THUNDERBIRD 3 continued to sink into the ash surface of Planet-46. Its Maximum-MAX section was almost submerged by the time the countdown for the Planetomic Rocket launch was completed.

"Twelve. Eleven," continued Sub-5. "Ten. Nine. Eight."

Alan stood very still, unable to know what to do. Each number that the Subterrain counted down made his spine shiver even harder than before. He glanced back at the screen showing the captive Kayo as well as the one showing Thunderbird 3 sinking and looking out the window towards where the rocket stood on the launch pad, seconds away from being launched towards Earth.

"Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Ignition!" finished Sub-5.

With a rumble and a roar, the chemical rocket booster on the Rocket ignited. For a few moments it stood still on the pad before the clamps were released and it lifted off, climbing up towards space, taking Kayo with it.

As Alan watched the rocket flying away via monitor screens, he noticed that something wasn't right with it. It appeared to be weavering about like it was having problems with its systems.

Sub-11, who was on one of the instrument monitors then spoke up. "Fault on guidance system!" she said.

"Change guidance system," ordered the Sub-Chief.

The Subterrains set to work, chattering in their own language that Alan found he was unable to understand. But as he looked around, he realised something. The Subterrains were so busy focusing on the rocket that none of them were watching him. He knew he had to do something and fast. It wasn't just his life and Kayo's that were in jeopardy, it was every single living person back on Earth and the Moon. if the rocket was to hit the Moon and destroy it, it could cause unprecedented carnage on Earth. And if it destroyed the Earth, chances were it would be the end of the Moon as well. He knew he had to stop it, whatever the cost. He turned back towards the Subterrains, and waited for his chance.

"Rocket now functioning perfectly on substitute guidance system," Sub-11 reported.

"Excellent," said the Sub-Chief. He then turned to Alan. "Do not worry, Alan Tracy," he said. "Unlike Earthmen, we do not make mistakes."

Alan's face of fury suddenly turned into a smirk. "Oh, really?" he said. "Did you think to remove this from me when you captured me?" He produced his stun-gun that was still concealed in his secret holster the entire time.

The Subterrains reacted in horror, having not even thought to have checked to see if Alan had any kind of weapons. Before any of them had a chance to do anything, Alan fired a shot at Sub-5, striking him and taking him out. He then did the same to the other Subterrain at the desk in front of the chief. Then he shot the chief and then Sub-11 and the one beside her as well. All five collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Alan put the stun-gun back in his utility sash and moved towards the chief. "Hang on, Kayo, I'll get to you in time."

Brains was using his robot-controlling headpiece to operate Braman. He could see what Braman could and even though Brains hated violence, he found using Braman to attack The Hood somewhat satisfying. "I wouldn't n-normally do this. But for a despicable excuse for a h-human being like yourself, I will make an exception."

Brains's voice was projected through Braman's. Even though it came out as robotic, The Hood knew it was him. "BRAINS! I'M GONNA RIP YOU APART FOR THIS!" The Hood bellowed.

"And you have j-just proved my statement about you," Brains finished.

The Hood roared and managed to extend his wings to break Braman's grip on him. He then let out a sonic scream, sending the robot back down towards the ocean. Brains cried out as the spinning made him feel dizzy but he managed to use the boosters in Braman's feet to escape and fly back up towards The Hood. He then fired a pair of shoulder-mounted rockets at The Hood who in turn threw a number of his razor-bladed feathers back, taking out the missiles but missing Braman who then raised his hands and fired a pair of repulsor blasts that knocked The Hood back further.

"WRETCHED MACHINE!" thundered The Hood and charged at Braman. He took one of his winged blades and stabbed it right through Braman's torso.

"AAAAAHHH!" cried Brains. Although he didn't feel the pain, the sudden surge in electronics caused him to cry out in alarm.

Braman was damaged, but not defeated. He managed to grab hold of The Hood's wings and push him back with the booster force. "Sailing! Sailing! Over the bounding-"

"SHUT UP!" screamed The Hood. He then grabbed one of Braman's arms and used his suit's strength to rip it clean off. Braman then fell away as his systems began to malfunction. "Okay, Brains…" growled The Hood as he began to zoom back down towards Tracy Island. "Now you've really made me angry." Suddenly he felt a jolt as something landed on his back. Then a metal right arm wrapped itself around his right wing. It was Braman who'd regained enough energy to catch up again. "GET OFF ME, YOU PIECE OF S-"

The Hood's shout was interrupted by Braman's boosters firing again and causing them both to spiral through the air with The Hood becoming dizzy and unable to counteract.

"Sailing! Sailing!" Braman said again.

"I SAID SHUT THE HELL UP!" screeched The Hood.

"Prepare for landing," Braman then said and began to guide them down towards the swimming pool.

"WHAT?!" exclaimed The Hood as Braman then punched into his power-pack and disabled it. "NO, YOU IDIOT! I CAN'T STAY AIRBORNE!" Then he saw the water of the pool was almost upon him. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHH!" SPLASH! The Hood practically dive-bombed into the pool, creating a huge column of water that splashed all over the lido and the sun-loungers. He hit the bottom and bounced back up before slamming into the wall. He now felt sick and dizzy as he sank to the bottom. Then came the sounds of warning alarms as several red lights flashed on the heads-up display in his helmet. "Oh, no, no, no!" he cried. "My suit's breached! Water's getting in. I'm gonna blow up!" In a panic, he detached the winged-pack from his suit and swam hastily to the surface, leaving the pack on the bottom of the pool. He only just managed to scramble out of the water before the pack exploded, creating another column of water and making the lido even wetter than before. The Hood lay on his front and pulled off his helmet as he struggled to regain his breath. His heart was beating so rapidly he thought it was going to explode. "Curse you, Brains!" he fumed. "When I find you, I'm gonna-"

"Do nothing."

