June 18th, 2068 - 10:21 BST
Professor Moffat pulls up the hire car outside a beautiful-looking Georgian house in South London. It is here where Professor Nixon lives. She and Brains have just dropped Virgil and Nina off on a date in Battersea and have headed across London to an appointment.
"W-Wow!" Brains breathes, gazing at the architecture of the house, "What a m-magnificent building."
"I know," Moffy says, "Just wait until you see the inside of it though."
"I-I must say I am looking f-forward to seeing him a-again," Brains admits, "And to find out what it is he wants to s-show us."
"Oh, nor can I," Moffy smiles, "I am so excited."
The door opens to reveal a short, slightly plump woman in her mid-fifties with flowing brown hair. It is Pauline Nixon, the Professor's wife. "Professors Moffat and Hackenbacker?"
"That is correct, Mrs Nixon," Moffy introduces, "Although Hiram here isn't technically a professor."
"No, I'm afraid n-not," Brains blushes, "Please, call me Brains, Mrs N-Nixon."
"Very well," Mrs Nixon says, "Please call me Pauline. Do come in. Albert's in his workshop down the end of the garden. He would be here in person, but he gets so engrossed in his work."
"Don't we all?" Moffy chuckles as Pauline guides them through the hallway and the kitchen before pointing to a large wooden shed located down the far end of the back garden, which looks even more amazing than the front one.
"You'll find him in there," Pauline states.
"Meow!"
Brains lets out a near shriek and almost jumps a foot in the air with surprise. His eyes go wide as he stares down at a large grey and white pussycat that is sitting in the doorway from the kitchen into the dining room. "Oh, m-my!" he exclaims.
"Hiram!" Moffy giggles, "It's only a cat."
"I am so sorry," Pauline apologies as she goes to pick the cat up, "Ralph here doesn't have the best opinion of strangers."
Brains shifts uneasily away from Pauline and the cat who doesn't take its green eyes off of him.
"We'll go and see Professor Nixon," Moffy states, "Come on, Hiram."
"Yes, of c-course," Brains stutters, shooting another look at the cat as he heads for the back door. As he does so, he notices a saucer on the floor next to a bowl of cat food. There is a mysterious coloured liquid in it that looks somewhat familiar, although he can't quite place what it is.
"HEAVENS TO ME!"
Both Brains and Moffy jump this time. There stands Professor Albert Nixon, their six-foot tall grey-haired and slightly eccentric former university tutor. Even though he is in his late sixties, he is clearly still as energetic now as he had been back then.
"Goodness me!" Professor Nixon cries as he pulls them both into a large hug, "My two favourite students are reunited. How the devil are you both? Wow! You've both grown up so much since I last saw you!"
"We are well, thank you, Professor," Moffy smiles, "You're looking well."
"You wanted to show us something?" Brains enquires.
"Ah, yes!" Professor Nixon declares and leads them inside his shed, "Come in. Come in."
Brains and Moffy are amazed by what is inside the shed. From the outside it looks like it would have contained numerous gardening equipment, but instead they find a perfect recreation of Professor Nixon's laboratory that he'd had back at Cambridge University.
"I got very attached to the lab back at Cambridge," Professor Nixon explains, "That's why when I retired, I paid for all of my equipment to be purchased and then transferred to my shed here in London."
He takes out a jar from one of the cabinets and puts it on the workbench. It contains a pure white liquid and on the side is a label showing a green apple logo. To Moffy it means nothing, but Brains' eyes begin to widen as he recognises the logo.
"This is what I wanted to show you," Professor Nixon announces, "It's called—"
"Orchard Growth Serum!" Brains finishes and a rush of questions race through his mind causing his stutter to become worse than normal, "P-Professor... how d-did you g-get a hold of the O-Orchard Serum?"
"The Global Defence Force asked me to study it for analysis," Professor Nixon explains, "I believe there was an incident wherever it was that it was being kept and a lot of it was lost. What remained was given to me in the hope that I can find out what makes it tick and create more of it."
"M-More of it?!" Brains exclaims, "But Professor. Do you not know how d-dangerous this s-serum is and what t-the c-consequences m-might do?"
"Hiram, my dear fellow," Professor Nixon interjects trying to sound as reassuring as he can, "The Global Defence Force warned me to take special care of the serum. That's why nobody other than you know about this. Now, allow me to show you, my findings." He opens the jar and pours some of the contents into a glass cup. "As you can see, I only had a couple of samples to start with. Now I have several litres to work with. It's really incredible!"
