THE setting of the Sun was often as beautiful to those living on Tracy Island and the rising was. But on this day, the setting of the Sun seemed rather ominous than usual. Jeff and the rest of the family stood at the side of the runway from Thunderbird 2's hangar and watched in silence as The Hood was marched, with his hands cuffed behind his back, by two GDF officers, closely followed by The Mechanic towards a GDF Flyer that sat at the end of the runway. The Hood made no attempt to look any of them in the eye, but he could feel the disdain that they all felt for him piercing through his body. He did not even acknowledge Colonel Jennings who was standing at the foot of the ramp leading into the aircraft.
"This is the last time you will ever set foot on this island," Colonel Jennings said to The Hood after making him and the guards stop beside her. "These people do not need you making their lives a misery. I will personally see to that."
The Hood gave a small scoff. "Your predecessor tried that," he remarked. "It didn't end well for her."
Colonel Jennings gave a sharp nod to the officers who then forced The Hood up the ramp and into the aircraft. The Mechanic remained behind, watching as The Hood disappeared into the cargo bay.
Colonel Jennings then addressed the family. "I will give all of you my word, here and now," she said. "This man will never be free again."
"Please make it so, Colonel," said Jeff.
Colonel Jennings nodded and then walked up the ramp which closed up once she was inside. The VTOL jets pushed the Flyer into the air and it turned before flying off into the Sunset.
"Phew," said Gordon. "I'm glad that's over."
"Too right," agreed Alan. "I'm not sure I could have lasted another day with The Hood being on the island."
"It was only t-two days, Alan," Brains pointed out.
"Two days is too long where The Hood's concerned, Brains," said Alan.
One by one, the family headed back up towards the house. Only Kayo remained behind, looking into the sky after where the Flyer had gone. The words of Colonel Jennings were still fresh in her mind. "I hope you keep your promise…Colonel," she muttered darkly.
5!
4!
3!
2!
1!
"Thunderbirds Are Go!"
"THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS"
BEING located in the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons that Tracy Island experienced throughout the year were the total opposite to what those in the Northern Hemisphere experienced. When Winter makes places like the United Kingdom extremely cold, places like Australia get extremely hot. For the Tracy family, Christmas on the island was spent in baking hot weather rather than a magical snowy scene those in the Northern Hemisphere were used to.
The peacefulness of Tracy Island began to get interrupted as the rock that concealed the hangar of Thunderbird 2 began to slide downwards. However it wasn't the great green goliath that emerged from within. Instead, it was a small blue and grey aircraft that taxied out onto the runway. Even though it was much smaller than the giant Thunderbird, the palm trees still moved back to give it a lot more room than it needed.
Inside the cockpit of the small aircraft, Jeff Tracy sat with his hands on the controls. In the seat beside him was Grandma. Jeff flicked a switch on the control panel before speaking into a radio. "JT-1 to control. Are we clear to launch?"
"Permission granted, Dad," Scott answered. "Have a good trip."
"Thank you, Scott. So-long."
The jet engines of the JT-1 roared as it picked up speed, heading down the tarmac until it reached take-off speed. Then Jeff pulled back on the stick and it lifted up off the runway, climbing into the sky. The palm trees then rose back into position and the rock that concealed the entrance rose back up into place.
Scott, Virgil, Gordon and Alan were alone inside the lounge, watching as JT-1 climbed away from the island and disappeared into the distance.
"Wow…" remarked Alan in awe. "That is one cool little jet. I'd sure like to have one."
Gordon raised an eyebrow. "Why would you want something like that, Alan?" he asked.
"Well, wouldn't you?" Alan asked.
"Well, no," Gordon said. "I have a submarine. And you have a rocket."
Alan thought for a moment. "Oh, yeah!" he said. "And I have the best rocket of course."
Virgil rolled his eyes but chose not to join in the argument that was now starting to take place between the two youngest brothers. He instead went over to Scott who was sitting at the desk. Scott was looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders once again. "You okay, Scott?"
"Sure. Why?" Scott asked.
"You look troubled."
"I can never be comfortable with Dad being away," said Scott. "Especially not with any of us being there to protect him."
