Hi everyone, damn the exams! But after those I'll have a lot more time to write this story and another story of mine that hasn't been updated for too long.
For the ones who were sad about the way Scott acted, I'm really sorry but it was (and still is) necessary for the story. Now on with the chapter :
John was still hugging his grandmother and felt like a little kid again. Never mind the fact that he was about a head taller than her now. She still smelled the same as she had for as long as he could remember. A mixture of soap and the outdoors. Mrs. Tracy never was one to stay inside.
Even here, in one of the most magnificent houses in the whole of Britain, she kept going to the gardens. Of course, those were beautiful too, but even if they weren't, Mrs. Tracy was just so used to being outdoors she couldn't stand being cooped up inside when it was such good weather outside. Even in their old home in Kansas she preferred to sit on the porch while knitting a sweater or something like that.
John was shooed out of this thoughts by the very person he was thinking about.
"I'm sorry Grandma, I didn't quite catch that, could you repeat it for me?"
"Ah, I see I'm getting my little dreamer back. Where were your thoughts this time? Some far away galaxy?"
He grinned guiltily and shook his head softly. "No Gran, my thoughts were fixed about something that belongs here on Earth. And I couldn't think of anyplace more perfect."
"Always the smooth talker, aren't you, John Glenn Tracy?"
"It seems to be something the Tracy men have in common," he answered with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
They shared a laugh and went inside while discussing their stay there in England. The elderly woman agreed with John that it would be a shame to miss an opportunity to gather the whole family together.
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Ami was standing on one of the beaches of Tracy Island, looking out over the sea and thinking about her next step. It had been two days since she landed on this island, and so far Mr Tracy had been too busy with some strange things to kick her off the island, so for now she was safe. As long as she was in their vicinity she could keep an eye on them and eventually they would come into contact with the evil that was taking over this planet.
The big problem, however was: how could she get them to tell her about International Rescue? The only solution she could think of was that she had to get them to admit that they knew her own secret. That way she could 'force' them to tell her one of their own secrets as some sort of reassurance.
Now the only other question was, how to get them to admit it to her?
Then there was the other thing on her mind …
Gordon was swimming his laps as usual, but his mind wasn't set on his movements. He kept thinking about their visitor, and what she called him.
'How dare she call me a pervert! How was I supposed to know she was naked underneath that blanket? Nobody gave me a warning!'
He had searched the internet for the translation of 'hentai' and he wasn't too happy about it. That and he felt guilty, he wanted to apologize. Just so she wouldn't think badly about him.
Since it became apparent that he wasn't concentrating on his workout, he got out of the pool and went to the table standing underneath the trees to reach for his towel.
However the moment he lifted the towel, a piece of string snapped and he heard a strange noise from above his head.
He looked up and was just in time to close his eyes before a white cloud of a strange substance covered him from head to toe. He started shouting and turning around, trying to rub the flour off his face so he could see, but in doing that he triggered another trap and this time it was a mixture of pink and golden sparkling dust that settled upon him. Nearby, a flash went off unnoticed since his eyes were still closed.
He finally rubbed his eyes clean and went inside, looking for a mirror to see the damage. While walking towards the house he kept looking around for any other pieces of string. Whichever it was of his brothers that did this, they were good, and he didn't trust it to be the only thing that they set up for him.
On his way to his room he was unfortunate enough to meet his youngest brother and his girlfriend.
Tintin and Alan were shocked for a minute and then they started hysterically. In front of them stood a sparkling, soaking wet Gordon, covered from head to toe with flour.
Everyone knew water and flour were a sticky and yukky combination, and that sparkling dust was almost impossible to get off. There would always remain some bits of it behind. You could rest assured that the redhead would be sparkling for at least a couple of weeks.
He had found a mirror finally and almost screamed like a girl upon seeing himself.
