THE strain on the one remaining cable was becoming too much. Being pulled in both directions by the bus and the Pod was causing it to weaken badly. Despite Gordon's best efforts the bus was steadily slipping further over the edge of the cliff due to the subsidence.

John had been watching the situation unfolding from Thunderbird 5 with great concern. "Guys, the cliff is going to collapse again," he said. "Scott, you have to get out of there now!"

Scott recovered himself and pulled Dillys up off the floor. "My thought exactly," he said. "Gordon, can you keep it steady at all?"

"I'm trying, bro!" Gordon replied over the radio. "But the Pod's making some really weird noises!"

Virgil saw smoke rising from within the Pod. "The engine's straining!" he realised. "You can't keep it up, Gordon. Scott, get Mrs Price out. I'm gonna cut the cable as soon as you're clear." He moved away from the others and readied his shoulder-mounted laser torch.

"F-A-B!" said Scott. "Mrs Price, hold onto me. We're leaving!" Dillys grabbed hold of Scott as he activated his jetpack flying them both up through the bus. He made sure to position himself so that Dillys was protected from any flying glass as he smashed his way right through the windscreen and out into the open. "We are clear!" Scott announced.

Another lurch caused Gordon to feel the Pod be dragged a short distance towards the cliff whilst the bus was almost at a fifty degree tilt over the edge. "VIRGIL!" he cried.

"Hang on, Gordon!" Virgil called back as he activated the laser. The red beam sliced through the cable and it snapped. The Pod darted backwards before Gordon brought it to a stop whilst the bus disappeared over the edge of the cliff.

Trevor and his passengers were all silent and still as they gazed at the spot where the bus had been before the silence was broken by a loud crash as they heard the bus hit the rocks far below. This was followed by an explosion as the fuel in the tank ignited and a plume of black smoke began to rise.

"My bus…" Trevor said with a whimper. The bus had been his pride and joy for years and now it had gone. Helen and Bronwyn put their hands on the heartbroken bus driver to comfort him whilst the kids were just glad to be alive.

Scott landed with Dillys who was embraced by a very relieved Norman. "MUM!"

"Ohhhh, Norman. My precious!" Dillys replied. "I thought I would never see you again!"

Scott removed his helmet.

Norman looked up at him. "Thank you, Mr Thunderbird," he said.

"I, er, you're welcome, young man," Scott replied.

Gordon came to join them. "Is everyone okay?" he asked.

"I think so," said Virgil. "One driver and seven passengers."

"Is everyone okay?" Scott asked.

"Yes, thank you," said Helen and Bronwyn and the kids nodded.

"No…" Trevor said miserably. "I've lost my bus."

The three brothers looked at each other. They'd heard that kind of remark before and were used to it. They knew that the bus could be replaced whereas their lives could not.

James then spoke to Bronwyn. "Mum, can we go to the beach now, please?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, James," Bronwyn replied. "But without Mr Evans's bus we can't go anywhere. It looks like we're going to have to get another bus to take us home."

"But, Mum!" protested Sarah. "We want to go to the beach!"

"Sarah, even if we do go to the beach, what are we going to do there?" asked Mandy. "Our swimsuits, buckets and spades were all on the bus."

The twins looked as though they were about to cry.

"Where is it you were heading?" asked Gordon.

"Just over there," Helen said. "We were going to the village just around the headland."

"Ah, yes, I think I saw it as we came in," said Virgil. Then he had an idea. "How about we take you there? Hey, kids, who wants a ride in the big green flying machine?" He pointed to Thunderbird 2.

The kids' eyes all lit up.

"Seriously?!" exclaimed Norman, unable to contain his excitement. "We're gonna have a ride in one of the Thunderbirds?!"

Virgil turned to Scott. "May we, Scott?" he asked.

Scott hadn't looked too keen on the idea but when he saw all the kids' faces he relented. "Sure," he said. "Always wanting to give our fans a show."

Scott returned to Thunderbird 1 whilst Gordon returned the Recovery Pod to Thunderbird 2's module with Virgil and the bus passengers close behind. The four children were very excited as Virgil closed up the door of the module and lowered the main body back down ready for take-off once he'd returned to the cockpit. Thunderbird 1 was already airborne by the time Virgil fired up the VTOL engines and soon the green leviathan was in the air as well. "Thunderbus 2 is GO!" joked Virgil.

