This is my Minibang offering for 2023, based on a picture of Scott as a Merman by Soniabigcheese. This is a rewrite of Up From The Depths part 1, and the speech in italics is taken directly from the episode.

Scott watched as the bright yellow of Gordon's tail flashed in the gloomy depths, aiming to help out the humans who had inadvertently got stuck in the Mariana Trench. They could all swim there – they were merfolk after all – but Gordon was best out of all of them at depths like these. How the humans managed was completely beyond him but then he remembered that they hadn't managed, hence why they were here to rescue them.

Beside him, as always, Virgil was frowning, lips moving as he went over in his head the specs for the ridiculous machine that the humans were using. He and Brains – their resident human tech genius – were in constant telepathic contact with Gordon. The only other outward sign of Virgil's unease was the swishing of his emerald-green tail.

John and Alan, at home and dealing with other business, were light touches on Scott's mind, offering reassurance that this was but another normal rescue.

But something didn't feel right about it.

And Scott knew Gordon felt the same way he did, his infamous Squid Sense screaming so loud that Scott thought he could actually feel it through the water.

It didn't matter though. Their Father's life work was now theirs, and the one thing the Great Jeff Tracy had taught his sons was that life was precious, even human life. They had learnt that early on when a human's ill-gotten endeavours caused the death of their Mother and Grandfather in a coral rockslide that almost cost Scott and Alan their lives too, and their Father had immediately put plans in place to help humans who ventured into the vast ocean stay safe.

They learnt it again when their Dad had been killed while trying to save the whole planet from another of the Hood's schemes to flood the Earth and kill all humans. It had been a bitter blow to lose both parents while they were still so young, but International Rescue went on, as did they all.

He didn't realise he was grinding his teeth until a hand rested on his shoulder and squeezed gently.

'Gordon knows what he is doing, Scott.'

'I know. I trust him, it's just that…'

'Something feels off about this. I know, I feel it too.'

It helped that Virgil had picked up on the undercurrent of unease too.

When Dad had decided to launch International Rescue, one of the things the eldest three had agreed to do was to forsake their watery realm and live as humans for a while. They needed to understand how humans thought, how they and their machines worked, if they were going to stand a chance of saving them when they got into trouble in the waters of their world.

Virgil and Brains had excelled at the engineering side, John at their computer technology and communications, and Scott had found a talent for Math and Physics, especially strategy and problem-solving.

Brains and Virgil had immediately put that knowledge to use, adapting their own personal fleet of ships to be human-kind. John had come up with a communication devise that amplified not only their own personal telepathy over a greater area but also managed to tap into human communications so they could see if there was anyone in need. It gave them the ability to 'see' each other using similar techniques to the holograms he'd been very impressed with. Gordon had adapted and learnt new deep breathing skills to dive to the deepest parts of the ocean where no Mer went. Even Alan was learning to pilot one of the ships so that he could be a bigger part of iR.

Dad and Brains had started all this, alongside Dad's good friends Lee Taylor and Val Casey. He had used his popularity and good name to make iR a truly international endeavour, with Mer-kingdoms around the world allowing them access to their waters.

Scott clearly remembered the organisation being set up, the delegations his Father went on to secure that goodwill. Scott may have been the one to stay home and look after his brothers, but he didn't resent that time, he'd eagerly looked forward to his Dad's return and the stories he'd tell of how the various meetings had gone.

Brains had fashioned Jeff a trident with the initials 'iR' on it instead of the usual tines, and it had been used to good effect in reasoning with the Mers. It was, for a start, non-threatening and that went a long way in showing that the Tracys were not interested in expanding their own kingdom. It still held the power of any trident, in fact Scott was probably one of the few mers aware it was the most powerful one out there, but in the early days of testing ships it had been lost, his Father choosing to hide the powerful talisman rather than let it fall into the hands of the Hood.

He shook his head. Something about this rescue was triggering memories and that couldn't be a good thing. Whatever was going on, Scott hoped that Gordon would hurry up and get himself and the two humans out of there quickly.

While Scott worried on the edge of the trench, Gordon swam around the machine, grimacing at the design. To his ocean-tuned mind it was ungainly, and it hadn't surprised him that the huge ship had run into trouble.

