GRAFTON approached Techno and The Hood. He wasn't in a good mood. "I know we agreed to do things the way we are, but did you really have to sabotage the plane I was on?"

"We did nothing to that plane, Grafton," said The Hood. "I don't know what caused it to have multiple engine failure, but I can assure you, all we got was the emergency call for help from our satellite. I admit, if it had not been for the intervention of International Rescue, we wouldn't have made it on this occasion."

Grafton scoffed loudly. "The whole damn purpose of the Thunderbolts is to put International Rescue out of business!" he snapped. "How can we do that if your creations don't do as they're meant to?"

"Are you criticising my work?" asked Techno with a glare on his face.

"Your work, no, Casey," said Grafton but the pilots of those Thunderbolts need to buck their ideas up!"

"And are you criticising us now?"

Grafton turned to see Silver Swan and Black Phantom had entered the room followed closely by Shocker and White Ghost. "I never remember which of you pilots which," Grafton said.

"I have Thunderbolt 4," said Black Phantom.

"And I have Thunderbolt 2," said Silver Swan.

"I'm Thunderbird 5," said The Hood. "I wasn't even involved with this one."

"There were three," said Grafton. "Thunderbolt 1 was there as well. Who pilots that?"

"The new guy," said Shocker.

"Don't call me that!" said a disgruntled voice. The others all turned to see a figure in a blue outfit and a metal head covering approaching. "I've worked for The Hood for a long time! Stop seeing me as a rookie!"

"Calm down, my dear Chameleon," said The Hood. "You've done an outstanding job of leading the Thunderbolts into action. I couldn't be more proud of you."

This made the Chameleon feel better, although the other members of The Cabal didn't see it that way.

The White Ghost suddenly let out a loud groan and almost fell to her knees.

"Laura!" said Grafton, hurrying over to her. "Are you okay?"

"Not really," White Ghost answered. "The pain's getting worse. When am I getting my treatment?"

"The arrangements are being finalised," said Grafton. "The necessary equipment should be here in two days."

"Right after the EXPO," said Silver Swan.

"Yes," said Grafton. "I take it all is set for tomorrow's unveiling? I need it to be perfect. Some of the top leaders in the military and a lot of press and invited guests will be there. I cannot afford to be made an idiot out of."

"I don't think you need our help with that," Black Phantom muttered.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Grafton barked.

"We found the footage of your interview where you tried to make International Rescue look bad," said Black Phantom. "You certainly made yourself look stupid."

Grafton tried to lunge at him but The Hood stood in between. "Gentlemen, GENTLEMEN!" he roared. "NOW IS NOT THE TIME!" He lowered his voice and turned to Grafton. "By the time tomorrow is over, Mr Grafton, International Rescue won't know what to do with themselves."

Grafton calmed himself down. "You'd better be right," he said.

"You dare question the boss?" asked Silver Swan. "He's always right!"

"Correction," said Grafton. "So long as you're all here, I'm the boss! It was thanks to me that you got out of Aquatraz after all."

"You mean thanks to me, I think!" said the Chameleon. "It was me who masqueraded as Colonel Jennings and later the Warden. It was me who opened the cells that let you out."

The Hood was getting frustrated with the bickering. "ENOUGH!"

Everyone fell silent.

"Like I said, Grafton," The Hood continued. "This time tomorrow, you'll have shown off your latest endeavour to the world and by the end of the demonstration, the world will be calling out for the Thunderbolts, and not the Thunderbirds. Trust me."

Grafton seemed to accept this. "I want International Rescue to know that they're no longer wanted," he said. "And at long last, these machines will do the trick." He turned and then left the underground complex without a word.

No sooner was he gone when the other Cabal members turned to The Hood.

"Why are we even helping this guy?" rumbled the Black Phantom. "He's a complete as-"

"There is no need for you to state the obvious, Mr Kruger," said The Hood sharply. "I know what he is. The whole world does."

"If anyone needs to make International Rescue look bad, it's us," agreed Silver Swan.

"I second that," said Techno. "They ruined everything by stopping our plans and sending us to prison."

"Believe me when I say I'm never going back to jail," agreed Shocker.

"Yeah, we don't need Grafton," said the Black Phantom.