Then he started thinking. 'Who was it that had planned this trick?'
it obviously hadn't been Alan, nor Tintin, otherwise they wouldn't have been so shocked, Fermat, Brains and his father were out of the question, not only were they much too polite for something of this sort, but they were much too busy planning the supplies for their trip to Thunderbird 5 and thinking about a plan to get them into space without their newest resident knowing about it.
So that only left Scott and Virgil, but they wouldn't have thought about this sort of prank, they were more about color in his shampoo, a bucket of water over the door, the old tricks.
This had been something new, something the Tracy's hadn't done before. Which only led Gordon to one conclusion: they had asked Johnny for help. When there was a new prank pulled it would either be invented by Gordon himself or John. That was the reason why Gordon hardly ever pranked John anymore. The platinum blond had already proved the fact that he could handle the redhead's humor.
So the three eldest Tracys, but what were their motives? It had been quite a while since he had started a prank war, and these things didn't start themselves around here.
That was the only mystery left, however he planned on finding the answer immediately. After thinking that, he looked down at his sparkling body and thought to himself,
'After I've taken a shower.'
As he started moving towards his bathroom he could feel that the mixture on top of his head had drenched into his hair and had hardened there.
'Or two or three'
"Virgil, are you sure your father won't mind?"
"He can't deny that Gordon deserved this, it's not like he was harmed or anything. Besides, even if he gets mad, I'll take the blame, I talked you into this after all"
"Perhaps, but it was my idea, and I designed the trap."
"True as that may be, if I hadn't seen your plans and told you to do it, it would've stayed an idea, and you wouldn't have gotten your revenge."
Ami sighed and just let it rest, she just hoped Mr Tracy wouldn't mind too much, but apparently he was used to things like this. According to Virgil, Gordon was quite the prankster himself too.
"And why did you want those pictures?"
"Oh, mostly blackmail, but one of my brothers isn't on the island for the moment and I didn't want him to miss this, it's one of the funniest pictures of Gordon ever!"
"How sweet of you," Ami said with a soft smile. Upon seeing Virgil's non-comprehending face, she explained:
"To take those pictures so your brother won't miss it, I mean."
After this was said, both of them were silent for a while. They were sitting in Virgil's room, which was filled with musical instruments. Just when she tried to say something to break the silence, Scott entered the room asking Virgil if he'd seen Ami.
"Oh so there you are, Ami. Father would like to see you. He said to go into his office, he'll be there in about five minutes."
"I guess I'd better go then, thanks for telling me Scott, see you later Virgil, I hope you won't get in trouble for this."
" I won't, don't worry, and even if I did, it would all be worth it!"
After the blue-haired girl exited the room, Scott, who hadn't had a translator device, asked Virgil:
"What was she worried about? And what would be worth what?" Virgil started grinning in response.
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When Ami entered the office, Jeff wasn't there yet, so she started examining her surroundings. This was a room she wouldn't be able to enter very often, therefore she should take advantage of this opportunity.
The desk was cleaned up, papers were ordered in the drawers, no interesting subjects, there was a very nice view out of the windows, and on the wall there were portraits of his sons. Ami started examining them: Alan, Gordon, Virgil, Scott. All very nicely done, really lifelike. They were almost like photographs.
Then she got curious about the missing brother, again she cursed the fact that Setsuna hadn't put any photos in the brochure with the information. She turned away from Scott's picture and saw…
Mr Tracy who had just entered the office.
She bowed to him, which was one of their customs, but made Jeff feel rather uncomfortable.
"These portraits are very beautiful, the person who made this must be a great artist."
"Indeed he is, our Virgil is very gifted in many respects."
"Virgil made these? They're amazingly done, but now I can see why. It's obvious that he put his love for his family into his work."
"Indeed he does." They fell silent for a while, but the silence was broken by Jeff clearing his throat.
"Miss Mizuno, you may wonder why I asked you to come to my office. I would like to discuss an important matter with you."
When he saw that Ami was getting uncomfortable he got straight to the point, no merit in scaring the poor girl to death.