A flick of his powerful tail and he rounded the vessel to see the viewscreen. There were two life signs John had told him, and he placed a hand on the glass to feel for himself. Unlike usual, this machine was dead in the water, no heartbeat at all, but it meant that he could feel the beats of the two humans aboard.

'I can confirm that there are two humans still alive onboard.'

'That's good. What about the machine? Is it salvageable, Gordon?'

'I've had a quick look-over. It is definitely dead in the water and resting on the seabed but I can't see a reason why it's stopped, there doesn't appear to be any damage. I'll need to take a closer look anyway. Got to work out how to get those humans out safely at this depth.'

'FAB, Gordon. Keep us informed.'

'I will, Scott.'

'John, anything further on what the humans found?'

'I've cleared up their communications signal and listened again to the messages they've sent. It appears that they discovered part of a ship and then the machine just died.'

'Part of a ship?'

'Yeah, I'm just listen…no, that's impossible!'

'John? John! Report!'

'Scott – they claim to have found Dad's old ship.'

'What!?'

'I mean, they don't know what it is, but the small part they've uncovered is unmistakeable to us. They found it.'

'Oh.'

'Oh? Is that all you can say, Scott?'

'No – I mean, it's great and I'm really happy about that, but Dad let her sink for a reason.'

'The trident.'

'Yes, Virgil. The trident. If that's found by the wrong people…'

A beeping in John's control room distracted him momentarily. There was a signal coming from the Mer-kingdom of Caledonia. It was directly connected to the prison that held the Hood. One second it was there and then it was gone. This could not be a coincidence. Not when the machine had found their Father's ship and not with the thought of Dad's trident.

He pressed another button on his comm and their good friend Lady Penelope appeared. Her long blond hair fanned around her and her pale-pink tail swished lazily in the water as her hologram smiled at him. Parker was just passing her a cup of tea.

'Hello, John. Joining us for a cup?'

'Maybe later. Remember you asked me to keep an electronic ear on Parkmoor Scrubs Prison? I've detected a strange signal coming from the area. Only a blip and then it was gone.'

'You think it was the Hood, sending a message?'

'I'm certain. I was able to do a wide spectrum sweep and think I have found where the signal went.'

'And what does the GDF have to say?'

'Until I have more information they are not interested.'

'Parker loves a good chase. We'll go take a look.'

'I'm sending the coordinates now.'

John didn't stay around, leaving just after Parker flicked his pink and grey-finned tail in acknowledgement as the pair left on their assignment.

Half listening to his brothers' discussion, Gordon had diverted from the machine and its crew now he knew they were safe and looked at the visible part of the ship he barely knew. He had only one clear memory of Dad's ship, the rest were pretty vague, mostly impressions of how excited his father was and how that excitement infected his older brothers. He swam over to the ship and cleared some of the debris away and gasped.

'Guys? This isn't part of Dad's ship – it's the whole thing!'

'Gordon?'

'The ship – it was buried but I've cleared it and the ship is intact.'

'What's the big deal about a wrecked ship? I don't even remember it.'

Ah yes, Gordon wasn't the only one who didn't remember that time…Alan was much younger than he was, and judging from his words he didn't recall anything.

'This ship was Dad's baby. It was the fastest ship ever constructed, and Dad used it to travel between kingdoms as a way to show them how he would help both Mers and Humans alike. But the Hood wanted both it and the trident, he craved the power Dad had and so he sabotaged the ship. Dad let it sink in the Mariana Trench rather than let that mer get his hands on them. It broke Dad's heart.'

There was a collective sigh from them all as memories they hadn't thought about in years surfaced and pained them. A nudge from Virgil had Scott smiling and he cleared his throat.

'We can reminisce later. Right now there are two crew on that machine that need our help.'

As this conversation was being carried out Penny and Parker were speeding along to the coordinates John had given them in Caledonia. FAB1, Penny's own specially designed ship, sliced through the water at speed.

The underwater building looked abandoned from the outside, and the pair made their way inside. Although empty the hum of power could be felt through the water, and Penny's pet Sherbet swam over to a wall, looking expectantly at her to follow.

As they examined the wall it slid up, revealing a hidden control room. John and Penny's holograms joined Brains as he looked over the scans of both the machinery and the signals that were emanating from it that they could read now they were inside the place that Penny and Parker had sent.