"Begging y-your pardon, Professor," Brains calls as he notices the colour of the liquid is pure white, "But I t-thought that the serum was a t-turquoise colour? H-How have you m-made it white?"
Professor Nixon frowns at him before looking into the cup, and then at the jar. "It is turquoise," he mutters, "How has it managed to do that?"
"Gosh, that's exciting!" Moffy smiles, "Let's run some tests and see."
"That's odd," Professor remarks as he sniffs the liquid, "It smells like milk..." He then takes a quick sip from the glass before recoiling as his face goes as white as the liquid. "That IS milk!" he cries, "Dairy-Free! But what's that doing in here?"
"Oh, m-my!" Brain realises, remember the cat's saucer, P-Professor, we must—"
A sudden thundering rumble causes the ground to begin shaking followed moments later by what sounds like an explosion of some kind and is accompanied by a terrified scream which Professor Nixon immediately identifies as his wife's. This is then followed by the sound of falling debris crashing all around and some on the roof of the shed.
Once the crashing ceases, Brains and Moffy have to use their combined strength to lift the piece of wood panelling off of them and Professor Nixon. They've all received minor cuts and a few wood-splinters but luckily nothing serious. They then scrambling across the rubble and out into the street to find people running towards them and screaming in fright. As they ran out into the middle of the road, they stop and stare in disbelief at the sight that now lies before them. At the far end of the street, they just catch sight of an enormous grey tail standing at the same level as the two-story houses before it then disappears from view, leaving a trail of destruction behind it.
"Oh, d-d-dear!" Brains gulps as he feels his insides turn into an iceberg as he realises what this means.
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
June 18th, 2068 - 22:43 NZST
John looks down at the plate of Shepherd's Pie that he's just finished in Thunderbird 5's cooker. His mouth waters and he can't wait to tuck in. Just as he goes to take a bite, he hears something that makes him forget all about it. He is no stranger to getting alarms sounding whenever a distress call is picked up, but there is one that he always hopes he would never hear – the Personal Emergency Activation Beacon.
"Its Brains is calling for help! This can't be good," John wonders aloud and presses the answer button, "Brains, this is John. What's the situation?"
"Oh, John, thank g-goodness," Brains cries as his hologram appears, "We have a very b-bad situation down here. We n-need all available h-hands."
"Understood," John acknowledges, "I'll alert Tracy Island. What's the problem?"
"H-Hard to explain," Brains states, "Get everyone a-assembled and I'll explain. Also, c-can you scan the area around m-my location and f-find the b-biggest life sign?"
John is slightly confused by this but doesn't question and instead sets to work. "EOS, scan the area near to Brains' location and look for the biggest lift-sign you can find. International Rescue, come in. We have a situation in London."
"Here you go, John," EOS replies and sends John over some satellite imagining.
"Go ahead, John," Jeff orders, "What's the situation?"
"This," John indicates as he brings up the image of South London EOS had sent him. Everyone's eyes almost pop out in astonishment at what they see. A giant grey shape can be seen walking on the street bumping into buildings and causing a mass panic on the ground.
"What..." Marion starts.
"The..." Scott continues.
"Fuuuuuuuck," Alan finishes.
"Is that a fucking cat?!" Kayo cries.
"Y-Yes, it is," Brains stutters, "Specifically P-Professor Nixon's c-cat."
"What the heck happened?" Alan questions, "Did he feed it some growth mixture or something?"
"N-Not intentionally, Alan," Brains informs, "An unfortunate m-mix up with some m-milk and a s-sample of the Orchard G-Growth Serum."
"Are people hurt?" Jeff asks as Gordon shudders remembering his and Penelope's encounter with the reptiles whilst rescuing the Pendeghasts in Africa.
"From the reports I'm picking up, people are just running around frightened," John says, "But that cat's got to be scared and confused and it's heading straight for the city centre. I doubt it'll be long before it causes a major disaster."
"Then we'd better be out there ready," Jeff dictates, "Brains, do you know of anything that could possibly counteract the cat's growth?"
"I'm afraid n-not, Mr Tracy," Brains replies, "But P-Professor Nixon d-did say he was experimenting with the s-serum. Perhaps he might h-have an idea."
"Get to it," Jeff orders, "Fill us in when you can."
"R-A-D," Brains nods and he signs off.
"Wish we knew what that meant." Jeff sighs and turns to the others, "Marion, head out in Thunderbird 7 and set up Mobile Control. Scott, follow in Thunderbird 1. Find that cat and monitor what it's doing. Don't get too close though, we don't want it to get spooked."
