John Tracy and the Magical Makeover
"Morning, Boys." Jeff Tracy called out from the kitchen to three of his sons. Scott, Virgil and Gordon were sat next to the pool having a lengthy conversation on a subject in which they decided not to share with their father.
"Morning, Dad." They called back. Alan was still at school which was a shame since John came down from Thunderbird 5 just last night for a few weeks. Each Tracy boy stayed silent until their father left the room to find Brains. Once he had done so they leaned in and spoke in an excited but mischievous manner.
"Alright, Gordon, what's the plan?" Scott asked, knowing that his older brother was practically the king of mischief and madness.
"Well, it's going to be pulled off in waves; John isn't going to know what hit him." Gordon laughed, the mischief almost bubbling out of his eyes. "Do you know where Tin-Tin is?"
"What's Tin-Tin got to do with John?" Virgil asked, checking behind them to make sure nobody was listening.
"Tin-Tin is a girl." Gordon answered. He received a look from both Scott and Virgil which said 'of course she's a girl you halfwit…' "Tin-Tin's a girl… therefore she's obviously going to have nail varnish somewhere…" Gordon said slowly… as if it was totally the most obvious thing in the world to a bunch of guys who only have contact with around three women while at home; Tin-Tin, Tin-Tin's mother and Grandma. On the odd occasion Lady Penelope would also pay a visit.
"Ah, so we just go and ask her for some?" Virgil asked, leaning back into the sofa.
"No, Virge." Gordon laughed, "That would merely reinforce the fact that we all think your gay… especially after those pink cakes… adding pink nail varnish wouldn't be a good mark on your 'straight' column, would it?" Laughter echoed around the poolside.
"Alright, whatever. How do you propose we do it then, if we can't just ask her for some?" Virgil stood up and looked around, he had always been known for being slightly paranoid, and in an operation as big as this one, it was vital that nobody but them knew what was going on.
"I suggest we occupy Tin-Tin and Dad, and then one of us can sneak into Tin-Tin's room and grab some, hiding it in their room until later…" Scott suggested.
"Some sort of mother's meeting boys?" Jeff Tracy asked, walking over and sitting next to them. There was a distinct nod from Gordon to Scott and the first phase of the plan was in motion. Scott stood up and left Virgil and Gordon to chat to their father. Luckily, Tin-Tin walked over at the same time and was drawn into the conversation. This should be easy.
Scott ran up the stairs and crawled on all fours to Tin-Tin's bedroom door. He would have to keep low while in there because her bedroom windows overlooked the pool; it would only take one of them outside to look up and his cover would be blown. So, slowly, Scott crawled along the floor and shut the door behind him. He crawled along the carpet on his stomach, heading for the dressing table on the far side. Just as he reached it, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs and Tin-Tin's laugh. He couldn't shuffle quickly enough and just as she opened her door, Scott slid under the bed, hoping that he wouldn't be detected. He watched from under there as Tin-Tin pulled open one of her draws and revealed every colour of nail varnish that could possibly be made, lined up in rainbow order. She picked up a sunny yellow colour and walked back outside and presumably back down to the pool, shutting the door behind her. Scott let out a relieving sigh and crawled over to the draw. He may have just had a close shave… butt it saved him time in finding the nail varnish. Opening the draw he picked up the most vibrant pink he could find and made a swift exit. Quickly, he hid the small bottle underneath a pillow on his bed and walked back down to the poolside. His phase of the operation was over. Next was Gordon.
Jeff and Tin-Tin were laughing together beside the pool. Virgil and Gordon were sat at the breakfast bar and shot Scott a quizzical look when he walked over.
"Did you get it?" Gordon asked, whispering. Scott didn't reply vocally, but with a nod. Gordon smiled and knew that it was now time for his phase of the operation. Getting up, he made his way towards the lab.
Gordon looked around and could see that Brains was sat at his desk on the far side. He knew he couldn't use any of the chemicals without Brains knowing, so he would have to make a story up…
"Hey, Brains!" Gordon called, cheerfully.
"H-h-h-… Gordon. How are you?" Brains struggled, concentrating on a small mechanical device in front of him.
"I'm fine thanks. I was wondering, Brains… what chemicals I would need to make hair dye?" Gordon was trying to look inconspicuous but it wasn't really working. "You see, Tin-Tin wants some for a party she is going to attend, but it can't be permanent. "
"Theres a green b-b-b-… Container on the top shelf… it has a base in it. Add the colour you need in whatever intensity and tell Tin-Tin to put a few drops into her shampoo. The more drops she adds, the more vibrant the colour will be. Food colouring should work for the colour." Brains quickly got back to work and Gordon scampered across the floor of the lab, towards the green bottle in which Brains was on about. He poured a few drops into a smaller bottle and scanned the shelf for food colouring. Pink… purple… brown…Green.Green was perfect. He poured in a few drops and shook it up. That was his phase over, now all he had to do was put the bottle under his pillow. It was now all up to Virgil.
