January 12th 2060 - 09:04 PKT
"FAB, Thunderbird 5," Virgil says, "This is Thunderbird Two descending on the Quetacha Mountains, but there's no sign of any mine."
"That's because it's buried under the landslide along with half the crew," John explains as he was looking at the hologram image.
"We'll get 'em out. Gordon is rigging a pod," Virgil says.
"And it's a beauty," Gordon says as he climbs into the pod. Virgil lowers Thunderbird 2 to the ground and releases the module. Gordon's pods rolls out of the module and heads towards the mine to move a few rocks out of the way before checking out the debris.
"Okay, Virgil, I got a good look at the rock face. If you hit this just right, you should be able to pull away the obstruction all at once," Gordon says, "Marking contact points."
"Locked on. Gordon, you best clear out," Virgil says and fires off the grapples and they lock onto the giant rock. Virgil then moves Thunderbird 2 and lifts the giant rock a little off the ground.
"What is that?" Gordon asks himself as he sees a mysterious carving in the rock face.
"Uh, it's a lot bigger than I thought," Virgil strains, "Gordon, get out of there now."
"Easy there, big fella," Gordon says, and Virgil manages to fly over the small river nearby and drops the rock.
"Shaft is clear, all miners accounted for. Mission complete," Virgil says, and looks over to where Gordon is scrambling over rocks is a mysterious entrance, "Gordon, are you okay?" Virgil asks.
"Yeah, I'm fine, but are you getting this?" Gordon replies, "It's some kind of carved message."
"Cross-checking with the database of ancient languages," John says, "Got it! It's from the Quetacha tribe. They ruled this area around 1100."
"Forget the history lesson, what does it say?" Gordon asks.
"It says, 'This is the pyramid of Sapa Quepanqui, the laughing king, who dares disturb my peace will join me in my tomb'," John translates.
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
May 6th 2060 - 15:21 PKT
Lady Penelope and Parker arrive at the tomb together. They are introduced to Professor Harold and were there to see what historical significance it held.
"Five Months ago, the pyramid International Rescue uncovered turned out to be a major archaeological find, over 1,000 years old," Professor Harold says.
"Professor Harold, as a monitor for the World Heritage Society, I'm a firm supporter in unearthing our past," Penelope says.
"We've made a lot of progress in the last three months, but there's still a long way to go," Harold says.
"Like the road back to civilisation," Parker complains.
"So, I'm looking forward to seeing the carvings and hieroglyphics I've heard so much about." Penelope says.
"You mean the curse," Parker says.
"Primitive superstition," Professor Harold says, "It's just to stop treasure hunters," and he walks away.
"Speaking of treasure hunters, keep an eye on the professor. There were unanswered questions about valuables going missing on his last dig," Penelope says as a car arrives behind them. Gordon gets out in his IR suit along with excessive gear.
"Nothing was ever proved but—" Penelope starts but is cut off.
"Lady Penelope!" Gordon calls out causing Penelope and Parker to turn around to look at Gordon.
"Gordon?" Penny questions.
"I wasn't sure what we'd need so I brought the all-terrain kit," Gordon says.
"First, ever hear of traveling light?" Penelope asks, "And second, why are you here, Gordon?"
"Uh, first, better safe than sorry. And second, you called me, remember?" Gordon asks.
"Well, as long as you're here, you're welcome to have a look inside, but I didn't send you any message," Penelope says.
"Yes you did. You said it was too dangerous to go in alone," Gordon says.
"Dangerous? Parker, would you happen to know anything about this?" Penelope asks.
"Well, m'lady, I knew I wasn't going in, so I called International Rescue," Parker explains.
"Because you think I need someone to look after me?" Penelope asks.
"Exactly!" Parker says and Penelope scowls at him, "Uh... I mean, no, not at all, m'lady! You're more than capable of fending for yourself." He scratches the back of his head in shame before turning on Gordon, "See what you've done!"
"I thought you weren't going in?" Gordon replies.
"Hexactly, then you arrived!" Parker complains, "I had a five in six chance of it being one of the others."
"There's only five of us guys," Gordon says.
"I was including Kayo!" Parker says.
"Oh, Yeah!" Gordon says.
"And I 'ope you tell m'lady soon," Parker says and walks off.
"Wait, tell her what?" Gordon calls, but Parker has already gone.
"This is the main tunnel," Professor Harold says, "Many precious finds have been found here." Parker starts to look around suspiciously and starts whimpering.
"Hold up! I want to run a full electromagnetic spectrum analysis before we go in too deep," Gordon says.