"Oh, Scott, not this again," said Virgil. "Dad does not need to be given a bodyguard if he leaves the island."
"And why's he gone with Grandma?" Scott continued. "Why not go with Kayo. If he does get into-"
"Alright, knock it off!" said Virgil sharply.
Alan and Gordon stopped their argument, thinking that it was them that Virgil was barking at. They were both quite surprised when they realised it wasn't them.
"I know when Dad disappeared you felt like you had the weight of the world on your shoulders, Scott," Virgil said. "And getting him back was the best feeling ever. But he's been away from the island before. You did not fret like this then."
"Oh, I did, Virgil," Scott replied. "I just didn't show it. And since his trip to Malaysia-"
"That was weeks ago, Scott," Virgil reminded him. "And nothing's come of it. The Hood's still in GDF custody. Things have been fairly routine for us since then. Why don't you just relax for a change?"
Scott didn't answer. He knew Virgil had a point. But all the same, he couldn't help but worry about what might happen to their father. There were other people in the world who could be a danger to him and Grandma who weren't The Hood. Especially where they were going as well.
Flying from the South Pacific to New York was like passing from one world to another. As Jeff's little jet crossed the entire United States of America, the weather gradually deteriorated from lush blue skies to darkened clouds and by the time they'd reached New York State, a fierce blizzard was reported to be battering Manhattan Island. Luckily for Jeff, the airfield he'd planned to land at wasn't affected by the weather. As the runway came into view, he made contact with Air Traffic Control.
"This is JT-1 to Tower Control. I'm approaching from the West. Requesting permission to land."
"Tower Control to JT-1," came a woman's voice over the radio. "Please enter the holding pattern and await further instructions. We have two aircraft that are about to take-off."
"Roger, Tower Control," said Jeff. "Entering holding pattern." He took one hand off the controls to pull up his sleeve to look at his watch. "I hope they don't take too long," he said to Grandma. "I don't want to be late for my meeting."
"That's not until one o'clock, Jeff," said Grandma. "That's just over two hours from now. We'll be there in plenty of time."
"So long as the roads aren't too bad," Jeff responded. He glanced out of the cockpit window and saw the first of the two aircraft taking off from the runway. It was a cargo plane bound for Barcelona. A few minutes later, the second aircraft began to roll down the runway. This was a small passenger airliner which after lift-off, turned and headed South for Miami.
"Tower Control to JT-1," the woman's voice said over the radio. "The runway is clear. You have permission to land."
"About time," Jeff said quietly to himself. "Roger, Control. Coming in now."
JT-1 left the holding pattern and began to descend towards the ground. Jeff lowered the landing gear and touched down smoothly on the tarmac.
"Nicely done," said Grandma as they taxied off the runway to a designated area near the control building.
As they drew closer to their spot, they noticed a black car waiting for them. A man in a uniform stood beside it, clearly trying to ignore the bitterness of the cold air as he waited for them.
"That'll be Davis, I expect," said Jeff. "I was told he'd be waiting for us."
After bringing his aircraft to a stop, Jeff powered down the engines whilst two airport workers brought over a set of steps to allow Grandma and then Jeff to disembark. They then headed over to the car where the man standing beside it greeted them warmly.
"Mr and Mrs Tracy?"
"That's right," said Jeff. "Are you, Davis?"
"Yes, sir. I am," the man replied. He opened the rear left passenger door of the car. "In here, please, ma'am."
"Why, thank you," said Grandma as she climbed into the car.
Davis then took Jeff round to the other side of the vehicle and opened that door as well. "Sir."
"Thank you, Davis," said Jeff as he too climbed inside.
Davis closed the door and then walked back round to get in the driver's seat. Soon they were leaving the airfield and heading down the main road towards Manhattan Island.
The weather didn't seem to be as bad as Jeff was expecting it to be. Heavy snow had fallen and covered the houses, pavements and parked cars. Yet the road itself seemed relatively clear.
"Had it rough here?" Jeff asked Davis.
"It was a lot worse earlier, Mr Tracy," Davis replied. "Good thing the City Council has invested in a large fleet of Snowploughs and Gritters this year. There's one now."