Ned had found himself an idyllic picnic spot on a hill overlooking the cliffs that overlooked the beach at the small fishing village. He had set up a picnic blanket next to the Beetle with a basket full of his favourite foods and drink whilst he had placed Gladys on the opposite side. "Ahhhhh, this is marvellous, isn't it, Gladys?" he said to the geranium. "The Sun, the sea, the cool breeze. And absolutely nothing to disturb us."

But Ned couldn't have been more wrong for at that very moment Thunderbirds 1 and 2 came soaring overhead at very low altitude and the rush of wind almost blew Ned, Gladys, his picnic and even the Beetle away.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Ned squealed, grabbing the basket and Gladys and saving them from being taken on an unexpected journey. He then looked up and saw the unmistakable shapes of the two Thunderbirds heading away towards the village. "International Rescue?! What are they doing here?!" He got to his feet and waved angrily after them. "LOOK, I KNOW YOU'VE SAVED MY LIFE MANY TIMES BUT DO YOU HAVE TO NEARLY RUIN MY PICNIC/!" he bellowed, even though he knew that they couldn't hear him. He then set to work setting the picnic back up the way it was. He then checked the Beetle. "Are you okay, Wilson?" he asked. "Has the noise damaged any of your windows? No? Phew, that's a relief. I don't want to be paying for any repairs to you so soon after your restoration." He then sat himself down again and patted the car's wheel. "It is the start of a new and beautiful relationship for us all."

Virgil landed Thunderbird 2 on the beach as there was nowhere in the village for him to land the ship. The beach was at an angle that was fine for Thunderbird 2 to rest on but Scott didn't fancy landing Thunderbird 1 on it. So instead he decided to land in the largely empty village seaside car park instead, much to the surprise of the man in charge of it.

Scott powered down his ship and left to go and join the others. As he went he noticed the startled look on the attendant's face. "Hey, you!" he called. "Keep and eye on her for me, please." He then walked off leaving the man at a loss for words.

Norman, Mandy and the twins were happy to finally be at the beach but as their mothers pointed out, they still had a problem.

"Just how are you all going to have fun without all your toys and swimming outfits?" asked Helen.

"Does the village sell buckets and spades and swimming outfits?" asked Gordon.

"I believe it does," said Dillys. "This place gets very busy during August I have seen."

Gordon smiled. "Perfect," he said. "Come on, kids. Let's get you some replacement beach equipment."

The kids cheered and hurried happily after him.

They passed Scott as they headed for the shops. He was surprised to see Gordon with them. "Gordon, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Treating the kids to some replacement beach stuff, Scott," Gordon replied. "Plus I want to help them have fun."

"Gordon, we're International Rescue!" Scott hissed. "We're not supposed to be having fun with all the kids we help rescue."

"Ah, don't be such a sourpuss, Scotty," teased Gordon as he hurried after the kids. "I'll buy you an ice cream!"

Scott tried to respond but it was just a splutter.

Virgil joined him. "Come on, Scott," he said. "Those kids have just been through probably the closest encounter with doom they'll ever know. Let us make it a day for them to remember."

Scott sighed. "But Dad would never allow this, Virgil!" he said. "We're on call 24/7. What would he say if he found out we were helping babysit children?"

"Call it victim support," said Virgil. He pressed the radio on his sash. "Thunderbird 5. All occupants of the bus are safe and at their destination. We're just going to make sure they're settled and safe before we head home."

"In other words you're having a day at the beach?" John remarked. "Sorry, guys I was listening in. I heard Gordon say something about ice cream?"

"John, if we get any other emergency calls, let us know immediately," Scott said swiftly, his tone sounded irritable.

"No worries, Scott," John said with a chuckle. "If we hear anything, you'll be the first to know."

"F-A-B," said Scott as he and Virgil signed off.

"Come on, sourpuss," joked Virgil. "Let's go get that ice cream. And besides, those kids look like the kind that could get themselves into trouble. Maybe we should stick around for a bit?"

Scott rolled his eyes but said nothing.