"Why exactly?" Penelope asks.
"Because I brought the electromagnetic spectrum analyser," Gordon says and turns it on scanning the area, "Hmm, I'm picking up traces of precious metals, gold, silver—"
"Really? Where?" Professor Harold asks cutting Gordon off and grabs his arm but quickly pulls back he the notices the scowl on Penelope's face and laughs sheepishly.
"The readings get stronger this way," Gordon continues and lead the group down the main passage and down the stairs. The group eventually find a dead end.
"Very interesting. Shame the way is blocked, there's nothing getting through here," Parker comments before accidentally hitting a switch and starts whimpering again.
"A vein of gold leads to a golden heart," Professor Harold says pushing his way to the front of the group, "A treasure chamber!"
"Really?" Penelope asks.
"I've uh, I've got to protect it from looters," Professor Harold stutters.
"So, do we," Penelope says and the two run down the stairs.
"Uh, guys? We shouldn't leave the main tunnel." Gordon calls, "Shit."
Parker sighs, "Guess we're going in." Gordon and Parker head after the other two until they reach yet another dead end.
"Dead end. Let's go Professor," Gordon says and turns to leave.
"No! There must be a mechanism," Professor Harold says and hits a button and activates a trap.
"It's a trap." "Run." Gordon and Penelope say at the same time before the group makes a pyramid and Professor Harold manages to get over the wall uninjured.
"It's okay, I made it through," Professor Harold calls from the other side.
"Well, fuck you," Parker says, obviously not pleased with the situation he is currently in.
"There is no mechanism on this side," Professor Harold says.
"No shit Sherlock! It's a wall which came out of the ground!" Gordon replies before checking his coms to try and contact Thunderbird 5 but gets static, "Professor, my coms are dead! All the gold and silver's causing electromagnetic interference," he announces.
"I'll get help! Stay there!" Professor Harold says.
"Where does he think we'd go?" Parker asks.
"I don't know," Gordon says, "But we'd better go somewhere," as gas appears. Gordon then proceeds to check the gas and sighs, "And the readout says it's toxic."
"Of course it fucking is!" Parker says with a sigh.
"Lucky I brought my rebreather." Gordon fires back and take a breath into the mask, "Still wish I'd travelled light?" he asks and takes a few puffs of the oxygen before passing it to Penelope.
"Are you serious? We're being poisoned and you're scoring points?" Penelope asks.
"The rebreather won't last forever. The gas is heavier than air, but if we don't get to higher ground, we'll end up six feet under," Gordon says, breaking down the situation.
Penny goes to pass the rebreather to Parker who denies it saying, "Well, if I'm gonna die here, might as well get comfortable," and sits down on a switch that opens a tunnel behind him and he falls into it. "Oh! Wonderful. Let's go even deeper into this cursed pyramid," Parker says sarcastically.
May 6th 2060 - 16:27 PKT
"Professor Harold? Are you there? Come in, professor!" John says appearing on a communicator and Professor Harold walks into the tent, "Come in Professor."
"I'm here. I'm here," The Professor says trying to remain calm.
"Where's our pilot? I can't reach him," John asks.
"He's in the pyramid with Lady Penelope," Harold says.
"Are they okay? I can have Thunderbird 2 there in minutes to blast them out if there's a problem," John says.
"No! No! No, no, that won't be necessary," The Professor says, "There just a... They are just taking a tour. Coms are down because of electromagnetic interference. That's all. I'll get him to call you as soon as he's out. Anyway nice chatting to you but I've gotta go, lots of archaeology stuff going on," and he hangs up on John.
May 6th 2060 - 16:34 PKT
The group heads up the stairs. Staying close to each other. Gordon currently has two things on his mine; One, will he make it out alive and Two, what Parker told him before they entered. He had to admit he did have a crush on Penelope but didn't know how to approach it. Even though Penelope worked for International Rescue, she worked as their ambassador to the World Council. Both had very different lives.
To get his mind off things he pulls out his gas reader and relaxes, "No toxic gas up here." he says, and the small group look around at the room they were now in, "Where do we go now?"
"It appears we don't have much of a choice," Penelope says, and they walk on. Parker hits a tripwire and spears start shooting at them. Gordon pushes Penelope down to dodge the spears. When they sit up, she looks at him angrily.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Gordon asks.
"No," Penelope says quite angry at him.
"I don't see any entry wounds." Gordon says.
"The spears didn't get me, but you almost broke my nose," Penelope says.
