right?" asked SuperTed, when she was free from the mud.
"Thank you, SuperTed," said Sarah. "But we must get to Jugster Cottage. My friends are in trouble."
Dilys walked out of her shop. "Hmm, it's quiet. Too quiet."
Then she started to wobble and fall down. She saw the whole town shaking. Then everyone was running away and screaming.
Bella Lasagne fell out of her door from her café. "What is-a happening, Mrs Price?"
"Remember what I told you about this town being built on a rabbit warren of old mining tunnels?" said Dilys. "Well, the ground is swallowing us up!"
"Need a hand, ma'am?" asked a voice.
Dilys saw a hand in front of her. She took it and she got up. "Oh, thank you."
"Oh, grazie," smiled Bella, as she took an arm to help her up. When she saw it was Skeleton, she screamed and ran.
Dilys was not impressed with the man who helped her up who was Bulk. "Get away from me, you unhygienic man!" She ran too.
Then Dilys, Bella and the Pontypandy population were stopped in front of Texas Pete who drew out his guns. "Nobody move!" shouted Tex. "I control the earthquakes in this town!"
Then the whole town stopped shaking. Everyone was confused yet silent.
"Someone get me the mayor of Pontypandy," ordered Ted, "or you become diamonds in the old coal mines!"
SuperTed drove the spotty car to Jugster Cottage with Sarah and Spotty. They parked and went through the gate. They were shocked to see the mess the garden was in. James was still alive coughing in the cloud of poisonous gas. Trevor was still trapped under the plastic roof and Steele was still trapped under the fence and both seemed to be unconscious.
"Ah! SuperTed!" shouted Spotty as he looked down.
SuperTed looked down to where Spotty was pointing and saw a pair of hands coming out of the soil from the crack in the garden. It was Fireman Sam. Then Elvis appeared out of the ground, too. Because they still had their gas-tight suits on, they couldn't climb out of the soil more than up to their shoulders. Their eyes were beginning to close.
"Are you all right?" asked SuperTed.
"Take care of the canister quickly!" ordered Sam.
"Spotty, get those people out of the ground while I take care of this barrel," SuperTed ordered.
SuperTed picked up the sealing bandage, took a deep breath and put it around the canister. Then he connected the hose from the pump into the bandage and started pumping.
"G-g-g-grab the ropes," ordered Spotty as he threw two sets of ropes, one to Sam and one to Elvis. Then he threw a third one to James who caught it.
Then Spotty tied both three ropes to the spotty car. As he got in it, the whole garden started to rumble again. Spotty started to reverse. James got out quickly and so did Sam, but Elvis was more stuck than anyone else. SuperTed left his pumping and ran to Elvis to help pull the rope a bit more. Soon Elvis was free, but SuperTed fell down the hole! The garden went still again.
Spotty got off the car and checked the people. "Is everyone all right?" He went to free Steele and Trevor from being trapped under the roof and the gate. Then he couldn't see his best friend from anywhere. "Where is SuperTed?"
SuperTed coughed as he picked himself up.
"Help me," said a feeble voice.
SuperTed looked down to see Norman lying on the floor and coughing. "Norman! What happened?"
"It was a machine that can knock the posts down," said Norman.
SuperTed pondered this. "This is all Tex's doing, but why is he doing this" he pondered. "And how can we get out of here if I can't remember my magic word?"
He whispered everything he could remember and then he ripped off his fur and was now wearing his scarlet suit. "I remember it now," he whispered to himself. Then he turned to Norman. "Where did the machine go to before it trapped you in here?"
Norman pointed in the direction.
Then SuperTed turned around and faced the opposite wall. "Then that means the machine came from this side before it was caved in." He took the rocks off and the wall started to go down.
SuperTed picked up Norman and flew through the now-cleared mine. Then they saw daylight at the end. They were now clear out of the mine and onto the surface of the Pontypandy countryside.
SuperTed and Norman landed outside Jugster Cottage where Spotty who was helping Fireman Sam and his friends. Everyone was breathing heavily.
"SuperTed, you're okay!" cried Spotty happily.
"Yes, Spotty," smiled SuperTed. "But Pontypandy isn't. All this is part of Texas Pete's plan. Crashing your rocket, trapping everyone in the garden, wrecking Pontypandy…"
"But why?" asked Steele. "Why does he want to wreck our town?"
"Probably wants to rule it," suggested James.
"But our mayor would never surrender the town to that wicked cowboy," said Trevor.
"Surrender?" asked Spotty.
"It's what good guys do if they don't want the bad guys to hurt them," said SuperTed. "Which is what is likely to happen. And when he gets Pontypandy under his rule, he won't stop there. He'll take the whole of Wales and the whole world. We'd better get over there. Come on, Spotty!"
"Will you guys be all right?" Spotty asked the Pontypandy townsfolk.
"Of course," said Sam.
"Go and bring the bad guys to justice, man!" cheered Elvis. Everyone gave him a look. "Oh, I mean, um, good luck."
Then Spotty caught up with SuperTed in the sky.
Back in Pontypandy, everything was silent as the whole town watched the mayor approached Tex.