"Yes, we do!" snapped the White Ghost. "I need him to fix me! Without him, my condition would have killed me by now!"

Silver Swan seemed to be the only one concerned by this. "Stop worrying about it, hun," she said. "We just need to see the downfall of International Rescue and then…we'll all get what we deserve."

"I've seen enough!" Jeff said at long last. "Kayo, get Mini-MAX out of there."

"F-A-B. What do you need me to do next?"

"Return to base," said Jeff. "We know where they are. We can send the GDF to their location once we go to deal with Grafton."

"Understood," said Kayo. "They don't know I was here so."

"Exactly," said Jeff. "Come on home. Let them scheme all they want. It won't help them." As Kayo signed off, Jeff turned to the others who were all showing a mixture of shocked and livid expressions.

"I knew it," said Scott, his entire body shaking with rage. He jumped up. "I FU-"

"DON'T YOU DARE USE THAT WORD IN HERE, YOUNG MAN!" thundered Grandma, silencing the eldest brother.

"We're not just gonna sit here and let them get away with this, are we?" Gordon asked Jeff.

"No, Gordon, we are not," said Jeff. "But we cannot go in like its a commando raid. We're gonna need to make careful plans with the GDF. We will present them with the evidence and use it against them."

"Evidence?" said Virgil. "Wait, do you mean-?"

"Yes, V-Virgil," said Brains. "Mini-MAX has recorded everything that we saw."

"And The Cabal and Grafton had no idea we were even there," added Alan.

"As far as we know," said Scott. "It's not uncommon for them to surprise us as well as us surprise them."

"I have faith that we have the element of surprise over them, Scott," said Jeff. He composed himself for a moment. "Right…okay then. Here's what we're gonna do."

The crowds were gathering inside the large demonstration arena located inside the New York EXPO site. Nearly all were invited guests, including several people from the plane that Grafton had been on. Wanda was among them along with her own personal driver - an Italian man by the name of Luigi.

"Allow me to open the door for you, senorita," Luigi said.

"Why, thank you, Luigi," said Wanda as she got out of her car. "Would you care to escort me to my seat?"

"Si," said Luigi and off they went, leaving the car in the secure parking lot along with hundreds of others.

The arena could hold up to five-hundred people and it was full. Wanda and Luigi were amongst the last to arrive, just before Grafton was due to appear on the stage. As they observed the other people there, a few seats down on their right in the front row was a woman in a red dress and a young man in a suit, although it was clear he had not properly dressed himself, much to the woman's annoyance it seemed.

"For God's sake, Tristan, this is your Dad's big night! You could at least make the effort to look smart!"

"But, Mom! I don't like being smart!"

"Senior Grafton's family, I am presuming?" asked Luigi.

"Must be," replied Wanda. "Larissa Grafton…one of the most sought after lawyers in the whole of the United States."

A band suddenly began to play and Grafton appeared on the stage. The audience began to clap and in the case of several, laugh as Grafton was dancing a silly little jig to the music, much to the embarrassment of Larissa.

Grafton reached the podium and after taking a bow, held his hand up for silence. "Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you so much for coming here tonight," he said. "For several years when people have been in danger, they relied on the heroic efforts of people who were willing to lay down their lives to save others, even if it meant losing their own in the process in some unfortunate circumstances. The Police. The Fire Department. Paramedics. Army. Navy. Air Force. Marines. They thought through the toughest of situations to try and make the world a safer place. And they did…and then they had their glory taken from them. One man ruined it all for them - Jeff Tracy. He had some crazy dream to spend billions of dollars in creating some state of the art rescue machines, flying around the world, under the seas and even going into space for crying out loud! And to make it worse, he never employed heroes to do the work that many have spent YEARS training for! No…he gave the job to his KIDS! HIS CHILDREN! WHAT KIND OF PARENT PUTS THEIR KIDS INTO A CRAZY JOB LIKE THAT?! I'll tell you…NOBODY!"

A series of television cameras were recording Grafton on stage. Amongst the viewers were Jeff, Brains and Grandma from Brains' lab.

"Hypocrite, isn't he?" remarked Grandma.