The Hood slowly turned his head to the right to see a pair of black slippers right next to him. Then he looked up the purple tracksuit before laying his eyes on a furious-looking Grandma. In her right hand was a frying pan. "Ugh…you…" he said bitterly.

Grandma fixed him with a hard stare. "You…are not welcome here," she said before raising the frying pan and slamming it across The Hood's head, knocking him unconscious.

Brains then joined her, removing his control helmet. "W-Was that really necessary?" he asked.

"Yes," Grandma responded bluntly.

Jeff's Thunderbird 4 and Techno's submersible were still at it under the surface of the Pacific off Tracy Island. Jeff would run Thunderbird 4 around in circles whilst Techno tried hard to hit them with small torpedoes and the robotic arms that the submersible had.

By now Techno was getting extremely agitated. "WILL YOU JUST STAY STILL, GODDAMN YOU?!" he bellowed and fired another torpedo at Thunderbird 4.

Jeff grimaced as he pulled Thunderbird 4 away sharply to the left. The torpedo narrowly missed but hit the chunk of tall rock beside it. It toppled over and landed on top of Thunderbird 4 pinning it to the seabed. Jeff growled angrily as he tried to get Thunderbird 4 to move. "Damn it!" he cursed.

Techno moved his submersible around to directly in front of the trapped Thunderbird. He was laughing with triumph. "HA! GOT YOU NOW, JEFF TRACY! HOW DOES IT FEEL?! HUH?! HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE BEAT-GAAAAAAARRRGH!"

Jeff had turned Thunderbird 4's searchlights on full-beam, blinding Techno and forcing him to throw his hands over his eyes. In doing so, he took his hands off the controls. Jeff then fired the grapple cables from the front of Thunderbird 4 which latched onto some more rocks behind the submersible. He then reeled them in, using them to pull Thunderbird 4 out from under the rock pinning it down. He then detached the grapples and moved Thunderbird 4 around behind the submersible. He then grabbed one of the stabilising fins and held on whilst using the laser to start cutting through the rear propeller-housing module.

Techno was seeing stars but his eyes had recovered enough to be able to still see what was in front of his submersible. Or rather, what wasn't. "What the?!" he exclaimed, noticing Thunderbird 4 wasn't there. "WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GO?!" He was then startled by an alarm on the submersible's controls. He checked a holographic schematic showing that a force was being applied to the rear of his craft and that a structural failure was imminent. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" he cried. "STOP!"

"No, Noel…" answered Jeff. "You must be stopped."

With a crack and crunch, the propulsion of the submersible broke away from the rest of the vessel and sank down to the bottom. Without any form of power to move it about, the rest of the sub also dropped down to the seabed whilst Noel was desperately trying to find some way to get back into the action. "NO! NO! NO! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!" he screamed. "I CAN'T LOSE!" He checked his systems. All power to weapons was gone too. He had no control over his vessel at all now. He glanced up as he saw Thunderbird 4 appearing above.

"It's over, Noel," said Jeff. "Please don't continue this. We can help you be free from The Hood."

But Noel wasn't prepared to let that happen. "No, no, no, you're NOT TAKING ME!" he yelled and sprinted from the cockpit into the second escape capsule.

Before Jeff had a chance to stop it, the capsule was launched, shooting up through the water and into the sky. "Damn!" said Jeff. "Brains, Noel's making a run for it!"

"N-Not for long, Mr Tracy," answered Brains. He and Grandma were still out on the lido having just taken out The Hood and had seen Noel's escape pod launch out of the water. "B-Braman…fetch."

Despite being damaged, Braman launched and chased after Noel's escape capsule. But his power was not at 100% and the pod was gaining distance on him.

Noel, unaware of what was occurring outside, was a little relaxed at the belief he'd escaped, but was livid at having lost his equipment. As he sat in his seat, shaking and swearing to himself, he suddenly heard something go clunk on the top of the capsule before it was violently pulled around and back in a different direction. "What the hell?!" he exclaimed. He felt the speed of the capsule increase dramatically. It was clear that something had grabbed hold of it. "Phantom? Swan? Boss? That better be you out there!" he shouted, even though he didn't use his radio. Then he felt the capsule swing upright before coming to a sudden stop and getting lowered down to the ground. Shakily, he unfastened his safety-harness and crept towards the door. When it opened, he hoped to see one of his colleagues. He was wrong. To his dismay, he found himself on the lido of Tracy Island with Brains, Grandma and MAX looking back at him standing over the unconscious Hood. Noel stared at them for a second before looking up to see what had snagged his capsule. It was Thunderbird 1. He let out an angry bellow at the silver rocket hovering above.

"N-Noel Casey?" Brains said. "Or do you prefer T-Techno?"

Noel turned his attention back to Brains. Then he looked at MAX and held out his right arm revealing it had a technology-controlling device which he began trying to hack into MAX. MAX let out a squeaking yelp as he tried to fight being taken over.