"F-A-B," Scott and Marion acknowledge.
"Alan, Gordon and Kayo, suit and up and head to Thunderbird 2," Jeff continues.
"Let's hope we don't need any heavy-lifting to do," Gordon jokes, "Virgil's the only one who can work the Mech-Suit."
"Let's move it, people!" Jeff commands.
7
Thunderbird 7 pulls out from a hanger underneath Thunderbird 1 to allow Marion to get inside.
6
A crane comes down and lifts Thunderbird 7 onto a platform.
5
Scott, Gordon, Alan and Kayo descend and get suited up.
4
The pod equipment is loaded into Module 2.
3
Alan and Kayo board Thunderbird 2 via the passenger elevator.
2
Thunderbird 2 taxis down the main runway and comes to a halt allowing the ramp to raise.
1
Thunderbird 1 comes to a stop as the swimming pool above starts to retract.
Thunderbirds are Go!
June 18th, 2068 - 13:06 BST
Thunderbird 7 arrives above Battersea to what has to be the most bizarre scene that Marion has ever laid her eyes on. There's a sea of Police Heli-jets forming the perimeter around the site of the restaurant known as the Flying Saucer and many thousands of flashing lights down below as the emergency services help usher the terrified guests and staff that has so far made it out get away from the danger zone. However, it is the sight of a giant pussycat sitting on the top of the restaurant that is the oddest of all.
"Shit," Marion mumbles, "That's the restaurant Virgil and Nina are at!"
Suddenly, her comm unit goes off and a hologram of the couple appear on her control unit with some serious expressions on their faces.
"Virgil calling Thunderbird 7," Virgil calls, "I'm assume you're Mobile Control for the furball situation."
"F-A-B," Marion replies, "Brains and Moffy are currently working on a solution with the GDF."
"Kind of ironic, don't you think?" Nina chuckles, "Brains hates cats."
"Where are you?" Marion asks, "I'm detecting structural failure. Please tell me you're all out of there?"
"Almost," Virgil replies, "I managed to sort out an evacuation. Nina, myself, the manager and the staff are the only ones left."
There is a sudden shudder as the supports of the tower begin to crumble.
"Guys! The tower!" Marion cries.
"We see it," Nina responds and with the help of Virgil ushers the last few members of staff into one of two remaining elevators which descend rapidly after the doors have closed.
Ralph is still sitting on the top of the Flying Saucer, watching the mysterious insects (which are in fact the Police Heli-jets) buzzing around him. Their noise and lights are disturbing him. His shifting in agitation is what is causing the concrete supports to fail at an alarming rate.
"That's not going to last much longer," Marion shouts. She watches the lights of the elevators heading down towards the ground, but she doesn't know which of the last two the couple are in. One elevator soon reaches the ground, and she sees several people start to leave.
However, before the second elevator can reach the ground, there is a sudden BANG and all the lights in the tower go out. The electricity supply had gone and to everyone's horror, the elevator stops less than twenty feet from safety. A rumbling crack is heard and a chunk of concrete falls out of one of the supports. Emergency searchlights illuminate the tower highlighting the several large and fatal cracks as they form throughout the structure.
"EVERYONE RUN!" shouts a Policeman over a tannoy, "IT'S COMING DOWN!"
"GUYS, MOVE!" Marion yells.
Ralph feels the structure he is sitting on is beginning to shift and fall away and he decides it is not good to remain there. He stands himself up which accelerates the collapsing and used his paws to thrust himself upwards. The large crowd of people and news reporters that have gathered on the opposite side of the Thames scatter like ants as Ralph leaps through the air like a racehorse across the river and crashes into some of the buildings. Marion watches the total chaos as Ralph starts to walk away from the scene with the timely arrival of Thunderbird 1 that follows his movements at a safe distance.
"Mobile Control," Virgil coughs as he gets back to his feet after being knocked over by the tower collapsing. He looks behind him at the dust cloud settling from the remains of the destroyed Flying Saucer Tower, "Please tell me there are life-signs in that debris?"
"There were six people in that last elevator," Nina adds as Virgil helps her up, "The power cut out before they reached the ground."
"Don't worry, I have them," Marion says reassuringly, "The elevator's buried under a bit of debris but as far as I can tell it's still intact. Looks like some heavy lifting is going to be needed to get them out though."
"If only I had my suit and Jaws of Life," Virgil grimaces.
Just then they hear a familiar engine sound coming from above. Virgil's heart lifts as a searchlight shines upwards and illuminates Thunderbird 2 which is closing in on the disaster zone.