Jeff nodded, thinking back to the discovery that Tristen had been part of a group pretending to be IR at the fire and Rig-15. He pressed a button on his watch. "You all in position?" he asked.

"Yes, Dad," Scott's voice answered over the radio.

"F-A-B," said Virgil.

"Standing-by," finished Kayo.

"John?" asked Jeff.

"The GDF are surrounding the EXPO but keeping out of sight," said John. "Kayo…don't make your move until he's unveiled the Thunderbolts."

"Understood."

Thanks to her stealth-suit, Kayo had already infiltrated the EXPO and was hiding in the open roof girders of the arena. She looked down at Grafton on the stage, waiting for him to make the move.

"They claim to always be the first of the scene," Grafton continued. "That's trash, let me tell you! When I needed their help earlier this year, I waited for almost an hour before they turned up! An HOUR! Can you believe that?!"

It wasn't just International Rescue that were watching the speech. The Cabal were as well.

"Ugh - how much longer is he gonna be?" complained Shocker.

"Let him enjoy himself, Mr Schultz," said The Hood. "He likes to feel that he's on top of it all."

"Is he going to say why he needed rescuing by them?" asked The Black Phantom. "He certainly hasn't told us."

"Not sure I give a damn personally," sniffed Silver Swan.

"Shhh!" hissed The White Ghost who had been intently listening to Grafton's speech.

"Well today, it's time for a new chapter in the world of global rescuing," said Grafton. "Today is the day that International Rescue is no longer the main rescue organisation of the world. Today is the day we shoot them down in flames and will no longer have a use for them. today…I reveal to you all…my newest creations…the THUNDERBOLTS!"

A large hatch in the floor began to open and the crowd watched in amazement as the five large hulking armour rose up out from a concealed bay underneath the stage. Thunderbolt 1 stood on the left looking at the front with 2, 3, 4 and finally 5 on the end.

In the hideout at Malibu, Techno worked on a computer as the suits were raised into position. "Uplinks established," he said. "You have control. He turned to Chameleon, Silver Swan, Shocker, The Black Phantom and The Hood, all standing in a row just like the suits. All five were wearing headsets which cerebrally connected them to the machines. Chameleon was in control of Thunderbolt 1. Silver Swan controlled 2. Shocker had 3. The Black Phantom was in possession of 4 and finally The Hood had the power to operate 5. The initial connection was slightly painful but soon they were comfortable and adapted. As soon as the platform had finished raising, they all lifted up their right arms to salute the crowd and the invited military personnel who were there to see the demonstration. Grafton returned the salute and the crowd began to stand up, clapping and several were cheering. The military personnel seemed very impressed.

"Wow," said Grafton with pride. "That's a hell of a lot better than cheerleaders, let me tell you! And these are only the prototypes. I intend to set up staging posts across the world with several hundreds of these machines. They can get to any country, anywhere, at any given time. And best of all, they-"

"Are controlled by criminals like yourself?"

Grafton fell silent. The crowd fell silent and everyone started looking around trying to see where the voice had come from. There then came a swoosh and a bump as Kayo jumped out from her hiding place and landed with a clunk on the walkway leading up to the stage, resulting in many gasps from the crowd. Even Grafton jumped back in surprise. "You?!" he exclaimed.

Through their suit camera eyes, The Cabal could also see Kayo. Almost in an instant, Thunderbolt 4 took a step forwards but was stopped instantly by the right arm of Thunderbolt 5.

"Don't move, you idiot!" snarled Techno. "You'll give us away!"

The Black Phantom seethed with anger. Seeing Kayo made his blood boil and he wanted nothing more than to kill her for not saving his father the year before - even though he knew The Hood would not allow it.

"Your the person who took down the GDF's super-soldier, aren't you?" Grafton said to Kayo. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm here to protect International Rescue's reputation, Grafton," said Kayo. "And to show you up for the fraud that you are."

Grafton went red as several angry shouts of protest began to come from the crowd.

Larissa in particular was furious. She jumped up and began to storm towards the stage, beckoning Mr Hicks and two other members of security to come over.

"How dare you!" Grafton fumed. "You have the audacity to interrupt my ceremony to accuse me of something totally-"

"Accurate? Yes," said Kayo.

"YOU! FACE ME!"

