Previously on Thunderbirds Are Go!...
Scott, John and Alan discuss their past mutual feelings towards Kayo unaware that she's listening.
Jeff unintentionally causes Kayo to have another psychic attack and sits her down to try and solve it.
Thunderbird 2 returns from a mission only for the Intruder Alert to go off as soon as it lands.
The family are shocked when The White Ghost emerges from Thunderbird 2.
Kayo attacks Ghost without hesitation causing a via containing the deadly K-14 virus to break.
Everyone except for Virgil and The Mechanic gets infected and is confined to the Medical Room.
Virgil interrogates Ghost and learns only one place has the antidote and Ghost promises to help him.
On Virgil's request, Hayley is sent to collect Dr Sophie Telford and bring her to Tracy Island.
Virgil and Ghost infiltrate the lab where the virus and antidote are housed only for The Cabal to arrive shortly afterwards.
Virgil realises the only way to save his family is to take on The Cabal…
5!
4!
3!
2!
1!
"Thunderbirds Are Go!"
"LIVE OR DIE?"
THE large laboratory room where the viruses and antidotes were housed was quiet apart from the footsteps of Silver Swan and The Black Phantom and the whirring of machinery from the dispenser that contained the viruses. Techno was using his hacking technology to access the machine and obtain the samples of the K-14 to begin with. The Hood went up to the main office and plugged a USB stick into the side of a computer to download all of the information it contained. None of them noticed two figures entering through the wall on a higher level of the room.
Techno had only been working for a few minutes but to Silver Swan it seemed like an eternity. He'd barely managed to hack the controls before she came over to complain. "Hurry up, Tech. Get the samples and let's go!"
"It's an automated extraction process," retorted Techno. "You can't rush it!"
"Ugh!" growled Swan in frustration. "Even my stupid former brother was faster than this thing!"
"Swan, I gave you a task!" barked The Hood over a tannoy. "Destroy the antidotes!"
"Yes, love," said Silver Swan and headed off to look for the dispenser for the antidotes which was sealed from view.
Techno and Black Phantom exchanged a look of disgust between them but they remained silent.
Black Phantom began to walk up some stairs towards the upper level. He had removed his helmet to get some air and had left it down beside where Techno was working. Not for a split second did he or any of the others expect to meet any further resistance. The first they knew of anything was when a lightning-fast kick came from round the corner at the top of the stairs, striking Phantom in the face. He stumbled, yelped and fell backwards down the stairs, landing in a winded heap at the bottom.
Techno and Silver Swan spun round in surprise. Then they looked up at the upper level and froze.
"What the?!" exclaimed Techno.
"Tracy?!" shrieked Silver Swan.
The Hood had heard the commotion and looked out. He too was stunned by what he saw. There was Virgil, standing firm at the top of the stairs. "Well, well, well, this is an unpleasant surprise. What are you doing here, Virgil Tracy?"
Virgil knew he had to be careful with his answer. He couldn't by any means risk revealing to The Cabal that the whole of International Rescue was struck down with the K-14 and that only he currently left. "I'm here to save the world," he declared.
"From what?" snarled Techno.
"From you assholes, that's what!" snapped Virgil. "Stealing the world's deadliest viruses and destroying the antidotes. That's a new low, even for you, Hood!"
"Nothing is below me anymore, Virgil," said The Hood.
Phantom had managed to pick himself up and had moved over to Techno to recover his head. He still felt groggy from the kick.
Silver Swan stepped forwards. "I've heard some stupid things in my life, but this is a new one," she sniffed at Virgil. "What makes you think you can stop all of us?"
"Yeah, you ain't getting out of here alive!" added Techno.
Phantom looked up and seeing Virgil made him seethe with fury. "You…!" He began to reach for his helmet.
"No!" said Techno, stopping him. "Don't use that here! You'll break things!"
"There's five of us and one of you," said Silver Swan, slowly heading for the stairs. "You have no chance, Tracy."
Virgil gave a small smirk. "Who said I was alone?" he asked. And it was then that The White Ghost showed herself.
The Cabal blinked in surprise. "You?!" exclaimed Phantom and Techno together.
"Ghost?!" said Silver Swan. "You're with HIM?!"
"I weighed my options," said Laura. "I realised I don't like to lose."
Silver Swan's face turned ugly. "You made a big mistake!" she snarled.
"So…the traitor returns," said The Hood. "Cabal…do what you need to do."
Black Phantom let out a bellow and began to run forwards.
Virgil knew the moment had come. It was time to see if years of training with Kayo would pay off. First he pulled out from his utility sash a trio of tiny smoke grenades. He leapt into the air and managed to throw one at each of the criminals. Silver Swan, Techno and Black Phantom were momentarily blinded by the bright flash of light and the smoke. Laura lunged at Silver Swan leaving Virgil to try and take on Phantom. Before Phantom had a chance to realise what was happening, Virgil struck him with a left hook, and then a right hook, and then by using a nearby panel and wall to gain height, he was able to kick Phantom across the face and knock him over to the floor.