Jeff and Grandma looked out of the window at a large yellow truck with a blade on the front and a gritting machine on the back. It was parked at the side of the road, waiting for a clear moment for it to continue with its work.
The machine made Jeff think about the machines back in Tracy Island. As impressive as this one he was looking at was, it was nowhere near as technologically impressive as anything in the International Rescue fleet. Even the Pods that were carried in Thunderbird 2, whilst not looking like much, could be made into a great variety of uses. This Snowplough machine had one job and one job only, and it could only be used in weather like this.
For the next hour, they made their way through the outer suburbs of New York before eventually crossing one of the many suspension bridges that led onto Manhattan Island itself. The snow had gotten thicker and traffic jams were starting to build. But fortunately for Jeff and Grandma, their destination wasn't too far away, so Jeff was no longer concerned about being late for his meeting. As Jeff and Grandma looked out at the concrete canyon around them, they could see many decorations and lights on the buildings and crossing the street as well. It made the fact that Christmas was on its way all the more memorable.
"There it is, Mr Tracy," Davis said, pointing out of the windscreen. "Harman's Toy Store Building."
Jeff looked up at the large building just ahead of them. It didn't look much compared to the other buildings, although it was hard to miss the large number of decorations and lights that had been fitted to the outside of the building.
Davis turned off the street and drove the car onto a vehicle elevator which lowered them down to an underground parking lot. Once in the designated parking place, Davis opened the doors for them to step out. "If you head to that elevator over there, you'll be taken to the store itself," he told them.
"Thank you, Davis," said Jeff. "See you in a couple of hours." He and Grandma then walked over to the elevator and headed back up to ground level where they exited out onto a balcony overlooking what had got to be the largest toy store either of them had ever seen.
"Oh, my!" exclaimed Grandma. "I can imagine there's gonna be a lot of broke parents this year."
Jeff chuckled. "Luckily that won't be us," he remarked. "That said…I do have more kids than most of those parents down there probably have."
"And the older they get, the harder they are to buy for," said Grandma.
"Except for Virgil this year," said Jeff. "I already have his present sorted. That's why we're here."
Grandma raised an eyebrow. Jeff hadn't told her or any of the others the reason why they'd come to New York. She'd been patiently waiting for him to tell her, but now she was more intrigued than before.
A woman in a store uniform walked over to them. "Mr Jeff Tracy?" she asked.
"That's me," said Jeff, turning to face her.
"I'm Mr Harman's secretary," she said. "I'm here to take you to him."
"Ah, very good," said Jeff. "Lead the way, my dear."
"If it's okay with you, Jeff, I'd quite like to go down there and see if I can find anything for the boys," said Grandma.
"Of course, Mother," replied Jeff. "Just remember, they're grown up kids, not little ones anymore." He gave a wink and Grandma laughed in response.
Eric Harman had spent many years building up a successful toy making company and was the biggest seller of toys on the Eastern Seaboard. He was just finishing off an inspection of a new Christmas Train Set when a buzzer sounded on his desk intercom. "Yes?"
"Mr Tracy is here to see you, Mr Harman."
"Good. send him in. And could we have some coffee, please, Miss Turner?"
"Coming up, Mr Harman."
Harman looked up as the door to his office opened to reveal Jeff who walked in. "Jeff Tracy!" he said as he jumped excitedly to his feet. "I'm so glad to finally meet you in person." He shook Jeff's hand. "This is a great honor."
"The honor is mine, Mr Harman," Jeff answered.
"Please, call me Eric," said Harman.
"Okay, Eric."
The two men sat down on a plush sofa next to a large window that looked out over the concrete canyon. The secretary brought in the coffee and the two men were soon chatting business.
"I have to say," Jeff was saying. "When I set up International Rescue, this was not something I ever thought I'd be agreeing to."
"Well, it's more the idea of using your company to create what we need, Jeff," said Harman. "It's no secret that Tracy Aerospace makes the best rockets in the world."
Jeff couldn't deny that. He had spent years and a lot of money setting up companies that had developed the most sophisticated and powerful rocket engines and aircraft designs in the world. The best produced however were what powered Thunderbirds 1, 2 and 3, although he wouldn't have admitted that.