Kayo turned her head to see a livid Larissa approaching her. Grafton sneered. "Oh, you're in for it now."

"You have absolute NERVE!" Larissa bellowed. She tried to slap Kayo but Kayo caught her hand. "GET YOUR HAND OFF ME!" she shrieked.

Tristan now jumped up. "MOM! DAD!" he cried and tried to run on the stage.

Hicks and the other security men tried to grab Kayo but she ducked and flipped herself over, letting go of Larissa who spun around and accidentally slapped Tristan instead.

"OW, MOM!"

"Oh, BOY! GET BACK IN YOUR SEAT!" thundered Larissa.

Hicks and the guards tried to capture Kayo but she was too quick. The other Thunderbolts all moved to try and intervene.

"STAY…STILL!" The Hood thundered.

Eventually, Kayo landed on one of the speakers.

Hicks turned towards her and growled like a wild animal. "I'm gonna rip you apart!" he said and began to charge towards her, but Kayo shone a powerful torch in his face which blinded him. She then leapt forwards, drop-kicking him backwards onto the other guards who became trapped under his now unconscious body.

"STOP THIS! ENOUGH!" bellowed Grafton. "INTERNATIONAL RESCUE! YOU HAVE JUST SEALED YOUR FATE!"

"YES!" agreed Larissa. "NOW I CAN FINALLY BRING YOU TO COURT WITH OFFICIAL EVIDENCE OF TRESPASSING AND OBSTRUCTION!"

"Oh, really?" Kayo retorted. "And what about your husband's criminal activity?"

"MY HUSBAND IS A WELL-RESPECTED BUSINESSMAN!" fumed Larissa. "HE IS NOT A CRIMINAL!"

"THAT IS YOU!" bellowed Grafton. "YOU AND THAT PATHETIC FAMILY YOU WORK FOR!"

Kayo now turned red with anger. "One - they are NOT my employers. They are my family! And two…" She pressed her wrist-controller. "If you're not a criminal, Grafton, how do you explain this?"

The big screen behind the Thunderbolts suddenly came to life having been hacked by John and Brains. It was now showing the footage that Mini-MAX had recorded from inside the secret base's air-duct. A huge chorus of gasps came from the audience as Larissa and Grafton both froze in shock and horror at the footage. To make matters worse for Grafton in particular, there was sound recorded and over the speakers came not only his voice, but the ones of The Hood and other Cabal members as well.

"By the time tomorrow is over, Mr Grafton, International Rescue won't know what to do with themselves."

"You'd better be right."

"What?!" exclaimed Larissa, backing away, her eyes wide with shock. "Warren, what is this?!"

But Grafton had turned as white as a ghost. No words came out of his mouth. "What this is, Mrs Grafton," said Kayo, "is the dark secret that your husband's been keeping from you. He's a member of The Cabal!"

The angry shouts from the crowd began again, only this time they were directed at Grafton, not Kayo.

The Cabal meanwhile had also turned the Thunderbolts around so they could see the screen. They too found themselves in complete and utter shock at what it was showing.

"What the hell?!" exclaimed The Chameleon.

"She knows?!" said Silver Swan.

"That's impossible!" protested Shocker.

"HOW THE HELL DOES SHE KNOW?!" cried The Black Phantom.

Techno looked around and suddenly noticed the small hole in the wall where fresh air could enter the chamber from the duct. "She must have tracked the Thunderbolts and followed them here!" he realised. "Then sent a small camera in to spy on us!"

The White Ghost ran over to the wall and used gecko gloves to climb up to the vent cover. She phased her hands through to try and find the camera. But there was nothing. "Nothing here!" she said. "She must have taken it away with her."

"Warren, tell me this isn't true?" Larissa said demandingly to her husband.

"OF COURSE IT'S NOT TRUE!" bellowed Grafton. "IT'S FAKE! IT'S CGI!"

"You're an embarrassment to yourself, Grafton," said Kayo. "Nobody would be here if you hadn't been so pig-headed over losing your plane in an ice-storm last year. Which by the way was caused by them." She indicated to The Cabal on the screen. "Or have they neglected to mention that to you?"

The Cabal found themselves unable to believe what they'd just heard.

