Kidnapped
Based on the Buzz Books story of the same name
Written by Jonathan Downs, Rachel Ravens and Zack Wanzer
As you might guess from the previous story, the Star Tugs and the Salvage Fleet were all on positive terms with each other. When there were spare moments between jobs, they would swap tales about their past adventures.
I remember one occasion when Ten Cents, Sunshine, Moonlight, O.J. and Hercules were exchanging tales as such.
"The old paddle steamers were so elegant," said O.J., before sighing sadly. "How I miss them."
"It's a shame," sighed Moonlight. "It would be nice for at least one of the other paddle steamers to be preserved."
"At least you're still here, O.J.," said Sunshine, "and not in the wrong hands."
"And I'm forever grateful for that," smiled O.J.. "Mind you, Hercules would probably say the ocean liners of today are graceful as well."
"Indeed I would, m'dear," smiled Hercules. "I remember when the Duchess first arrived in Bigg City Port. It was such an honor to guide her into port."
"I remember it well too," smiled Ten Cents. "It was during your first season in the Star Fleet."
"What about you, Moonlight?" asked O.J.. "Were there any tugs that used to be part of the Salvage Fleet?"
"Mmm-hmm," said Moonlight. "Their names were Nightshade, Oleander and Foxglove."
"Oh, don't remind me," said Sunshine. "Those three were nothing but trouble. Nightshade was an ocean-going tug while Oleander and Foxglove were harbour tugs. Let's just say Captain Zero would have welcomed them into his fleet."
"They were underhanded, weren't they?" asked Ten Cents.
"Mmm-hmm," said Moonlight, "and this culminated in their departure from the Salvage Fleet..."
"You three have caused trouble for the last time!" snapped Pisces.
"Hey, come on, babe…" began Nightshade.
"Don't you 'come on, babe' me!" interrupted Pisces. "Because of that little stunt you three pulled, Captain Salvage has to pay a huge fine! She's asked me to inform you that you three are fired! Now, get out of our sight!"
With that, the three tugs left and we never saw them again.
"Good riddance, that's what Ah say," said Sunshine.
Top Hat came over. "What's happening, chaps?" he asked.
"We were just exchanging stories about our past adventures," explained Moonlight.
"Ah, yes!" smiled Top Hat. "I could tell you a story from my past."
"Yes, please," said Moonlight. So Top Hat began his story…
Before joining the Star Fleet, I worked for a railroad in New Hampshire alongside two engines – a 4-2-2 tender engine named Jebediah who was old but wise, and a 2-4-0 tender engine named Tillie. Ah, Tillie. Such a cheerful little engine, full of enthusiasm and a positive can-do attitude. Because of this, we nicknamed her "The Little Engine That Could".
One day, there was a really fierce storm. The bridge was taken out and an urgent train needed to get through, so Jebediah, Tillie and I devised a plan.
"If you load the cars on my car float, Jebediah," I said, "I'll take them to Tillie on the other side and she can get to the station."
"Do you think you can do it?" called Jebediah.
"I think I can, I know I can!" replied Tillie confidently. That was her little catchphrase.
"Right then," I said. "Action stations!"
Jebediah shunted the cars onto my car floats and I escorted them to the other side. It took a while, but at last Tillie was able to bring them to the next station.
The superintendent was pleased with us and rewarded with new coats of paint.
"Wow! That was amazin'," said Sunshine. "Where are Tillie and Jebediah now?"
"They now work on the Indian Valley Railroad in Wisconsin," replied Top Hat. "I seem to recall Big Mac mentioning two engines he met in Scotland. Perhaps I could ask him to tell you some time."
"You know, there's something that puzzles me," said Ten Cents. "Sunshine would often be chartered to the Salvage Fleet, right? So why didn't Captain Salvage buy her when Mr. Mitton fell ill?"
"We were undergoing financial difficulties at the time," replied Moonlight. "It was around the same time Nightshade, Oleander and Foxglove were sacked. In fact, it was that incident that put us in the red in the first place."
"And the original plan was for another switcher from Up River to be sold to Captain Star," said Sunshine. "Her name was Corona, an old friend of mine and Moonlight. She was an independent switcher like me and mah best friend." Her face fell. "Only her owner was not the nicest man."