"Great fuckin' timing," Nina smirks.
"Looks like there are people trapped in that wreckage," Kayo muses as she looks down at the scene before them, "Alan, Gordon, set up the Pods."
"F-A-B!" Alan and Gordon say together as they hurry out from the cockpit.
A large area is cleared for Thunderbird 2 which lands close to the collapsed tower. Inside the module, Alan jumps into Pod A while Gordon heads over to the configuration panel. The body is then brought out into the centre of the module and robotic arms get to work attaching the components. A set of caterpillar tracks and an earth mover are connected onto it. As the main body of Thunderbird 2 is lifted clear of the module, the door opens to allow Alan to trundle out in the green Bulldozer Pod with Gordon riding on the outside of the vehicle.
"HEY, VIRG!" Gordon calls as they drive past where Virgil and Nina are standing, "THOUGHT YOU MIGHT NEED THESE!" He points to the very back of the Bulldozer. Virgil then sees his uniform and the Jaws of Life are attached to the rear. He make a run to the back of the Pod while Nina heads into the module. Virgil uses it as a screen so he can slip into his uniform and attach himself to the exo-suit before hurrying around alongside the Bulldozer which Alan is now using to clear some of the debris away from where the elevator is buried.
"That's as much as I can clear without damaging the elevator," Alan states from inside the Pod, "Virgil, I think you'll have to remove that large chunk of concrete."
"With pleasure," Virgil smiles and grabs a hold of the piece of concrete and uses the suit's strength to lift it up and throw it to one side. Sure enough, there is the elevator underneath. It's surrounded by dust and dirt but luckily the doors are facing upwards.
"That's lucky," Gordon remarks, "At least we don't have to roll it."
"I'll have to cut my way in," Virgil nods, "I just hope nobody's right behind the doors."
Gordon gets an idea. He climbs up onto the elevator and places a small communication device on the side. "Hello there?" he calls, "This is International Rescue. Call back if you can hear me?"
"H-Hello?" came the voice of the manageress from inside, "Yes, I can hear you, International Rescue!"
"Good," Gordon replies, "Is anybody hurt?"
"No, but we can't get out," the manageress's voice says, "Everyone's conscious though."
"Good," Gordon mutters, "That's the important thing. Now we're going to cut our way in. Please stay as far away from the doors as you can."
"Okay," the voice of the manageress responds, "Please hurry."
"All yours," Gordon informs Virgil as he steps off the elevator.
"F-A-B," Virgil acknowledges as he positions himself and activates the laser in his shoulder-light which starts to cut through the steel doors of the elevator. In no time at all the doors are freed and they open. Virgil takes a step back so Gordon can help the stewardess out first followed by the four stewards and finally the grateful manageress who straight away recognises Virgil as the guest who'd stopped the panic in the restaurant, despite him now wearing his suit and helmet.
"Please tell me you didn't pay your bill, Mr Tracy," the manageress chuckles.
"Er... no," Virgil trails, "We'd not even had dessert?"
"Thank goodness," the manageress nods, "Your bill is on the house, Mr Tracy. Thank you so much!"
June 18th, 2068 - 13:42 BST
Ralph's rampage has now reached Parliament Square. As well as sending more people running from their cars, he brushes himself against the front of Westminster Abbey causing some minor damage to its structure.
A double-decker Bus isn't able to stop in time and runs right into Ralph's forward right paw. Ralph jumps and collides with the buildings on the opposite side of the road. He hisses angrily and swipes the Bus with his front left paw which knocks it over onto its side. Luckily the bus is not very full but along with the driver there are eight people trapped inside of it.
From his viewpoint in Thunderbird 1, Scott can see the carnage being caused below.
"Seriously?!" Scott exclaims as he watches the panicked civilians run in all directions away from the giant and now somewhat angry cat, "Is nobody even going to even help those people in the Bus?"
"Scott, they're scared!" Marion states sharply as she appears over hologram, "And I can't say I blame them. At that size, that cat is rather dangerous looking."
Scott sighs grabs his helmet before lowering his seat from Thunderbird 1 and jetpacking down to the overturned Bus. He can see the frightened passengers on both the top and bottom levels. "Stay calm!" Scott calls through the window, "I'm going to get you out of there." He takes out his laser and cuts away the glass. Once that has been removed, he helmed the four passengers on the top deck out and over the side of the bus to some waiting Police and Ambulance crews who've arrived on the scene. Then he takes out a window from the lower deck and assists the remaining passengers out before finally taking out the window at the cab and helping the driver out. "Get to safety," Scott orders, "Keep well away from that cat."