"His contempt for the Thunderbirds is because of something WE did?!" asked The Black Phantom.

"All this because he wants payback for losing a plane?" growled Silver Swan.

"I told you this guy was pathetic!" snapped Shocker.

"ENOUGH!" Techno shouted. "YOU'RE STOPPING THE BOSS FROM THINKING!"

They all turned to The Hood. "What do we do, boss?" asked Silver Swan.

The Hood had seemed somewhat unphased by the whole thing. He'd remained completely silent. But that was about to change. "I'll tell you what we do," he said. "Time to reveal the truth."

"NONE OF THIS IS TRUE!" Grafton bellowed at Larissa and the crowd. "THIS IS INTERNATIONAL RESCUE TRYING TO SAVE THEMSELVES FROM THEIR INEVITABLE DOWNFALL!"

"If only that were true, Mr Grafton."

A huge chorus of gasps now erupted from the crowd. Larissa shrieked and fell over, her hand over her mouth. Grafton turned and went very white and even Kayo and the rest of the International Rescue team reacted in shock as a large hologram of The Hood's head was projected from the top of Thunderbolt 5.

"Looks like the secret is out," Alan whispered to Gordon.

"Yep," Gordon replied simply.

"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO REVEAL YOURSELF!" Grafton bellowed at The Hood.

"And by saying that you've just contradicted what you told everyone," The Hood replied.

Grafton felt everything inside him suddenly go all peculiar as the realisation of what he'd just done hit him like he'd just been run over by a snowplough.

The Hood then addressed the horrified crowd. "Yes, I'm afraid it is true," he said. "My Cabal and I are no longer in prison and we're free to roam as we please. We are of course grateful for your assistance in getting us out of Aquatraz, Mr Grafton, but I'm afraid the last few minutes have created a change of circumstances. I only work with people who have genuine grievances with International Rescue. Not petty ones like yourself. And yes, we were the ones behind those Ice Fortresses that shut down the entire American continent."

Grafton for once was completely speechless.

"I'm afraid as a result of this, you are hereby dismissed as a member of my Cabal and we will no longer be relying on you to assist us. We will however be keeping the Thunderbolts…and anything of yours that we can lay our hands on."

"What? NO!" Grafton finally found his voice. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!"

The Hood began to laugh. "The distance between us is great, Mr Grafton. I hardly think there's anything that you can do to stop us."

"He might not," Kayo said. "But we can!"

The rumble of engines made everyone look up and around as four GDF Flyers appeared to encircle the arena.

"Smart, Kayo," remarked The Hood. "But may I point out that we're not actually there and are controlling the Thunderbolts remotely?"

"Yes, but we know where you are, Hood," Colonel Jennings said as she walked into the EXPO arena with twenty officers including Captain Liberty, Hayley, Amanda and Obsidian. "But International Rescue has given us your location. There's a series of squadrons on their way to deal with you as we speak."

Silence fell for a few moments as everyone looked towards The Hood's hologram. He eyed everyone carefully. Then he finally spoke. "I hardly think you'll have time for us, Colonel," he said. "Not when you'll all be trying to save everyone here…and yourselves."

"What do you mean by that?" demanded Colonel Jennings.

The Hood smirked. "You'll see," he said with a chuckle. "Cabal…ATTACK!"

The hologram disappeared and the arms of the Thunderbolts rose up to be straight ahead. Gasps of horror followed as the mechs opened up to reveal concealed missile launchers and machine-guns. The audience began to panic and a mass stampede was in danger of breaking out. The military personnel grabbed their weapons as did every GDF member. Even the security who were there for Grafton took up their weapons.

"NO! NO! STOP!" Grafton bellowed at the Thunderbolts.

The Cabal took no notice and with maniacal laughter erupting from them all, the missiles began to launch directly towards the crowd.

Obsidian then sprang into action, throwing up a big forcefield shield out of his hands which the missiles hit and were destroyed. He then released the shield and used the boosters in his boots to leap up into the air directly where the Thunderbolts began to look up at him. He opened his arms out wide and got ready for one of his sonic handclaps. "Obsidian…SMASH!" he bellowed and clapped his hands together, sending out a powerful blast shockwave which Kayo, Grafton, Larissa and the recovered Hicks now had to dive out of the way to avoid. The blast was powerful and it caused all five Thunderbolt-mechs to be thrown off balance. The Hood and Silver Swan only just managed to keep theirs upright but Chameleon, Shocker and Black Phantom all lost theirs and fell over.