Ten Cents, O.J., Top Hat and Hercules gasped at this.
"Oh my!" gasped O.J.. "The poor girl."
"Mmm-hmm," said Moonlight. "She was hoping to be bought by Captain Star so he could escape that horrid man."
"If that's the case," said Top Hat, "why did Captain Star charter Sunshine and not Corona?"
"Well, Corona was undergoing maintenance at the time," replied Sunshine, "and it was her suggestion for me to be loaned to Captain Star."
"Oh, Sunshine!" said Corona. "I'm sorry to hear about what happened to Mr. Mitton."
"It's the uncertainty that scares me," Ah said. "If Ah can't get a owner soon, Ah could be scrapped."
"Captain Salvage can't buy Sunshine, given the fleet's current difficulties," agreed Moonlight.
"I know," said Corona. "There's plans for me to be sold to Captain Star of the Star Tug and Marine Company in Bigg City Port. I'll be undergoing maintenance, but if you're chartered to him until then, maybe he'll help find another owner for you."
"That's a good idea," Ah said. "Thanks, Corona."
"I'm just glad to help a friend," said Corona.
"Of course, the plan changed after the Duchess incident," said Sunshine. "When Captain Star learnt about Mr. Mitton's illness and that Ten Cents and Ah clicked instantly, he decided to buy me instead of Corona…" Her voice trailed off. "Oh no," she said. "In all the excitement of having a new home, Ah forgot about Corona."
"Well, her owner was arrested for tax evasion a couple of years ago," explained Moonlight, "but we haven't seen her since then."
"Ah just wish Ah'd asked Captain Star to buy Corona as well," said Sunshine. "But Ah think he got caught up in the moment as well."
"Perhaps we could track her down and ask Captain Star to buy her," offered Hercules.
"Yes, please!" said Sunshine happily.
"That's a good idea, Hercules!" agreed Top Hat, before realising something else. "Say, don't we have work to do?"
"You're right there, Top Hat," grinned O.J.. "That's enough tales for one day, everyone. Let's get on with our work."
With that, the tugs all set off in opposite directions.
"Be careful not to chat up with Sally too much, brother," teased Sunshine.
"Er... I won't, sis," replied Moonlight, blushing madly. It was no secret that he had a crush on Sally Seaplane.
Because Warrior was helping to shift some timber, Sunshine was in charge of Lord Stinker. It wasn't a very nice job, but someone had to do it. Normally, Sunshine didn't mind doing her share of the nasty jobs, but Lord Stinker noticed that the switcher was feeling disconcentrated.
"Excuse me, Sunshine," said Lord Stinker. "But you appear to have something on your mind."
"Ah do," said Sunshine, and she explained about her old friend.
"That doesn't sound good," said Lord Stinker.
"No," agreed Sunshine. "Ah hope we can find her. How Ah want her to join the Star Fleet so much."
Sunshine didn't notice that three larger tugs behind the wall had overheard her. One of them was an ocean-going tug with a red sailor cap backwards. The second was a harbour tug with a dark blue sailor cap. The third was a harbour tug with a dark green sailor cap.
"There she is, boys," said the ocean-going tug. "There's that overgrown bath toy. The boss will be pleased with us."
"Yeah, Nightshade," cackled the harbour tug with the green tug. "This will be fun."
Just then, a bee fluttered by and the harbour tug with the blue cap looked on with a smile.
"Pay attention, Oleander!" snapped Nightshade. "You and Foxglove will come up from behind and I'll cut her off at the front."
"And then the fun will really begin," said Oleander. The three wicked tugs bobbed up and down with wicked laughter.
Ten Cents had gone to assist Big Mac at the water works and told him about the stories they exchanged as they worked.
"Say, Big Mac," said Ten Cents, "Top Hat said you knew two engines from Scotland."
"Aye," chuckled Big Mac. "'Twas a year afore Ah cam tae Bigg City." And this was the story he told…
Big Mac had just towed in a ship and was having a well earned rest. As he was sleeping, however, he didn't notice something creeping up behind him. It was a tender engine who then blew his whistle. Big Mac was startled awake.
"Whit in blazes?!" he exclaimed.