"Oh, well, excuse me for saving you," Gordon replies.
"I didn't need saving!" Penelope exclaims as she walks away annoyed.
"Fine, next time I'll wait until you've been impaled to ask—" Gordon says but is cut of by Penelope.
"The spears were nowhere near me!"
"Uh, m'lady? Gordon?" Parker asks while trapped between some of the spears, "Could use a 'and 'ere."
"A spear would have hurt less than getting your lumpy elbow in my face," Penelope says as the two continue walking down the passage way.
"My elbows aren't lumpy. What does that even mean?" Gordon asks shocked, "Some people would be grateful! Some people would appreciate what I did, some people would say— Oh!" Gordon pauses and he steps on another trap.
The pair wait for a second before Penelope pushes Gordon out of the way from a swinging pillar that slams into the wall where they were.
"Thank you," Gordon says.
"You're welcome," Penelope says, and looks at Gordon. The two stare into each other's eyes for a few seconds still laying on the floor before Parker comes up behind them and clears his throat, and pair look up back at him.
May 7th 2060 - 01:52 NZST
"And Gordon hasn't checked in since?" Scott asks.
"No. Professor tells me that it's electromagnetic interference... But I've gotta feeling he wasn't telling me the whole story," John says.
"I don't like the sound of that," Scott says.
"Nor do I," Marion says.
"There's more and you're going to like it less," John says.
"My scan is picking up chlorine dioxide gas around the base of the pyramid," John says.
"We better move fast," Scott says, "Virgil, follow in Thunderbird Two in case we need to blast them out. Thunderbirds are Go!"
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
May 6th 2060 - 17:03 PKT
Gordon, Penelope and Parker head into another cavern and look around. Gordon waves a flashlight down into the flooded stairs, "It's flooded," Gordon says.
"First pyramid I've seen with an indoor pool," Penelope comments.
"The laughing king must 'ave liked an early morning dip before a 'ard day's cursing the innocent," Parker jokes.
"That's okay, I came prepared," Gordon says and places his helmet on.
"Yes, and you've only mentioned it a hundred times so far," Penelope says and rolls her eyes.
"You're being dramatic," Gordon says, "Seven or eight times at the most." With that he dives into the water and Penelope watches him disappear and after a couple of moments the tunnel starts to drain.
"Gordon?" Penelope calls panicking, "What's going on? Gordon? Are you okay?"
"I drained the tunnel, come on through," Gordon shouts. Penelope and Parker walk down the stairs cautiously before meeting up with Gordon.
"What took you so long?" Gordon asks.
"Wasn't sure there would be enough room for us and your big head," Penelope says with sarcasm dripping from her mouth as Gordon helps her through the doorway.
"Oh!" Gordon sighs.
May 6th 2060 - 17:41 PKT
Scott and Marion arrive at the pyramid and head over to Professor Harold's tent. Scott opens the tent for Marion and they hear Professor Harold talking to himself.
"The tragic loss of Lady Penelope and her companions must not be in vain. We owe it to her memory to continue work in which she gave her life," The Professor rehearses in the mirror.
"WHAT?!" Marion and Scott yell in unison.
NO!" The professor Harold says.
"What's happened?!" Scott asks, "Are they?!"
"No, no! Well... probably..." The professor says.
"Tell us what's going on!" Marion says.
"NOW!" shouts Scott.
"They're lost in the pyramid," the Professor says.
"Why didn't you call it in?!" Scott asks.
"The other one said they'd blast the pyramid wide open!" the Professor says, "And I couldn't allow this unique discovery to be destroyed! I'm sorry but people are just for a lifetime. History is forever."
"You motherfucker!" Scott says and goes to punch the guy. Virgil and Marion grab Scott and pull him back.
"Woah, Scott, we'll deal with this later," Virgil says trying to remain calm, "Right now, we need to find Gordon and the others."
"Okay," Scott says with a sigh and exits with Virgil.
"You better hope we're not too late," Marion says sternly to Harold before heading out and over to the entrance of the pyramid where Scott and Virgil were standing.
"Can't use a mole pod. The whole mountain is unstable. We start digging and we could end up bringing the whole thing down on top of them," Virgil explains.
"I should have been the one to take Parker's call, not Gordon," Scott says.
"Then we would've ended up in the same situation," Marion says.
"Give Gordon some credit. He can handle this," Virgil says, "Now help in the pod bay. I have something we can try."
May 6th 2060 - 17:58 PKT
"These tunnels all look the same. How can we tell we aren't going in circles?" Parker asks.