"M-MAX!" Brains cried.

Noel laughed. "Not anymore," he said. "Soon this bot will be mine!"

Before Brains could intervene, a red laser came out from above and sliced through MAX's neck, taking his head clean off and dropping to the floor. The rest of MAX's body then slumped down, deactivated. Now Noel couldn't control him anymore.

"SORRY, MAX!"

Noel, Brains and Grandma turned just in time to see Scott come swooping down via his jetpack and charge right at Noel. he did a forward roll before slamming his right boot straight into Noel's face, breaking his nose and sending him flying into the trunk of a nearby palm tree. Noel cried out in pain from both impacts before he crashed onto his back on the floor, groaning and then slipping into unconsciousness.

Scott landed and regained his composure. "I'm sorry, Brains," Scott apologised. "I saw what he was trying to do."

But Brains wasn't entirely cross. "It's o-okay, Scott," he said. "You d-did the right thing. T-Thank you."

"He's just spare parts, right?" said Scott.

Brains nodded. "Exactly," he said.

Jeff then came running onto the lido having beached Thunderbird 4 and locked it down. "SCOTT! MOTHER! BRAINS!"

"Dad!" said Scott, embracing his father with a hug. "You're okay!"

"And so are you, son," said Jeff with relief. He then saw Noel lying on the ground. "You got him."

"We got them," said Grandma.

Jeff and Scott then saw The Hood lying at Grandma and Brains's feet. "Marvellous," said Jeff.

"That's two down at least," said Scott. "I'm afraid The White Ghost got away from me and the Police."

"That l-leaves the rest," said Brains. "I h-hope everyone is okay."

Jeff began to hurry towards the lounge. "Let's go find out," he said.

Leaving Scott, Brains and Grandma along with the damaged Braman to deal with The Hood and Noel, Jeff ran up to the lounge and pressed a button. "International Rescue to all Thunderbirds. Come in, please?"

Holograms of Gordon and Virgil appeared at once. "This is Thunderbird 4. Divers rescued from shipwreck and returned to their mothership, Dad," said Gordon.

"Landslide at mine cleared and workers are walking out as we speak," added Virgil.

"Excellent, boys," said Jeff. "I'm guessing you both had company?"

"Oh, yeah," said Gordon. "I was in hot water shall we say with the Phantom but I managed to take him out the same way as before by pressing his off-switch."

"And I managed to distract Shocker so Hayley could disable his cyber-legs," added Virgil. "She's taken him into custody."

"And I've got Phantom restrained in the back of Thunderbird 4," said Gordon.

"Great work, boys," said Jeff. "That's four down then."

"Four?" asked Virgil and Gordon.

"Scott was right about the distraction," said Jeff. "The Hood and Techno tried to get the jump on us, but we turned it on them. I managed to use the other Thunderbird 4 to take out Techno's submersible then Scott snatched his escape capsule. Brains used Braman to take down The Hood."

Virgil and Gordon grinned. "That just leaves Ghost and Swan," said Virgil.

"Scott encountered Ghost but she got away," said Jeff. "Which can only mean Lady Penelope and Parker must be dealing with Silver Swan."

"Let's hope they've got it in hand," said Virgil.

"Ah, they will, Virg," said Gordon with confidence. "They've done it before."

The missiles were heading on a straight and narrow course. FAB1 was in pursuit with Silver Swan following a short distance behind in order to watch the fun.

"Parker, can't we go any faster?" asked Penelope.

"This h'is all she's got, m'lady!" Parker replied.

Penelope growled. "We need assistance," she said. She opened her compact. "FAB1 to Thunderbird 5, please be free, John?"

John's hologram appeared. "Lady Penelope, are you okay?"

"Been better," Penelope answered. "We're pursuing a barrage of missiles across New Mexico. We'd like some help knowing where they might be going."

John checked the scanners. "Oh, man!" he exclaimed. "They're headed for Albuquerque, too!"

"Too?" asked Penelope. "What are you talking about?"

"Errr, look up," John said.

Parker and Penelope looked up and saw a burning structure in the sky heading down towards the city of Albuquerque.

"What the dickens?!" exclaimed Parker.

"That's the remains of space-station Global-1," said John. "The authorities are trying to perform an evacuation, but there's not going to be time. Albuquerque is about to become a scene of total destruction from two parties."

"Not if I can help it!"

To everyone's surprise, a squadron of four GDF Fighter planes dropped out from above and closed in on the missiles. Leading them was Captain Rigby.

Silver Swan, flying behind, was surprised by the appearances of Global-1 and Rigby's squadron. So much so that she stopped where she was and decided to hover from a distance. "This is gonna be interesting," she said to herself.

"Eagle Squadron," Rigby said. "Take out one missile each, then get the rest to follow you. We'll try and get them to hit Global-1 instead."

"Roger that."

"Copy."

"You got it, Cap."

"Parker, I think we can ease back, don't you think?" said Penelope.

"Right-h'o."

As FAB1 eased back from pursuing the missiles, Rigby's squadron closed in. each fired their front-mounted cannons at a selected target and destroyed four of the missiles. That left four more which they flew in between and caused their automatic targeting systems to acquire and lock onto them instead. They then pulled up, guiding the missiles away from the city and towards the falling wreckage of Global-1.

"Cap, you know this is a one-way trip," said Eagle-3.