"Och, sae sorry, laddie," said the tender engine, who was a Caledonian Railway 652 Class with the number 662. "Ah didnae mean tae friten ye. Bin huvin trauchle wi' mah whistle."
"Th-that's a'richt," said Big Mac, regaining his composure. "Ah'm sorry, wha urr ye?"
"Ah'm Donald," replied the engine. "Ah'm fresh oot o' th' wirks. Ah'm 'ere tae collect a goods train. Whaur kin ah fin' it?"
"Keep gaun straecht, aroond th' bend, aboot a quarter mile up," replied Big Mac.
"Thanks, laddie," replied Donald as he set off. "Ah will git gaun, 'n' sorry fur waking ye."
"Nae tae worry," replied Big Mac. "Whit a nice laddie!" he said with a yawn before going back to sleep. He hadn't gone back to sleep before he was startled awake by another whistle "WHIT TH'–?!"
"Och, sae sorry, laddie," said a tender engine, who was another 652. "Ah didnae mean tae friten ye. Bin huvin trauchle wi' mah whistle."
"Is this some sort o' joke, Donald?" snapped Big Mac.
"Donald? Mah name's Douglas," replied the engine. Big Mac looked to see that Douglas had a different number to Donald – 663.
"Wh-whit?" Big Mac stuttered in confusion.
"Ye a'richt, laddie?" asked Douglas
"Juist a tad confused," said Big Mac. "Ah cuid hae sworn… och, ne'er mynd. Douglas, ye say?"
"That's richt," replied Douglas. "Ah'm fresh oot o' th' wirks. Ah'm 'ere tae collect a goods train. Whaur kin ah fin' it?"
"Keep gaun straecht, aroond th' bend, aboot a quarter mile up," replied Big Mac.
"Thanks, laddie," replied Douglas as he set off. "Ah'd better hop tae it. Sorry fur waking ye. See ye efter."
"Goodbye," said Big Mac. Then he realised something. "Hing oan! That's th' same thing Donald said."
Big Mac decided to follow them and soon enough, he got his answer. Then, with a smirk, he blew his hooter really loud.
"WHIT TH'–?!" Donald and Douglas exclaimed in unison.
"Och, sorry lads!" chuckled Big Mac. "Bin huvin trauchle wi' mah hooter."
Then, Donald and Douglas burst out laughing too.
"Ye win, laddie," said Donald. "It wull be tak' a clever tug or engine tae git th' better o' ye."
"Urr ye twa twins then?" asked Big Mac.
"Aye," said Douglas, who had a softer voice than Donald. "Sorry fur pranking ye lik' that."
"That's a'richt," said Big Mac. "Juist mind thir's a time 'n' a steid fur pranks. Och, Ah'm Big Mac, by th' wey."
"Pleased tae meet ye," replied Donald. "'N' dinna fash yirsel. We ken oor stoaps whin it comes tae pranking."
"That's guid tae hear," replied Big Mac. Since then, he and the Caledonian twins became good friends, and whenever Donald and Douglas came to the harbour, they would exchange their news with Big Mac.
All three were sorry when Big Mac was gifted to my father and he had to leave Scotland for the United States.
"We'll miss ye, Big Mac," said Donald.
"'Twas nice knowing ye," agreed Douglas.
"Cheer up, lads," said Big Mac. "Ah promise Ah will keep in titch."
With that, the two engines and the harbour tug exchanged whistles of farewell as Big Mac set off for his new home.
"Speaking of old friends," said Ten Cents, "Sunshine just remembered her old friend Corona from Up River. She was meant to be bought by Captain Star, but certain circumstances changed those plans. Now, Sunshine wants to ask Captain Star to buy Corona for his fleet. Do you think you could help to find out what's happened to her?"
"Dinna fash yirsel, Ten Cents," said Big Mac. "Ah'll let th' captain ken whin Ah see him."
"Thanks, Big Mac," said Ten Cents gratefully as they got back to work.
Meanwhile, Sunshine had just finished her work and was heading back to the Star Dock, thinking of asking me to track down Corona and buy her. Suddenly, she felt two large tugs come up from behind her with a bump
"Hey, watch it, fellas!" she called, before looking ahead to see another larger tug come up in front of her and recognised who it was. "What the… HELP!"