The door buzzer sounded again. Harman went over to the desk and pressed the button. "Yes?"
"Dr Pringle is here, sir."
"Send him in."
Jeff was confused. Why would a doctor be coming? "Anything wrong, Eric?" he asked.
"What?" replied Harman. "Oh, no, Jeff. Everything's fine."
The door opened and a tall, grey haired man of similar height and build to Jeff walked in. Contrary to what Jeff was expecting, the man did not appear to be a doctor because he had no bags or any kind of visible medical equipment on his person.
"Dr Pringle," said Harman, shaking the man's hand.
"Mr Harman," replied the man.
"This is Jeff Tracy," said Harman, introducing him to Jeff. "His company is going to provide us with the rocket."
Dr Pringle shook Jeff's hand warmly. "Pleasure to meet you, Mr Tracy," he said. "You don't know how much this will mean to me, my staff and the kids."
"Kids?" Jeff repeated, confused. "Forgive me, gentlemen, but I'm afraid I'm a bit in the dark here. All I know is Eric here has asked for a rocket. I presumed it was to be part of a display?"
"Display?" said Harman. "No, no, Jeff. On the contrary. We require a working rocket."
Dr Pringle sat down in a chair. "Tell me, Mr Tracy. Have you heard of Coralville Hospital?"
"Well, sure," replied Jeff. "The largest children's hospital on this side of the continent."
"Mr Harman and I have got a plan to make the children who have to spend Christmas in the hospital one they'll never forget," explained Dr Pringle.
"What we want to do is deliver them a large shipment of presents," said Harman. "But instead of using trucks, we'd like to use a rocket."
Jeff listened with interest. "And you'd like me to provide you with that?" he asked.
The two men nodded. "Then if we could have International Rescue be on hand to help hand out the presents to the children, could you imagine what their reactions would be to that?" said Harman.
"A lot of our patients think highly of International Rescue," said Dr Pringle. "As do my staff and I. I understand it's not what you do, Mr Tracy. But if you could do this, it would mean the world to us."
Jeff considered the matter for a moment. Then he put his empty coffee cup down on the table and made his decision. "My only concern, gentlemen, is how would you get a rocket to land at the hospital?"
"Oh, we weren't thinking of landing it," said Dr Pringle. "There's nowhere suitable for it. Your Thunderbirds could land in the open space around the back of the hospital, but we'd require the presents to be delivered at the front."
"So what we need is for the rocket to drop off some kind of container with all the presents in it that would drift down to earth on a parachute where the kids could see it land," said Harman.
"That's a big risk," said Jeff. "Something like that could potentially damage the contents of the container."
"That's why we were hoping to do a trial run of it if we can?" said Harman. "How quickly would your team be able to create a prototype? I can have my team pack up a number of items for a trial drop?"
Jeff scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I would need to talk with my designers on that," he said. "I'll have to get back to you on that one. Don't get me wrong, gentlemen, I'm very on board with the idea. We just need to do some experiments to make sure that this can work."
"That's fine by me," said Dr Pringle. "Only a few of my staff are aware of this plan. The children know nothing about it."
"I'm in agreement," said Harman. "Once we know for sure that a test rocket and flight can be put into place, then we shall be in touch about a date."
With the plan agreed to, Dr Pringle shook both men by the hand and left the office, leaving Harman and Jeff alone once again.
"I'm glad you've agreed to this, Jeff," said Harman.
"Well, I didn't really have much of an option, Eric," chuckled Jeff. "If I didn't, I wouldn't be holding up my end of the bargain."
"Indeed," smiled Harman. "Speaking of that. It's downstairs waiting in the back store room. Come. I'll take you to it."
Grandma hadn't had the best time looking down the many rows of toys in the main store area. It wasn't so much the lack of items she thought she could get the boys because they were all too grown up to get anything from this shop, it was more the dozens of excitable children running around, demanding from their parents the toys they wanted, and others throwing tantrums when the parents refused. It brought back long forgotten memories of not only when Jeff's sons were kids, but also Jeff himself. Grandma was in a way glad that she'd only had one son as at least she could think of just him to buy for whereas she'd found finding things for five grandsons quite a bit harder.