"Don't worry, we'll make it," Rigby answered. "Just get ready to punch out."

They climbed higher and higher as the distance between them and the remains of Global-1 fell rapidly towards them. In almost no time at all it was upon them. "Eagle Squadron…PUNCH OUT!" yelled Rigby.

The pilots all crossed their arms and ejected from their planes. The jets carried out and slammed into Global-1, exploding and ripping more of it apart. This then allowed the pursuing missiles to fly up into the wreckage then explode themselves, totally obliterating the remainder of the space-station into thousands of tiny fragments which continued to plummet towards the ground. The vast majority landed harmlessly in fields but some still made it into Albuquerque, striking buildings and causing damage as well as inflicting some casualties. The evacuation was initially thrown into chaos as the panicked residents tried to flee the falling debris.

"Well…that could have been a lot worse," a relieved John remarked to O'Bannon.

O'Bannon was also relieved. "I've known some tense moments in my career but that one beats them all," she said.

"Ah, well," said John with a smile. "We have close calls like this all time."

"Really?" said O'Bannon with an intrigued smile of her own. "I'd like to know more."

John was stumped into silence, unsure how to respond to that. Neither of them noticed the lights on EOS's camera had turned red.

FAB1 began to overfly Albuquerque to survey the damage. They could see paramedics attending to some injured people, but nobody looked to be dead at all. "Things are looking minimal, John," Penelope reported. "I think we got away with this."

"It would certainly seem that way," agreed John. "How are Rigby's people doing?"

"Coming down via parachute," answered Penelope. "We'll see to it that they're okay."

"Great to hear," said John. "I'll report to base. Thunderbird 5 out."

Penelope closed the compact. "Seems all is okay, Parker," she said.

"Yus, m'lady," Parker answered before something caught his eye in the rear view mirror. "Except for 'ER!"

FAB1 was suddenly hit by a sonic scream from an utterly enraged Silver Swan who was beyond angry that her attempt to destroy the city and kill millions had failed. "You think you've won, Lady Penelope?" she said angrily over the radio. "By hell you have! Watch this!" She then dived down into the city straight towards a large group of people who were being treated.

"Oh, my Gosh!" gasped Penelope. "Parker, stop her!"

Parker regained control of FAB1 and dived after Silver Swan.

The people on the ground were startled by the sudden appearance of Silver Swan who let out another sonic scream which sent the injured and the paramedics as well as some Police Officers flying. Some gained even more severe injuries than before.

Silver Swan laughed maniacally as she flew back up ready to find something else to attack.

Some more Police on the ground realised this was hostile and decided to act. "OPEN FIRE!" shouted one, drawing his weapon. He and six others drew their weapons and began shooting up at Silver Swan.

Silver Swan felt the bullets hit her armour and bounce off. "Ha-ha-ha! Pathetic," she mocked and began to dive towards them. In doing so, she flew straight into FAB1's sights.

"H'I got a shot, m'lady," said Parker.

"Don't tell me, just fire!" ordered Penelope.

Parker pressed the button and two missiles shot out from the front of FAB1. They zipped in front of Silver Swan and detonated by hitting each other.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGHHH!" screeched Silver Swan as she was blasted away by the explosion.

At this exact moment, Rigby and his fellow pilots were parachuting down into the city. He was coming down above and behind Silver Swan who had failed to notice him. He saw she was turning her attention back to FAB1 and decided to perform a daring and potentially suicidal act. "Okay, Swan…you're mine!" He released himself from the parachute harness and dropped down, landing his boots right on Silver Swan's back and pushing her down.

"What the?!" exclaimed Silver Swan as she made a sudden drop in altitude. "Who's that?!"

"YeeeeeeeeeeeeeHA!" jeered Rigby as they glided almost above street level. "Does this make me the Silver Surfer?"

"RIGBY?!" shrieked Silver Swan. "Get…OFF!" She tried to flip him off her back but he dropped down and grabbed her by wrapping his arms and legs around her own legs and neck. Now he was kind of controlling what direction she was going in. "ARE YOU CRAZY?!" cried Silver Swan. "YOU'LL KILL US BOTH!"

"IF IT MEANS TAKING YOU DOWN, SO BE IT!" Rigby shouted back and aimed her towards a Bus that had been abandoned in the evacuation alert.

Silver Swan tried desperately to pull up. She let out an almighty scream as Rigby jumped off at the last second. She slammed into the side of the Bus, smashing through its side and becoming stuck inside of it. She wailed in pain, tears now streaking out of her eyes. "Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww…"

FAB1 landed nearby as the Police also ran over.

"Are you okay, sir?" the Officer asked Rigby who was just picking himself up.

"Yeah…thanks," said Rigby. "I'm Captain Rigby of the GDF. And I'm afraid this one is mine."

The Officer backed away. "By all means, sir. And thank you. This city owes you a debt."

A large group of bystanders were gathering and were cheering for Rigby.

Rigby turned to Penelope and Parker. "Nice distraction," he said.

"Nice takedown, Captain," replied Penelope. She looked across. "Oh, and it seems your actions have been well noted."

Rigby looked at the crowd. He wasn't sure what to make of the attention.

