THE heat was intense. The sun shone brightly in the sky. The only sound that could be heard in the vast wilderness that made up and surrounded Gran Roca Ranch was the distant sound of a screech from a bird of prey looking for a mate - or most likely a meal.

The silence wasn't to last for the sound of fast-galloping hooves began to gradually get louder. From behind an outcrop of rock, five horses came racing around, leaving a trail of dust in their wake. The five Tracy brothers were having a race. Scott was in the lead, Gordon was in second, Virgil was in third, John in fourth and Alan was bringing up the rear.

"KEEP UP, ALAN!" Scott called back cheekily.

"YEAH, BRO!" jeered Gordon. "YOU FALL ANY FURTHER BEHIND AND WE'LL BE LAPPING YOU!"

"KNOCK IT OFF, WILL YOU?!" retorted Alan. He was annoyed. When racing fast cars he was a champion. Had won more amature rally races than he had fingers. And yet when it came to horse racing, he was always coming last. Thunder, his horse, was a thoroughbred like the other four, yet he couldn't seem to make her run as fast as they could go.

Virgil and John weren't quite so tormenting. "COME ON, ALAN!" John called back. "USE SOME OF MOM'S RACING TECHNIQUES!"

"IT'LL MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE!" Virgil added.

But Alan didn't take this as a friendly piece of advice. To him, they were all simply making fun of him for being last. "COME…ON!" Alan said furiously to the horse. "WHY ARE YOU SO USELESS?"

Thunder didn't seem to take kindly to being insulted. He lowered his head and bolted forwards. Alan gave a yelp as he was almost thrown off his back.

Scott, Gordon, Virgil and John all did a double-take each when Thunder came charging past them at almost twice their speed.

"Jeepers!" exclaimed Gordon. "WHAT YOU DO TO MAKE HIM DO THAT, AL?"

But Alan didn't answer Gordon's question. He'd gone from looking angry to terrified - a change that was noticed by Scott. "Oh, no, he's in trouble!" Scott said. "ALAN, HANG ON!" He urged his own horse, Zap, to increase speed and set off in pursuit. Gordon, Virgil and John quickly caught on and also followed.

Alan did his best to try and slow Thunder down but it made no difference. Thunder was in a foul mood and didn't seem to care where he went. He left the plotted race track and began sprinting towards a nearby ravine.

"WHERE'S HE GOING?!" John shouted to his brothers.

"I DON'T THINK HE'S IN CONTROL ANYMORE!" Gordon realised.

And then it happened. Alan finally realised where he was heading for and pulled back on the reigns. "WOAAAAAAHH!" he cried.

Thunder neighed loudly. He too seemed to have realised the approaching danger and tried skidding to a stop. He managed to stop a few inches from the edge of the ravine, but Alan did not. With a terrified scream, he was thrown over the horse's head and over the edge.

"ALAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"

5!

4!

3!

2!

1!

"Thunderbirds Are Go!"

"A COWBOY CHRISTMAS"

"ALAN!"

Alan jerked awake and sat bolt upright on his bedroom floor. "Wha-wha-WHAT?!"

Scott had run into the bedroom and shouted at him to wake up. "We have a situation!" Scott said. "We need you in Thunderbird 2! Virgil and Gordon are already gearing up. Move it!" He pulled Alan up off the floor and dragged him from the room.

"Awh, Scott," Alan moaned sleepily. "I was dreaming!"

"Not the time, Alan," Scott scolded. "Now get going before Dad shouts at you for sleeping through the emergency alarm."

Irritated, Alan did as he was told. He went to his chair to be taken down to the suiting-up bay whilst Scott went to the revolving wall panel that would take him down to Thunderbird 1.

Soon, Alan and Gordon were suited up and joined Virgil in Thunderbird 2. He had already selected Module 2 for the mission ahead.

"Morning, Alan," Virgil said as his brothers took their seats. "Nice of you to join us."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Alan answered sleepily.

