Within the drawing room, Talon and Penny struggled in vain against their bonds. They were seated on the floor, in the midst of comfortable chairs, showing how little Jaq cared about them. James had taken their Codexes and their phones. They were facing each other, and Penny's eyes told Talon: You are so dead if we get out of this.

There had been a long pause after Jaq made the video call. Then, across the room, an elevator came down, bringing Gadget. He had obeyed the instruction to come alone. A glass door was at the bottom of the shaft, but it didn't open for him. He raised his voice.

"Jacqueline Pincer and James Pond, I am arresting you for kidnap, criminal damage to historic properties, and various maritime offences I will have to look up."

Jaq laughed.

"And this is the world's greatest detective? I really want your PR agency. So you're the one with all the gadgets? Well, let's see how they stand up... against water."

Penny's eyes widened.

Jaq turned to a low, round coffee table. It had a glass dome over the top, which she slid aside to reveal various controls, set into the mahogany surface. She touched a couple of buttons, and Penny saw seawater begin to seep up through the floor of Gadget's cubicle. Gadget looked round for escape, but the door wouldn't open, and there were no controls inside the elevator. He was trapped, as the water began to rise.

Penny jerked her head free of the gag, with a skill born of long practice.

"OK, that's enough! Let him go!"

They all turned, as the doors of the drawing room opened to reveal the escaped Pincer agent. Jaq's eyes blazed as he strode into the room.

"How dare you come in here without knocking! What..."

The agent said nothing, but placed the metal chest upon the carpet. Jaq's eyes gleamed.

"The Lost Treasure of Atlantis!"

"I found it, ma'am," the agent said. Jaq wasn't angry now. She was positively purring.

"What's your name?"

"Grunt, ma'am."

"Grunt, how would you like to be Head of Security...?"

"Twenty million dollars' worth of gold?" James asked. "In there?" He reached out a hand towards the chest, but Jaq slapped it away.

"I'll be opening that, James, when I'm ready." She paused. "I'm ready now."

She grabbed the PPE from him, aimed it and shot the lock off with one bullet. She lifted the lid to reveal...

... a chest empty, except for a single scrap of parchment.

"What? Where is it?"

James picked up the parchment.

"Dear Sir or Madam, this is the last letter of the King of Atlantis. Please take good care of our fair city. By the way, there's no gold left. We owed a lot of money to the City of Athens. Good luck and Gods bless, the King."

Jaq turned slowly, towards the agent. His mouth had fallen open. She could see Penny and Talon, shaking with laughter.

"As I was saying, Grunt... how would you like to be Head of Security... at my second home, in Siberia?"

She aimed a thump at him, and Grunt backed away. James was grinning... until Jaq slapped him, too.

Penny and Talon took advantage of all this domestic drama. Unseen, they shuffled round back to back, and in time-honoured fashion, untied each other's bonds. Talon ripped the gag off and aimed a karate kick at Jaq, knocking the Water PPE from her hand. He levelled it.

"OK, nobody move! Or I'll fill you full of water!"

That reminded Penny. She ran to Uncle Gadget. The cubicle was half-full of water now. He had extended his legs to maximum height, so that was all that could be seen of him, but they were already sparking with electricity. Any more water and he would need serious surgery.

She ran to the control table. The controls were similar to those at James's. She managed to reverse the current. The water level began to fall.

The drawing room doors flew open, and Jade and Gareth entered. Jade took the lead.

"Right... Swimming Instructors. Nobody move. We've already released the mermaids. The Gadgetmarine's outside. Come on, guys."

Penny hesitated. She still couldn't open the glass door. Back at ground level, Gadget raised his voice.

"Stand back, Penny. Go-go-Gadget Mallet!"

A huge mallet emerged from his head and smashed the glass. Gadget entered the room, in considerable confusion.

Talon had found another water source... a fire extinguisher. Though why this was needed under the sea, he didn't know. He sprayed Jaq, James and Grunt right in their faces, giving everyone else time to back away towards the door.