A loud smash was heard as one of the windows of the Subterrains launch headquarters was shattered as Alan made a swift escape from the compound on his Astroboard. He wasn't alone though. Behind him, on his knees and with his hands bound with a zip-tie behind his back was the Sub-Chief. Alan had decided to take him back to Earth and give him to the World Government to be made accountable for their actions as well as potentially use him as leverage against the Subterrains should they try and interfere with his rescue.

Racing around the mountain, they soon reached the ash-covered marsh area where Thunderbird 3 was sinking. By now three-quarters of the rocket was now submerged in the ash so Alan knew he had to act quickly. As they approached, he pressed a button on his controller that opened the cockpit hatch and they flew inside. He dropped the Astroboard onto the floor and left the struggling Sub-Chief to tug against his restraints whilst jumping back into the pilot's seat. He powered up Thunderbird 3's chemical rockets and pushed them to full power. The ash was thick and Thunderbird 3 began to struggle against it as it tried to climb out.

"Ahh, COME ON!" Alan roared as he pushed it up as far as it would go. "BREAK! BREAK!"

Finally they managed to escape the sucking grip of the ash and Thunderbird 3 popped out like a cork from a bottle, soaring off away from the surface and breaking free of the atmosphere of Planet-46. Alan bypassed the still orbiting Zero-XL and pushed the ion-engine up to full power to chase after the Planetomic Rocket. He could see it on the radar. It was just ahead and judging by the glow emitting from its rear end he could tell it was about to go hypersonic so it could reach Earth quickly.

"You're too late, Earthman," sneered the Sub-Chief. "You cannot stop them now."

Alan shot him a dirty look. "Just watch me," he retorted as he put on a pair of white gloves. "Deploying Maximum-MAX."

The grasping arms of Thunderbird 3 were deployed with their special MAX additions whilst MAX's head lifted up from the node. He warbled and beeped to tell Alan that he was online and ready.

"Okay, MAX," said Alan. "Let's catch us a rocket!"

Thunderbird 3 closed the gap and within seconds began to fly parallel with the Planetomic Rocket, to the relief of Kayo and the shock of Sub-38 who had not expected to even see Thunderbird 3 at all.

"Mmm mmmph mmmph," Kayo said to the Subterrain.

"No…our mission will not be stopped!" snarled Sub-38, who seemed to have understood what Kayo had said. He reached to try and push the launch button for the rocket, only for Kayo's hands to break free of the straps and she reached out and grabbed him by the throat. "ARCK!"

Seeing Kayo make her move, Alan now made his. He reached out with one grasping arm that was armed with a claw and grabbed hold of the nose of the Planetomic Rocket and held it in place whilst he then used the circular saw arm to cut its hyperdrive engine off, disabling it.

Kayo pulled the metal mask covering her mouth off. "Now you're done," she said before slamming the Subterrain's head into the control panel to knock him out. She then turned to Alan and waved.

Alan grinned and waved back before turning round to look at the Sub-Chief who was staring back in disbelief. "You were saying?"

The Sub-Chief had no words. None at all.

The International Rescue team returned to Tracy Island, battered, bruised but triumphant. Hayley and Rigby along with John held a holographic conference whilst looking at the Wanted image collage that had been created of The Cabal. Red crosses were marked against The Hood, Silver Swan, Techno, The Black Phantom and The Shocker.

"Five out of six in custody," Jeff was saying. "I'd say that's a mighty fine piece of work."

"The GDF have Shocker, Phantom and Swan under heavy guard," said Rigby. "We have a Flyer heading to Tracy Island to collect Techno and The Hood."

"Very good, Captain," said Jeff. "And I understand you're quite the hero?"

Rigby blushed. "Oh, please, Mr Tracy. I was only doing my job."

"The people of Albuquerque would suggest otherwise, Captain," said Penelope. "Your little stunt sure caused a stir."

"The GDF doesn't always get a lot of good press," added Virgil. "I'd say take it."

"I, er, guess, you're right," said Rigby. "Thank you."

Hayley looked around the group in the lounge. "Where's Brains?"

"Down in his lab," said Scott. "He and Grandma are running an MRI scan of Techno to see if Brains can cure him the same way he did to The Mechanic."

"Let's hope he can," said Hayley. "I've been told Colonel Casey is stable now. To give her some good news would be amazing."

Jeff nodded. But then his proud face took a solemn turn.

"Dad?" said Gordon, being the first to notice. "Are you okay?"

"Me? Yes, Gordon," Jeff replied. "You're all safely back. All we need to do now is wait."

"Wait for what?" asked Scott.

Jeff looked towards the wall of portraits. "To hear from Alan and Kayo," he said.

Everyone fell silent. In all the excitement of the day, they'd all completely forgotten that Thunderbird 3 had gone off to Planet-46 before The Cabal had launched its attack.

Alan and Kayo shared a warming hug when Kayo managed to return to Thunderbird 3 before then returning to dock back with the Zero-XL.

"Alan, you've no idea how glad I am to see you're safe," Kayo said.

"Likewise," replied Alan. "When they showed me the live feed of you in that rocket. I thought you were done for. Speaking of which, where's your little friend?"

"You mean Sub-38?" Kayo asked. "I'm afraid he didn't make it. In order to escape from the rocket I had to blow the canopy after using my nano-suit. He didn't have any protection to save him."

"Ahhh, I see," said Alan. Even though it was an alien, neither of them wanted any harm to come to the Subterrains.

"Sub-38 was loyal to the end."

