SCOTT felt like his body was going to get shattered as he was slammed through one wall and then another before being thrown down onto the roof of the adjacent building. He groaned in pain and then looked up to see who the culprit was. He stared in shock when his vision cleared and they came into view. A woman in a shiny silver armor stood over him.

"S…Swan?!"

"So you do remember me?" said Silver Swan. "Good. Took you long enough to get here, Tracy!"

Scott struggled to his feet. "What…?" Then it clicked. "Wait…did you cause all this?"

"I knew you International Rescue flybys wouldn't be able to resist if people were in danger," said Silver Swan.

Scott gritted his teeth. "I don't have time for games, Swan! People are in danger and I need to help them."

"Your brothers can do the saving," said Silver Swan, blocking Scott's way. "You're gonna help me with finding someone else."

"What does that mean?" demanded Scott.

"Someone's kidnapped The Hood," said Silver Swan. "He's somewhere in this city. And you're gonna help me find him."

"Like hell I am!" said Scott defiantly. He activated his jetpack and tried to get away but Silver Swan jumped up, grabbed his legs and pulled him back down, throwing him onto the roof once again.

"Oh, no, you don't!" she said angrily.

Scott grabbed his multi-tool launcher from his belt and shone a bright light into Silver Swan's eyes. She cried out and covered them with her right arm. Scott seized his chance, jumping forwards and pushing her over. He fired up his jetpack again. It was damaged and not functioning properly but he was able to make it back to the burning apartment block where he found the Mother trapped behind smoke and flames. "I got you!" he said, grabbing hold of her and flying them both out of the balcony and down to ground level where he was able to reunite her with her children. "Get them out of here!" he told the Paramedics. "Things are about to get ugly!"

A furious shriek from above told them that Silver Swan had recovered and was back to try and recapture Scott. This time however Scott was ready for her and drew his stun pistol before shooting at her armour in an attempt to slow her down. The blasts had no major impact on Swan's armour but it was enough to knock her back a bit.

John's voice then came urgently over the radio in Scott's helmet. "Scott? What the heck is going on?"

"John! I've found the person behind these attacks. It's Silver Swan!"

"Silver Swan?!" exclaimed John.

Then Kayo chimed in. "Scott, I'm on approach. Where are you?"

"At the eastern-most fire within the city, Kayo!" said Scott as he jumped for cover behind a van. "Hurry. I can't hold her off for long!"

"Hang on, I'm coming!" said Kayo as she banked Thunderbird Shadow round and past the statue of Christ The Redeemer.

Silver Swan was getting more and more enraged by the second. "STOP…RESISTING!" she roared as she used her razor-wings to slice open the side of the van whilst trying to locate Scott. "YOU'RE NOT GETTING OUT OF THIS!"

Scott made a run out into the open. "YOU'RE NOT GONNA MAKE ME EITHER!" he shouted back.

Silver Swan roared in a rage and ripped off the van's side door before hurling it at Scott who only just managed to duck clear.

Some of the Rio Police had now arrived on the scene and began shooting their guns at Silver Swan who used her wings to create a shield to protect herself from the bullets. All this did was make her more angry.

It was at that moment that Thunderbird Shadow came into view. Kayo could see where Silver Swan was and swooped down low. She locked onto target with the on-board computer and fired a grapple cable which latched itself around Silver Swan's waist.

"Huh?!" said Silver Swan before she was then suddenly yanked upwards into the air. "AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Scott breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Thunderbird Shadow disappear over the rooftops with Silver Swan stuck in the cable behind. "Woo! Thanks, Kayo."

"I'll take her as far away from the city as I can then keep her distracted until the GDF can take her," Kayo said. "Thunderbird 5, are they headed our way?"

"They sure are," said John. "I've been talking to Colonel Jennings. She's on her way in person aboard one of the Flyers."

"Good," said Kayo. "I may need back-up. Swan's a handful, even for me."

"Good luck, Kayo," said Virgil as Thunderbird 2 came into view over the mountains. "Scott, is there anything we can do to help?"

Scott looked at the burning building. The top two floors were now engulfed in flames. "This fire could do with being put out," he said. "Although there's still some people being evacuated from the lower floors. I'm not sure it's going to stay up for much longer."

"Could we find a way to support it until everyone's out?" suggested Gordon. "Then Virgil can drop water onto the building and put the flames out that way?"