"You don't have to tell me twice," the bus driver scoffs, and he starts running, calling over his shoulder, "Thank you, International Rescue!"
"Ah, Scott. Good news," Moffy announces as he flies back up to his ship, "The GDF is bringing more of the serum to us, and we will be setting up a mobile lab in Hyde Park. We're being taken there as I speak."
"Do you think it will work, Moffy?" Scott asks, "That cat's causing no end of damage."
"The s-small dose we tried on one of P-Professor Nixon's marrows did the t-trick," Brains interrupts, "B-But we n-need a much higher d-dosage in order to b-bring Ralph back down to s-size."
"How long will it take you to make the antiserum?" Scott enquires.
"Hopefully not too long," Moffy replies, "In the meantime you have to try and keep Ralph distracted and try to avoid any more collateral damage to the city."
"Keep him distracted?" Scott questions but the scientists sign off before he could question them further, "And how am I supposed to do that?"
Scott sits back down at the controls and heads towards Trafalgar Square. Ralph soon comes back into view as he walks across the square, narrowly missing Nelson's Column. The huge cat continues up Charring Cross Road into the busy shopping district of Oxford Street. People run for their lives in all directions as Scott watches the cat intensely. At one moment, he looks up and sees a truly horrifying sight in front of him and radios in.
"Thunderbird 1 to Mobile Control," Scott calls, "We're going to need Thunderbird 2 urgently in a minute. The cat's got its eye on the Post Office Tower. We're going to clear the area but will need back-up."
"Hang tight, Thunderbird 1, we're on our way," Kayo intercepts, "All aboard."
Scott sends out a warning to civilians over the emergency speaker and the area rapidly starts being cleared with the tower itself being evacuated. Unfortunately, getting the people out of the tower is proving to be a challenge as Ralph is rubbing himself against it and the other surrounding buildings. Weighing up his options, Scott dives Thunderbird 1 down low and zooms right past the startled cat who lets out a loud hiss and jumps after the silver rocket. He tries to grab it with his paws but is not quick enough to grab it.
"Okay, now he's mad," Scott mumbles, "But at least he's moved away from the tower."
"Scott," Marion calls, "Whatever you're doing keep it up the tower is now clearing. In fact, that whole area is pretty much evacuated. There's now a two-mile exclusion zone around the cat's location."
"So, all we need to do is just observe him until Brains and Moffy can come up with the antidote?" Scott asks.
"Pretty much," Marion states, "They and Professor Nixon are at the GDF Site in Hyde Park. Hopefully they will be ready soon."
Thunderbird 2 then arrives on the scene and for the first time, Alan, Kayo and Gordon are able to see just how big Ralph was. Even Virgil and Nina are getting their first proper look at him for they'd only seen him briefly before he'd jumped onto the roof of the Flying Saucer.
"Fuckin' hell!" Gordon whistles, "I thought those lizards were bit but that's a whole new level!"
"How exactly are we going to get it back down to size?" Alan questions, "Brains and Moffy are going to need one heck of a syringe if he's going to administer an antiserum!"
"I highly doubt they'll be the one to do that, Alan," Scott remarks, "You know how much he hates cats."
Gordon goes to make a joke, but everyone's attention is suddenly grabbed when Ralph, who has quickly lost interest in Thunderbird 1, has lifted his entire body up to stand on his back legs before slamming his front paws onto the side of the Post Office Tower. The tower shudders and for a second, they all think it's going to topple over. Instead, Ralph runs his paws down the side of the tower, his claws ripping through the glass of the many windows and causing them to shatter. They are also now sharp enough to cut through the steel girder beams supporting the floors. Then the base starts to crack and break apart.
"Shit!" Scott cries, "It's gonna fall!"
"Grab it, Scott! QUICK!" Kayo barks as Virgil flies Thunderbird 2 towards the toppling tower.
Scott quickly moves Thunderbird 1 into position, opens the underside doors and fires a grapple cable down onto the top of the tower. He instantly feels its weight begin to pull Thunderbird 1 down and it is only when Thunderbird 2 joins him and fires four additional grapple cables down that the tower stops toppling.
"We can't keep this up!" Scott groans as he struggles to keep Thunderbird 1's engines from burning out, "We have to do something!"
"Agreed," Kayo muses, "Alan and I will launch the Air-Pods. It'll give us a boost to get the tower back upright. Then I'll have one fitted with some of that nano-crete."
"F-A-B!" Alan agrees and the couple ran from the cockpit to the module.