The Hood turned in his booth to look over at Silver Swan. "Would you care to deal with your traitorous brother, Swan?" he asked.

Silver Swan, who was not in any way ready to reconcile with her brother for reforming and joining the GDF, gritted her teeth as she watched Obsidian land back on the ground. "Glady…" she said darkly.

Obsidian looked up as Thunderbolt 2 approached him. "You're big," he remarked. "You know what they say. The bigger-"

"I'm not falling at your hands, Fuse!"

Obsidian stopped dead. "Havoc?!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Silver Swan shouted. "I'M NOT CALLED THAT ANYMORE!"

"THEN DON'T CALL ME FUSE!"

"Okay then," said Silver Swan. "Then I'll call you by what you are. TRAITOR!"

The two siblings let out big bellows and charged to attack each other.

Kayo saw Larissa nearby and pulled her to her feet with Tristan's help. "Get out of here, both of you," she said.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Larissa shrieked when she realised Kayo was helping her. "I'LL BE SEEING YOU ALL IN COURT!"

"Oh, shut up!" Kayo snapped. "Just get your sorry butts out of here! GO!"

"MOM, COME ON!" begged Tristan as he ushered his still furious mother out of the arena after the rest of the fleeing crowd.

The GDF soldiers began to open fire on the remaining Thunderbolts which were now standing up again and starting to attack once more.

"It seems our captive audience is making a run for it," observed The Hood. "Thunderbolts 1, 3 and 4 - go and have some fun with them."

"Yes, sir!" the three supervillains said eagerly and began to run out after the fleeing crowds. The soldiers fired their weapons but they had next to no effect on them. The Hood then began to attack the ones that were left, using the machine-guns in his mech's arms and forcing the soldiers (including Colonel Jennings, Hayley and Amanda to hide behind a metal support beam at the side.

Captain Liberty was the only one brave enough to try and take Thunderbolt 5 on. He used his shield to deflect the bullets as it began to focus on him and then when he was close enough, he threw himself against one of the legs causing it to almost fall over but The Hood stopped it in time. "You think your fancy new suit is going to help you, Captain Rigby?!" he growled.

"More than you THINK!" Captain Liberty replied as he threw the shield towards Thunderbolt 5's head.

But The Hood caught the shield and threw it away. "Fetch!" he laughed and then swung his arm to knock the now shield less Rigby away.

Kayo had gone after Thunderbolts 1, 3 and 4. She used the support beams above the main overviewing building to follow them unseen. "Brains, how do we stop these machines?" she asked.

"I've m-managed to create a full blueprint of their systems from the scan made by Mini-MAX, Kayo," Brains answered via her helmet radio. "The suits have m-motor servers located under a cover on the back just behind the heads. If you can p-prize the cover off, you should be able to disable them."

"F-A-B," said Kayo. "I'm gonna try it on Thunderbolt 3." She jumped down and landed on the back of Thunderbolt 3.

Even though he wasn't actually inside the suit, Shocker was alerted to Kayo's presence via the mech's sensors. "Get off my back!" he rumbled and tried to reach her with the mech's arms. But Kayo was out of reach.

The Black Phantom noticed via the camera from Thunderbolt 4. "Leave her to me," he snarled and before anyone knew it, Thunderbolt 4 had grabbed Kayo and yanked her off the back of Thunderbolt 3. "Got you now, Kyrano!" he rumbled. "Now it's time you DIE!" and he tossed her like a ragdoll right back across the arena.

"WOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Kayo cried out and crashed into the metal beam that Hayley, Amanda and Colonel Jennings had been using for cover. "URGH!" she cried and fell to the floor right beside them.

"OH, MY GOD! KAYO!" Hayley cried in alarm as she and Colonel Jennings checked on her.

Kayo was alive, but had had the wind knocked right out of her. "Owwwwwww…" she said in pain.