"Quiet!" snapped Nightshade. "Or we'll use the dynamite! There's enough to blow a miserable tug like you sky high!"
Sunshine was brave, but not that brave. She decided to cooperate. The three nasty tugs gave Sunshine strict instructions on where to go, keeping behind her all the time. They traveled through parts of the harbour that Sunshine had never seen. It was late in the day and Sunshine knew it would be dark soon.
"Okay, turn left here," said Oleander. Sunshine saw she was in a dark and dingy shed that looked like it hadn't been used in years. It was cold and dirty. Sunshine felt rather small and a little bit scared. The kidnappers tied her up.
"W-W-Why have you b-b-brought me here?" she asked in a shaky voice.
"Our boss has a plan for you," said Foxglove. "We're going to give you the Final Firing and then she'll take over your position in the Star Fleet, which you stole from her."
"Right," said Nightshade. "We're going to meet our boss and then the four of us will be back with the Black Water. Don't get lonely, will you?"
The tugs left Sunshine alone in the shed. "Final Firing?!" she gulped. "Ah… Ah'm going to die?!" She started sobbing…
Back in the harbour, Ten Cents and Moonlight were worried.
"Sunshine should have been back from the harbour ages ago," said Ten Cents.
"It's not like her to be late back," agreed Moonlight. "Have you seen her, O.J.?"
"No," replied O.J.. "Perhaps she's in trouble. I'll organize a search party."
"Good idea, O.J.," I said. "I'll phone Captain Salvage and ask her to send the salvage tugs to help."
The Z-Stacks steamed up, having overheard everything.
"Sunshine's gone missing, has she?" sneered Zak.
"You should keep that overgrown bath toy under control," snarked Zeus.
"Shut it, you two idiots!" snapped Zorran. "This is serious! Sunshine could be in danger! We've got to help the Star Tugs! Just don't tell Captain Zero!"
"Thank you, Zorran," replied O.J. gratefully.
When the Stars and Z-Stacks met up with the Salvage Fleet, O.J. sorted everyone in the following pairs: Ten Cents and Moonlight, Big Mac and Zak, Top Hat and Zob, Warrior and Zebedee, Hercules and Zeus, Zip and Zug, Grampus and Zilly, Stormy and Hail, Ember and Scorpio, Pisces and Misty, while leaving himself with Zorran. I decided to assist in the search by riding onboard O.J. and Grampus and Zilly asked Peeper Pipes and Davy Jones to assist. Though little did we know they weren't the only ones they'd find to help.
"No funny business, you two," Big Mac and Hercules said sternly to Zak and Zeus as we set off to find Sunshine.
We all searched around, looking for clues.
"Sunshine went to the waste dump," said O.J.. "Let's start there."
"Maybe Lord Stinker or Jack have seen her," Zorran suggested.
We traveled down the same route Sunshine did, but there was no sign of her anywhere. Then, we came to the dump.
"O.J., Zorran… Captain Star?!" gasped Jack. "What's going on, lads?"
"Have you seen Sunshine?" I asked. "She's gone missing."
"Not since she took me out this morning," said Lord Stinker.
"Oh," sighed O.J.. "Well, thanks anyway. Could you keep your eye out for her, please?"
"Will do," replied Jack.
Ten Cents and Moonlight came across an old disused part of the harbour.
"What if she ended up down here?" suggested Ten Cents.
"Mmm-hmm, it's possible," said Moonlight. "Let's try it."
It was getting dark now, so Ten Cents and Moonlight flashed their lights on and listened for Sunshine. As they traveled deeper, Ten Cents realised something.
"This is the dock where O.J.'s old fleet used to be based!" he exclaimed. Then, the two switchers heard whimpering coming from a nearby shed. "Could that be Sunshine?"
"Only one way to find out," said Moonlight.
Zip, Zug, Ember, Scorpio, Pisces and Misty met up at the same disused quayside where Big Mac and Sunshine were tricked into coming to by Zip and Zug.
"Any news, guys?" asked Pisces.
"No such luck," groaned Scorpio.
"We can't find her either," said Zug.