"That could work," said Virgil. "You and Alan configure two DOMO-Pods and see if you can keep that building up. I'll then fill the module with water and do a drop."

"Like in the Anasta Forest?" said Alan.

"Yes, although luckily the fires are a lot more confined here," said Virgil. "Go get those Pods ready."

"F-A-B!" said Gordon and Alan, fist-pumping each other as they headed down to the module.

Once inside, the two brothers got quickly to work, selecting the components they needed to build the two DOMO-Pods which had crawler tracks and large metal holding frames with suction cups on the fronts that were designed to stick to the walls of buildings. Once the assembly had been completed, they jumped into their respective vehicles.

"Pods are ready, Virgil," said Gordon.

"F-A-B," said Virgil. "Although we may have a slight problem. The streets are too narrow. I can't put the module down anywhere except on the beach."

"We have tracks. We can get through the sand no problem," said Alan.

"Okay then," said Virgil. "Stand-by to deploy."

Thunderbird 2 came down until it was hovering just above the surface of the water where it met the beach. He then lowered Module 2 and then opened the door ramp so it was just touching the sand. Gordon drove his DOMO-Pod out first with Alan following close behind.

"Thanks, Virgil," said Gordon. "DOMO-Pods are GO!"

Virgil closed the door of the module as soon as the Pods were clear and raised it back inside the main body of Thunderbird 2. He then moved the craft further out to sea before opening the hatch underneath the module and lowering a long rubber suction pipe down into the water. "I'll start filling the module with water," Virgil said. "Scott, let me know the second the building is clear."

"Will do, Virgil," said Scott. "Although we're having trouble getting to some of the residents. Flaming debris is falling from the top of the building!"

A rumble and shake of the ground told him that the DOMOs were now arriving. He turned to look as they emerged from a side-street.

"Sheesh! Virgil was right!" said Alan. "No way Thunderbird 2 could have landed us here!"

"Just in time, you two," said Scott. "Gordon, I need you to prop up the front of the building. Alan, you tend to the rear."

"You got it, big bro," said Alan. He turned his DOMO to the right and disappeared down another side-street whilst Gordon positioned his DOMO up against the front, fixing the suction cups to the wall.

"Suction cups holding," said Gordon. "Are you in position, Alan?"

Alan had now reached the back of the burning building and was positioning his DOMO up against the wall. "I'm there," he said. "But there are some nasty cracks developing. I'm not sure how long we're gonna be able to hold it."

"Hold it as long as you can," said Scott. He turned to a rescue worker. "How many still to come?" he asked.

"One more family," said the worker. "But they're on the second floor and we're having difficulty getting to them. There's a lot of fallen debris in the way."

Scott looked inside the ground floor and saw a pile of rubble was blocking the wall to the stairs leading up to the second floor. "Even I can't shift all that," he said. "But luckily, I know someone who can." He tapped his sash. "Virgil, you'd better suit-up. We're gonna need some of that heavy-lifting strength of yours."

"F-A-B!" said Virgil. "Module's now full. I'll be right with you."

Thunderbird Shadow had flown right across the bay from the main city bringing Silver Swan with it. Kayo swooped down low and released the cable. Silver Swan dropped down and crash-landed on the beach of one of the smaller uninhabited islands. She was a bit dazed to begin with but quickly recovered herself. As she struggled to her feet, she was able to rip the cable off her with her sharp claws. She was then about to take off to head back to Rio when Kayo landed on the beach having leapt out of Thunderbird Shadow and used her air-brake to glide down. "Going somewhere?" Kayo asked.

Silver Swan turned back to face her. "You!" she snarled.

Leaving FAB1 in the care of the guards, Penelope and Parker were taken by an officer by the name of Mr Barrowclough to see Mr Evans, the Governor. "If you'd kindly wait here, please," said Mr Barrowclough. "I'll see if Mr Evans is ready for you." He gave a knock on the white painted door.

"Come in?" called a voice from inside.

Mr Barrowclough opened the door and went inside. Penelope sat herself down in one of the chairs to wait. Parker could not sit though. He began pacing anxiously up and down the room.

"Honestly, Parker," Penelope said. "You're not going to be locked up, for goodness sake. Please calm yourself."