Professor Harold had finally gotten the treasure chest he'd recovered from the shipwreck into the hold of his old fishing boat and began to celebrate with a large bottle of scotch. He was so full of wreckless joy that he did not stop to think about his next actions - which resulted in him drinking three bottles of alcohol. By the time he had consumed half of the third bottle, he was feeling somewhat unbalanced and loud. "Millions of pieces of gold," he said out loud whilst looking down at the treasure chest. "And that's ALL MINE!" He roared with laughter. He then staggered over to the wheelhouse and pushed open the throttle. "Take us home!" he jeered, completely forgetting that the boat's autopilot would only take him so far inland before it would need to be disengaged and he would have to take over. The boat sailed on heading in the direction of the beach.

John couldn't help but feel a little envious of his brothers at that very moment. He closed his eyes and breathed out as he floated.

"John?" EOS asked, concerned. "You have a strange look about you and I'm not sure I like it. Are you okay?"

John snapped back to reality. "I er, ahem. I'm fine, EOS. Sorry," he said. "I was just thinking about ice cream. I've not had any for a very long time."

"I see," said EOS. "Well, I was going to show something if you're in the right frame of mind?"

John came back over to the holo-globe. "What is it?" he asked.

"I've been going back over the recorded flight plan of the missing GDF Flyer," EOS said. "This is the last recorded position of the Flyer before it was lost."

"And did you find any clues?" asked John.

"Yes," said EOS. "Take a look at what's just above it."

John looked and noticed there was an island located a few miles to the north of where the Flyer had come down. "Interesting," he said. "I don't ever recall noticing that island before. What do you have on it?"

"Absolutely nothing, I'm afraid," EOS replied. "There's no record of it anywhere. From the initial scans that I have made it looks to be uninhabited."

"And yet there's definitely some kind of heat signature coming from it," John said as he examined the scan of the mysterious island. "Can you get a satellite image?"

"Sending now," said EOS.

An image of the island appeared in front of John. The island wasn't massive and was mostly made up of a large mountain with a crater on the top. "Looks like an extinct volcano," said John. "The crater's sealed which means it's not erupted for years. Probably why we didn't know about it."

"Could the heat signature be lava?" asked EOS.

"Maybe," said John. "Run a thermal scan."

EOS did so and produced a perfect x-rayed 3D-map of the island. "Well there's no lava that I can detect," she said. "But there's definitely something built into the volcano."

"Some kind of complex," John said. "This is most interesting. Brains, are you there?"

Brains's hologram appeared. "Yes, J-John?" he said.

"Brains, take a look at this and see what you make of it," said John as he forwarded the scan to Brains down on Tracy Island.

Brains looked at the hologram scan with interest. "How v-very odd," he remarked. "W-Where exactly is this, John?"

"It's in the North-East Pacific Ocean," John explained. "EOS discovered it whilst searching for clues on the downed GDF Flyer. It's only a few miles away from where the Flyer was last recorded."

"Hmmm," said Brains thoughtfully. "And I see that there's s-some kind of complex built into the base of the volcano. Do you think there c-could be a connection?"

"Hard to say," said John. "But it's the only piece of land for thousands of miles. It seems most likely."

"We'd b-better inform Kayo and the GDF I guess then?" said Brains.

"Inform me of what?"

Brains jumped at the sound of Kayo's voice as she entered the lounge having just come out from the gym.

"Ah, Kayo," said John. "We might have something for you."

"Is it linked to The Hood?" asked Kayo.

"Quite possibly," said John. "Take a look at this."

Kayo threw down her towel onto one of the sofas and began to examine the hologram image of the strange island. "Hmmm, let's see," she said. "An unidentified volcanic island with a strange complex built right inside of it. This has got supervillain hideout written all over it. Where is it, John?"

"I'll send the position shortly," said John. "But first I'm going to have to ask that you bring in the GDF with you as backup. The Hood and Havoc have proven themselves to be very dangerous now. More so than before. It could be suicide if you went by yourself."

"I agree," said Kayo. "My uncle's already unleashed some horrible surprises on us. I am not gonna get caught unprepared again. I'll call Captain Rigby and see if he can meet me out there."