'V-V-Very smart of you to t-t-track that signal, John.'

'We got lucky.'

'It seems the Hood may be up to his old tricks.'

'Indeed, P-P-Penny. I've seen engineering like this b-b-before.'

They watched as Brains swam around his lab, his pink and stone tail swirling and his metallic spines flexing as he pondered. His robot companion swam around him, making concerned beeping noises.

John and Penny looked at each other and then back at Brains.

'It's the w-w-work of the Mechanic, I am s-s-sure of it.'

'Then it proves without a doubt he's in league with the Hood.'

'I b-b-better show the others im-im-immediately.'

John and Penny's holo's winked out as Brains swam through the complex to the command centre, where Kayo and Alan were in conference with holographic Scott and Virgil. They were all looking at the images of the ship that Gordon was sending.

'T-t-that's the entire ship! S-S-She hardly looks d-d-damaged at all!' Brains exclaimed in surprise. Everyone turned to look at him as he swam into view. Scott smiled at the engineer.

'Yeah, imagine the odds.'

'I keep trying to, but something doesn't add up.'

Kayo sighed and looked away. To her security-trained mind this was highly suspicious, even if she was as happy as her brothers to see Jeff's old ship again. She began to pace, swimming back and forth in agitation with decisive flicks of her black and red tail.

'Wait a moment – I think I see why.'

Brains' words stopped her pacing, and she swam nearer as Alan joined them at the holographic projection. Brains spun one of the images and two initials appeared, 'XN'. He manipulated the image to expand the logo until it was clear, and a beeping from his computer confirmed his fears.

'Oh no,' Brains cried, a look of horror on his face. 'T-T-That's the Mechanic's s-s-ship! Four – get out of there!'

But it was too late for Gordon to do anything.

As Brains was meeting with his family, Gordon watched in horror as part of the machine that held the humans in opened and out came some giant 'arms' with grasping claws on the ends. The mer himself, wherever he was, was no doubt grinning as the claws reached over and grabbed at Gordon. He was little more than a toy in the water. One of them caught his left fin.

'Too late.'

'Four, the Mechanic is piloting that ship remotely. What's your situation?'

'I guess you'd call it "gripping", but that's about to change.'

Scott's voice was welcome, and Gordon drew strength from his eldest brother's presence. He knew Scott and Virgil would be itching to be down here with him, to help and protect him, but they couldn't survive undamaged at this depth. He tried every manoeuvre he could think off to get free from the claw that was holding him fast. He mentally ran through everything he had in his baldric, wondering if there was something he could use there. But there wasn't anything he could think off.

'No go. I can't force myself free.'

'Well you better come up with something fast, your suit integrity is failing. You're getting crushed!'

Virgil's worried voice added to Gordon's underlying panic. Sure, he could survive out here but he really didn't want to be swimming around as a target of all those claws. The ship reminded him of a crab…and suddenly Gordon had an idea.

'This thing has got way too many legs.'

Using one of Alan's pocket plasma cutters he'd forgotten he'd inadvertently picked up this morning, Gordon began to cut through the arms that held him. He'd managed to slice through two when something flashed through the water.

Electricity flashed along a mechanical ray and Gordon ground his teeth.

'The Mechanic is sending me more company – ray mechas.'

One was beside him before he realised and hit his laser cutter, sending a jolt of electric up Gordon's arm. He dropped the cutter, holding his arm against his chest as the electricity triggered his nerves to fire painfully.

They circled him, aiming to hit him again with their electrical charge and disable him. Gordon swam for his life as the three chased him. They pursued at quite a speed. He ducked the attack of one, sending it spinning into a second one with a flick of his tail, but he didn't have time to celebrate. The third was heading straight for him. He waited until the last second before scooting out of the way for the mecha to crash into the machine and blow up.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Gordon turned to check on the two humans but was attacked by two more arms he hadn't seen the Mechanic move. This time they didn't miss him, one grabbing his left fin again and another his wrist, over his watch. They began to pull him apart.

'Suit integrity at 28%. Gordon, what are you doing?'

'Doing my best, Virgil!'

'I'm stuck fast! Trying to get free.'

