CHAPTER SEVEN

Soon, Supercar was over the ocean, and in almost no time, reached her destination.

Brains gazed at the old oil rig and did indeed look in bad shape. "It looks so unsteady."

"You can say that again." said Mike "Just the same I'll be more than glad when they tear it all down next week."

Brains consulted the map plans. "Uh, yeah, this is roughly the area, Mike."

"Sure is…" Mike said and he switched on the radio, "Supercar to island and base; we've arrived. We're preparing to dive down."

"Roger, Mike." replied Popkiss.

"F-A-B, Supercar." added Jeff.

"F-A-B…?" Mike asked as he stared at Brains.

"It's just an IR code that signifies acknowledgement."

"Oh, I see. Anyways, down we go..." Mike said as he steered Supercar down and splashing into the waters near the rig, unaware that the three villains saw them, and The Hood was all suited up in diving gear. "Now, phase one begins." he said.

Masterspy and Zarin were confused at how he planned to make the pilot obey, but The Hood had already dived off into the water before they could ask.

While on Supercar, Brains was impressed of the vehicle's underwater capabilities, having not experienced them. "It's a pity this craft is out of date in my time. It would've made a swell Thunderbird craft."

"I'm sure it would have." said Mike "But right now we've got work to do."

"I, uh right… uh steer ten degrees south, bearing 2-4-6-8 magnetic reference-E."

"Right…! Selecting slow cruise..."

Supercar slowly cruised forward and down a bit to the seabed, directly beneath the rig, with The Hood secretly watching form behind a rock formation and large plants nearby, waiting for the right moment.

"Hold it, Mike!" Brain suddenly said as Mike stopped Supercar at a place directly beneath the rig itself. Brains consulted the plans and confirmed this was the perfect place to drill. Mike confirmed with the two bases, and was cautioned to drill carefully- being directly beneath the rig. "Switching on drill head antenna." And Supercar front antenna changed from a sharp rod to a drill head and at Mike's control it began to drill into the ground with suction pumps activating to give Brains the oil he would need, colleting the samples in vials in the cockpit.

Once he had the oil, he'd be able to complete his formula back at the base, and then with a little luck, thrust the island back to the future, but it was still only a wild theory and he wasn't it would truly work and he had no way of testing it.

Suddenly, Mike and Brains could see someone swimming towards them. "Hey! Who's that?" Mike asked. Brains was speechless. He never though there would be anyone swimming way out here. The man swam straight up to the canopy and began to gaze at the men with glowing eyes.

"Say…!" cried Mike "What… goes… on…?" and he and Brains were soon knocked unconscious. Mike had crashed into the steering controls and Supercar slipped forward crashing right into the main support of the rig.

Masterspy and Zarin felt force of the crash. "What was that, Masterspy?" asked Zarin.

"It felt as if something had hit us." Masterspy said as the rig began to quiver violently. The Hood came back up onto the rig and stated what he had just done. "So, Supercar is now stuck?" asked Masterspy. "But how can we get to it if it is underwater?"

"Follow me." The Hood said and he led the two men to the old diving sphere.

"Masterspy, I do not like the look of this." whimpered Zarin.

"What are you planning?" Masterspy asked The Hood.

He didn't answer but turned to face the two men with his glowing eyes!

"Ma…ster… spy…!" cried Zarin as he fainted.

"You… traitor!" groaned Masterspy as he collapsed.

The Hood snickered and then dragged them into the sphere. Masteryspy was rather heavy though, but he managed to get them in and lock them up tight before pushing the sphere off the side and cutting the cables so it dropped to the bottom.

The Hood snickered with glee, "And now for part two of my plan- to draw International Rescue into the open." He turned round and was ready to walk forward, when suddenly he was captured in a giant net; a trap set by Masterspy. "Those miserable fools…! They were planning treason on me as well!" he growled "I'm trapped!"

Suddenly, the rig gave another jolt…!

Mike and Brains' oil hole, having not yet been sealed, was starting to break the foundation near the rig and the supports were getting worse, but poor Mike and Brains were still unconscious within Supercar, and they couldn't answer the radio.

"Base to Supercar…! Supercar, come in." Popkiss called.

No response.

"Strange. Zere not answering." So he radio into to Jeff.

"Are you sure about this, Professor." asked Jeff.

"I'm positive, Mr. Tracy." replied Popkiss "Zere long overdue for a routine report."

Then things went from bad to worse, as the rig gave another jolt which upset some of the fuses the villains had placed along the rig, and they exploded causing small fires to break out.

"The charges...!" cried The Hood who was still trapped. The flames started out small, but with all the oil drenched about they would spread quickly. Small explosions began to blow from the rig sending bits of rubble over the side and crashing down on Supercar and the diving sphere, but the impact made Brains start to come to. He felt very dizzy. "Oh! Ow…!" then he quickly realized what was going on. "Mike! Mike! Wake up…!"

Mike came to, "Uhn…! Say, what goes on?" he asked in shock. He tried to start the motors, but Supercar was really stuck. Even the emergency thrusters couldn't break them free. "It's no use, we're trapped!"

Another small explosion erupted from the rig and they felt it from way down there. "What was that?" asked Mike.

"Can't say for sure, Mike… uh, but I think the rig is on fire." cried Brains. "If we don't get out of here soon… we'll be either blown apart or buried alive!"