"Because, we're not, okay?" Gordon replies.
"Could be some kind of maze," Parker says, "Made to fuck with our brains."
"No, I'm sure this tunnel is different," Gordon says, and they hit a switch and a wall comes down behind Parker, "See, this one has a big wall in the middle of it."
"Listen," Penelope says as a noise becomes present within the tunnel, "Did you hear that? It sounds like the laughing king is coming to meet us."
"I'm not laughing," Parker says.
"I'll tell him a knock-knock joke," Gordon says standing in front of the two protectively. Something comes around the corner and slithers towards them. The group watches as it lifts to eye level then a hologram comes out of it when it opens up.
"Virgil?" Gordon asks.
"Hey brother, I see you met our cable cam," Scott says.
"We couldn't dig without risking the whole mountain coming down on top of you," Marion says.
"Most 'obliged," Parker says.
"I dug a small whole in to send in the camera and map the pyramid," Virgil explains.
"We found a shaft that looks like it'll get you out through the top chamber," Scott says.
"Keep heading up, but this time we're coming with you," Marion says.
They keep going and they find another inscription on the wall. Gordon points it out and lifts up the camera to it.
"Can John get a translation?" Gordon asks.
"Yeah he's watching the feed." Scott explains and then listens to John, "Says it means... Ah... Point of no return." All six of them sigh.
"I reached that ha while hago," Parker mumbles, and they head up. A door comes down sealing the chamber and breaks the camera.
"Should have expected that by now," Parker says.
"Guess we're on our own again," Gordon says.
May 6th 2060 - 18:10 PKT
"Gordon! Do you read me? Gordon!" Virgil says.
"Uh, it's completely dead, we don't have eyes in that last chamber," Scott says.
"They're in the final chamber? Have they found the treasure?" the Professor asks.
"Will you please fuck off we're trying to work here and you're getting in our way!" Marion says angrily and turns back to the brothers, "Dickhead."
May 6th 2060 - 18:13 PKT
"King Quepanqui I presume?" Penelope asks.
"Whoa! Maybe that means no more traps?" Gordon asks.
"Or maybe we are the only ones who's ever make it this far," Parker counters. As if on que the area begins to shake, and the ground starts to cave in on itself.
"Follow my lead!" Penelope says, and they rush to the stairs.
"Nice moves," Gordon says to Penelope as she expertly walks over the crumbling floor.
"Oh, thank you!" replies Parker.
"Best hopscotch jumper in my school," Penelope says.
"Your father must be so proud m'lady," Parker says.
"The wind! It sounds like he's laughing," Penelope says as they climb. Parker starts mumbling about 'sharing a tomb' but Penelope and Gordon didn't really pay attention. They make it up onto the statue and the area continues to collapse below them.
"Gordon? Now what?" Penelope asks.
"We only have a few more seconds left, so it's now or never." Gordon says and grabs onto Penelope's hand and faces her, taking off her hat. Before Gordon could continue though there was a noise above and a grapple hangs from the ceiling.
"We're being rescued! Hold onto me tightly, for your own safety," Gordon says. He fires his grapple to the ceiling and they are carried away to safety by Thunderbird 2 then set down.
"We're alive! We're alive!" Parker exclaims and starts to jump up and down, making silly faces towards the original entrance.
Gordon laughs, "Well it's all over, I'd better go over to Scott."
"Wait Gordon! We we were on the statue, I thought for a second—" Penelope starts.
"...that we were done for?" Gordon finishes.
"Mmm, yes," replies Penelope.
"Yeah me too," Gordon says and scratches the back of his neck.
"Oh, thank goodness!" Professor Harold says as he walks over to the pair, "I was beside myself with worry."
"Do you mean us or the treasure?" Gordon asks, silencing the Professor, "Nice to know. Now get the fuck out of my sight." The Professor sighs and walks away.
"After all we went through perhaps some things are best left buried," Penelope says.
"You're probably right. I mean you and me it just wouldn't..." Gordon trails when he sees Penelope's face, "You're talking about the Laughing King aren't you?"
"It seems he got the last laugh. We should let him rest in peace," Penelope says, "And I'm sure World Heritage will agree it's simply not safe in there."
"Where to now m'lady?" Parker asks as he walks over to Gordon and Penelope.
"Home, Parker," Penelope says.
"Finally..." Parker says and feels for his keys, "For fucks sake. I think I've misplaced my keys inside the pyramid. There must be a way back in." Everyone laughs as Parker starts walking back inside the pyramid.