'Do something fast – if your suit integrity goes…'

'I know. Ah, I got something! Brains – you genius!'

'W-W-What did I d-d-do?'

'The pressure on my wrist has activated a plasma cutter! I didn't know it was there!'

'O-O-Oh yes. I t-t-tried to t-t-tell you I placed it in your w-w-wrist brace, but I forgot in all t-t-the excitement.'

'Your suit is at 7%! Gordon, get out of there!'

There was suddenly the sound of silence. Nothing from Gordon or his suit at all neither through the holograms or through the water.

'Four is off-line.'

Everyone looked at everyone else. The holos showed the ships still intact but of Gordon there was still nothing. Back at base Kayo, Brains and Alan had been joined by Grandma. They let out a collective gasp before asking John what had happened. John swallowed before answering.

'Four has been rendered…inoperable.'

'Gordon!'

The hand that was still on Scott's shoulder tightened and was the only thing stopping the older mer from flinging himself into the Trench. Pressure be damned, that was his little brother down there! But Virgil's presence grounded him.

'I'm here!'

Never had Gordon's voice been so welcome! He was breathing hard after his furious swim, but he was in one piece, even if his left fin was slightly damaged. He'd managed to duck under the Mechanic's ship where he couldn't be seen or caught by the remaining arms.

Or so he thought. As he moved an arm came out of nowhere and side-swiped him, throwing him across the seabed.

The two humans, who up until now had been able to do nothing, not even watch as the battle played out, looked on in concern as the machine suddenly rose from the seafloor and fired its' rockets, flying over Gordon to the old ship.

Gordon watched as the machine speared his Dad's ship and pulled it into itself.

'International Rescue – the machine is going after Dad's ship!'

'O-O-Of course! Finding t-t-the ship w-w-wasn't a coincidence! T-T-The Mechanic is f-f-finishing what the Hood s-s-started all t-t-those years ago!'

'What do you mean?'

'Scott – s-s-searching the M-M-Mariana Trench is t-t-too big a job on its own, t-t-the Mechanic must have h-h-hired these humans to s-s-search, now t-t-that they found the ship t-t-the Mechanic intends to t-t-take it for himself.'

'No he won't, we're going to stop him. But first of all we're going to save that crew.'

Everyone straightened at Scott's words. They still had a rescue to perform, just a moving one now. Brains pulled up another hologram. In theory Gordon couldn't see the hologram without the integrated tech in his watch, but with their enhanced telepathy Brains knew that if the four of them present in the control room concentrated enough he'd see what they did. The others didn't need to be told to concentrate, they did so automatically.

'Gordon, if you can damage this part I've highlighted, you'll stop that ship in its' tracks.'

'FAB, Brains. I see it.'

Gordon swam straight and true to the section he'd been shown. He was able to open the latch on the side easily and he looked around to see how he was going to accomplish the task set before him. He looked down the machine to the way his Dad's ship had already been integrated into it, anger coursing through him. It distracted him enough that he didn't notice the claw reaching for him.

It grabbed him and held him fast, pulling him away from his target. There was only one thing he could try, and he hoped his suit had regained enough power. Where the plasma cutter controls were on his wrist Gordon held down the button, drawing the last dregs of energy and concentrating them on the cutter.

He aimed and fired at the rapidly disappearing control panel and let go the button. A flash of plasma flew out and struck the panel, causing a small explosion, enough for the machine to stop.

The claw opened and dropped Gordon as the machine settled on the seabed. Once more the machine was dead in the water, but this time the life support systems were gone too. Already Gordon could feel the change in the water, and as he swam over to the small section where the humans still were he could see them shivering with the cold.

'The humans are running out of air!'

'We've got to get that crew out of there.'

'Maybe I can configure a pod to come and get you?'

'That's not possible, Virgil. It wouldn't survive the pressure and neither would any of you. We're out of options and running out of time. We need to come up with something extraordinary – and fast.'

'Extraordinary and fast…'

Everyone looked to Alan. The youngest mer came to the front, placing a hand on Brains' shoulder.

'Sounds like a job for you Brains.'

The engineer nodded. The trust his adoptive family showed him never failed to inspire him, and this time was no exception. He paced the floor, his tail flicking in thought, MAX never far behind him. He pulled at his chin while he thought.