Gordon's appearance in the breakfast bar made Virgil feel slightly nervous.
"Alright, Virge, Operation Magical Makeover is go." With that, Virgil got up and made his way towards Gordon's room to pick up the small bottle. Once there, he flipped Gordon's pillow over and picked it up. He then dashed across and into Scott's room, picking up the pink nail varnish. He then made a quick pit-stop in his own room to pick up some pink swimming shorts in which he brought a few days back especially for this operation. He also grabbed a few light pink t-shirts in which he brought at the same time. John's room was just up the hallway and after Virgil looked around to check no-one was coming he made a quick dash towards the door. He opened it silently and peeped around the corner. John was fast asleep with his feet dangling off the bottom of the bed. The boys always found the way John slept amusing… and in this circumstance… very useful. John always slept in the day after he got back from 5, purely because he found the long space journey rather exhausting and the oxygen content on earth was different to that on the space station.
To begin with, Virgil meandered his way, quietly, into John's ensuite where he put a few drops of Gordon's liquid into John's shampoo. Next came the pink clothing. Virgil replaced John's swimming shorts with the pink ones and his t-shirts with the ones he had brought for the occasion. He temporarily left the room and put John's clothes under his own bed. He wouldn't find them there. Once back into John's room, the real test began. If John was to wake up now, the entire operation was blown. John was known for his ticklish feet, so this was going to be a very delicate procedure. Crawling along the floor, Virgil positioned himself at the end of John's bed, nail varnish in hand. He pulled himself up onto his knees on the floor and carefully began to paint his brothers toe nails in the hot pink colour. Thankfully, John only stirred a few times during the painting process and Virgil was able to escape, with the operation still intact.
Excitedly, Virgil made his way back to the breakfast bar and smiled a massive grin to his brothers, who knew the operation was now complete. All they would have to do now was wait for the pay off.
Around an hour later, the boys were playing in the pool and Lady Penelope was giving fashion tips to Tin-Tin when John made his entrance. Jeff simply looked up towards his son and grinned like a Cheshire cat, knowing that Gordon had been up to his old tricks again. John stormed over to the pools edge and looked frustrated at his brothers. There he stood, in the midday sun, with a pale pink t-shirt and hot pink swimming shorts. Vibrant pink toe nails glistened in the light and to top it all off… John's otherwise platinum blonde hair was as green as the grass on Lady Penelope's front lawn back in England.
"Gordon…" John said, trying to keep himself calm. All the Tracy boys could do was to try and keep a pale face. Impossible. Each of them burst out into uncontrollable laughter and John's face went bright red. He backed off and sat on a sun lounger next to Lady Penelope and Tin-Tin.
"Now, Tin-Tin…" Lady Penelope started, looking at John's hair, "Fashion do's and don'ts. A fashion don't… never dye your hair grass green." There was another uproar of laughter and John hid his face in his knees. It was at this point that he noticed his pink toe nails.
"Been borrowing my nail varnish, have you, John?" Tin-Tin teased. His cheeks couldn't be any redder.
"Oh, John…" Jeff laughed. "It appears your brothers have got you already. You haven't even been back a day…"
"N'aww, does Johnny-Boy have pink toe nails." Virgil laughed.
"It appears I do." John replied, not at all amused. But, the smiling faces of his brothers helped him see the funny side and soon enough he too was laughing at the sheer hilarity of his appearance. "Well… at least my bedding isn't pink…" John laughed looking at Gordon. Gordon had left his bedroom door open after he planted the green hair dye. Thus leaving his bedding visible to anyone who walked past. It was obviously going to be an afternoon of embarrassment.
The taunting didn't stop there for John though. Tin-Tin pulled out her Nail Varnish remover and began to try and get the hot pink varnish off John's nails… which was near impossible because every time she touched his feet, he would struggle and laugh. Ticklish. At the same time as this was happening, Lady Penelope was attempting to wash out the green dye in John's hair. There was green soap going down his pink shirt and his collar. Bits of it were seeping into the pool and once his hair was back to platinum blonde, the pool was green… and so was the tiling underfoot. There was indeed more laughter and John was just glad to be home… even if it meant that he was the laughing stock.