Techno now came into action. He had a stun-stick which he activated before charging at Virgil. The two ran at each other, but it was Techno who got the first blow in. He zapped Virgil with the stick and Virgil fell backwards onto the floor. However he was able to quickly recover and managed to grab the stick before spinning Techno around and causing him to trip over Black Phantom who had just been trying to pick himself up.
Silver Swan then began to approach him having thought she'd shaken Ghost away. "You're gonna die this time, Tracy!" she hissed, getting her winged blades ready. However, Ghost jumped on her from behind.
"Your fight is with me, Swan!"
"DAMN YOU!" shrieked Silver Swan as her jetpack activated and sent them both flying upwards to the level where Virgil and Ghost had been. She managed to shake Ghost off again, but this time stayed to fight with her. "I brought you in!" she said furiously. "I made you welcome! I offered you what you wanted, and THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?!"
"WHAT I WANTED WAS TO BE CURED OF MY CONDITION!" Laura shouted back. "YOU NEVER GAVE ME THAT! AND NEITHER DID HE!" She pointed towards The Hood who was just standing watching from the office window.
He looked over at the computer screen. Only 40% downloaded. "Come on, hurry it up!" he said with annoyance.
Virgil didn't know exactly what The Hood was doing, but he knew he had to try and stop whatever it was. Taking a look, he could see that he was distracted by the fight between Ghost and Swan. he was about to make his move when he sensed something coming up behind him. He turned just in time to see Phantom and Techno charging at him. He just managed to dodge Phantom and used his foot to trip him up. He fell flat on his face. Techno bellowed as he lunged with his stun-stick. But Virgil was able to grab his arms before revealing to Techno that he was slightly stronger. He began to tilt the stick towards Techno's face.
"What are you doing?!" Techno demanded. Then he saw the electric fizzle of the stick approaching his face. "STOP! NO! GAAAAAARRRRRRRGH!" The stick did its work and Techno fell to the floor, dazzled and out of it. Virgil turned and saw the Phantom was starting to push himself up. He knew the stick wouldn't do much to Phantom's suit but he seized the chance to grab the stick off Techno and place it on the back of Phantom's head.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGH!" screamed Phantom and he too fell to the floor, out cold. Virgil decided to keep hold of the stick just in case. He hurried up the stairs to the other door of the office and burst in.
The Hood spun round to face him. "What?! How did-?" He looked out of the window and saw the unconscious bodies of Techno and Black Phantom lying on the floor. He gave an ugly grimace. "Pathetic!" he said angrily. "Why do I even bother?!"
"Surprised you ever did," remarked Virgil. "Do you even care about any of them?"
"Of course I don't!" The Hood snapped. "They're just puppets to me! Idiot puppets at that!"
"Takes one idiot to hire more idiots?" said Virgil.
The Hood's eyes flashed furiously. "You take BACK THAT INSULT!" he roared and lunged at Virgil, realising only too late that Virgil had Techno's stun-stick. He used the stick to knock The Hood over. He only had his regular suit on so striking him the torso hurt a lot more than it would have done with Phantom or Techno who wore body armour.
The Hood's shriek of pain caught the attention of Silver Swan. "Boss?! I'm coming!" She tried to fly over.
"No, you're not!" cried Laura and jumped on Silver Swan's back. The two then ended up flying around the room, spinning wildly and crashing into the walls and ceiling.
"Get…OFF ME!" shrieked Silver Swan as she tried to brush Laura off on the ceiling. However Laura phased herself through Swan's body until the two former friends were now face to face, apart from the fact Laura still had her helmet on so her actual face was hidden.
The Hood lay winded on the floor. He was on his front. He tried to push himself up but Virgil placed his boot on his back and held him firm. "You're not going anywhere," he said.
"A plague on ALL YOUR FAMILY!" The Hood roared.
Virgil's stomach clenched. It was almost as if The Hood knew. He increased the pressure on his boot without realising causing The Hood to scream in agony.
Silver Swan looked and saw what was happening. She then activated her sonic scream at Laura. Laura screamed due to the close-proximity of the wave and let go before falling to the floor. She landed hard and cried out in pain having not phased this time. Silver Swan flew directly towards the office. "GET OFF OF HIM!" she bellowed and smashed through the window. Virgil, having been alerted by her scream, leapt out of the way causing Silver Swan to crash straight into the computer banks on the opposite side of the office.
