Ok, now we're on a roll !!!
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Enjoy...
Chapter 10
Wolf tore into the control room and switched off the alarm. He then brought up the source of the alarm on the internal computers. It came from the cockpit of the jet.
"Nix!" He said out loud, harshly. Picking up the headphones, he contacted the jet's speakers. "Pheonix, why did you set off the alarm?"
Nothing, then a voice answered. "There were some people down here. I didn't think you wanted anyone but me in the hangar."
Vixen walked in and asked, "Where's Weasel?"
Wolf shrugged at her before replying to Pheonix. "Nix, is Weasel down there with you? And what did the people look like?"
"No, I've not seen him. There was a beautiful woman, blond, well dressed, and an old man. They were down here asking strange questions. They ran off down the tunnel when I switched on the alarm. I'm going to follow them now. You'll have to catch me up, bro."
And he cut Wolf off.
Vixen was about to order him to stay put, when the door behind them sprung open and in walked Snake and Rhino, who was pulling Weasel along, and Croc.
"Well hello. Didn't think you would see me so soon did you my dear?" Snake smirked at his ex.
She took a step back in shock. Then recovered quickly, "Snake, how ze hell did you get out? Why didn't you let us know? We could 'ave assisted you." She moved towards him, and he grabbed her in a crushing embrace. "Foxy, nothing will separate us again!" He gleefully looked towards Wolf, who calmly watched them kiss, but inside he was seething with jealousy.
But ever the con artist, he never missed a beat. "Did you bring an old man and a woman here with you?" He asked the group out loud, "Coz if you didn't, we could be in trouble because they're in the hangar right now."
Vixen pulled back. "Our investment! Snake we've got to catch them before they find out…."
"About your little hero?" Snake finished for her. Both Vixen and Wolf looked taken back. "Oh, Croc told me all about your little adventures, babe. Lets go take a look, then we can have a proper little reunion party!" He turned and winked at Rhino and Croc who both gave a small deep chuckle. "Lets go, boys." He was back in charge of the gang. Vixen scowled at Weasel as they left the room.
Snake, Croc, Rhino and Wolf ran back towards the hangar.
When they got there it was empty, the others stopped, but Wolf ran straight past them and carried on down into the tunnel. Rhino swore and took off after him, he hated running, but didn't want to lose track of Wolf.
Nearing the end Wolf saw that Pheonix stood pointing a gun at the two intruders. They made no move to get away, but were standing quietly as if they were waiting for something to happen.
"Hey Wolf. I caught them, they were wandering around the tunnel when I got here. What shall we do with them?" Nix asked.
Penny and Parker waited with interest to see what this young man was going to say.
Wolf stopped next to Pheonix and raised his own gun. "You did well Nix, but next time don't run off alone. When I tell you to do something I expect you to do it! What if it was International Rescue that was here and not some girl and her old man? Huh"
Pheonix shrugged his shoulders and murmured an apology. Parker caught Penny's eye with a puzzled look, which also showed worry for the dark haired Tracy boy.
"Right, you two. You're trespassing on our soil. Had you not seen our machine, I could have let you go, but now you're both going to have to come with us until we can sort something out."
"Of course, young man. We were just wondering if we could have a little chat with, ….Vixen?" Penny asked.
Wolf looked sharply at her when she mentioned Vixen's name. "We'll see. Depends on who sent you."
He stood back and waved them passed him, back towards the hanger. Both he and Pheonix followed them.
Half way down the tunnel they met Rhino and Croc. "Hey, you got 'em then!"
Snake appeared behind them, "Ah, so we are going to have a really good party tonight. With company such as this boys!"
Parker did not like the way they were leering towards Penelope, and instinctively moved closer to her. "It's alright Parker, the boys will be here shortly." She whispered to him.
They were taken and put into the room that contained all the International Rescue information, and locked in.
"You can have some fun in here. Lots to read to stop you both getting bored!" Laughed Croc as he locked the door. Penny sighed, "Why do they always think we can't get out when we want to?"
Parker smirked "Must be our disguise as harmless 'posh' people, Mi-lady!"
They glanced around the room, astonished that anyone could have so much information on the organisation that Jeff had tried so hard to keep secret.
"Well let's make ourselves useful shall we?" Penny suggested, Parker smiled back.