Marion flies Thunderbird 7 into position as the doors underneath Module 2 are opened and the two green Pods, now fitted with flight gear, drop out and zip their way around to the opposite side of the Post Office Tower to provide some extra push. "Hurry!" she yells, "It's not going to last much longer!"
Alan and Gordon positioned the Air-Pods on the opposite side of the Post Office Tower, which was now at a fifteen-degree angle off its upright position and used the forward clamps to latch onto the structure.
"Pod B in position," Alan calls.
"Pod C is good to go," Kayo adds.
"Okay," Virgil calls, "Scott, you and I will pull on three whilst Alan and Kayo, you push. Are we all clear?"
"F-A-B!" everyone acknowledges together.
"One! Two! Three!" Virgil orders.
Everyone pushes their thrusters to maximum thrust. Thunderbirds 1 and 2 pull hard but carefully to ensure that the structure of the Post Office Tower doesn't fail completely. The Air-Pods also push and gradually the tower begins to lift back into its proper position.
"That'll do," Nina observes, "Which of you has the nano-crete?"
"I do," Kayo states and releases the clamp and moves her Air-Pod down to where the tower's main support has ruptured. She then begins to seal it with the nano-crete.
"Well done, Kayo!" Marion says from her viewpoint. "It's working!"
However, the victory is short lived as Ralph returns to the scene. He had initially been scared back by the downdraft from Thunderbird 2's VTOL engines but now he's returned and is sniffing around the cars and street furniture. He hasn't eaten since before he'd grown to massive size and is now extremely hungry. He picks up a Transit Van in his mouth and tries to chew on it but quickly decides it's disgusting and drops it to the ground. Then he catches a scent of something different. The cat turns his head towards where a group of people stand huddled, completely frozen in fear.
"Fuck!" Nina cries as she sees what is unfolding and immediately heads over to the passenger elevator. She counts to three in her head before opening the elevator starts to lower. As it reaches the tops of buildings, she jumps off and uses her suit to slide down the side of it. Virgil starts yelling in her com, but she rips it out of her ear to silence him. She scans the empty streets and stops an old London Taxi in the corner of her eye and gets an idea. Rushing over to it, she jumps in and drives it towards the back left paw of Ralph. This causes Ralph to jump in surprise as the taxi brushes against him. He lands a few metres back down the street and hisses loudly at the taxi which spins around to face him with its headlamps on full.
"Brains," Nina calls into her private com, "Please say you're ready."
"We're r-ready," Brains' voice answers.
"Good," Nina states, "What's the plan?"
"We've created a syringe to inject Ralph with Professor Nixon's antiserum," Moffy explains.
"We are l-loading it onto a GDF Flyer and will launch it into him," Brains continues, "We are c-coming to your location."
"You're in Hyde Park, aren't you?" Nina enquires.
"Y-Yes," Brains answers, "Why?"
"You won't get a c-clear shot here," Nina informs, "Buildings are too tall. Stay where you are. I'll bring him to you." She cuts Brains off before he or Moffy could reply. As she looks up at Ralph, who is slowly advancing on the taxi, she flashes the lights to keep his attention. "Come on."
Seeing that Ralph's full attention is now on her, she throws the taxi into reverse and zooms backwards down the street. Ralph lets out another loud MEOW and chases after her.
"What the heck is she doing?" Scott cries over the radio, "Has she gone nuts?"
Kayo has just finished cementing the base of the Post Office Tower and turned her Air-Pod just in time to see Ralph go charging off down the street after the taxi. "Where's he going?" she asks.
"I don't know," Marion mutters, "But I intend to find out." Thunderbird 7 does a sharp turn and sets off in pursuit from the air.
Nina pulls hard on the handbrake making the taxi perform a sharp right turn at Tottenham Court Road by Centre Point before racing off down the evacuated Oxford Street. Having grown up in London, she'd gotten to know its streets very well and knew that by going down this road would lead her to Hyde Park, and she hoped it will lure Ralph out into a much more open space.
"Come on, Ralph," Nina whispers as she glances into the rear-view mirror to make sure that the angry cat is still chasing after her, "Come and get me!"
Ralph is indeed still in pursuit. Of course, he didn't know what this little black object with glowing eyes is. To him it's some kind of mouse with glowing eyes which makes it worth chasing. Nina is somewhat startled by just how fast Ralph is. The taxi is quick, but Ralph is able to keep pace and it's only down to the fact that Nina has to zig-zag between other cars that have been abandoned during the evacuation that she is able to keep dodging his attacks.