The Hood was finally able to pick himself up. He looked over at Silver Swan who was in a dazed, crumpled heap on the floor. Then he looked at Virgil who was also trying to recover himself. But his attention was then drawn by sparks coming from his left. He turned and after a moment of stillness, let out a scream of anguish. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Silver Swan finally picked herself up and rushed to The Hood. "Are you alright, my-ARGH!"
The Hood swung round, back-handing her and knocking her over. "YOU IDIOT!" he screamed at her. "YOU STUPID IDIOT! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"
Virgil looked over to what The Hood was pointing at. Silver Swan had crashed through the window right at where the computer which The Hood had been downloading the information from had been. It was completely smashed. The Hood ran over to the remains and pulled out the equally destroyed memory stick.
"I WAS DOWNLOADING THE INFORMATION! AND NOW IT'S ALL LOST! BECAUSE OF YOU!"
Silver Swan remained on the floor, mouth agape, unable to say anything.
Virgil decided it was his cue to leave. He hurried out of the office and down the stairs. But no sooner had he reached the bottom when he was jumped upon by a recovered Black Phantom. He was knocked to the ground and Phantom pinned him against the wall with his foot. "Got you now!" he sneered.
"You forgot your helmet!" Virgil remarked.
Phantom scoffed. "I don't need that to kill you!"
Techno then approached. Whilst he no longer had the stun-stick, which Virgil had dropped when diving out of the way of Silver Swan. he instead had another device on his left hand now. It seemed to be some kind of freezing device. He was reaching out to grab Virgil's helmet. But before he could touch, Laura appeared, kicked him away and managed to knock Phantom off as well. She pulled Virgil to his feet. "We have to go!" she said.
Virgil agreed. But as they ran for the door that would take them out, it suddenly opened to reveal Shocker, who they'd both completely forgotten about.
"What the?!" exclaimed Shocker. Without thinking, he fired up his gauntlets and took aim.
Laura grabbed Virgil and pulled him down.
"SHOCKER, NO!" screamed Techno.
But it was too late. Shocker's gauntlets fired just as Laura pulled Virgil down. The green sonic beams shot over their heads, straight into the virus dispenser. It shattered and exploded, releasing several different coloured gases into the room. Red lights began flashing and an alarm began wailing. Virgil, Laura and all The Cabal members were temporarily frozen in place as the realisation of what had just happened sunk in.
"THE VIRUSES ARE LOOSE!" cried Techno. "GET OUT! GET OUT!"
Shocker, Phantom and Techno began sprinting for the door, completely ignoring Virgil and Laura as they went.
Silver Swan grabbed The Hood and flew him out, placing her hand over his nose and mouth to stop him from breathing in any of the viruses whilst she covered her own face with her suit's retractable helmet. She flew them out of the office, around the room and ducked down out of the door. Virgil and Laura had to duck to avoid getting hit. Then they too ran out after The Cabal. As they turned the corner, they saw all five members running towards the elevator. Silver Swan and The Hood flew over the heads of the other three and reached the elevator first. The doors opened and they went inside. Then to the surprise of Virgil and Laura, Silver Swan punched a button and caused the doors to close before Shocker, Phantom and Techno could get inside.
"HEY!" the three criminals yelled as they banged on the door.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" bellowed Black Phantom.
"OPEN UP!" screamed Techno.
But the elevator was already rising to the surface, leaving them behind.
"What the hell?!" exclaimed Shocker.
Just then they realised Virgil and Laura were coming towards them. They all formed a defensive position.
"YOU!" Techno bellowed, pointing at the pair. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"
"SERIOUSLY?!" Virgil shouted back. "THIS PLACE IS ABOUT TO BLOW UP AND YOU'RE LETTING YOUR PETTY GRUDGES GET IN THE WAY?!"
"Blow up?" repeated Phantom. "What do-"
"Emergency! Virus containment failure! Facility will self-destruct in thirty seconds. Evacuate! Evacuate!"
Techno, Shocker and Phantom all looked anxiously at each other. Then they looked back at the elevator which was almost at the top.
"There's no time to get out…" Techno realised.
"We're gonna die!" cried Shocker.
"You two can fly, can't you?" Virgil said to Shocker and Phantom.
"Yeah…?" they said.
"So break open the doors and fly us all out of here!" said Virgil.
"Why the hell should we get you out?!" spat Techno.
"Because I'm the one who's trying to save your sorry lives whilst your so-called 'Boss' has abandoned you because you're expendable to him?" said Virgil. The three criminals looked at each other. "Surely you're not gonna let him get away with that, are you?" Virgil asked.
"Emergency! Virus containment failure! Facility will self-destruct in twenty seconds. Evacuate! Evacuate!"
The realisation of what Virgil was saying finally dawned on Black Phantom, Techno and Shocker. And their blood began to boil with rage as they realised he was right.
"Get behind me!" ordered Shocker. The others did. Shocker raised his gauntlets and fired at the doors. They shattered. "Grab on!"