"I'll do the walls shall I, Mi-lady?"
"Yes Parker, I think you should!" And they carefully began to rip up and destroy every piece of paper and diagram they found that had anything to do with International Rescue.
TBTBTB
Wolf held Pheonix back as Croc and Rhino took Penny and Parker out the hanger. Snake watched, as they were lead away, scheming what his next move was going to be.
"Nix, I want you to stay as far away from Snake as you can. He's dangerous. Leave him to Vixen and me. Okay?" He whispered as he maneuvered Pheonix towards the jet.
"He hates International Rescue too, and when you were under their control the two of you crossed paths. He ended up in jail and wasn't too happy about it. So let him cool down before he causes you any trouble," he explained when Pheonix started to object.
Pheonix looked unsure. "We've met? I don't recall, but then I've not seen his face yet, you were in the way. But yeah, I'll keep clear of him. If that's what you want."
Wolf smiled and nodded in relief. "Good. Now get strapped in, it's almost time to launch again. You up to it?"
"Sure. I'll be ready in 5."
Wolf nodded and headed out of the hanger after Snake, who seemed to have missed seeing Pheonix there. Wolf had managed to hide him behind his back when they walked back into the tunnel.
Wolf sighed, and braced himself for trouble that would soon be brewing.
TBTBTB
John flew towards LA in Thunderbird One. His brothers, in Thunderbird Two, were just behind him.
The co-ordinates Alan had given him placed Penny's signal just on the outskirts of the now uninhabited part of LA. Disused train tunnels, warehouses and empty shopping malls. The streets here were deserted.
As he flew lower, he could see that it was a good place to hide, if you didn't want to be found. He wondered if the jet was hidden here as well.
"Thunderbird One to Thunderbird Two, I'm approaching danger zone now." He announced.
"FAB Thunderbird One. ETA 8 minutes." Virgil replied. Gordon sat next to him and fidgeted in his seat. "Calm down Gords. We're almost there!"
"Yeah, I know. God, we have the fastest machines in the world, and they just don't seem to go fast enough!"
Virgil just laughed.
TBTBTB
Wolf and Snake walked back into the Control room together, Vixen and Weasel stopped arguing instantly.
"Don't stop for me. Carry on with what you were saying" Snake sneered at them. The room was tense. Wolf cleared his throat and they all looked at him.
"It's almost time to launch again. The client wanted us to push up the time scale, add some heat to help them part with their money, didn't he Foxy."
She looked at him, but welcomed the diversion. "Yes, 'e did. Is Pheonix ready?"
Wolf moved over to the control panel. "Yes. I'll just check him in for count down."
Snake frowned, "You mean the hero is going to fly that jet?" He didn't think they were able to use him. Croc had told him that the man was incapacitated.
Weasel smirked and told him "The Client is very pleased with his progress. This is very profitable, so you don't want to do anything to ruin this one. The client handed complete control to Foxy. You can ask him yourself if you like."
Snake moved towards him, cracking his knuckles in front of his chest to intimidate the smaller man.
"That's enough of that you two." Vixens voice rang out at them. "Snake, you really need to watch this to believe it."
He moved over to her, putting his arm around her waist, he pulled her close against his side. "Alright babe, show me what the hero can do."
She rested her head against his chest, her ginger hair falling over one of her cheeks.
Wolf turned away from them, a jealous frown upon his face. "Nix, are you set to go, Bruv?"
"Ready and waiting, Wolf." Was the instant reply.
"Okay, counting down now. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go!"
Pheonix shot down the runway and for the second time, burst out the tunnel into daylight.
"Mach 2, now approaching mach 3, and rising!" Pheonix announced within seconds of leaving the tunnel.
"What!" Demanded Snake, "He must be demented. No way can he be going that fast!"
The others all grinned knowingly at each other. "Actually, he's pushing her a bit more this time, but we got ourselves the best pilot in the world, to fly the one and only hypersonic jet in the world."
"Now you know why we were so engrossed with our 'project', this is bigger and better than anything we've ever done before!" Vixen added smugly.
Wolf looked at his screen as the dot moved rapidly across it. Then he noticed another dot that was also moving fast. And it was coming towards them.
"Nix, I got a new target for you, bruv."