"Sorry, m'lady," apologised Parker. "But h'I can't 'elp it. I promised myself when I got released that I would never set foot h'in 'ere again!"

"I don't particularly want to be here either, Parker," said Penelope. "But-"

The office door opening cut Penelope off and Mr Barrowclough poked his head out. "Would you both come in, please?" he asked.

"Of course," said Penelope as she got to her feet. "Thank you, Mr Barrowclough."

Parker was hesitant, but he soon followed Penelope without a word, or even a 'thank you'.

Mr Evans was a smartly dressed Welshman who ran the prison as its Governor. "Ah, Lady Penelope," he said, greeting her warmly. "A pleasure to meet you in person."

"The pleasure's mine, Mr Evans," said Penelope. "What can I help you with?"

"Well, you see it's a rather unusual one, Lady Penelope," said Mr Evans. "One of our inmates has requested a meeting with you, although they wouldn't give us a reason why."

"Interesting," said Penelope. "And who might this inmate be?"

"A rather charming fellow," said Mr Evans. "His name's Light-Fingered-"

"FRED?!" Parker's sudden exclamation made Penelope, Mr Evans and Mr Barrowclough jump. Parker quickly realised what he'd done and coughed to hide his embarrassment. "Begging your pardon…m'lady."

Penelope felt it best to explain the situation to the startled Governor. "Parker here used to be an inmate at this prison a long time ago," she said. "He's well acquainted with Light-Fingered Fred."

"Then…it's you he's wanting to see then?" Mr Evans asked Parker.

Parker shifted uncomfortably. "H'I would probably 'ave to agree with you, sir."

"I see," said Mr Evans. "Well, I'm granting you both permission to see him provided you make no attempt to remove him from either his cell or the prison."

"Oh, we have no intention of doing that, Mr Evans," Penelope said. "We'll go and speak to Fred and if it's not deemed important, we shall just walk away from him."

There was a knock on the door.

"See who that is, Mr Barrowclough, please?" said Mr Evans.

Mr Barrowclough opened the door and another Prison Officer walked in with a kind of swagger like he ran the place. The man saluted Mr Evans and spoke in a strong Scottish accent. "You called for me, sir?"

Parker's insides suddenly tensed up. He knew that voice. Very slowly, he turned to his left, eyes widening as they fell upon the officer.

"Yes, Mr Mackay," said Mr Evans. "I want you to escort our guests to-"

But Mr Mackay had now noticed Parker and had done a double-take before a rather unsettling smug look appeared across his face. "Well…Well…Well!" he said, walking slowly towards him. "Nosey Parker! I knew your ugly mug would return some day." He walked right up to Parker so that his face was a few inches from Parker's own. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE THIS TIME, LADDIE?!"

"Excuse me!" Penelope cut in. "Can you not speak to him like that, please?! He's not one of your prisoners anymore!"

Mr Evans was on his feet. "Mr Mackay, please! Mr Parker is just visiting us with Lady Penelope whilst they speak to Light-Fingered Fred."

Mr Mackay looked at Mr Evans. Then he looked at Parker. Then he looked back at Mr Evans again. "He's…not being incarcerated?" he asked.

"No, Mr Mackay, he isn't," said Mr Evans. "Please could you and Mr Barrowclough take them to see Light-Fingered Fred and then stand guard outside the cell whilst they talk?"

Mr Mackay did some kind of twitch as he looked back at Parker. "As you wish, sir," he said. "Would you follow me, please, Lady Penelope?"

Penelope said nothing as she followed Mr Mackay out of the office. Parker uneasily followed Penelope whilst Mr Barrowclough brought up the rear, closing the office door as he went.

Thunderbird 2 came in to hover above the street next to where the burning apartment block stood. Virgil put his craft on Autopilot and then collected the Jaws of Life from within the nose. A winch then lowered him down to the ground where he headed into the building. "Sheesh, what a mess!" he remarked. "Where's the family?"

"Next level up," said Scott. "I can see their heat signatures, but this rubble is blocking the way to the stairs."

"Got it," said Virgil. "Stand back."

Scott moved outside whilst Virgil set to work. He used the jaws to pick up the largest pieces that he could get hold of and then moved them to the side until the doorway leading to the stairs was cleared. Scott then came through, climbing over the smaller pieces that would have been hard for Virgil to get hold of and made his way up the stairs to the second floor. There was a lot of smoke but this was more rubble dust than the smoke from the fire. He could still feel the heat even though it was above him. He could however see some cracks in the ceiling which told him there was a danger of it caving in.