Then, they saw something inside an old warehouse. The six tugs looked to see Nightshade, Oleander and Foxglove with a smaller tug. Ember, Pisces, Scorpio and Misty were shocked to see who it was.
"It's her," whispered Misty.
"Who's her?" asked Zip.
"Ssh! Listen," hissed Ember.
"So little Sunshine is tied up in that old shed, is she?" said the small tug.
"You betcha, boss," said Nightshade. "And she's too afraid to do anything."
"Good," said the small tug. "Soon, my revenge will be complete. With her out of the way, I'll become the new number seven of the Star Fleet as planned."
The four tugs cackled evilly. The four Salvage tugs and the two Z-Stack switchers looked at each other with horrified expressions on their faces.
"They're going to kill Sunshine!" gulped Scorpio.
"That's a line even Zorran won't cross," said Zip.
"Zak and Zeus, maybe," said Zug, "but we can't let this happen."
"You're right," agreed Pisces. "Ember, go and find Peeper Pipes and Davy Jones."
"Right," replied Ember, setting off.
"Okay," said Pisces. "Here's what we'll do…"
Sunshine had never been so terrified in all her life. Three tugs she wished to forget had kidnapped her and they, along with their boss, were going to kill her. Then, she heard puffing coming towards her.
"Oh no," she whimpered. "They're back."
She shut her eyes, preparing herself for the end.
"There you are, sis," called a voice. Sunshine opened her eyes and turned her wheelhouse to see Moonlight and Ten Cents.
"Oh, thank goodness," she said with relief. "Ah was kidnapped by Nightshade, Oleander and Foxglove. They said they were going to give me the Final Firing so their boss can replace me in the Star Fleet."
"Oh, not those three," groaned Moonlight. "Wait, did you say they were going to give you the Final Firing?!"
"Don't worry, Sunshine," said Ten Cents. "We'll get you out of here and report this to Captain Star!"
Moonlight looked around and saw a jagged piece of metal.
"It's worth a try," he said, maneuvering her sister next to it.
Nightshade, Oleander, Foxglove and their boss had filled a tanker barge with Black Water and were just getting ready to head back to Sunshine when they saw another tug. It was Zug.
"Er, excuse me," Zug said nervously. "There's an emergency near the waterworks and I need your help."
"Rats!" growled Foxglove. "I was looking forward to giving that overgrown bath toy the Final Firing!"
"We'll do it later," said the small tug. "This is my chance to prove to Captain Star how useful I am."
The four evil tugs followed Zug out the warehouse without the barge, but just as they turned away from the warehouse…
"NOW!" yelled Pisces and she, Scorpio, Misty and Zip rammed into the four tugs, pinning them against the quayside.
"You three again!" snapped Nightshade.
"That's right, Nightshade!" replied Pisces. "And as for you," she said, turning to the three evil tugs' boss, "I can't believe you would do something like this! You can explain it to Peeper Pipes and Davy Jones when they get here!"
"Well, here we are!" said a voice. There, coming towards them, were Peeper Pipes and Davy Jones with Ember not too far behind.
"And they're not alone!" said another voice. Out popped two more boats that somewhat resembled Peeper Pipes and Davy Jones. "I'm Cappy, the custom launch," the first boat said.
"My name's Snowy, the port authority," said the second one.
"Well, thanks for the extra assistance," said Ember. "We need all the help we can get."
"We'd better let the others know we've caught the kidnappers," said Zug.
Back at the Star Dock, the rest of the Stars, the rest of the Salvage Team, most of the Z-Stacks and I were worrying about what could have happened to Sunshine. Zak and Zeus were not bothered about it, though, but didn't dare say it anything loud. Then, we all heard three whistles and saw Ten Cents and Moonlight return with a shaken-up Sunshine.
"Sir, sir!" cried Ten Cents. "Sunshine was kidnapped by four evil tugs!"
"They were planning on killing her!" added Moonlight.
"A-and… the leader was goin' to replace me in the Star Fleet," whimpered Sunshine.
"Suffering stacks!" gasped Warrior. "Are you alright, Sunshine?"
"Well, Ah'm glad to be alive," admitted Sunshine, "but Ah was really scared."
"Do you have any idea who the culprits were?" asked Grampus.