"Hmm," Gordon observed as Thunderbird 2 began to leave the hangar. "Someone got up off the wrong side of the bedroom floor this morning."

Alan scowled as the palm trees folded back to allow them to pass.

As Thunderbird 2 reached the ramp and was lifted into position, Scott called from Thunderbird 1 to say that he'd just completed his own launch sequence and that the swimming pool had opened up to allow him to take-off.

"Thunderbird 1, F-A-B."

"Thunderbird 2, ready for launch," said Virgil.

"Okay, boys," Jeff said. "I'll count you down. Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"

Thunderbird 1's engines fired and it lifted gracefully up through where the swimming pool had been, its thrust once again pushing the sun-loungers away, much to the annoyance of Grandma.

Thunderbird 2 was next to fire its engines and it soared off the ramp to join its smaller yet much faster sistership in the skies above Tracy Island.

"Thunderbirds are go!" said Jeff over the radio. "Good luck, boys."

"Thanks, Dad," said Scott. "I'm going to fly ahead, Thunderbird 2."

"F-A-B, Thunderbird 1," acknowledged Virgil. "See you there."

The three brothers in Thunderbird 2 watched on as Thunderbird 1 zoomed away and vanished into the distance.

As Alan gradually became more awake, he suddenly realised that he didn't actually know where they were going or why. "So, what exactly are we doing?" he asked. "Where are we going?"

Neither Virgil or Gordon answered Alan's question. Instead it was John who appeared in hologram form on the control panel. "A massive earthquake has struck the remote town of Spoke City in Texas," he said. "The local Law Enforcement office appears to have been at the epicenter and has partially collapsed. The Sheriff and three of his deputies plus some criminals they had locked up are trapped in the wreckage. The GDF have been alerted and are attending to help deal with the prisoners and make sure they don't escape. Kayo is also on the way in Thunderbird Shadow."

"So we just need to clear the debris for those trapped inside?" asked Gordon.

"Pretty much, yes," said John.

"Any idea what triggered the earthquake?" asked Virgil.

"That's the mystery," John answered. "There are no fault lines in that area so it makes absolutely no sense as to how or why an earthquake would have even occurred."

"Could it have been man-made?" suggested Alan.

The others looked at him. "Man-made?" repeated Gordon. "Don't be daft, Alan. Nobody can cause a man-made earthquake."

"The Hood did!" Alan pointed out. "Remember the Ring of Fire incident?"

"Of course," said Virgil. "That's when things really began to heat up for International Rescue."

"But The Hood is in prison," John said. "So it's very likely to be something else."

"You did say law-enforcement office, didn't you?" Alan went on. "What if it's some kind of breakout by the prisoners?"

"Rather extreme don't you think?" said Gordon.

"Desperate men do desperate things, Gordon," said John. "Have to say I'm kind of agreeing with Alan's theory. Best be on your guard out there in case another quake occurs."

"Don't worry, John, we will be," promised Virgil.

Alan began to feel better. Scott and Gordon may have been giving him a hard time that morning but at least Virgil and John seemed to be listening to him.

After landing Thunderbird 1 on the outskirts of Spoke City, Scott hurried into the small town and soon found the scene of the disaster. The Sheriff's Office had almost completely collapsed. Only a small section was still standing. Near the scene he found a concerned deputy along with Colonel Casey and several GDF soldiers who had formed a perimeter around the building.

"Scott!" said Colonel Casey. "So glad to see you."

"Likewise, Colonel," replied Scott. "What's the situation?"

"No idea, mister," said the deputy in a strong accent. "One minute our here town was as peaceful as I can remember it. The next all hell breaks loose with that dang earthquake! We don't get 'em out here!"

"How many are inside?" Scott asked, looking at the collapsed building.

"About five we believe," said Colonel Casey. "Sheriff Mackenzie, Deputies Marcus and Callaway and two prisoners."

"Herman Schultz and Paul Gastro," said the Deputy. "Name's Zimmerman by the way."