Scott found the apartment where the trapped family was and kicked open the door. He saw two parents and a young baby huddled inside. "Follow me! I'm gonna get you out of here," he told them.

The family followed without hesitation. The Father and Scott used their bodies to protect the Mother and child as they made their way back down the stairs to the ground level. They were just in time as part of the ceiling above them crashed down, bringing some flaming debris with it. Now the fire was going to start to spread to the lower floors as well.

"Is that everyone?" Virgil asked.

"Check," said Scott. "And now we're out, the building's empty. Better double-check though." He touched his sash. "Thunderbird 5, can you confirm the building's now empty?"

"Affirmative, Thunderbird 1," answered John. "The only heat signatures I'm getting now are those from the flames."

"Guys!" Alan suddenly said over the radio. "This wall's giving way! I'm not gonna be able to hold it for much longer!"

Some large pieces of wall began to fall on both the front and back of the apartment building.

"This side's not gonna last much longer either!" added Gordon.

"Disengage and pull back!" Scott ordered. "Virgil, get back up to Thunderbird 2 and take care of those flames!"

"That'll take too long," Virgil replied. "Let's get down that side street. I can remotely drop the water."

They hurried down the side street with Scott yelling at any other rescue workers nearby to get as far back from the building as they could. Gordon and Alan released the DOMO-Pods and also retreated to a safe distance.

"I'm clear, Scott," said Gordon.

"Me too," added Alan.

"F-A-B," said Scott. "Virgil…drop it!"

Virgil remotely moved Thunderbird 2 directly over the top of the burning building. "This is gonna get messy," he said. "Dropping water…NOW!"

The hatch underneath the module opened and the water plummeted down onto the top of the building. It crashed through the roof and sploshed throughout the building, wiping out the flames but also smashed open the floor as well. The already unstable structure finally gave out and with a terrifying roar, the walls gave way and the entire building crashed to the ground, sending up a huge cloud of dust as it did so. It rose up and out in all directions, covering everything including Thunderbirds 1, 2 and the DOMO-Pods whilst Virgil and Scott used a parked van for cover.

Once the dust settled, they came out to survey the damage. "Well…you said it was a mess, Virgil," Scott said. "It certainly is now."

"But everyone's safe," Virgil answered. "That's all that matters."

Scott nodded. "I wonder how Kayo's getting on with Swan?"

Kayo had duelled with Silver Swan before, but something seemed different this time. They had usually fought in the air, not in a ground one-on-one battle. Swan had much deadlier weapons. Her razor-sharp claws and talons would have slashed through any normal suit but Kayo's nanotech armour was able to protect her, much to the fury of Swan. Her sonic scream was the most deadly as she used it to blast Kayo away, sending her bouncing along the sand.

"Oof!" Kayo said as she jumped back up. "Okay, I'll give you that one, Swan. But it's time to end this."

"How about you help me get my man back instead?" Swan asked, after trying to land on Kayo but missing due to Kayo swinging away.

"What are you talking about?" Kayo asked.

"The Hood's been taken from me!" Swan said. "I tried to get your adopted brother to help me but he refused." She went to charge at Kayo again, but Kayo stopped her.

"Wait, stop, back-up. What do you mean The Hood's been taken?"

Swan didn't answer but instead went to charge at her again. Kayo however was ready and was able to dodge underneath. She then jumped back around and drop-kicked Swan to the ground before pinning her up against a part of a stone cliff.

"Answer the question, Swan! Where's The Hood?"

"That's what I want to know, stupid!" Swan spat, shoving Kayo off her. "We were hiding out in the city trying to keep a low profile."

"Yeah, you can't exactly do that with that outfit," scoffed Kayo.

"THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" Swan shrieked. "I left The Hood in our hiding place for just a few minutes whilst I went to steal some apples from the grocery store. When I returned he was gone. I've been looking for him ever since!"

"And when was this?" Kayo asked.

"Last night," said Swan. "I knew once daylight came I would get noticed flying around the city. I therefore knew I needed help finding him. So I started a number of fires to lure International Rescue here." She then scoffed. "Knew you wouldn't be able to resist when people were in danger."

