„DAD! DAD!" April screamed, running back to the house and up the driveway as fast as she could. She was screaming so loud and obviously in in panic that her father and Lothar met her at the door, looking worried.

„April! What happend?!" Flash asked, grabbing her by the arm. „Where's your brother!?"

„And LJ!?" Lothar demanded to know. He looked over April out of the open front door and saw his motorcycle gone. Surely those boys had not gone and gotten themselves into an accident!

„Rick and LJ have been kidnapped," April shouted. „They just wanted to go around the block once on Lothar's bike and then – there was a Mingship above them suddenly and it took them in with a transport beam and then left again! I wanted to do something but they were so far away, and I had no idea what to..."

„You did the right thing, alerting us!" Lothar assured her while Flash wrapped his arm protectively around his daughter.

„We have to rescue them!" Flash immediately said. „Let's go to the Space Center and get ourselves a ship!"
Quickly, Lothar got his bike and put it in Flash's garage. Then he joined April and Flash in Flash's car and drove to the Space Center with them.

„We're monitoring the skies closely," said one of the employees after checking. „No ships went anywhere near Mongo today."
„But it was a Mingship, I saw it with my own eyes!" April insisted.

„I'm sorry, Miss Gordon," the man replied. „But we've kept a close eye on space traffic ever since yesterday's incident. There was no ships traveling back and forth. We will search for the boys, of course, but not on Mongo. They cannot be there."

„Glad to know that my wife's death is an incident to you," Flash sharply said.

„Flash", Lothar said, trying to calm him down. „He's just trying to do his job. If the scanners didn't pick up a ship today, maybe there wasn't one."

„Or it used some sort of camouflage?" April suggested.

„Our scanners pick up camouflaged vehicles too," the employee replied. „We are trained to prevent alien invasions, after all. You can trust us to do our jobs right."

„Well, good job then, because our sons got kidnapped!" Flash shouted.

„What I meant is..." Lothar looked over at Flash. „Maybe Ming already is stationed on Earth somehow? If no ship is seen anywhere near Earth or Mongo, does that include ships that are already on the planet?"

„Well, it did fly pretty low," April said. „It did go further up after the boys were on board but not as high as it could have gone. But then again, I was busy running back to the house, so I might have missed it going further up."

„No, I think Lothar is right," Flash sighed. „Ming's not stupid. He must have realized that everyone is on very high alert right now. But if he's already on Earth with some of his army, hiding somewhere, waiting for the right moment – he would sure use this opportunity to execute whatever plans he has."

„But that means Rick and LJ are most likely still on Earth as well," April said.

„That doesn't make it less difficult," Flash reminded her. „On Mongo, we'd have known where to look for them. But in Earth... they could be everywhere."

„If Ming wants something from you, he is most likely hiding somewhere in America," Lothar said. „There is no point for him to hide somewhere else where the prisoners might never be found."

„That still leaves too many options," one of the Space Center employees said. „We'll do our best to check for any unusual activities but..."
„We need to find them, and soon," Flash said. „And we might need some ships to do so."

His boss sighed. „You are not to go to Mongo, Gordon. That is an order. We will let you have some ships to participate in the search but absolutely not you can go wherever the evil emperor is hiding without backup. Do I make myself clear?"

„Yes Sir," Flash replied. He was so worried about Rick, he would have promised anything.

„My son's life is on the line as well," Lothar interrupted. „My friend Mandrake and I will also help in the search for Ming and the boys."

„Mandrake the Magician?" someone asked. „Well, we've worked with him before some years ago – we do trust him."

„Let's go to the mansion," Lothar suggested when they were finally done. „We need to talk to Mandrake about this. Maybe your colleagues will find the boys, but I'm not leaving it up to them."

„Neither will I," Flash immediately said. „Let's go make some plans."

They took one smaller ship back to Mandrake's house. He came out on the terrace and shook his head.
„You've got to stop landing on my lawn," he groaned but stopped when he saw their faces. „Oh, no. What happened?"

„LJ and Rick got kidnapped," Lothar explained while they walked back to the house.