There is one rather hairy moment however when passing Bond Street for Ralph's right paw makes contact with the roof of the Taxi and a claw penetrates through.
"MOTHERFUCKER!" Nina cries out, almost crashing the taxi into an abandoned Bus but luckily just manages to swerve to avoid a head-on collision.
Thunderbird 7 flies overhead. Being faster, Marion is able to get ahead of Ralph and make visual contact with Nina's taxi. "I can see the taxi," she announces, "Wow, her firefighting skills are really paying off here! I bet she could give Parker a run for his money! WOAH!"
Ralph had caught onto the back of the Taxi's roof and ripped another hole in it. Nina is able to break free again, but the situation is getting very dangerous indeed.
"Man, that was close!" Marion remarks.
Not far ahead of them they can make out a large open area between the lights of the buildings telling them that they are approaching Hyde Park. They can also make out the lights from the temporary camp set up by the GDF. A small group of Flyers are also airborne, the middle one is carrying Brains, Professor Nixon, Moffy and Colonel Casey whilst Rigby stays on the ground with the troops with orders to use sleeping gas or powerful tranquilizers on Ralph if they aren't able to calm him down enough.
The taxi zooms out of Oxford Street and past the Marble Arch. Ralph doesn't quite make it round the iconic structure and instead ploughs right through. This little bug is annoying him so much that he won't stop until he'd catches it.
"There they are!" Moffy calls from the Flyer, noticing Ralph's giant shape illuminated by Thunderbird 7's searchlight.
Brains gulps and quivers. Having only briefly seen Ralph's tail after he'd first transformed, he now feeling a strong sense of fear rushing through his veins.
"Come on, Ralph," Professor Nixon mutters quietly to himself as he gets the device ready, "Come to me."
Nina drives the taxi out into the clearing. She can see the Flyer and the group of soldiers waiting. But in taking in their positions, she loses her sight on Ralph. Then it happened. Ralph swipes the taxi hard with his right front paw. The taxi flips over and rolls several times with Nina crying out in alarm before slamming into a tree and finishing up on its roof. As much as Marion wants to stop and help out someone she sees as a sister, she knew that she could handle herself and stopping this cat is paramount.
Ralph, having stopped the little bug, quickly loses his interest in it due to being attracted by the number of bright lights in the clearing. The GDF Soldiers and Rigby stand their ground. Although they are tough, it is hard not to be somewhat intimidated by his size as he approaches them with menace and curiosity.
Professor Nixon readies the device to launch the syringe. "He's in the perfect position," he announces, "Tell the pilot to hold us steady." As he goes to fire, Ralph suddenly decides that he needs to wash himself and turns himself around sharply, meaning the point that the Professor wants to launch at was no longer visible. "Bother!" he grumbles, "Take us round to the right, please."
"Right-right, four degrees," Casey orders the pilot via walkie-talkie.
The Flyer moves around in the hopes the Professor will have a better angle to launch. Unfortunately, the hum of its engines catches Ralph's attention, causing him to fix his eyes on the flyer. To him it is some kind of giant bird. As he gazes at it, unblinking, Brains finds himself even more afraid and he starts to back himself slowly up into the main bay of the Flyer.
"MEOW!" Ralph's voice is heard for several miles as he jumps up at the Flyer and catches it in his paws. Everyone around cries out in alarm as his claws rip into the hull and break the fuel lines. A spark causes a small explosion that takes out the port engine.
The shaking causes Brains to lose his footing and he goes falling backwards out of the aircraft. "MOFFYYYYYYYYY!"
"HIRAAAAAAMM!"
Brains goes flying out the back of the Flyer, plummeting towards the ground. Brains closes his eyes and yells as he falls towards the ground waiting for the impact. However, this never comes as he feels himself hitting a surprisingly soft one. "Oh..." he exclaims, "That was... unexpected." He looks around and sees he's landed on a surface that he doesn't recognise. It's extremely soft like he'd landed on some kind of tall-haired carpet. His initial relief of being still alive quickly fades away when his noses starts to get itchy with the feeling that he is going to sneeze. He freezes as he realises what he's landed on. Slowly turning back around, he sees two large green eyes staring back at him. He has landed right on top of Ralph's nose. Brains is too alarmed to even scream.
Thunderbirds 1, 2 and Kayo's Air-Pod now arrive on the scene. Virgil and Alan have stopped off to help Nina out of her destroyed taxi. The scene in front of the is pure chaos. The GDF soldiers have scattered with several losing their nerve upon seeing how easily Ralph had been able to take down the Flyer.