Thunderbolt 5 had been about to fire upon the position of the senior GDF officers when he saw Kayo hit the beam and then drop to the floor. "Kayo?!" he exclaimed. Then he looked to his right and saw Thunderbolt 4 walking menacingly towards where they were.

"LOOK OUT!" Amanda cried. Hayley and Colonel Jennings looked up and gasped when they saw the large yellow bulk of Thunderbolt 4 advancing on them.

"Four in one?" The Black Phantom's electronic voice said through the mech as he raised his laser-pulse palms to fire. "I'll take it!"

"NO!"

Anyone present watched in surprise as Thunderbolt 5 charged in and knocked Thunderbolt 4 over.

"We can't stay here!" Colonel Jennings said to Hayley and Amanda. "Thompson, cover us! Madison, help me get Kyrano out of here!"

Together the three GDF officers moved Kayo out of harm's way without Thunderbolts 4 oe 5 seeing them go.

The Black Phantom was livid. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT, GODDAMN IT?!" he bellowed at The Hood. "I HAD THEM!"

"You've been warned before, Mr Kruger. DON'T TOUCH MY NIECE!" The Hood thundered.

"STOP…DENYING ME…MY REVENGE!" roared The Black Phantom.

"You want to hurt Kayo, kill innocent people that she could have saved!" snapped The Hood. "Or I can get Techno to remotely disengage you from Thunderbolt 4 and take over himself?"

There was a pause. Techno placed a hand over a button. The Black Phantom swore in frustration and got up to go after the escaping crowd.

"Better," said The Hood. "Now…where were…we?" He had turned back only to find Kayo and the GDF officers had gone. "Grrrr! Where'd you go?"

The entire EXPO site was filled with the screams of the fleeing public as Thunderbolts 1 and 3 continued their rampage. They smashed through buildings, grabbed trees and threw them and occasionally launched a missile or two into the ground, causing explosions and fires. Several people were hit by debris and were knocked down to be rendered unconscious. But Shocker and Chameleon didn't care one bit. They were having a great time.

Chameleon then saw a metal bridge that a group of people were running under. "A-ha!" he said out loud to himself. "That's gonna cause a mess!" He locked onto the two sides of the small bridge and fired two missiles. The explosions caused the bridge to be ripped apart and it began to fall towards the crowd who began screaming more than before and tried to get out of the way in time. But the bridge never hit the ground or those underneath. A powerful grapple came down and stopped it. As everyone looked up, they saw that it was Thunderbird 1 that had appeared out of nowhere and stopped the bridge section from landing on them.

"Everyone get out of here!" Scott's voice rang out over the tannoy. "GO!"

The crowds didn't need telling twice and cleared the area whilst Thunderbird 1 dropped the bridge on a section of clear grassland below.

The Chameleon was furious. "NO!' he cried. "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO SPOIL THAT?!" He began to make Thunderbolt 1 run towards Thunderbird 1.

John, who was observing everything from Thunderbird 5, was quick to warn. "Thunderbird 1, you've got incoming!"

Scott looked and saw Thunderbolt 1. "Good! He can follow me instead!" He fired up Thunderbird 1's engines and soared up back into the sky whilst Chameleon activated the boot jets in Thunderbolt 1 and began to fly up after Thunderbird 1. "Okay, he's after me," said Scott. "Now…what was Step Two?"

"Scott, you have to disable that suit," said Jeff over the radio. "I don't care how you do it but make sure none of the other Thunderbolts are around to stop you."

"Getting onto him isn't gonna be easy, Dad," said Scott.

"Try the t-twister manoeuvre, Scott," suggested Brains. "If you go f-fast enough, that should make the p-pilot dizzy enough for you to get on its back and disable it."

"With this situation, I'll try anything, Brains," replied Scott. "Okay…here comes the twister!" He pushed Thunderbird 1 even faster and looped around to start spinning in circles around Thunderbolt 1.

Before Chameleon knew it, the mech was being spun round and round so fast that everything became a big blur and he even started to feel dizzy despite being so far away. "Ahhh AHHH AAARGH!" he cried. "STOP THAT!"