Kayo was enraged. She slammed Swan against the cliff again. "YOU PUT THOUSANDS OF LIVES IN DANGER, JUST TO GET OUR ATTENTION?!"

"THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY!" Swan shouted back. "WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO?! CALL YOU FOR HELP?! YOU WOULDN'T HAVE LISTENED TO ME!" She then let out another sonic scream, throwing Kayo away where she landed in the sea.

She momentarily sank but managed to shoot back up to the surface. She remotely called Thunderbird Shadow to come and retrieve her. But as it did, Swan went in with intention to attack it. "DON'T YOU DARE!" Kayo shouted. "THAT'S BRAND NEW!"

Fortunately for Kayo, another of the new features to this Thunderbird Shadow was an automatic danger protection system. It detected Silver Swan coming towards it and turned to face her, activating its own sonic cannon which sent her crashing back into the island.

"Ha!" Kayo remarked as she was winched out. "Let's see how you like it, Swan!"

Swan was slammed hard into the cliff before she fell to the beach. She had to quickly recover and move as several large boulders were broken from the cliff and crashed down onto the beach around her.

Just then, Kayo got a call over her helmet radio. "International Rescue, this is Colonel Jennings. We are on approach to your location. Can you hear me, Kyrano?"

"Colonel Jennings!" Kayo said. "Am I glad to hear your voice?"

"What's your situation?" asked Colonel Jennings.

"I've managed to keep Swan away from the city, but she's proving difficult to subdue," Kayo replied.

"I figured as much," said Colonel Jennings. "Don't worry. We've brought you some back-up."

Kayo looked to her right and saw two GDF Flyers coming in from the open sea. One was headed for the city, the other towards her.

"Just keep Swan busy until he arrives."

"F-A-B!" said Kayo. She remotely controlled Thunderbird Shadow to take her back to the island where Swan was still on the beach.

Swan looked up and saw Thunderbird Shadow diving. She also saw Kayo handing from the cable underneath. She let out a bellow of rage and threw some of her metal winged feather-blades in her direction. Kayo tensed herself up. The blades narrowly missed her but one managed to slice through the cable.

"WOAH!" Kayo cried as she began to fall. Thinking quickly, she pulled out her grapple gun and fired it at Silver Swan. it hit Swan on the chest-plate and Kayo rewound the launcher. She was yanked right at Swan who didn't even get a chance to blink before Kayo slammed head-first into her, sending them both crashing through the sand, rolling over and over until eventually they broke free and landed about twelve metres apart from each other further down the beach.

Both women were getting tired. The battle was draining their energy. But neither of them had any intention of giving up.

"Swan…listen to me," Kayo said. "If The Hood really is in trouble. Then we need to find him. But if you really want us to help you, you have to stop being a criminal and being a puppet to his hand."

"P-P-Puppet?!" spluttered Swan. "How DARE YOU?!" She pushed Kayo backwards. "I'M NOBODY'S PUPPET! THE HOOD AND I ARE ON THE SAME LEVEL! OUR RELATIONSHIP IS-"

"NON-EXISTENT!" Kayo shouted back. "HE DOESN'T LOVE YOU, SWAN! THE AGE BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU IS MASSIVE! THE THOUGHT OF YOU TWO BEING AN ITEM - IT'S JUST WRONG!"

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" screamed Silver Swan, roundhouse-kicking Kayo away. This time it was Kayo who was slammed into the cliff and then fell to the floor. Swan marched vigorously towards her, teeth gnashing and claws on her fingers extending out. "I've had it with you, Kayo!" she seethed. "You want this to end? I'LL END IT FOR YOU!"

"CATHERIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!"

Swan stopped dead. She turned around just as there came a CRASH! Something large and white had dropped from the overflying GDF Flyer and landed heavily on the beach. So heavily in fact that it made the entire island shake.

As the dust cloud of sand began to fade away, a huge bulky shape could be seen standing on the other side. Swan stared in disbelief. "No…" she said, almost sounding afraid. "Not you! NOT YOU!" She began to back away.

The dust then cleared and the figure came into view. A figure who both Swan and Kayo were very familiar with but who neither of them had seen for a very long time. The man raised both his arms up behind his head, clenched his fists and the sound of something powering up could be heard.

"Obsidian…SMASH!"

Is Swan going to fight her brother or surrender? Answers in the review section please.