"Boy, what a disaster this is!" Gordon remarks.
"We need to get to that Flyer," Kayo calls, "We need to get out any survivors."
"I do hope Brains wasn't on that," Scott adds.
"RELEASE THE GAS!" Rigby orders to another one of the Flyers, "IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO BRING HIM DOWN!"
One of the other Flyers flies over the clearing where Ralph is standing before releasing a large amount of harmless sleeping gas over the giant cat. Ralph immediately finds himself feeling drowsy. He slowly parks himself down and then flops onto his side before falling into a deep sleep. His reign of terror is finally over.
Now that they are close to the ground, Brains is finally able to jump down from Ralph's nose and he doesn't waste a second in running away from him. He begins sneezing and hopping as he goes as the soldiers who remain hurry to form a perimeter around the now snoozing cat.
Scott, Marion, Kayo and Gordon as well as other GDF soldiers are busy helping people out of the crashed Flyer. It isn't long before they find Casey and a rather hysterical Moffy in the wreckage and help them out.
"It's okay, Moffy," Scott sighs, "You're safe now."
"Hiram!" Moffy cries between sobs, "Have you got Hiram?"
"Er, no?" Gordon replies, "I thought he was with you?"
"He fell out!" Moffy wails, "I tried to grab him, but he fell!"
This sends a wave of fear through everyone. Could they have just lost one of their own. That is until they hear the sound of sneezing. They all turn gasp to see Brains. He is staggering towards them like he'd been drinking and is sneezing his head off. "BRAINS!" everyone cries and rush towards him. Gordon and Scott get to him first and grab hold of his arms.
"Where the heck have you been?" Kayo demands.
"HIRAM!" Moffy cries, throwing herself onto Brains, "Oh, thank heavens! I thought you were dead!"
"Na I-I-I na na am na na na naaaaaa," is all Brains manages to say before he then falls to the floor and starts snoring.
"Wait, did he just fall asleep?" Gordon questions in confusion.
"Well," Scott sighs are everyone looks at the scene before them, "At least the cat seems to have been taken care of. Although, how I'm not sure."
"Ma'am," Rigby announces his presence to Casey, "Sorry I could not get here sooner. I had to make sure that the sleeping gas had put the cat to sleep."
"Sleeping gas!" Moffy realises, "Of course! But why has Hiram been affected by it?"
"I believe he must have landed on the cat after he fell from the Flyer, Professor," Rigby explains, "After the cat landed on the ground, I saw him climb off and stagger away. Guess the gas affected him as well."
"We should count ourselves lucky," Casey states, "As far as I can tell, everyone's been accounted for."
June 18th, 2068 - 15:34 BST
Brains lets out a moan as he gradually comes around. He feels a sharp pain in his right arm and wakes to find that he is in a bed inside Thunderbird 2's sick bay. Professor Nixon is present who has a cast on his right leg and his left arm in a sling.
"Hey," Moffy says as Brains sits himself up, "Easy, Hiram."
"Hey, Brains," Scott smiles as he comes over, "You gave us quite a scare."
"S-Scott? M-Moffy?" Brains mumbles, "What happened? Did we w-win?"
"Brains! Thank the stars you're okay!" Virgil states as he joins them with Nina in tow, "How are you feeling?"
"C-Confused, V-Virgil" Brains stutters, "What h-happened?"
"Ralph knocked the Flyer out of the sky," Moffy explains, "You fell out. Colonel Casey, Professor Nixon and I were almost killed when the Flyer crashed yet we somehow managed to survive. You fell onto Ralph and were doused in sleeping gas intended to knock him out. It worked, but also took you out as well. Also, whilst we weren't looking, Professor Nixon somehow got to Ralph and gave him the injection."
"Did it w-work?" Brains questions.
"See for yourself," Nina smirks, taking a step back allowing Brains to look to his right. He has to put his glasses on to see and there he sees Ralph curled up and sleeping like a baby on a table close to the bed where Professor Nixon lies. Next to him is Pauline. She is in a wheelchair having been brought from the hospital she'd been taken to and is holding her husband's hand.
"What was I—" Brains mutters as he rubs his arm.
"A recovery serum I cooked up," Moffy informs, "It counteracts the sleeping gas."
"I s-see," Brains nods, "T-Thank you." He reaches out and takes Moffy's hand who smiles lovingly.
A subtle nod from Virgil tells everyone that the two need to be left alone so they move away. For him, it is a date in London he's never going to forget. Not only a giant cat interrupted his date, but he's also going to be a father.