"Nice to meet you, sir," said Scott. "My brothers will be here soon to help clear the wreckage and get to the trapped people."

"If they're even alive," said Zimmerman with a grim tone in his voice.

"Due respect, sir, let's not assume the worst until we see it," said Scott. "What about the rest of the townsfolk?"

"They've all been moved up to the end of the street," said Zimmerman. "They're taking shelter in the Saloon. Everyone is accounted for."

"Good," said Scott. "Excuse me a moment, please." He pressed his sash communicator. "Thunderbird 5, I need you to run a scan of the Sheriff's Office. Deputy Zimmerman says there are five people unaccounted for. Can you check to see if there are any life-signs in the wreckage?"

"F-A-B, Thunderbird 1," said John. "Stand-by." He ran a holographic scan of the building. Within a few seconds, four signatures appeared. He frowned, then did it again just to be sure. "Did you say five, Scott?"

"Affirmative."

"Well I'm only picking up four life-signs," said John. "Which means either someone hasn't made it or someone has managed to escape. Or that the deputy miscounted."

Scott grimaced. He had a suspicion that the first option was most likely. "To be honest with you, John, I am amazed that you've even picked up that many," he said. "How long until Thunderbird 2 gets here?"

"Should be approaching you now," John replied.

Scott then realised that he could hear the distinctive hum of Thunderbird 2's engines in the distance. "So it is," he said. "Thanks, John."

As Virgil prepared to land Thunderbird 2, he set about making an action plan. "We'll need two Pods. Alan, you set-up the Bulldozer-Pod. Gordon, you can try out the new digger features Brains has created."

"F-A-B," said Gordon.

"New features?" asked Alan, sounding annoyed again. "Why can't I have that one?"

"Have you been trained on how to use them?" Gordon asked.

"No."

"There you go then," said Gordon. "I have. We'll make sure you get training after Christmas, Al."

Alan huffed as he got up to follow Gordon down to the module. As they exited the cockpit, Virgil heard a noise that sounded like a yawn. It was a yawn he'd heard many times before. He became concerned. Alan had done it a few times already during the journey from Tracy Island.

Creating a secure channel, Virgil contacted Scott. "Scott, did you wake Alan this morning?"

"Yes, why?"

"How asleep was he?"

"Extremely," Scott said. "I had to literally shout in his ear in order to wake him."

Virgil frowned. "Was that wise, Scott? He doesn't seem to have fully woken up. I'm wondering if we should have left him behind?"

"Certainly not!" Scott said with defiance. "Dad said we needed several hands for this job. We need Alan and Gordon to drive the Pods."

"I could have driven one," said Virgil. "Yes, our organisation runs around the clock, but even we need to have sleep, Scott. And I don't think Alan's had enough lately."

"He'll be fine, Virgil," sighed Scott. "Now hurry it up. Those poor folks need to be dug out and fast!"

Virgil sighed too. "F-A-B," he said.

Thunderbird 2 landed on the main road leading into the town. It had been closed off by the GDF to allow them to work without being hassled by the media. After raising the main body clear of Module 2, the door was opened to allow the two Pods to exit. Gordon came out first with the Digger-Pod which had both a scooping shovel on the front and a backhoe bucket attached to the rear. Alan followed in the Bulldozer Pod. They made their way to the location of the Sheriff's Office to await further instructions from Scott.

"Alan, John says that the four life signs are located deep within the wreckage," Scott explained. "I need you to clear away the fallen pieces of debris so that Gordon can use the Digger-Pod to dig them out."

"Piece of cake," said Alan. He positioned the Bulldozer-Pod towards the Sheriff's Office and moved forwards. But he had barely started before he suddenly heard panicked voices over the communicator in his helmet.

"ALAN, STOP, STOP, STOP!"

Alan stopped. "What? What's wrong?" He looked out of the side and saw Scott was urgently beckoning him to reverse. He did so.

Then Gordon's frantic voice could be heard. "Woah, LOOK OUT!"