It came as a relief therefore when she noticed Jeff had returned to the store along with Harman and went over to join them.
"Ah, Eric. This is my Mother, Sally Tracy. Mother, this is Eric Harman."
Harman shook Grandma by the hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Mrs Tracy."
"Hello, young man," said Grandma kindly. Even though Harman was only a year or so younger than Jeff, he was still young in her eyes."
"Hmm. Not been called that in a long time," joked Harman. "Now for the item, Jeff. Excuse me." He went off into the back store room whilst Jeff and Grandma waited outside.
Jeff looked over at the checkout desks nearby and at all the excitable children with their parents carrying bags of toys ready for Christmas. He too began to think back to the days when he was a child as well as buying presents for his sons. It had been easy when it was just Scott and even when Virgil came along. But once John, Gordon and especially Alan had come along, then he'd really had a challenge on his hands.
Grandma looked at her son and could tell immediately what he was thinking. "Yes, I've been thinking that as well," she remarked.
Jeff gave a smirk. Just then the store room door opened and Harman returned with something wrapped up in tissue paper. "Here you go, Jeff," he said. "Made to your specification."
Jeff made sure his back was facing the customers. What he had in his hands now was a one of a kind item that he didn't want anyone else to see. He knew that if they did, they'd have hundreds of children rushing up to them, demanding to have one of their own. He carefully unwrapped the paper and Grandma's eyes widened in surprise. Sitting in Jeff's hands was a perfectly scaled down model of Thunderbird 2.
"Oh, wow!" said Jeff in wonder. "It's perfect. Thank you, Eric."
Harman smiled. But before he could say anything, a scream made them all spin round in the direction of the checkouts.
"MY BAG! STOP!"
A big commotion had broken out and Jeff quickly saw what the cause was as a ginger-haired man with a brown coat and jeans was now sprinting towards the exit, shoving people aside as he went. In his hand was a handbag that had belonged to one of the mothers waiting in the queue. A security guard ran forwards to try and apprehend the thief, but the thief managed to knock him down with a single punch to the jaw.
Without even thinking about what he was doing, Jeff had grabbed the rucksack he'd brought with him and threw it across the floor from where he was standing, right into the path of the escaping thief. The thief did not see the rucksack and even if he had done, his momentum caused him to trip over it regardless. "AAARGH!" the thief cried out as he flew through the air and crashed painfully into the sliding doors which had not had a chance to open yet due to how fast he'd been running. By the time the doors had opened, the man was lying with a bloodied nose on the floor. He tried to crawl away, having dropped the handbag. He then realised he'd not got it and tried to reach back in order to grab it.
However Jeff appeared and used his foot to push the bag away before standing over the injured man. "Hey! You heard the lady. Stop!" he said firmly.
The man began shaking with fury as he now realised this was the man whose rucksack had caused him to trip. But as he struggled to get to his feet, two Police officers appeared from outside and quickly placed handcuffs on him. "You…" the thief said to Jeff as he was taken away. "I'll remember your face. You're a dead man!"
Jeff wasn't remotely phased by the threat. He'd faced people like that before a long time ago. He'd dealt with people like The Hood. A low-life thug such as this guy couldn't cause him any concern.
One of the Police Officers came back to talk to Jeff after the thief had been placed inside their Patrol Car. "Thank you for allowing us to catch him, sir," she said. "We've been after him for some time."
"No problem, officer," Jeff replied. "Is there anything else I can do to help?"
"Would you be willing to make a statement down at the Precinct?" the officer asked. "It's just around the corner from here."
"Sure, no problem," said Jeff with a smile. "I need to finish my business here but I'll be around in say, thirty minutes?"
"That'll do us fine, sir," said the officer. "When you get there, say you're here to see Officer Blake. That is me."
"Fair enough," said Jeff. "See you soon, Officer Blake."
Officer Blake left to head back to her patrol car. Jeff returned to Grandma and Harman.
"That…was quite incredible, Jeff," said Harman. "I had no idea you were a secret vigilante."
Jeff gave a chuckle. "No, thank you. I don't dress up in a bat costume and scare the life out of jokers." He, Harman and Grandma all burst out laughing.