"K-Kayo, I have made some upgrades to Thunderbird Shadow following your last encounter with The Hood," said Brains. "I am n-not proud of them, but given just how dangerous he has become, I felt that I had no choice but to do so."

Kayo was intrigued. "What is it?" she asked.

Brains moved aside the hologram of the island to bring up the schematics of Thunderbird Shadow and showed Kayo and John what he'd added.

"You've added missiles?!" asked John.

"And a secondary cockpit seat?" added Kayo.

"And upgraded the s-sonic cannon by three times the power it was before," Brains added. "Kayo, I got Mr T-Tracy's approval to add these to Thunderbird S. They are for defence p-purposes only. Do not use them unless you are f-forced to."

Kayo nodded. "F-A-B," she said as she went over to the chair that would take her down to the changing rooms. "Send that location to Shadow's computer, John. I'm going out there."

Sitting in the chair, the elevator took her down to the underground tunnel before taking her sideways to the turntable and turning before she turned off to the right and into the changing room where she got her uniform attached. She then went to the Shadowbike and climbed in before racing down the corridor to the lift that rose the Shadowbike into the main body of Thunderbird Shadow. The conveyor then moved the craft up the vertical tunnel to the revolving section of cliff where it was turned from inside to the outside. The yellow stand then turned so that the craft was now facing skywards.

5! 4! 3! 2! 1!

The engines fired and the clamp was released. The craft dropped backwards over the house before she flipped around to horizontal flight and raced away from Tracy Island. "Thunderbird Shadow is GO!" Kayo said.

Brains watched from the window as the small black aircraft disappeared from view. John's hologram was still active and he'd been watching as well.

"Do you t-think she'll be alright?" Brains asked anxiously.

"Kayo's one of the toughest people we know, Brains," John replied. "But I do wonder if even she has met her match. The Hood and Havoc have become far more deadly than they were before."

With the location received, Kayo now knew where she was headed, but knew she also had to keep her word about not going to the island alone. She put in a call to the GDF Headquarters near Washington. "Thunderbird Shadow calling GDF Command. Do you copy?"

To her surprise, instead of Colonel Casey, it was Captain Rigby who answered. "Kayo! What a pleasant surprise. To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"I have a potential lead on The Hood and Havoc," Kayo said. "There's an uncharted island a few clicks from where the Flyer went down. I was going to ask Colonel Casey if she could spare you?"

"Colonel Casey has been given mandatory compassionate leave now that her daughter is out of the hospital," Rigby said. "I am in temporary command, and it would be my pleasure to join you."

Kayo raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "But if you come with me, who's going to run the GDF?"

"Casey and I aren't the only officers in the GDF you know," said Rigby with a laugh. "I'll get Lieutenant van Arkle take charge whilst we check the place out. Where shall I meet you?"

"Out the front," Kayo replied. "Brains has fitted Thunderbird S with a secondary cockpit seat. I will pick you up."

"Perfect," said Rigby. "I'll be waiting." And he signed off.

The children had all but forgotten their ordeal from that morning. Norman and Mandy were out swimming in the sea whilst James and Sarah got busy making a sandcastle. Bronwyn, Dillys and Helen were also in bikinis and were sunbathing on the sand nearby. The only one not relaxing was Trevor who was trying to explain the loss of his bus to his managers and requesting that a different bus come to collect them that evening.

Scott, Virgil and Gordon were pretty relaxed as well as they sat on a wall between the harbour breakwater and the beach. As promised, Gordon had gotten them all ice creams, which he'd ended up having on the house due to the seller realising who he was from. He had strawberry ice, Virgil had a choc-ice and Scott had a mint-ice.

"Mmmmm," said Scott approvingly once he'd finished devouring the cone. "You were right, Gordon. I highly approve of that."

"Some of the best ice cream I've ever had," agreed Virgil. "We should get some for the island."

"I believe they sell tubs of different flavors," Gordon said. "Want me to go and ask?"

"Sure," replied Scott. "But then I really do think that we need to get back to base. We've spent too long out here if you ask me."

Virgil and Gordon agreed. "I'll go and see about those tubs," said Gordon.

"I'll go and check on the adults and kids," said Virgil as he pushed himself off the wall.