Kayo turned to see the Sub-Chief sitting bound in the cargo bay. "You brought the chief with you?" she said to Alan.

"As leverage to force your captor to surrender," Alan answered. "Although it turns out it wasn't required."

"So what now?" Kayo asked.

Alan looked at the Sub-Chief. "We'll take him back to Earth," he said. "Then he can answer for their crimes."

The Sub-Chief laughed. "All you will achieve is full-scale war between our worlds, Alan Tracy," he said. "My people will not tolerate my capture. They will find a way to avenge me. And there's nothing the three of you can do about it."

"Three?" Alan repeated, exchanging a confused look with Kayo. "There's only two of us."

"Count again."

Alan and Kayo froze. They knew that voice. They turned to look behind to see Sophie approaching them in her hoverchair.

"S-Sophie?!" spluttered Alan. "What are you doing here?"

"Better question, how did you get in here?" asked Kayo.

"I snuck aboard when you were saying your goodbyes to the others," Sophie explained. "Did you think I was going to be left out of this revenge mission?"

"Revenge mission?" repeated Kayo. "We haven't come to exact revenge. Only to try and make peace."

"And look how that turned out," snickered the Sub-Chief.

"Quiet!" snapped Kayo.

"Peace? You have to be kidding, right, Kayo?" Sophie said. "These hideous monstrosities can't be reasoned with! They attacked our people because they are hostile! They cannot be negotiated with."

"Sophie, we now know they don't want peace," Alan said. "But we're not going to let them get away with what they've done. When we get back to Earth, we'll hand him over to the military. They can deal with him."

Sophie glared at him. "No, they won't," she said, turning her hateful stare back on the Sub-Chief. "There won't be anything left of him when I'm done."

"And what exactly do you think you're going to do?" asked Kayo.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sophie asked. "I'm going to kill him."

The Sub-Chief didn't seem to be afraid of this at all. Instead, he grinned like he welcomed it.

"Sophie, you can't," Alan said. "You're not a killer."

"Don't you dare try to talk me out of this, Alan!" Sophie snapped. "That monster has to PAY!"

"He WILL pay, Sophie!" Kayo said, leaning in closer to Sophie. "Look I get you're mad for what they've done but-"

POW! Sophie swung her right arm around and punched Kayo in the face, knocking her over. She also grabbed Kayo's weapon and pulled it out of its holster before pointing it at the Sub-Chief.

"SOPHIE, STOP!" bellowed Alan, jumping in front of her and blocking her aim.

"ALAN, MOVE!" Sophie bellowed back.

"Sophie, please!" begged Alan. "Don't do this!"

"I have to!"

"No, you don't! Grace wouldn't want this."

"DON'T YOU DARE USE HER TO TRY AND STOP ME!" Sophie screamed. "SHE WAS MY SISTER! MY TWIN! MY EVERYTHING! AND THOSE BASTARDS TOOK HER FROM ME!"

"I get that. I really do," Alan said. "I'd feel the exact same pain if I lost one of my brothers."

"And you'd take your revenge just like me," Sophie said.

"No, I wouldn't," said Alan. "I'd want it, but not take it. Justice, not vengeance. If we took revenge we'd be no different to them. Or The Cabal."

Sophie was shaking with fury. "Then you're weaker than I thought you were, Alan," she said. "Family is the most important thing! A crime like this cannot go unpunished!"

Alan could feel his heart racing. He knew he had to try and talk Sophie out of it. But he didn't know how.

"Now get out of the way!" Sophie ordered. "I won't tell you again!"

Alan decided to stand his ground. "Sophie…please give me the gun."

"NO!" Sophie shouted. "DO YOU HONESTLY THINK I'M GONNA FALL FOR THAT?!"

"It was worth a try," Alan muttered.

"Now for the last time!" Sophie continued. "Get…out…of…the…WAY!"

"Or what?" Alan snapped. "You'll kill me too?"

Sophie didn't respond to that at first. Her shaking was intensifying.

"If you really love me, Sophie," Alan continued, "you'll hand me the gun." He held out his hand as a few tears began to trickle down from his eyes. "Please."

Sophie quivered. Tears began to form in her eyes too. "I do love you, Alan," she sniffled. "I really do. But not as much as I loved Grace. I'm sorry."

Alan now felt his heart getting pulled clean apart. That wasn't the response he'd been hoping for. "Well…I guess it's over then?" he said, his breaking as badly as his heart was.

Sophie sniffled as more tears fell. "I guess so…" she whimpered. "Goodbye, Alan."

Alan braced himself. The Sub-Chief grinned delightedly. Sophie pulled the trigger. Click went the gun. Sophie pulled it again. Click. Click.

"What the hell?" Sophie asked, staring at the gun. "Why aren't you working?"

Alan walked forwards and took it out of her hands. "Biometric technology," he said. "They are specifically keyed to our touch. Only the person it belongs to can operate. Oh, also it's stun-only. It doesn't kill."

Sophie seemed frozen to the spot. She stared at Alan, then at the gun and then back at the Sub-Chief who seemed disappointed at not seeing Alan die before him. Sophie's face then turned ugly as her fury against the Subterrain returned. "Screw it!" she said, setting her hoverchair to move forwards. "I don't need your stupid weapon. I have my hands. That's all I need to-" The chair stopped suddenly and powered down. "What the?!"