There was a hard thud as Alan felt his Pod hit something and came to a stop. He glanced back and saw that he'd driven back and collided with Gordon's Pod.

"Watch where you're going!" Gordon snapped.

"Well don't get in my way!" Alan snapped back.

Scott jumped up onto Alan's Pod. "What are you playing at, Alan?" he demanded. "You didn't lower the blade! You started running over the debris!"

"Did I?" Alan asked.

Virgil then appeared. "Scott, leave this to me," he said. "Alan, let me take over please."

"What for?" Alan demanded. "I'm fine!"

"No, you're not, little brother," Virgil said. "You've been yawning throughout the journey here. You haven't been sleeping well lately, have you?"

Alan grimaced. He didn't like to admit it, but he knew Virgil was right. He had hoped that nobody would have noticed. "Fine!" he said as he unstrapped himself and climbed out of the Pod. "What do you want me to do?"

"Go stand with Kayo and Colonel Casey," Virgil said. "And for Pete's sake, take it easy." He climbed into the Pod and began to clear the wreckage of the Sheriff's Office.

Scott scowled at Alan as he sulked past him to where Kayo and Colonel Casey were standing. The two women could see something wasn't right.

"Are you okay, young man?" asked Colonel Casey.

"I'm fine," Alan lied.

Kayo's eyes narrowed. "Could you excuse us, please, Colonel?"

Colonel Casey nodded and moved away, leaving the two alone.

"Alan, what's wrong?" Kayo asked.

"They've all got it for me, Kayo," Alan pouted. "First Scott disturbs me from my sleep! Then Gordon and Virgil don't allow me to drive the new Pod. Then Scott yells at me for not putting the Bulldozer Blade down and now Virgil's kicked me out to do it himself. It's not fair!"

"When was the last time you had a good night's sleep?" Kayo asked.

"Like never," Alan replied.

"Maybe you should try sleeping in bed instead of on the floor?" Kayo suggested. "That can't be doing you any good, Alan."

Alan scoffed. But deep down, he did begin to wonder if Kayo might be right. He said no more as he sulkily watched as Virgil finished clearing the debris away from the site to allow Gordon to move in with the Digger-Pod.

Using the backhoe, Gordon carefully dug the remaining wreckage away until the missing people were found. The four men were quickly but carefully recovered with prisoner Paul Gastro being given to the GDF for safe keeping. Despite a broken arm sustained by Deputy Marcus, there were no serious injuries which everyone found to be quite surprising yet relieving.

Sheriff Mackenzie however, wasn't remotely interested in seeking medical attention. He had a much more serious problem on his mind. "Where's Schultz?!" he demanded after being helped out from the wreckage.

"So that's the one unaccounted for?" asked Scott. "I'm afraid, sir, we were only able to detect four life signs when we scanned the sight. Now that we've found you, we'll start digging for his body."

"HE AIN'T IN THE WRECKAGE, SON!" shouted the Sheriff. "HE'S THE ONE WHO CAUSED THIS! WHO'S GUARDING THE BANK?!"

"The bank?" asked Colonel Casey. "What about it?"

"Herman Schultz is a professional bank robber!" said the Sheriff. "We found him and locked him up in order to keep our bank safe. He's probably in there right now, emptying it!"

Colonel Casey, Kayo and Scott exchanged looks. Kayo activated her communicator. "Thunderbird 5, can you do a scan of the town? We need to know the location of all life-signatures."

"Stand-by, Thunderbird Shadow," John acknowledged. He ran the same scan as he'd done on the Sheriff's Office but this time with a much wider field so as to cover the entire village. Little coloured dots showed him the location of each and every one of the life-signs detected. Blue indicated his fellow International Rescue personnel, green for the Global Defence Force, yellow for the other Emergency Services, white for all civilians and red for any criminals. Straight away, his eye was drawn to a red dot right in the middle of the bank. "Are you looking for an escaped convict?" he asked.

"How did you know?" asked Kayo.

"Because he's in the bank," John said. "He must have broken out of the Sheriff's Office in order to rob it."