"Okay, switching to stealth now." Pheonix answered.
"Head back home, if you swing her around to your left and come in at about 20,000ft you will see it."
"F..A...Okay"
Wolf glanced at Vixen to see if she noticed.
"When he gets back, we double his next dose," she ordered. Weasel nodded his agreement. Wolf's face remained passive.
"Problems?" Snake wondered aloud to them.
"Nothing to worry about." Wolf answered. "Just when he flies, it seems to effect the drug in his body, makes him confused. Caspian says the pressure from the G force could be changing the way the drug effects his mind."
TBTBTB
"Thunderbird One to base." John radioed in.
"Base here. How are you doing son?" Jeff answered.
"I've arrived at the danger zone. No sign of any life, but it sure looks like a good place to hide. I'm going to fly around to take a quick look before Virgil gets here."
"FAB. Be careful, son. Base out."
John carried on past Penny's last signal location. As he turned back to swing around to see if he missed anything, something made him look to his right.
"What the..!" He gasped in surprise as the jet flew right at him and pulled up over him at the last second. He quickly swung TB1 around to follow, pushing her to full throttle, and then he lost sight of it.
"Damn, she's fast!" John switched on his screen, but the jet was invisible to the radial still. "I hope Brains comes up with that code soon," he prayed to himself.
He slowed TB1 and turned back towards the danger zone, when once again the jet appeared out of nowhere, repeating the same action. This time from the other direction.
"So you want to play cat and mouse do you?" John mused, "Sure, I'll play." And once again, he gave chase. This time he caught the jet up.
"Right, now to tag you!" John spoke to himself. He pressed the trigger and the tracking device fired out towards the jet. John watched in shock as the jet just accelerated away as if it had only been going slow before. He checked his own speed and saw that he was already flying at mach 12.
"Jesus, that's gotta be the fasted jet on the planet!"
"Thunderbird Two to Thunderbird One. Where the hell are you, John?" Virgil's annoyed voice came over the speaker. "We're at the danger zone. We are going in to land now, then we're going inside the tunnels."
"Virgil, wait!" John's desperate voice instantly replied. "I'm following the jet, I'm trying to get a tracker on it… Well, I was till it zoomed out of here!"
"You're what?" Gordon grabbed the radio from Virgil "Just push Thunderbird One faster, you'll catch her up!"
"No. She's faster than anything I've ever seen before." He paused, and saw the jet coming back at him. This time she fired a missile at him.
"Shit!" He swore and accelerated away himself, this time heading back towards the danger zone.
"What's wrong?" Virgil's voice came out urgently. "John, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just great!" He answered sarcastically; he was not the happiest pilot in the world. "Now I'm being fired at…shit, that was close!" He swore as he pushed the controls so Thunderbird One twisted round and spiralled out of the way just before impact.
"God, I feel sick" He moaned, "Guy's, a little help would be nice."
"Where are you?" Virgil asked as he raised TB2 up from the ground and waited for his brother to answer.
John sped through the sky, now pushing mach 20. The jet was still behind him. His alert sounded as yet another missile was launched at him.
"Damn, I can't shake it!" He yelled out in frustration, after trying to dodge it by swinging TB1 to the right and then back again.
"Where are you, John?" came Virgil's not so calm voice through the speaker.
"I'm …. Look to your left!" John shouted as he caught sight of the large green Thunderbird in front of him and only just managed to miss hitting it.
"Sorry!" he gushed, as he flew past them, the missile still on his tail.
"Gordon, fire!" Virgil ordered his younger sibling; after he instinctively ducked out the way as he watched the three objects zoom past his window.
Gordon fired, and another missile entered the fray.
It managed to hit the missile behind John, and he slowed to turn back towards them. "Thanks guys. I owe you." He said in relief. "I am so going back to TB5 when we get home."
"John, can you see the jet anywhere?" Virgil asked his brother, when Gordon interrupted him, "Don't look now, but I think I can see it above you. Have you tried to make contact yet?"
"Are you joking? Make contact? I've been trying not to get blown up!" He shot back in frustration. Gordon smirked at Virgil, knowing how much John hated anything that wasn't a 'smooth flight'.
They flew in the direction John had disappeared only moments ago, only to find themselves nose to nose with the jet themselves.