"The three tugs who did the actual kidnapping didn't say who their boss was," replied Ten Cents.
"Well, whoever it was, they'll have a lot of explaining to do," said Hercules darkly.
"You're right, Hercules!" I said crossly. "No one tries to kill one of my tugs and gets away with it!"
"But we do know who Sunshine's kidnappers were," said Moonlight. "Their names were…"
But Moonlight was interrupted by more whistles. We looked to see Zip, Zug, the rest of the Salvage Team and the Coast Guard team arrive with Sunshine's kidnappers.
"Oh, Sunshine!" said Misty. "Thank goodness you're safe."
"Are you alright?" asked Ember.
"Ah'm all shaken up!" whimpered Sunshine.
"Well, don't worry," assured Snowy. "We've caught the culprits."
"Though you might want to lower your anchor, Sunshine," said Zip. "This is going to be a massive shock for you."
When Sunshine, Moonlight, Stormy and Hail looked at the smaller tug, they were indeed shocked. She was painted white and had curly red hair with a tiara on top and a massive scowl on her face. Then, Stormy and Hail looked at her accomplices and were even more shocked.
"Oh, Moonlight Oceans Aboves!" gulped Hail. "Is that… ?"
"Those three?" exclaimed Stormy angrily. "I should have known!"
"Corona?!" gasped Sunshine and Moonlight.
"That's right, Sunshine!" snapped Corona. "I was going to be part of the Star Fleet and be Captain's Star No. 7. But no! Captain Star just had to take pity on you for that pathetic sob story about your owner dying from cancer. And what about me? I was the one stuck with an abusive owner, for Neptune's sake!"
"Ah'm sorry, Corona," said Sunshine. "Ah was so caught up in the moment, Ah forgot about you. In fact, if you had come to me and asked Captain Star to make me part of his fleet as well, Ah would have asked him to buy you without a moment's pause!" But angry tears started to pour from her eyes and she suddenly shouted, "BUT NO! YOU CHOSE TO GET THOSE THREE BIG TUGS TO KIDNAP ME AND PLANNED TO GIVE ME A FINAL FIRING JUST SO YOU COULD REPLACE ME! YOU'RE NOT THE TUG AH THOUGHT YOU WERE! YOU'RE NOT MAH FRIEND!"
"Sunshine's right!" snapped Ten Cents. "What you tried to do to her was just despicable!"
"Even I wouldn't stoop so low," agreed Zorran, "and I got Zak to shove her into the Duchess on her first day, unaware that Mr. Mitton had cancer! If I'd known about her owner dying, I would have relented!"
"And you seem to have forgotten that Captain Salvage couldn't buy my sister at the time because of financial difficulties," said Moonlight. "No thanks to those three thugs you hired to kidnap her!" He glared at them. "We haven't forgotten about your owner, Corona, but Sunshine had an uncertain future through no fault of her own, and time is something we can't control."
"In fact, the incident with the Duchess was another factor in Sunshine being bought instead of you, Corona," replied Top Hat. "We felt guilty for accusing her of causing the accident without proof, but once Ten Cents and Hercules learnt the truth from Izzy Gomez, O.J. asked Captain Star to buy her as a way of apology for our harsh treatment."
"Plus, she and Ten Cents had befriended each other to the point where Ten Cents had gone out to look for Sunshine after the accident," put in O.J..
"'n' as fur whit ye tried tae dae tae oor friend," Big Mac growled, "weel, there's na place in th' Star Fleet fur a cold-hearted murderer lik' ye."
"We all trusted you, Corona," snapped Pisces, "and you destroyed it beyond repair!"
"Yeah, how could you do this to us?" snapped Scorpio, "After everything we've done through."
Misty and Hail looked like they wanted to cry from the betrayal Sunshine had experienced whilst Ember and Stormy growled angrily at the deceitful switcher as did Warrior, Hercules, Grampus, Zebedee and Zob. Zip, Zug and Zilly just glared at Corona. Zak and Zeus, however, were secretly impressed but both earned a glare from Zorran.