"One man did all this?" asked Scott. "That doesn't seem possible."

Suddenly there came a rumbling sound and the ground began to shake.

"Woah!" cried several people as they tried to keep their balance. The buildings all around shuddered and shook with the tremors which seemed their strongest at the bank.

"HE'S DOING IT AGAIN!" shouted the Sheriff. He tried hobbling towards the bank. "WE MUST STOP HIM!" He then fell flat on his face.

"Easy, Sheriff," said a GDF Medic who came to take care of him. "Looks like you've twisted your ankle."

"We'll take care of him," said Colonel Casey. "She grabbed her walkie-talkie. "All GDF units, this is Colonel Casey. Form a perimeter around the bank. This criminal cannot be allowed to escape!"

The air was filled with shouts of orders as the many GDF soldiers moved away from their perimeter around the destroyed Sheriff's Office and began to form one around the bank instead. But they hadn't even finished before there came a loud shout and a strange humming noise from inside the bank. Then came a crash and the front door was blown outwards as a figure leaped out into the street. Nobody could see the figure's face for he was dressed in what was probably one of the strangest outfits anybody had ever seen. He was dressed head to toe in a bright yellow and brown quilt-like suit. The head covering had what looked like some kind of breathing apparatus and triangular shaped eye-holes that glowed orange. He had heavy black boots on his feet and wore a pair of unusual gauntlets on his wrists. Nobody could tell what they were, but they looked deadly. After landing, on the tarmac, the figure looked around at everybody staring at him.

"SCHULTZ!" shrieked the Sheriff who tried immediately to get away from the Medics who were trying to fix him up.

"Still alive, Sheriff?" Schultz asked, his voice altered by the distorter in his suit. "Grrr! That's ruined my day!"

"Herman Schultz!" Colonel Casey said into a loud-speaker. "You are completely surrounded! Surrender now!"

"NEVER!" roared Schultz. "NOBODY TELLS THE SHOCKER WHAT TO DO! NOBODY!" As he yelled, the gauntlets suddenly powered up with the same hum as heard before they glowed yellow and he aimed his arms in the direction of Colonel Casey before two sonic blasts shot out from them. Kayo grabbed Colonel Casey and pushed her down to the ground. The remaining soldiers and personnel scattered and dived to the ground as Schultz did a complete circular sweep with the sonic blasts smashing through the surrounding buildings and causing several collapses. A few cars were hit too and were either blasted away or exploded.

"Well…" Gordon said to Virgil and Scott. "I think we now know what caused the earthquake."

"You think?!" Scott replied. He scrambled to his feet just as Schultz used the gauntlets to launch himself into the air and away from the scene.

Kayo, who after making sure Colonel Casey was safe, raced to Shadowbike which was parked nearby and set off in pursuit of the escaping villain.

"YEAH!" Alan cheered. "GO GET HIM, KAYO!"

Schultz landed several metres away from the bank and onto the T-junction close to the Saloon where the majority of the town's residents, who'd been evacuated there, watched him nervously through the windows. Schultz paid them no attention at first until one of the older residents shouted abuse at him. He looked up and stared with the sinister glowing eyes of his suit as he tried to figure out who it was who'd shouted. Whilst the actions of the man could have spelt disaster for everyone inside, it was a distraction that initially proved useful for it allowed Kayo to close the gap. Schultz's attention was grabbed by the roar of the Shadowbike's engine and he turned round to look. He had got two options. One - to jump away again and try and increase the gap between them, or use his powerful weapons to try and stop her. Ignorantly, he chose the latter and began firing short, sharp blasts at the Shadowbike. Kayo's reflexes helped her to dodge each of the blasts which infuriated Schultz and he fired more rapidly in a desperate attempt to strike his target. But the Shadowbike was too fast for him and soon it was speeding around where he stood. He found himself spinning around and firing at random, trying to hit the speeding bike, but to no avail. "STAY STILL!" he roared and fired both gauntlets this time. He missed again, but the Shadowbike then stopped circling him and began racing away down the street. "YEAH, YOU'D BETTER RU-AAAARK!"