Virgil grabbed onto Black Phantom. Techno took hold of Shocker. Laura held onto Virgil. Shocker and Phantom activated their thrusters and began to fly as fast as they could up the elevator shaft.
"Emergency! Virus containment failure! Facility will self-destruct in ten seconds!"
"WE'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!" yelled Techno. "THE ELEVATOR'S BLOCKING THE WAY!"
Laura reached over, keeping hold of Virgil with one hand and grabbing Techno with the other. "KEEP GOING UP!" she bellowed. "I'LL PHASE US THROUGH!"
"ALL OF US?!" asked Virgil.
Laura looked at him. "TRUST ME!" she said.
Knowing they had no other option, they did so.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHH!" they all yelled and shut their eyes as they waited for the end to come.
And suddenly for Techno and Phantom, who had left his helmet behind, they felt wind on their faces. They stopped screaming and opened their eyes. They were outside in the open, flying high above the Arizona Desert. They heard a loud rumble from below which told them the entire underground facility had exploded, wiping everything out within it.
The five came down and landed on the ground, all rather shaken by what had just happened.
"Can any of the viruses escape?" Virgil asked.
"No, I studied the blueprints," said Laura. "It's all contained. Nothing can survive the explosion if self-destruct is activated."
Shocker opened his suit's helmet. He looked at Virgil. "Why?"
"Why what?"
"After all we've done to you, why would you save us?"
"You may be criminals amongst the world's deadliest criminal gang, but you're still human beings," said Virgil. "And besides, I don't think it's me that you want to be having words with right now, is it?"
Techno walked slowly towards him. "What did you mean by we're 'expendable'?" he demanded.
Virgil took out a small recording device he had hidden in his sash and pressed the play button.
"Pathetic! Why do I even bother?!"
"Surprised you ever did. Do you even care about any of them?"
"Of course I don't! They're just puppets to me! Idiot puppets at that!"
"You see?" said Virgil. "He doesn't care about you. He never did. You were always just pawns in his plans. Look at Laura? He promised to cure her condition. He didn't. What did he promise you three?"
The three criminals were silent for a moment. "Revenge…" Techno said at last. "Revenge on my Mother for never being with us when we were children."
"Revenge on your brother for crushing my legs," said Shocker.
"Revenge on your adopted sister for leaving my father to die," said Black Phantom.
Virgil glared at Techno. "Well you kind of achieved that," he said. "But I bet you all believed you were treated equally in The Cabal. Guess you see the truth now?"
The hum of an aircraft engine could be heard. They all turned to see The Cabal Cruiser starting to take off from where it had been parked. The three villains quickly realised what this meant.
"Oh, no, you don't!" growled Shocker, putting his helmet back up and taking off in pursuit.
Techno went to climb onto Black Phantom's back. Before they took off though, they turned back to Virgil and Laura. "We'll let this one slide, Tracy," said Techno. "Just make sure you and your family stay clear of us in future." And with that, Black Phantom took to the air, heading off after Shocker and The Cabal Cruiser.
Laura scoffed. "Ungrateful bas-"
"You were expecting a 'thank you' from them?" Virgil asked.
Laura thought for a second. "No, I guess not. Ugh!" She then fell to the floor.
"Woah! Easy!" said Virgil. "Are you okay?"
Laura groaned in pain. "No…not really…" Laura groaned. "I've never done that much phasing before. I…I feel weak."
Virgil went to help her. "Come on, let's-"
"No…" Laura stopped him. "You need to take these." And she produced from within her suit four vials of light blue liquid."
"What's this?" Virgil asked.
"The antidote," said Laura. "You need to hurry."
Virgil's blood ran cold. The Mechanic said Grandma and Jeff had the least likely chance of survival if they didn't get the cure quickly. He had to leave. But he didn't want to leave Laura behind. "I can't leave you here-"
"The longer you waste with me, the less time you'll have to save them!" Laura snapped. "Now GO! Please…"
Virgil's heart was pounding. He knew what straining herself could mean for Laura, but he also knew she was right. His family came first. "Thank you…" he said, tearing up.
Laura nodded. "Good luck," she said.
Virgil sprinted off across the desert back to where Thunderbird 1 was concealed. He deactivated the optical camouflage and climbed inside. He lifted off and climbed away from the desert. He placed the vials in a safe place to ensure their safety during the flight. Then he made contact with Tracy Island. "Thunderbird 1 to Tracy Island. I have the antidote. Heading back now!"
"Oh, thank God, Virgil!" Hayley said as she appeared on the projector. "Please hurry. Your Grandma and Father are very weak. And Scott's starting to show signs of shutting down as well."
Virgil almost threw up. "I'm coming! I'm coming!" he said, throwing Thunderbird 1 into full power and shooting off into the sky. The window to save his family had almost shut.