"And I'll take Thunderbird 1 back," said Scott.

The three brothers split up with Gordon heading over to the ice cream shop whilst Virgil and Scott made their way back towards their ships.

James had just tipped over his bucket to make the next part of the sandcastle when something out on the water caught his eye. He could see Norman and Mandy splashing about and having a good time. But it was what was just beyond where they were that had caught his attention. A small blue fishing boat was coming their way, and it seemed to be heading straight towards where they were swimming. "Sarah?" he said anxiously as he got to his feet. "Are Norman and Mandy in danger?"

"What are you talking about?" Sarah asked, for she had got her back facing towards the sea.

James pointed a trembling finger out and Sarah turned to look. She gasped when she saw the boat and the course it was heading. "Oh, no!" she cried. "We've got to warn them!" She got to her feet and both she and James began to wave frantically and call out to their friends. "MANDY! NORMAN! LOOK OUT!"

Their screams caught the attention of their mothers who lifted their heads and saw them waving their arms in the air. They then looked out to sea and saw the boat rapidly closing in on where Norman and Mandy were.

"Oh, my heavens!" exclaimed Dillys as they scrambled to their feet. "NOOOOOOOOOOOORMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"

"MANDY, BEHIND YOU!" bellowed Helen, also frantically.

Norman and Mandy thought they could hear shouting but weren't able to hear properly. They looked and saw everyone waving and calling out to them.

"Are they trying to get us back in?" asked Norman.

"But we've only been out here for like five minutes," grumbled Mandy. "They can't want us out this soon."

Scott and Virgil also noticed the commotion and stopped in their tracks.

"Odd," remarked Scott. "I wonder what the problem is now?"

Before Virgil could answer, Trevor ran across their path towards the water. "KIDS, GET OUT OF ITS WAY! MOVE!"

The two brothers looked out across the water and gasped when they saw the fishing boat bearing down on the two unsuspecting children.

"What the heck?!" exclaimed Virgil. "How fast is it going?!"

"Never mind that!" Scott cried. "It's heading straight for those kids!" Without hesitating, he activated his jetpack and rocketed off without his helmet towards the scene. As he went, he quickly went through his options. One - he could grab the kids and lift them clear of the oncoming boat. Two - he could board the boat and steer it away from them. A quick double check of the distance between them and the boat soon made up his mind. He decided to go for the first option.

Mandy at that moment took the decision to try and swim on her back. As she turned, she found herself faced with a terrifying sight as she finally saw the fishing boat less than fifteen metres from where she was and closing rapidly with Norman between her at it. "NORMAN, LOOK OUT!" she screamed. "BEHIND YOU!"

Norman now looked behind him and saw the boat as well. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" he screamed and tried to panic-swim away, not to try and get out of the way, but in the same direction meaning it was still closing in on him.

"MANDY! NORMAN! GRAB MY HANDS!" bellowed Scott and he swooped down from the sky. He grabbed Mandy and dragged her through the water as he then grabbed hold of Norman and then titled his body so that the thrust from the jetpack pushed all three of them up and out of the path of the oncoming fishing boat. They were just in time for it passed behind them seconds later. Scott turned himself and the two terrified kids around and flew them back to the beach and dropped them into the arms of their relieved parents. No sooner had he done that when a loud grinding crunch made everyone spin around just in time to see the fishing boat collide with some submerged rocks and come to a halt, listing at twenty degrees to starboard and with its engine still running at full power.

"What on earth is that maniac playing at?!" demanded Helen. "He could have killed our kids!"

"Everyone stay well back," Scott instructed. "I am going to make that vessel safe. Then we'll try and get some answers for you."

The three mothers moved their children as far back from the boat as they could whilst Scott hurriedly made his way back to the fishing boat. He jetpacked onto the deck and entered the wheelhouse where he pulled the throttle back to neutral and pressed a button to switch off the engine. "Phew!" he said. "That sure was a near miss."

"Scott!" Virgil's voice came over the radio. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Virgil, I'm fine," Scott replied. "I've shut down the engine. Now all we have to do is find out who owns this tub."