The reason for the bike's sudden exit now became clear for Kayo had leapt out of the bike unseen and landed hard on top of Schultz, knocking him hard down on the ground. "Gotcha!" she said triumphantly. She looked up to see a squad of soldiers hurrying towards them as she struggled to hold him down. "Stop struggling, please, Mr Schultz," she said. "You've got a lot to answer for."

But Schultz wasn't done. The gauntlets were powering up again. "Don't call me Schultz!" he growled. "I...am...The SHOCKER!" He blasted the ground with the gauntlets throwing himself and Kayo backwards and landed back on the ground this time with her being the one forced to the floor. Schultz jumped to his feet and Kayo followed suit. She quickly readied herself to strike again, but this time it was Schultz who got in first. He swung his left arm around and hit Kayo in the stomach. As he did, the gauntlet fired and Kayo was sent flying backwards where she collided painfully with a mailbox. Schultz then attacked the approaching soldiers who were forced to dive for cover. Nothing they had could match his firepower. A GDF Flyer then appeared overhead which prompted Schultz to fire upon it as well. He scored a direct hit on its starboard wing and forced it to make an emergency landing outside the town. "HAHA!" jeered Schultz. "NONE OF YOU CAN STOP ME!"

But his evil joy was short-lived for his attention was grabbed by an angry bellow. He turned around just in time to see a large Bulldozer blade coming at him. It was far too close for him to get a shot off so he tried to dive out of the way. He wasn't quick enough and something hit him and knocked him to the ground.

Alan stopped the Bulldozer-Pod and leapt out before slamming his fists against Schultz's helmet. "MONSTER!" he screamed. "EVIL! MANIC! COWARD!"

Schultz was also screaming now in agonising pain.

"YES, IT HURTS, DOESN'T IT?!" Alan screeched as he started punching him again. "NOBODY…"

"ALAN!"

Scott and Virgil grabbed Alan and pulled him back whilst Gordon jumped up into the Bulldozer-Pod and moved it backwards.

Scott grabbed Alan and shook him violently before clapping him around the head and knocking him to the ground.

"OW!" shouted Alan. "SCOTT, WHAT THE HELL?!" He then looked into his eldest brother's face and saw something that he'd never seen in him before. A furious rage. The same kind Jeff had if they'd ever done anything naughty. "What?!"

"What have you done, Alan?" Scott asked through gritted teeth. He was shaking just like Alan had been after he'd seen Kayo get struck by Schultz.

Alan suddenly became aware of loads of GDF soldiers and medics gathering around where Schultz was lying. He was still screaming and crying out in pain. As Alan picked himself up, Scott grabbed him and dragged him around the side to show him something. Now that Gordon had moved the Bulldozer-Pod, the results of Alan's actions could be revealed. Alan froze. The colour drained from his face as he saw the crushed remains of Schultz's legs. He also saw there were blood-stains on the Bulldozer-Pod's right track. He looked up at Scott with a horrified expression and almost quivered under the furious look he was getting back.

"Look what you've done, Alan," Scott said in a hushed voice before exploding in a rage. "LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" He grabbed Alan and raised his hand to hit again but was stopped by Virgil.

"SCOTT, ENOUGH!" Virgil shouted.

Alan fell to the floor as he fell out of Scott's grip.

"STAY OUT OF THIS, VIRGIL!" roared Scott.

"NO, BACK OFF!" Virgil thundered. "STAY AWAY FROM HIM!"

Alan was in shock. He was shaking with fear as the realisation of what had happened began to sink in.

As the commotion reigned down in the street of Spoke City, far away on Tracy Island, Brains, Jeff and Grandma watched the events through a holographic TV patched in via one of the street's CCTV cameras. Grandma's hands were over her mouth. Brains was frozen to the spot. Jeff collapsed into the chair at his desk. This was a complete disaster now.