'Hmm…'

He stopped and his face lit up.

'We can use Jeff's ship! Gordon can restart it and use the thrusters to power both ships to the surface where the humans can be rescued!'

'It's been sitting on the bottom of the ocean for years; do you think it will still work?'

'Absolutely, Scott! I build things to last!'

'Ok then! Gordon, we need you to get onboard Dad's ship.'

'I always wanted to pilot Dad's ship, Scott!'

Everyone smiled as they watched Gordon approach the underneath emergency exit Brains built into all his ships. A twist of the hatch and Gordon was in.

Gordon couldn't believe it when he entered the control deck. Everything was just as he remembered. He made his way to the front and sat down, only to spring up again.

On the chair was a dull metal miniature trident. It looked like a large fork. Gordon picked it up carefully, tucking it into the back of his baldric where a harpoon would normally reside. He didn't notice the tiny flare of silver from his touch, turning his attention to the controls in front of him.

He hit the button that would fire the thrusters and the lights blinked but then died. Gordon sighed.

'Nice!'

'Good work, Brains!'

'Started first time!'

'Stopped first time too. Any other ideas?'

'You could try the Jeff Tracy fix. After all, it is Dad's ship.'

'FAB, Virgil.'

Everyone grinned at that thought, and Gordon thumped the control panel hard. Sure enough everything lit up and the thrusters came online.

'Thanks, Dad,' Gordon said softly. He pushed the levers and the two ships rose to the surface.

'We have lift-off!'

Gordon counted down the depth as Virgil and Scott swam for the surface and the ship they had anchored there ready for the humans.

Once on the surface they quickly freed the humans, helping them out of the box into the fresh air. They hitched Dad's ship behind them and sped for the nearest land.

'How was piloting Dad's ship?'

'It was AWESOME!'

Gordon reached behind to pull out the trident when Penny's alarmed voice sounded.

While Gordon had been fighting the Mechanic's ship, Penny and Parker – and Sherbet – had been working to get into the computer system, hoping to learn more about what the Mechanic and the Hood were up to.

Suddenly the screen lit up with the Mechanic's wrench symbol, and the voices of the three Tracys on the rescue filled the air. They listened to Scott instructing Virgil to take their Dad's ship back home. Penny and Parker gasped simultaneously as they realised what was happening. Penny pulled her special comm device out and opened it.

'Scott! Stop transmitting! The Mechanic has been listening to everything we've been saying.'

'He's hacked into our communication system!'

Kayo, now she knew where to look, called up an identical image on her wrist comm to the one Penny had in front of her.

'Slick! We never would have known. I'm re-encrypting.'

'No – wait! He needs to hear this first.'

All eyes – present and holographic – fell on Scott as he stood, his face full of anger.

'To the Mechanic. Let me tell you who you're dealing with. We're International Rescue! You can't push us around. You can't tell us what to do and you absolutely positively can't take our stuff!'

'No, let me tell you who you're dealing with.'

The Mechanic's image dominated the comms.

'I'm The Mechanic. I take what I want, from whom I want, whenever I want it.'

Suddenly the dormant machine folded in the still-loose arms and the ship powered up, shooting out across the waves, leaving Two still in the water.

'International Rescue, we have a situation.'

They let the ship go – for now. Scott was itching to get their Dad's ship back and would set off as soon as they had unloaded the humans. In the meantime Five was tracking it.

Thankful that he hadn't said anything while their comms were compromised, Gordon waited until the humans had gone before pulling out the trident.

The dull metal once more gleamed slightly in his hand. Virgil gasped, causing Scott to look over at them.

'You found it!'

'Yeah. It was just sitting there in plain sight, Virgil.'

'Is that what I think it is?'

'Yes Scott. Dad's trident and symbol of International Rescue. As Commander, this rightfully belongs to you.'

As Scott reached out and took the trident it grew to its' full length, turning from dullish grey to a full-on silver shine. The power that was suddenly present was felt by everyone – both on Two and at home, and Scott drew himself up, his tailfins wrapping around the base of the trident.

He looked every inch the commander he was, and with his Dad's trident International Rescue could only go from strength to strength.

'Alright! Let's go get Dad's ship back!'