It was Kayo, who had recovered from Sophie's punch, albeit with a black left eye. She'd reached up and pushed the disable-button concealed in the back of the chair. Now Sophie couldn't move.

"No, no, no!" Sophie cried. "You can't DO THIS TO ME!"

Kayo picked herself up and stared down at Sophie. "It's over, Sophie," she said. "There will be no killing aboard an International Rescue craft."

Sophie couldn't find a response to that. Instead she began to shake uncontrollably again before bursting into tears once more. "Oh, my God, no," she sobbed, burying her face in her hands. "I have to avenge my sister. I loved her so much."

Kayo and Alan looked sadly at Sophie before looking at each other. They didn't need to say anything. The pain was as real for them as it was for her.

Jeff stared. "Are you absolutely sure, Brains?"

"N-No doubt at all, I'm afraid, Mr Tracy," Brains replied. "There is n-no mind-controlling technology implants inside Noel Casey's head. The Hood has d-done nothing to him."

Jeff looked in the glass holding cell at Noel, sitting restrained in a big chair like the one that Colonel Casey had been in. "But that means?"

"Yes, Mr T-Tracy," said Brains grimly. "The content he has for his m-mother is genuine." He then walked away, leaving Jeff alone to stare in disgust at Noel.

Noel looked up at him. "What are you looking at?"

"I'm appalled, Noel," said Jeff.

"At what?"

"The truth. And you," said Jeff. "You really do hate your mother that much?"

Noel sniffed. "Damn right I do," he replied.

Jeff banged his fist against the glass. "WHY?!"

"WHY?!" Noel shouted back. "I'LL TELL YOU THE HELL WHY! FOR SIXTEEN YEARS OF MY LIFE SHE NEVER ATTENDED ONE OF MY BIRTHDAY PARTIES! SHE WAS NEVER THERE AT CHRISTMAS! WHERE WAS SHE?! WORKING! ALWAYS WORKING! HOW CAN A MOTHER DO THAT TO THEIR CHILD?!"

Jeff had no response to that. He couldn't deny that he understood why Noel would be resentful. "All the same," he said. "To side with The Hood? Become a criminal? That's far, far worse."

Noel huffed. "Maybe it is, Jeff Tracy," he said. "But what's done is done. I will never be able to forgive my mother for any of that. And you can't change that either."

Jeff stared at him hard. Then turned away in disgust. As he walked towards the door leading out of the small room by the holding cells, he passed the one containing The Hood. The Hood had got bandages wrapped around his head from the bump where Grandma had hit him over the head. "I suppose you feel pleased with yourself, don't you, Jeff?" he asked.

"The fact that you and most of your comrades are defeated?" Jeff asked. "I sure do."

"Who escaped?" asked The Hood.

"That's not for me to say," Jeff answered.

The Hood snickered. "It doesn't matter. Whoever it is will find a way to release us from whatever prison the GDF put us in. so long as The Cabal exists, your lives will never be peaceful."

"And so long as International Rescue is around, we'll always be here to stop you," Jeff responded. He then left the room, leaving the two villains to brood in the cells.

Thunderbird 3 was now docked with the Zero-XL again. The Sub-Chief had been placed in the same storage locker that The Hood had been put in when returning from the Oort Cloud. Kayo was taking the controls for the journey back to give Alan time to process what had happened between him and Sophie.

Sophie's hoverchair had been secured down in the back of the control room in order to keep it safe during the flight back to Earth. "Did you mean that?" Sophie asked as Alan walked past her after stowing the Chief away. "Are we really over?"

Alan turned back to face her and came over. "I guess so," he answered. "I sure as hell don't want it to be but…" He couldn't even bring himself to finish the sentence.

Sophie looked miserably at her lap. Alan came over and knelt down beside her.

"You were gonna kill me if that gun had fired real shots, weren't you?" Alan said quietly to her.

There was an awkward pause before Sophie responded. "Only if I had to," she sniffled. Then she turned to look at Alan in the eyes. "I bet you're really wishing we hadn't met in that hallway now?"

Alan had no response to that. Instead, they laid their foreheads against each others and began to weep together.

The Subterrains on Planet-46 had recovered in time to watch the Zero-XL disappear at hyperspeed on their radarscope.

"The Earthlings have escaped," said Sub-5.

"And they've taken Sub-1 with them," said Sub-11.

"What do we do now?" asked Sub-18.

Sub-2 knew the answer. "Our planetomic warheads are depleted. It will take a long long time before we can develop that technology again now that Sub-1 is gone. We will find a new way to avenge our leader. We are not done with Earth yet."

Hayley arrived in a GDF Flyer to take The Hood and Noel away personally. Jeff had already informed her the harsh truth about Noel and they along with Jeff and Virgil gave him a look of disgust as he was put into the Flyer. He tried to spit at Virgil but Hayley punched him in response. "Get him out of my sight!" she ordered.

The Hood was brought next. "You know, I honestly thought without Kayo being here, you'd be weaker. I guess I was wrong," he said.

"You're done terrorising this family," Hayley said. "I'll see to it that you and your buddies never see daylight again."

The Hood chuckled. "Ah, Captain Madison. If you and Rigby hadn't been so careless in discussing the matter of Thunderbird 3 going into space, maybe none of this would have happened." He cackled before she then punched him as well before being dragged onto the Flyer.

"What did he mean by that?" Virgil asked.