"Er, John," Gordon radioed "You had better get back here. Because we seem to have gate crashed your party."
"What?" John asked as he came closer to their position. "Oh!" Was the only comment he made when he saw the stand off between the green giant, and the small alien looking black jet hovering just in front of it.
He pulled up and lowered TB1 just behind the jet, so it was sandwiched in between them.
"Now what?" asked Gordon. "Stalemate?"
Virgil shook his head, "Nah, that little beauty could take us both on and survive, let me try talking." He switched another button on the control panel. "This is Thunderbird 2 calling …" Virgil paused and looked over at Gordon questioningly, "black jet pilot. Do you copy?" Gordon put a hand over his mouth to stop the giggle from emerging, he could still see the comical side. Virgil glared at him to keep silent.
"Black jet pilot, please answer." He repeated. They held their breath as they waited for a reply.
"This is Pheonix. You are not welcome here. Leave or I will shoot you down." The voice was serious.
"Thunderbird Two to Pheonix. We mean you no harm. Will you land and talk with us?"
Silence.
"Thunderbird Two to Pheonix. Will you stand down?" Virgil tried again.
"International Rescue Crafts, you will land and wait for further orders. Any wrong move and I will destroy you." The voice answered firmly.
Gordon and Virgil looked at each before signalling John. "What do you think?" Asked Virgil.
"Lets do it. That was definitely Scott's voice, though he sounded different. If you know what I mean"
"Yeah I do. Okay. I'll just report in with Dad. See you on the ground. Thunderbird Two out."
They both lowered their machines slowly to the ground and waited. The black jet hovered above them, and then suddenly it took off into the distance.
"Damn, that's fast!" Gordon exclaimed. "Now what?"
"Now we get out and see where Penny has got too." John's voice came over the speaker. "Lets go."
"FAB" answered Gordon and Virgil together.
TBTBTB
In the control room inside the abandoned train tunnel, Wolf watched in disgust as Snake decided to play his card. He had one of his hands wrapped around Vixens throat, holding her tight against his broad chest. Her eyes were wide as she sort out help from either Weasel or Wolf. But neither of them moved, they were close, but Snake's hand on her neck was closer.
"What are you doing Snake?" Wolf demanded, "Do you want to ruin the whole operation?"
Snake swung his gaze from the main screen to Wolf's young face. "Lets just say I made a pact with the devil. And I'm pulling my side of the bargain."
Weasel frowned. "Who with?"
"That would be for me to know, and maybe you will find out. But he's on his way. I sent Croc to pick him up." He turned to talk to Wolf again. "Tell the hero to stand down."
"What!" Cried Wolf, "He'll get rid of them any minute now!"
"So. The devil will give me a good price for them and their machines. I was just going to give him the hero, but seeing on how things are. I changed my mind." He lifted Vixen slightly off the floor, she grabbed hold of his arm with both her hands to try to take the pressure off her throat. Wolf stood up, and Weasel cowered lower.
"Get your hands off her!" Wolf made forward, angrily.
"Do as I say Wolf! Tell the hero to get them to land. Then tell him to blow up whatever it was you wanted him to destroy for the client. DO IT!" He growled.
Reluctantly Wolf sat down in his seat and spoke to Pheonix. "Change of plan, bruv. Don't ask why, but just trust me okay?"
"Sure, I nearly had him then! I've got two of them here now Wolf! They're not going to get me, never again!"
"Nix, calm down. Change of plan. DO NOT DESTROY THEM!"
"What!" Pheonix's shocked voice answered back "Why not?"
"I'll explain later." He glanced at Snake and caught Vixen's eye before continuing "Foxy has a plan, just get them to land."
"FAB control. I'll see what I can do."
Vixen and Wolf heaved a sigh of relief as Snake released his hold on her. "There, that weren't too hard now was it? Foxy, you take over Wolf's place." He pushed her roughly towards the younger man, who caught her in his arms.
"Wolf, you and me and Rhino are going to pay our guests a visit."
Closing his eyes for a second, Wolf wondered how they were going to get out of this alive. When Snake no longer needed them, they would be dead.
TBTBTB
Okay, so are people still following this?!?! Or have I managed to confuse just about everyone with all the different characters and their motives...???
Hob x