"I hope this Space Castle of Tex's is very close by, Spotty," SuperTed said. "My rocket boots are starting to run out of fuel."
He and Spotty had been flying non-stop into space, looking for Texas Pete and his space castle. His rocket boots started to splutter.
"So is my rocket pack," Spotty said. Then his rocket pack started to splutter, just like SuperTed's rocket boots.
"Is that the castle over there, Spotty?" SuperTed asked, pointing ahead.
Spotty looked ahead. What he saw was a giant building on half a large asteroid and it was surrounded by a massive asteroid field like a moat around a castle on Earth. The building its looked like a giant space station and shaped like a giant castle.
"I think it is," Spotty said.
"You think so?" SuperTed asked. "If you're not sure, Spotty, just say so. I won't be upset, unless you lie to me."
"Okay, SuperTed," Spotty said. "The honest truth is I really don't know. I've never been to it, so I don't know where it is or what it looks like. Ever since I escaped from the Planet Spot, I focused on freeing you because –"
"Shh, Spotty," SuperTed said. "I think I can see something coming. Let's hide on this asteroid here."
SuperTed and Spotty landed on the asteroid close to them. It was big enough for them to hide from this thing the teddy bear saw while they rested and recharged his rocket boots and Spotty's rocket pack. They saw it was a striped rocket, which meant it belonged to those enemy striped soldiers and they were in it. It also meant that space castle they found did belong to Tex's and the enemy striped soldiers were patrolling around the asteroid field.
"We've got to get into that castle somehow, Spotty," SuperTed said.
"But how?" Spotty asked.
"Why don't you come with us? We'll take you to Tex."
"Oh, thank you." Then Spotty turned to face who spoke to him and he cried in horror. "SuperTed!"
SuperTed quickly turned to see what Spotty saw and he was as shocked as his best friend was. They saw Bulk and Skeleton wearing their spacesuits and space helmets and they were on the asteroid they were on.
"Come with us," Skeleton said, "and we'll take you to Tex."
"How?" SuperTed demanded.
"Well, you board our spaceship and then we'll cuff you two up and then –"
"Bulk, shut up!" Skeleton snapped.
"What?" Bulk protested. "I was just telling them the plan."
"You're not supposed to tell them the plan, you idiot!" Skeleton snapped. "You're supposed to just –"
"It doesn't matter, Skeleton," SuperTed said. "We wouldn't trust you anyway."
"Then why did you ask us how we were going to get you to Tex if you didn't trust us?" Bulk asked.
"Because, Bulk, I was only just buying enough time for my rocket boots and Spotty's rocket pack to rest and recharge." He checked his rocket boots and they were working properly again. "Ready, Spotty?"
Spotty tried his rocket pack and it worked properly again! "Ready, SuperTed."
"Quick, Bulk!" Skeleton yelled. "Let's get after them!"
Bulk and Skeleton charged for SuperTed and Spotty, but the two heroes flew up and the two villains tripped and fell down onto the asteroid.
"Good luck trying to get us," SuperTed said, as he and Spotty flew away and towards the space castle.
"Oh, we will," Skeleton said. "One way or another."
"How are we going to get them, Skeleton?" Bulk asked. "They're getting further and further away from us."
"Then we go back to our spaceship and get after them," Skeleton snapped.
"Yeah. Why didn't I think of that?" Bulk asked.
"Probably because you have no brain at all," Skeleton muttered under his breath.
"What did you say, Skeleton?" Bulk asked.
"I said, just let's go back to our ship so we can get after that terrible teddy," Skeleton said.
Then they floated back to their spaceship.
"We're getting closer to the castle, SuperTed," Spotty said.
SuperTed was very pleased to see that they were. "All right, Spotty. Now, all we've got to do now is –"
"Surrender now!"
SuperTed and Spotty looked ahead to see the enemy striped soldiers in their striped spaceship approaching them.
"Surrender now!" one of them repeated through the microphone he was holding in his hand. "Or face the consequences!"
"Let's turn around, Spotty," SuperTed said.
"But the castle is ahead of us, SuperTed," Spotty said.
"And so are those striped soldiers," SuperTed said. "We need to lose them and the only way to do is go back a bit. Once we lose them, we'll be able to –"
"See Bulk and Skeleton again?" Spotty asked.
He was right. He and SuperTed saw the spaceship Bulk and Skeleton were in and approaching them. And so was the stripy spaceship behind them.
"What do we do now, SuperTed?" Spotty asked.
"Just follow my lead, Spotty," SuperTed said, "but wait until I say so."
Despite both spaceships getting closer to them, Spotty still trusted SuperTed.
"Don't move, Spotty," SuperTed ordered. "Whatever you do, don't move."
The spaceships stopped and everyone exited them. Bulk and Skeleton floated and the Striped Soldiers towards the two heroes.
"Now, Spotty!" SuperTed yelled. He and Spotty flew away, leaving the villains to bump into each other and get tangled in the ropes from Bulk and Skeleton's spaceship.
"That should give us more time to look for a way in the castle before they break free from those ropes and try to find us, Spotty," SuperTed said.
Then he and Spotty flew closer to the space castle.
The two heroes reached the space castle and started to search it from top to bottom to find a way in, but they struggled.
"We could make our own way in, SuperTed," Spotty suggested. "Like make a hole or –"
"No, Spotty," SuperTed said. "That'll only alert the villains and we can't risk that. We need to get in there without alerting our enemies somehow."
"But how are we going to do that?" Spotty asked.
"I don't know." Then SuperTed looked around and saw something. "Actually, I do know. Come on, Spotty."
Spotty followed his best friend.
"A hole?" he said when he finished following SuperTed.
"Look through the hole, Spotty," SuperTed said.
Spotty did look through it. "I can't see anything except gears. Are you sure this is a space castle and not a clock?"
"No, this is not a clock, Spotty," SuperTed said. "These are the gears that make the space castle work. And this hole is big enough for the both of us to squeeze through."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Spotty asked.
"We won't be able to fly through those gears while they are working," SuperTed said. "We have to stop them to give us just enough time to fly through somehow."
"Like what, SuperTed?" Spotty asked.
"I don't know, Spotty," SuperTed said. "Maybe, if we drop something to them, we could get it to stop."
"Like this spanner, for instance?"
SuperTed turned and looked at the space spanner Spotty was holding. "Good idea, Spotty," he said, taking by the spanner. "We'll put a spanner in the works."
"A spanner in the works?" Spotty was confused.
"Just watch, Spotty." Then SuperTed dropped the spanner into the gears. After a few seconds, the spanner blocked two gears together and then all the gears stopped moving.
"So that's what 'a spanner in the works' means," Spotty said.
"Quickly now, Spotty," SuperTed said. "Follow me."
Then the two heroes flew into that big hole and flew past the stationary gears. They were very close to the end of the gears area when the gears started to move again and quickly too.
"By the bald birds of Spot!" Spotty cried. "What are we to do, SuperTed? Shall we go back?"
"No, Spotty!" SuperTed cried. "We must go forward and don't let the gears touch you! They were crush you if you do!"
SuperTed managed to reach the end. He turned to see how Spotty was doing – he was still behind and struggling to fly past the gears, despite trying his very best.
SuperTed quickly flew back to get him, passing the gears. He caught his best friend and together they passed through the gears and reached the end of the area. SuperTed pressed the red button, which a hole opened up and they went through quickly before it closed up.