Scott hadn't done or said much following Jeff's departure. This suited the others fine as they left him alone. Whilst Virgil and Gordon hit the gym, Alan decided to make use of Grandma's absence and try to raid the fridge for what he considered a decent meal.
Kayo had been out on patrol in Thunderbird Shadow and had recently awoken after a nap. "How are things, Scott?" she asked.
"Pretty quiet," Scott answered. "Just waiting to hear from Dad."
"Why is something wrong?" Kayo asked.
"No," Scott said hastily. "Just…" He sighed. "Kayo, ever since we brought him back from the Oort Cloud, I get anxious if he leaves the island."
"He's left the island plenty of times since he's returned, Scott," said Kayo. "I don't recall you getting anxious then."
"I just did a good job of hiding it," said Scott. "Unless I was with him of course. But ever since The Hood managed to poison him with, I forget what he used but you remember when Gordon and The Mechanic had to shrink down and go inside of him?"
"Yeah…I do," Kayo replied. "That was the start of The Cabal."
"Just the fact he's gone off with just Grandma and not one of us," Scott finished. "I just worry."
"I understand, Scott," said Kayo. "Believe me, I feel the same about my Father. Although at least I do remember now."
Scott looked sadly up at Kayo who herself was looking saddened at having brought the subject up. "You…still can't talk about it?" he asked.
Kayo shook her head. "Your father and I made a promise to my father," she said. "And I'm not going to break that."
Scott gave a nod. Despite his anger and initial hostility towards both Kayo and Jeff after their secret visit to the Malaysian Jungle, Scott had finally come to the realisation that he was the one in the wrong, and had therefore decided it wasn't worth getting himself yelled at by either of them. He then looked over at the wall of portraits. His eyes focused in particular onto John's and he pressed the button to call up the space-station.
John's hologram soon appeared. "What's up, Scott?"
"Er, nothing, John," Scott said. "Just wondered how things were?"
"All quiet here," said John. "I can't remember the last time things have been so quiet for so long."
Scott begrudgingly had to agree. The last big mission that International Rescue had taken part in was almost two months ago when Silver Swan had attacked Brazil. Sure there had been a few rescue missions but each had been ones where only one Thunderbird was generally required and it had always been Thunderbirds 1 or 2 that had answered the call. With the exception of the island-based Thunderbird 4 which had gone to recover The Hood after his stolen aircraft had crashed into the ocean, neither the Module-based Thunderbird 4 nor Thunderbird 3 had had to be used at all. This was starting to get to Alan and Gordon. Whilst both had gone with Virgil in Thunderbird 2 each time, they both longed for a proper mission with their own ships.
"What's the weather like in New York?" Scott asked, finally remembering the reason why he'd called John in the first place.
John checked the weather map. "Not looking too good, I'm afraid," he answered. "Manhattan has got heavy snowfall. All flights in and out are being diverted to other airports."
"Meaning Dad and Grandma might be stranded there," said Scott.
"If they do then they'll get put up until the weather clears," said John. "Relax, Scott. Or do you plan to take Thunderbird 1 out to get them if that's the case?"
Scott actually managed to laugh at John's joke. "No…Not unless they ask for me to," he said.
Having finished making the purchase of the Thunderbird 2 model, Jeff and Grandma headed down the street from Harman's Toy Store to visit the Police Precinct which was located next to the nearby Central Park. As they passed the neighbouring building, Jeff found his attention being drawn to a blue car sitting on the opposite side of the road. The rear passenger window was slightly open, and Jeff thought he saw what looked like a mobile phone inside with its camera-side facing towards the building. As if whoever inside had suddenly realised that they'd been spotted, the window closed up and the car drove off down the street. Jeff glanced at the building and saw the words 'Second National Bank' above its grand entrance.
"What's wrong?"
Jeff suddenly snapped back to reality. He saw Grandma was now five feet away from him. He hadn't even realised that he'd come to a stop. "Oh, sorry," he said and quickly caught up with her.