Hayley thought for a moment. And then it hit her. "Jace!" she realised. "She must be his spy! I will have her arrested at once!" She turned to Jeff and Virgil, suddenly looking guilty. "Oh, God…I'm so sorry if this is true."

"Hey, it's okay, Hayley," said Jeff reassuringly. "You couldn't have known."

"I should have," Hayley said, furious with herself. "Jace was Pierce's secretary. I should have known she'd have it in for me."

"Like Dad said, you couldn't have known," Virgil said. "Don't beat yourself up. We're all alive, aren't we?"

Hayley nodded. "I guess so," she said. She glanced towards the Flyer to make sure nobody was looking before she and Virgil engaged in a smooch. "You all take care. I'll see you soon."

Virgil smiled lovingly. "Love you."

"Love you more."

Virgil and Jeff watched as Hayley boarded the Flyer along with the prisoners and soldiers. It then lifted off to return to GDF HQ.

Jeff's radio watch beeped. "Go ahead, John?"

"Dad, the Zero-XL has just returned," John said.

"Thanks, John." Jeff turned to Virgil. "It's time."

"You know this isn't going to be pretty, Dad," Virgil said.

Jeff nodded grimly. "I know, son. I know."

Thunderbird 1 flew low across the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Jeff sat in the passenger seat behind Scott. As Scott looked ahead, he saw their destination on the horizon. "We're almost there, Dad," he said.

"Good," answered Jeff. "And before Thunderbird 3 as well."

Scott brought Thunderbird 1 around and landed on the flight deck of the Aircraft Carrier USS Barack Obama. As well as a number of Navy fighters and Helijets, they also took note of an Army Flyer, same style as the ones the GDF used as well as a white medical one with Red Cross on its side. Also on the deck with a garrison of bodyguards along with soldiers was World President Younger.

"Jeff," the World President said, shaking Jeff by the hand. "It's good to see you again."

"Likewise, Mr President," answered Jeff. "I only wish the circumstances were better."

"Agreed," he said. He then shook Scott by the hand.

"Sir," said Scott politely.

"Here they come!" called one of the flight deck crew.

All eyes turned to look upwards. Thunderbird 3 had emerged from the crowds and was tilting to come into land on the stern of the Carrier. A wide space was cleared to keep everyone safe from the downward thrust. Once it had landed, a remote-operated Cherry-Picker platform was driven up to the side and raised up to the node that opened its doors to allow the occupants to step out. As it came back down, everyone saw Alan, Kayo, Sophie and the captured Sub-Chief standing there. Alan and Sophie were holding hands.

"Oh, God…" Scott muttered when he saw that. He felt his own heartstrings get pulled.

The World President and several soldiers walked up to Kayo and the Sub-Chief. "Wow," said The World President. "You are one ugly-" He decided to stop himself. "You and I are gonna have a little chat."

"I look forward to it, Earthman," hissed the Sub-Chief.

The soldiers took the Subterrain from Kayo and marched him over towards the Army Flyer. The World President then nodded to Kayo who nodded back.

Jeff and Scott then approached Alan. They were followed by a team of Military Medics from the other Flyer.

Alan looked at Jeff. "Dad…"

"Son…you okay with this?"

Alan's lip trembled. "No…but it's the right thing to do." His voice was so shaky.

Jeff nodded. "Very well," he said. He then turned to the lead Medical Officer. "Please help her," he said.

The officer nodded. "You have my word, Mr Tracy," she replied.

The other medics moved forwards to push Sophie's deactivated hoverchair towards the Medical Flyer. It took a few moments because Kayo had to get Alan to finally let go of Sophie's hand.

Up until this point, Sophie seemed to have been in a trance, unable to take in what was going on. But as she approached the Flyer, the realisation seemed to finally hit her. She gasped and looked round behind her. "ALAN! DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME!"

"I'LL SEE YOU SOON, SOPH!"

"ALAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"

The ramp of the Flyer then closed up, concealing Sophie from view. Its VTOL engines powered up and it took to the air with the Military Flyer taking off after it.

Alan broke away from Kayo and ran over to Thunderbird 3. He collapsed against one of the booster rockets and fell to his knees, sobbing his eyes out. Jeff went over to comfort him. Scott and Kayo just watched on in saddened silence.

The mood didn't improve on Tracy Island when everyone had returned. Alan shut himself away in his bedroom for several hours. Everyone else just sat in silence, struggling to take in what had happened.

Penelope at last broke the silence. "Poor Sophie. I can't even begin to imagine the pain she's going through."

"A complete breakdown the doctor said," said Jeff. "They don't know if she'll ever recover."

"What about her family?" asked Virgil. "Do they know?"

"The doctors said they would deal with that," said Jeff.

Gordon sighed. "Damn, they must really hate us. All that's happened since Sophie and Alan met is bad things."

"That'll do, Gordon," said Grandma. "Sophie and Grace made their choices. Now their family is going to have to live with it."

"So what now, Dad?" asked Scott.

Jeff stood up from his desk to face everyone. "What we always do, Scott," he said. "We're International Rescue. The world will still need us, and we'll be there for it."

"We carry on, like always," said Virgil. "That's our job."

Jeff nodded. "Indeed, Virgil. No matter what fate throws in our direction, we'll find a way to overcome it. Our hearts may have been broken today, but we'll get stronger again. I know we will."

End of Series