Virgil and Trevor had run down to the mothers and children with Trevor staying to keep an eye on them whilst Virgil continued towards the boat. He could see Scott in the wheelhouse as he talked over the radio. But it was then that he caught sight of a second figure emerging from behind the cargo hold. The figure was making its way towards the wheelhouse brandishing what looked like a Samurai sword. "SCOTT, BEHIND YOU!"

Scott looked round just in time to see the figure let out what could only be described as a drunken roar of rage as it lunged at him with the sword. He ducked and dived out of the way just as the figure entered the wheelhouse and tripped over Scott before letting go of the sword which shattered one of the windows due to its momentum and then it banged its chin against the wheel before landing in a groaning heap on the floor. "Well," said Scott as he untangled himself from the man who'd just tried to attack him. "I think I've found the owner of the boat." He rolled the man over so he could see his face. Blood was trickling down his neck from the gash on his chin from where he'd hit it against the wheel. "That looks nasty," Scott observed. "But other than that I-" He broke off and wretched as he was suddenly hit by an extremely strong smell of alcohol coming off the man's breath. "Holy-" Scott said, trying not to throw up. Then he saw the three empty bottles of gin scattered across the deck outside the wheelhouse. Then he put two and two together.

A scrabbling noise from outside announced the arrival of Virgil as he'd waded out to the boat and pulled himself aboard. "Scott! Are you hurt?" he asked when he saw his brother on the deck.

"No, Virg, I'm…fine," Scott spluttered. He then indicated to the man on the floor of the wheelhouse who seemed to be in a complete daze. "Virgil, the man's drunk!" he said angrily. "He stinks!"

Virgil then noticed the smell as well. "Eyuck!" he exclaimed. "Even Gordon doesn't smell that bad!"

"WHAT'S THAT ABOUT ME?!" Gordon's voice was heard from nearby. He had seen the crash of the fishing boat and had run over to see if he could help.

"GORDON, GO AND GET THE AUTHORITIES DOWN HERE!" Virgil shouted back. "WE HAVE A BADLY INJURED FISHERMAN ABOARD HERE!"

Helen then spoke up. "I'm a nurse," she said to Gordon. "If he needs First Aid, I could help."

"When I'm through with him, he'll need more than First Aid!" fumed Dillys. "He almost squashed my little precious!"

Norman winched. He hated it when Dillys called him that.

The man in the wheelhouse groaned as he sat himself up. The world was spinning and he had a massive headache, but he wasn't totally out of it as he began to mumble which caught Scott and Virgil's attention. "Must…repel…boarders…" he said. "Have…to…protect…treasure…"

"Boarders? Treasure?" repeated Virgil. "Is he a pirate or something?"

"He's out of his mind, that's what," replied Scott as he was still trying to come to terms with the stench of the alcohol.

Virgil looked down into the cargo hold which still had the open hatch. "Woah!" he exclaimed. "Scott, look at that!"

Scott peered in and saw it too. "An old treasure chest?" he said. "That looks ancient. I wonder where he got that from?"

"Don't…take…my treasure!" the man said as he tried to pull himself to his feet only to lose his footing and fall back down again.

It was only now that the two brothers realised who the man was. His appearance had changed quite a bit since their last encounter as he had a much more bushier grey beard and more hair than before but the voice was unmistakable.

"Good grief!" said Scott, jumping to his feet. "Professor Harold?!"

The man looked up at the sound of his name. "Yes?" he said slowly. "Who are you?"

It had been a few years, but Scott hadn't forgotten the Professor and his attitude to choosing history over the lives of people - especially those of Gordon, Lady Penelope and Parker who he'd left trapped inside an ancient pyramid in Peru. "I'm International Rescue," he said as he approached menacingly. "And you have some explaining to do, Professor." He shot forwards and grabbed the Professor by the scruff of his shirt. "WHY WERE YOU DRINKING WHILST OPERATING A BOAT?!"

"D-Drinking?" spluttered Professor Harold with a slur in his voice. "I wasn't drinking. I was celebrating my latest discovery."

"And you couldn't wait until you got back to shore before celebrating?!" Scott growled furiously. "There were two young kids swimming directly in the path of your boat! You should have been on watch for any dangers and then you could have avoided a near tragedy!"