Any thoughts on what he might have seen quickly left Jeff's mind as they continued down the street. The snow was coming down again and Jeff and Grandma could feel the sound of it crunching under their boots. Snow was something they hardly ever saw. The last time either could remember was when they'd visited Martha Casey's father at the Royal Canadian Mountain Police Headquarters in the rocky mountains where they and Alan had stopped a pair of escaped convicts after holding the Prime Minister to ransom by destroying a railroad bridge and trapping his private train on it. This time however, Jeff's thoughts were on another matter. Whilst the snow looked beautiful, it also could bring back some extremely painful memories. It was of course an avalanche of snow that had buried the resort house in Switzerland where his wife and father had been. Neither of them had survived when the house had collapsed under the weight of the avalanche. Jeff shivered, but not because of the cold. The painful memories were the cause.
"We're almost there," Grandma said as they rounded the corner and the Police Building came into view.
Jeff looked up at the building. He puffed out his cheeks. "Focus," he told himself. "You have a statement to make. Got to remember all the details. This is important."
They came to a Crosswalk and headed over to the opposite side of the street. Upon reaching the pavement, they were now only a-hundred yards from the entrance to the Precinct.
Suddenly they both heard the loud rumble of a vehicle's engine coming from behind them. Jeff was the first to turn and what he saw made his heart skip a beat. "WATCH OUT!"
Jeff's warning was only just in time. He grabbed his mother and pulled her quickly out of the way before the large red beefy 4x4 Pick-Up Truck narrowly missed them as it mounted the pavement and slammed into the front doors of the Police Precinct. Glass shattered, chunks of wall and ceiling were broken and anyone inside the lobby had to throw themselves to the ground or jump clear to avoid getting hit. Alarms began wailing and sprinklers turned themselves on.
Only the Desk Sergeant found herself free of any fallen debris. She tried to reach for her gun but one of the two occupants from the Truck pointed his right at her. "W-W-What are you doing?!" she cried.
"Bulldogs!" the man with no hair answered, aiming his pistol at her. "Here to rescue our boss, The Bull!"
"Bring him out NOW!" ordered the other man, still at the wheel of the 4x4. He had his own gun aimed at an officer who was pinned under some nearby rubble.
As the dust settled, Jeff helped Grandma to her feet. "Are you okay, Mother?" he asked anxiously.
"I think so," Grandma replied. She felt her arms. "Nothing feels broken. Although I did land on you. I ought to be checking you over."
"I'm more than fine," said Jeff. He then turned his attention to the 4x4 which had its rear end emerging from the building. "What the hell is going on here?" He climbed over a small hedge and peered in through one of the shattered windows. He saw the Sergeant returning from the cells at gunpoint by the hairless man in a black t-shirt and jeans whilst in front of them came a hulking brute of a man. At least six feet tall and made of muscle. He too was bald with a goatee…and a large gold ring in his nose. His red jumper could have made him a contender to be Santa Claus if he had the rest of the outfit.
"Good work, boys!" the large man said as he and the other man climbed into the 4x4 after handcuffing the Sergeant to her desk. "That should show these pigs that no jail can hold THE BULL!"
"The Bull?" Jeff repeated to himself. "Well that explains the nose ring and the physique. He's built like one!"
The crashing of the vehicle into the Precinct had caused just as much commotion outside as it had inside. A citywide alert had been issued with every available Unit on both the ground and was heading towards the danger zone. Only one helicopter was permitted to fly through and it could only travel above the skyscrapers due to the blizzard.
Soon five Police Cars and two SWAT Units had appeared in the street, blocking off the escape routes for the 4x4. The engine of the 4x4 revved and it reversed quickly out of the building, slamming into two Patrol Cars and easily pushing them aside. Officers opened fire with their weapons but to their surprise, nothing seemed to slow the large red vehicle. The windshield and side-windows seemed to be bulletproof as it turned and then charged forwards, forcing several officers to leap clear whilst it mounted the pavement and forced its way past one of the SWAT Vehicles.
Grandma had been thrown into a bush by Jeff when the vehicle had gotten far too close for comfort. "Ugh, goodness!" she said as she pulled herself out. "I appreciate you looking out for me, Jeff, but do you have to be so-" She broke off and looked around. Jeff was nowhere to be seen.