"Make me the new Mayor of Pontypandy," said Tex, "and everyone will be okay. The opposite will happen if you don't."
The mayor sighed as he took his hat and his gold chain. He was about to give them to Tex when –
"Stop!" shouted a voice.
Everyone looked up to see SuperTed and Spotty in the air.
"You have wrecked a town too far this time, Texas Pete!" shouted SuperTed.
Tex grabbed the Mayor and pointed a crowbar at his head. "Fly down any closer and the Mayor gets hurt."
SuperTed didn't know what to do.
"Oh, no!" Spotty cried, as he flew into loops in the air. "My rocket-pack's got the staggers!"
He was heading for Bulk and Skeleton.
"Oh, no!" cried Skeleton. "Well, don't just stand there, Bulk! Move!"
They started to run, but Spotty crashed into them. Skeleton scattered all over the place with his skull landing under Tex's boot. The evil cowboy fell down, letting go of the Mayor.
SuperTed charged for Tex and picked him up. But Tex was fighting the flying teddy bear.
"I'm not giving up yet, SuperTed!" shouted Tex.
"Don't you play with me, Texas Pete!" snapped SuperTed.
They were so busy fighting that they didn't look where they were going. They were heading straight for Bella's Café! They went in and bumped under the counter where a pan was cooking on the cooker. The bump caused the pan to spill oil out and it caught ablaze!
SuperTed was still defending himself from Tex; they didn't notice the fire pan fall down while they were fighting. The flames caught on one of the stacked-up chairs which spread across the other chairs. The bottom chairs collapsed into pieces and the higher chairs fell across the room.
"Oh, no!" cried Tex. "I'd better get out of here!"
Tex ran to the back door. SuperTed followed him, but the door shut in front of him.
It was locked and too strong for the teddy bear to knock down. He tried to break the handle with his rocket boots but nothing came out of them.
He turned around to see the fire getting closer and closer to him.
At the back of Bella's café, Tex jumped over the wall that led him into the park. He ran, but he was quickly stopped by the Pontypandy Police.
"All right, take them away!" ordered the Police Chief.
He was taken to the Police van where Bulk and Skeleton were already there.
Back on the street, everyone heard and saw Jupiter arriving. The firemen got out.
"Right, stand back, everyone!" ordered Steele. Then he turned to the Firemen. "Man the hose, men."
Sam grabbed the hose from the fire engine and stood in the doorway. "Water on, Elvis!" Sam yelled.
Elvis turned the water on. "Water on, Sam!"
And Sam fired water into the café.
"Oh, please," cried Bella. "No let my café burn down."
"Just be glad your cat's not in there," Dilys told her.
"Oh, no, my Rosa!" cried Bella. "Where is-a she?"
"Meow!"
Bella looked down and was so relieved that Rosa was next to her legs. She picked her up. "You stay with me now," said Bella.
It wasn't long before Fireman Sam vanquished the flames. "Fire out, sir," Sam reported.
"Well done, men," said Steele. "Check the building."
Sam and Elvis went in.
"It's all burnt in here, Sam," said Elvis.
"Aye, Elvis," said Sam. "But nothing that new plastering and new paint can't help. And Bella can buy new chairs and tables."
"Hey, Sam," cried Elvis. "Look! It's SuperTed!"
Sam and Elvis went behind the counter and saw the super teddy bear on the floor unconscious. Sam picked him up and carried him out of the café. Everyone was shocked when they saw SuperTed especially Spotty.
"SuperTed!" cried the spotted alien, as he took him from Sam. "SuperTed, wake up. Come on. Wake up. Maybe I'd better use some cosmic dust." He waved cosmic dust over SuperTed who coughed and woke up.
"Oh, thanks, Spotty," said SuperTed. Then he turned to Fireman Sam. "Thanks, Sam."
"No problem," smiled Sam.
Everyone cheered when they saw SuperTed moving about. He was on his feet.
"What happened?" asked SuperTed.
"We won, SuperTed," smiled Spotty. "Tex, Bulk and Skeleton are with the Police now."
"But what about our town?" asked Trevor.
"Today's story has been all over the news," said the mayor. "So everyone knows about it including the government, who is using tax money to help build our town and to make sure the ground beneath us will never swallow us again."
"Good," huffed Steele. "That's what we pay our taxes."
"Well, it's been a pleasure helping everyone," said SuperTed. "Come on, Spotty. Let's get your rocket and head back for the tree house."
Everyone cheered as SuperTed and Spotty flew into the air.
Tex and his friends were very quiet in the Police van.
Skeleton sighed. "Um, Tex…"
"Quiet!" snapped Tex. "I'm thinking."
"Of what, Tex?" asked Tex.
"That super fluff boy and his pimple-headed friend and those Ponty freaks have really done this time!" snapped Tex. "When we break out again, we'll get them again and this time they will not escape." He laughed evilly.
To Be Continued…
Written by Bobby South
Fireman Sam: based on an idea by Dave Gingell and Dave Jones, assisted by MNike Young with characters created by Rob Lee
SuperTed: created by Mike Young