„What?!" Mandrake grew pale and put his hand on Lothar's arm. „How are you holding up?"

„Not great," Lothar admitted. „My biggest fear is that LJ was taken along by accident – Ming might dispose of him once he realizes that."
„As far as we know, Ming's still on Mongo," Flash said. „I think for now, LJ is as safe as Rick is. But the longer this goes on..."

„How will we find them?" April cried, following the three adults into the huge house.

Kshin came down the stairs, having seen the arrival of the ship from an upstairs window. Amy came out of the library, also looking curious.
„I'm sorry, kids," Mandrake told them. „But we're having an emergency right now."

„Where's LJ?" Kshin asked but Lothar lead them into the library and firmly closed the door behind them.
„We need to fing Ming's hideout," Flash interrupted after they had been going back and forth with their ideas for a while.
„I think what we need night now is someone with the right skills, who knows all sorts of hidden places all around this planet and who also had been going up against sky pirates and bad guys for as long as I can remember," Mandrake finally said. „If he puts his mind to it, I'm sure he can find out where Ming is hiding."

„And who would that be?" Flash asked, looking worriedly over at April who sat in an arm chair, looking lost, worried and exhausted. Poor girl. But he would bring her brother back to her. He just had to.

„The Ghost Who Walks," Mandrake said after a dramatic pause.

„The Phantom?" Flash asked, having heard the tales of the african jungle where the Phantom lived, a person that supposedly never died.
„He and I worked together before once or twice," Mandrake said. „He knows people in the right places. If an alien is hiding on Earth, ice robots, spaceships and all, someone must have seen something. And if so, he will find out. He has connections to Central City as well as other parts of America and the whole world. I'm sure he can help us."

„He does fight injustice and crime – so fighting Ming must be right up his alley", Lothar agreed.

„You're a magician," April suddenly said to Mandrake. „Can't you do some kind of spell to figure out where my brother and LJ are being kept?"

„I wish I could be of service, young lady," Mandrake apologized. „And there are such spells, of course. But they would require potions that would need several days to prepare. Potions are tricky. There are spells too, but they're mostly for finding lost objects rather than kidnapped people."

„We'll find them, April," Flash promised his daughter.

„The Phantom's in Africa, right?" Lothar asked. „Well, I don't think we've got time to lose. Let's take the ship and go there."

„Alright," Mandrake agreed. „But just in case this takes longer, I think the young lady should stay back to watch over Amy and Kshin."
„Excuse me?!" April said, getting out of the armchair at once. „I'm not a babysitter. I want to help rescue Rick!"

„Don't be rude, April," Flash reminded her. „We're not rescuing them, we don't even know where they are. We're just getting someone's help. Just stay here, okay? You look tired, get some rest. Those two kids don't look like they need a babysitter anyway. Just make sure they're staying close to the house. It's unlikely Ming even knows who they are, but just in case – I need you to keep them safe."
„I'll make sure they know to stay inside and to listen to you at all times," Mandrake assured her. „And just in case there is trouble, let Kshin lead you to the wine cellar. There's a hidden door there that will lead to an underground tunnel. In this old house, it was used during war times to hide and get in and out in secret. I don't think you'll need it, but you'll be safe down there."

„Fine," April sighed, while Mandrake went to prepare Amy and Kshin.

„Amy is the daughter of an old friend of ours," Lothar explained. „She's staying with us for the time being."

„Oh – I thought she's Mandrake's kid," April replied. „She kind of looks like him."

„She might be," Lothar quietly said to Flash as April was called out into the foyer to be introduced to the other two kids. „But we're not sure yet."

After packing a few things and making some calls, the three adults finally went onboard the ship. Soon she was up in the air, ready to go in the direction of Bengalla.

„Good luck!" Kshin called, standing at the open front door with Amy and April.

Yes, luck they needed indeed. But hopefully, they would at the very least find another friend and ally.

Note: I tried to make the introduction of the Phantom as reasonable as possible. Instead of just needing someone to find Ming, they specifically need help to figure out where Rick and LJ are being held prisoner. The Phantom has had trouble with Ming before and wants to protect his people and the planet, so he will join them in the end for good.