Professor Harold scoffed. "Kids, you say?" he said drunkenly. "Would have served them right if they hadn't gotten out of the way."

For Scott, that was the final straw. Before Virgil even had a chance to open his mouth, Scott's right arm was raised before letting out a bellow of rage and punching the Professor extremely hard in the face.

"SCOTT!" Virgil roared, diving him and pulling his brother off of the Professor whose face was now bathed in blood from having a broken nose. Virgil pushed Scott out onto the deck. "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Scott seethed with fury as he scrambled away to the stern of the boat and leant over the side as he tried to calm himself down whilst Virgil tended to the now unconscious Professor Harold.

Scott peered over the side of the boat, looking at his face reflected in the water. "Damn you, Professor. For making me do that!" he cursed. "Damn you!"

The mysterious volcanic island appeared on the horizon as Thunderbird Shadow made its way towards it. It was in camouflage mode and flying almost at sea level giving it the absolute best chance and remaining undetectable to any sensors that might be on the island.

"So you reckon this could be where The Hood and Havoc ended up?" Rigby asked.

"It would seem the most logical explanation," Kayo replied. "There's no other landmasses for miles so if they did manage to escape, this is likely where they would have ended up."

"How could they have escaped though?" asked Rigby. "Havoc was restrained and The Hood was out of it completely when they left us. We also added more than enough security to make sure they didn't try anything stupid."

"I don't reckon it was them, Wayne," Kayo said. "You heard what The Hood said before I knocked him out?"

"Something about a cabal will rise?" Rigby said. "Wasn't sure what he meant by that."

"Sounds like they might have more than them in a team," said Kayo. "Just a theory, but two people do not make a cabal. I reckon they have something big planned. Something put together to take us on."

"And to get revenge for all the times we've stopped their plans?" finished Rigby.

"Exactly," finished Kayo. "Approaching the island now. Let's take a look."

Thunderbird Shadow remained invisible as it began to circle around the island. From their positions in the cockpit they observed the landscape. It was even more baron than they'd originally believed. There were no trees, no forms of vegetation growing on the mountain. It was completely empty. Just one massive mountain that had a beach around the base and a crater that appeared to have some kind of building or vehicle painted black, grey and orange sitting in the middle.

"That looks to be something," Rigby said.

"Agreed," said Kayo. "Let's land and go and take a closer look."

Kayo brought Thunderbird Shadow down and unfolded the landing legs before gripping onto the very edge of the crater. She deactivated the camouflage mode after powering down the engines and opened the canopy of the cockpit so that she and Rigby could climb out.

"Better go stealth ourselves," Rigby said as he pressed a button on his suit which caused all the blue sections to turn black just like when FAB1 went into stealth-mode.

"F-A-B," said Kayo, doing the same with her suit making it go black all over.

As cautiously as they could, they climbed down into the crater and began to make their way over towards the unusual structure. As they approached they began to notice that it had similarities to things that they had seen before.

"It's not a building," Rigby said in a hushed voice. "It's a ship!"

"Yes," agreed Kayo. "It has resemblances to both The Mechanic's old ship and the Chaos Cruiser, only it is at least twice the size of the Cruiser and the paintwork kind of resembles what The Mechanic wears."

"You don't think The Hood has got The Mechanic under his control again, do you?" asked Rigby.

"Definitely not," Kayo replied. "He wouldn't have helped us save Mr Tracy's life if he was. Brains said that during the mission to the Oort Cloud that The Hood planned to turn him into a new Mechanic. Perhaps he's done it to some other innocent person?"

"We'll add that to the list of crimes he's committed if he has," said Rigby. "Now how are we supposed to get in?"

Kayo pointed to what looked like an airlock connector situated underneath the large ship to something on the ground. Then she brought up the schematics from the scan created by Thunderbird 5. "That looks to be the main way in," she said. "However there's a small ventilation shaft on the south face of the mountain. It leads into an airduct deeper into the underground complex. I suggest that we go in that way."

They headed away from the ship and began to make their way back up the side of the crater towards the top. They thought that their blackened suits would make them less noticeable to sensors and the naked eye. It had worked to an extent, but either of them noticed a figure in a white suit emerge from underneath the ship who remained just by its side, watching their every move.