"I would like to employ your services."
That obviously wasn't what the young Asian woman expected and it came as quite a shock for her.
"What exactly do you mean, Sir?"
"Exactly what I said. At the moment you are an unemployed doctor, knowledgeable in practically every medical field there is. At the same time, this is an island with a couple of people with medical knowledge. However, this knowledge doesn't compare to yours, and one day it may not be enough to help us out of trouble."
"What trouble could you get on an isolated and obviously very well-protected island?"
"We aren't impenetrable Miss, far from it. We could very well get a tropical disease, or an accident could happen to one of my boys during one of their dangerous activities, as they love the adrenaline rush."
"I see. Would you allow me to think this over please?"
"By all means, please do, but you do understand, I would like to have your answer very soon."
"Of course sir. Now if I may be excused?"
Jeff nodded and Ami left the office, forgetting about the one portrait she still hadn't looked at.
When she was gone the Tracy patriarch sighed and whispered softly, "I really hope she'll accept." He thought back to the discussion he'd had this morning.
Flashback
Kyrano and Brains are discussing food supplies that have to be taken to Thunderbird 5. Suddenly the two look up, Jeff enters with a concerned expression on his face.
"Mr Tracy?" both men ask, wondering what could be wrong, hoping it has nothing to do with their own children.
"I had an important phone call this morning."
That isn't anything unusual, the Tracy patriarch has important calls every half hour.
"From one of our IR agents"
That, on the other hand, is something unusual. The next three words are enough to strike fear in the hearts of both men, and shake them to the core.
"The Hood escaped."
"H-h-h-h-how?"
"They have no idea, it seems as if he just vanished. No clues whatsoever of how he did it. I'm guessing his powers have grown stronger."
"Indeed that may be the case Sir. If it is, then I fear whatever evil scheme my brother is planning."
"As do I, Kyrano. If he's counting more and more on his powers, then we may not have a defence against him. Tintin is strong, but her powers are limited."
"W-w-w-what about this n-n-n-new girl?"
Now that Brains mentioned it, her powers could make someone disappear too. Was it really a coincidence that she appeared on the island shortly before it was know that their arch-enemy had escaped?
"I'm not sure we can trust her. For all we know she could be working together with him."
"Then it may be better for us to keep her on the island."
The two other men look at the servant as if he's gone crazy. Thinking about his brother… perhaps it's something in the family genes?
"It is a well known saying: keep your friends close, and your enemies closer; if she's working for my brother then it's best to keep her here where we can keep an eye on her. However, I doubt she is."
This statement confuses his companions, so he explains:
"My brother always has a dark aura surrounding him, something that has become worse over the years, while this girl… . I'm not sure what kind of aura it is, but it doesn't have an inch of malice in it. She means well, but at the same time there's something troubling her. I believe it's the fact that she doesn't comprehend her own powers."
"If that's the case, then we could gain a powerful associate by helping her to control those powers of hers. Before we do, however, I wouldn't mention a thing to her about all this. I wish to see how she acts with all of the island's inhabitants before I decide if she's an enemy or not."
When he sees Kyrano's frown he apologizes.
"Please understand my intentions, it's not that I don't trust you, but this is magic we're talking about, something we don't know a lot about, I don't wish to take any risks."
"W-w-w-we might have a l-l-l-li- small problem."
They had almost forgotten that the scientist is in the room.
"H-h-h-how do we g-g-g-get her to stay?"
After a while of pondering this question, Jeff finds the answer. The only thing they can do now, is hope she'll accept the offer.
End flashback
The eldest Tracy male was shaken out of his thoughts by the sound of the phone.
"Tracy here."
--"Excuse me?"
'When Jeff heard the voice, he realised that this was going to complicate things... a lot.'
I'm really sorry for the long wait, I'll probably have lost a lot of readers this way, but school was more important, sorry.
Stay tuned for the next chapter, which I'll start right away.