Penny dashed out into the corridor.

"Talon, come on!"

Talon hesitated. Then he went to Jaq's desk and retrieved the envelope. He placed it back into his jacket, and ran after the others.

Gareth was also lingering, beside the control table, studying a digital readout. With a grin, he put out a handful of suntanned fingers and stabbed them at the controls. He watched as a row of numbers changed. Then he ran out to join Talon.

On the floor, disorientated, soaked, the villains saw none of this. But Jaq was first to leap to her feet.

"Quick! After them!"

Once they were outside the Palace, Gadget took command.

"OK everyone, will you all go calmly and sensibly... up the ladder, and on board the submarine."

Everyone was scrambling aboard. The mermaid girls were finding it a very difficult climb in their fish-tails, and Penny wondered why they didn't take them off. Then she realised she was the only one wearing jeans underneath.

The children and young adults all stared at the motley crew clambering aboard. The handcuffed Pincer agents were all glowering. Professor Von Slickstein looked as if he really wanted to get back and have a cup of tea. He had chattering children and muttering bad guys, all overloading his beautiful new vehicle.

He fired up the propellers, and the Gadgetmarine roared away.

Soon, they were leaving the ruined city, and heading back amongst fish and corral.

"Look out for the sharks!" called Penny. "And look out for my arrow. It's the way outta here!"

Talon pointed back. "Look!"

They all looked out of the portholes to see the underwater car speeding after them. James was driving, with Jaq Pincer seated beside him. Grunt must have been left behind. Penny felt a moment's sorrow for him.

The radar beeped. The Professor checked it.

"Missile alert! Guided missile, at 7-7-4!"

Everyone yelled, especially Gareth and the kids. Talon was nearest to the controls. His Computer Science PhD and time driving MAD vehicles came in handy. He mastered the systems in seconds.

"Penn... c'mere! Dual control!" Penny took another panel. "Engage force shield... NOW!"

Both of them flicked switches.

They felt the impact as the missile rebounded from the sub, then headed back towards its source... the underwater car.

Penny saw Jaq and James, yelling silently as it came back to them.

Then there was an explosion. Penny switched off the screen. If it didn't destroy them, they would be off the road for quite a while.

Everyone relaxed, and Jade started to hand around the snacks from the Metro Baths coffee shop.

"OK everyone, nightmare over."

The children were soon eating and chatting away happily, as if they were on a school trip.

"We'll soon have you home," said Gadget. He turned to Jade. "You did really well. Have you ever thought about a career in law enforcement and battling supervillains? We could use you, at HQ."

"So then I launched the fire extinguisher against her!" Talon told a group of admiring mermaids. "And then... I..." He saw Penny glaring at him. "Then I went to talk to my wife. Excuse me."

For a moment, he put a hand inside his jacket and checked he still had the envelope. Then he went back to join the HQ team.

Penny was beside a porthole. She pointed.

"Look, there's my arrow! And there's the portal. We'll be home, soon."

Jade came and sat beside Gareth. He was still grinning. "What's the joke?"

Gareth pointed back in the direction of Jaq and James.

"I'm not just a pretty face and a hunky body. I did I.T. at night school. They wouldn't have gotten away. Before we left the Palace, I changed the coordinates of that space/time portal."

Everyone stared at him.

"You WHAT?"

The Gadgetmarine shook as it entered the portal.

Then suddenly, the waves and the fish had disappeared from outside the portholes. Everyone could hear traffic noise and horns blaring and motorists shouting. Penny ran and activated the visi-screen.

They were on an island... but not one surrounded by water. A traffic island, on the main road out of Metro City. Everyone was staring at the sudden appearance of a submarine. It was causing tailbacks for miles around.

There were screams from the kids and yells from the adults.

"Gareth, you musclebrain!"

"This isn't designed for dry land..."

"HELP!"

"Go-go-Gadget Emergency Caller!"

"There's one thing, Penn. At least I'll be late for my next therapy session..."

THE END

Another Inspector Gadget story coming soon!