"Corona, I'm sorry for forgetting about you when I bought Sunshine," I said, before my face changed into an angry expression. "But my tugs are right. This does not justify kidnapping or attempted murder, and murderers are never welcome in my fleet! Peeper Pipes, you and your team see to it that these four are dry docked for a good long time!" I then turned back to Corona, Nightshade Oleander and Foxglove. "And if any of you ever try to harm my tugs again, you will be in serious trouble! Understand?"
"I hate you, Sunshine!" snapped Corona. "Our friendship is over!"
"That's the third best news Ah heard this century!" shouted Sunshine. With that, the coast guard team, Zip, Zug, Ember, Pisces, Scorpio and Misty led the arrested tugs away.
"Nice work helping Ember, Pisces, Scorpio and Misty to catch these four, you two," Zorran called to Zip and Zug. "I'll be sure to put in a good word to Captain Zero when we get back to the Zero Dock."
"Oh, thank you," said Zug.
"I just hope Sunshine is alright," said Zip worriedly.
I'm sorry to say she wasn't. Everything that had happened to Sunshine today was all too much for her, and she suddenly broke down crying.
"Hey, sis, it's alright," Moonlight said gently.
"No, it's not," sobbed Sunshine. "The tug who Ah once thought was mah best friend tried to kill me. How can that be okay?"
"Don't worry, Sunshine," said Ten Cents. "We're all there for you."
"Thanks, Ten Cents," sniffled Sunshine. We all looked to my number seven tug with sad expressions. True to her name, she was the ray of sunshine in our lives, so to see her like this just broke our hearts. Even Zorran felt saddened at seeing this.
"Sunshine, I would like you to report to Captain Lucky for counseling," I said gently. "This has been a traumatic experience for you and I don't like seeing my tugs in such a horrific state. Ten Cents, can you lead her there?"
"Yes, Captain Star," said Ten Cents. The two Star switchers left with Moonlight following from behind. He wanted to give his younger sister comfort after the whole ordeal she'd been through.
"Sunshine…" said Ten Cents.
"…yes?" sniffled Sunshine.
"What did you mean by third best news?" asked Ten Cents.
"Well… there are two things that were better than that," said Sunshine, her voice still shaky.
"That being?" asked Moonlight.
"The second and first best news was a tie…" said Sunshine. "That Captain Star saved mah life, and that Ah found mah true best friend."
"You mean me, don't you, Sunshine?" asked Ten Cents.
"Yep," replied Sunshine. "When everyone thought that Ah'd caused the accident with the Duchess, you still had faith in me. Captain Star and Hercules even praised you for still trusting me, and it was thanks to you that we learnt the truth from Izzy Gomez. You helped clear my name. I never got the chance to say this – thank you, Ten Cents, for not giving up on me."
"That's alright, Sunshine," said Ten Cents, before sighing. "Pity that Corona let her negative feelings get the better of her."
"Do you think she'll ever change?" asked Moonlight.
"No, Moonlight," said Sunshine sadly. "It's probably a case of too little, too late. It doesn't matter though, she's out of mah life and hopefully we'll never see her again."
It took Sunshine a while to recover from her traumatic experience, but with the help of the Stars, the Salvage Fleet, myself and Captain Lucky, Sunshine began to feel better. Even Zorran, Zebedee, Zip, Zug, Zob and Zilly showed concern for her, as did Sea Rogue, O'Malley and Billy Shoepack when they heard what had happened. In fact, Zorran made sure that Zak and Zeus didn't say anything insensitive. For a few years, we didn't see Corona, Nightshade, Oleander or Foxglove. That was until… but I'll save that bit for a very future story. Thankfully, there were no more kidnapping incidents in Bigg City Port for a few years, but as you'll see in a future story, the next kidnapping that would occur was even more horrific.
The End
Arthur's note: This is another of my favourite expansions so far. We have more new OCs: Foxglove, Oleander and Nightshade aren't only nods to poisonous plants, but expys of the Rowdyruff Boys from the show The Powerpuff Girls. Corona is an expy of Princess Morbucks. This also gives more backstory to Sunshine and more context as to why she was bought for the Star Fleet, and we get flashbacks of Top Hat and Big Mac's pasts. O.J.'s past is hinted at by Ten Cents, and everyone will get more information in the prequel TUGS series, I swear.
Next time, some of the tugs must help a Ship in Distress.