Scott didn't hear The Chameleon's words but he guessed spinning twenty times in less than thirty seconds would be enough. He pulsed Thunderbird 1 away and was about to move in to get behind Thunderbolt 1 only to discover he didn't need to. With The Chameleon disorientated, he wasn't able to operate the controls and the mech began to plummet towards the ground below. Scott watched in amazement as it slammed into the ground and exploded in a fireball.

"What?!" exclaimed Techno as an alarm sounded on his controls. "How?!"

"What's wrong?" asked The Hood.

"Thunderbolt 1 just crashed and exploded!" said Techno. "He then rounded on Chameleon. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

But Chameleon felt too ill to answer.

Scott was aghast at Thunderbolt 1's destruction. "Well…that was easier than I thought it would be," he remarked.

"Get back down there, son!" ordered Jeff. "Those people still need you!"

"F-A-B!"

Thunderbolt 3 was still having fun attacking the fleeing crowds. Shocker noticed a large metallic skeleton globe on a big stick right in the middle of the EXPO complex. Seeing it gave him an evil idea. "Now there's an instrument of destruction if ever I saw one!" he remarked and used the laser in the mech's right arm to slice through the support stick. The giant globe creaked, groaned, and then slid off, crashing to the floor and began rolling like a huge boulder towards several running people who became even more panicked by it.

Obsidian and Thunderbolt 2 were still battling in the air and on the ground nearby. Obsidian was alerted to the giant runaway globe and the people it was about to crush. "Oh, no you don't!" he exclaimed and tried to head it off. But Thunderbolt 2 grabbed him by the torso of his suit and threw him to the ground before stepping on him.

"No, YOU don't!" growled Silver Swan.

Scott chased after the giant globe with Thunderbird 1. "Er, guys, I don't think I can stop this one!" he said.

"You don't have to," Virgil's voice answered as Thunderbird 2 appeared into view.

"We will!" added Gordon. "Firing grapple cables!"

Four grapple cables were launched from underneath Thunderbird 2's module and they grabbed onto the runaway globe. They felt the enormous tug and only just managed to stop it from crushing some innocent people.

"Jeez! That's heavy!" remarked Alan from his seat behind Virgil's.

"That's stopped it," said Virgil. "But we're on a slight incline. If we release it, it'll roll away."

"Err, I think we have a bigger problem than that," said Gordon.

"Like what?" asked Alan.

"Him," said Gordon, pointing at Thunderbolt 3 that was looking right at them.

"Ahhh," said Virgil. "That's a complication."

Shocker stared hard at Thunderbird 2. "Hey, boss. They're here."

The other Thunderbolts looked around and caught sight of both Thunderbirds 1 and 2.

"Just like you predicted," said The Black Phantom.

The Hood thought for a moment. Then began to smirk. "New orders, everyone. Forget the GDF. Forget the fleeing crowds. We cannot afford to waste this opportunity. Surround them!"

All four of the remaining Thunderbolts fired their boot jets and took to the air, moving into a circle around the two hovering Thunderbirds.

"Guys…we've got a situation here!" exclaimed Scott.

Thunderbolt 3 stayed in front. Thunderbolt 2 went to the back. "Thunderbolt 4 to the left and Thunderbolt 5 to the right.

"They've got us surrounded!"

"Dad, what shall we do?" asked Virgil.

But Jeff didn't answer. He didn't have one. "Brains, what do we do?" he asked.

But Brains didn't answer. He didn't have one either. "I d-don't know…Mr Tracy," he stammered.

The four Thunderbolts brought out all their missile launchers and weapons and powered them up. They were about to open fire, and there was nothing the Tracy's could do about it.

"We're done for…" Scott realised.

The Hood cackled delightedly. "Finally, International Rescue…the Cabal are victorious. FIRE!"

The Thunderbolts fired their weapons - and there was nothing any of the International Rescue team could do to prevent what was going to happen next.

KA-BOOM!

Everyone on the ground, including Colonel Jennings, Hayley, Amanda and the recovered Captain Liberty and recovering Kayo, Wanda and Luigi who were hiding behind some bushes, and even Grafton who had run to escape the carnage and was concealed behind a lavatory block remained very still and watched in a mixture of shock, horror and disbelief as the two Thunderbirds were engulfed in a colossal fireball.

"Oh, my God…" Hayley said hoarsely.

"No…!" Kayo gasped. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"