#this timeline may be shit but at least we have sonic 3

[drawbauchery]

REVENGE GUAC

[actualbird]

nobody asked but here is every unraveled episode (as of may 2020) as how they’d be as a lover | a 2.5k word long post written in the style of an unraveled about unraveled and also love

Ah. Unraveled. Polygon’s golden boy of a video series where Brian David Gilbert is beckoned into a suit, lured into a blackbox studio, and is only granted escape after he has explained to three cameras whatever batshit video game adjacent thesis he has been cursed with this time. Unraveled is a wonderful video series, and we all love it.

But what if it could love us?

If you’ve ever asked this question to yourself, boy, do I have some content for you, because for the past 2 days, I’ve been working on this post where, for entirely too long, I explain to you how each Unraveled episode would be as a lover. And more importantly, which ones would be the best lovers.

Before I fall deep into this unhinged hole and take you down with me, I need to explain some things.

First: I want to make it clear that I am not categorizing BDG as he portrays himself in each Unraveled. I am instead taking each Unraveled episode as a fully formed being, the story, performance, etc, and letting that shape a character of its own. This character is where I extrapolate details from to create an Unraveled episode’s qualities as a lover. What I’m basically doing is anthropomorphizing Polygon dot com video content. And then making you date them. If this doesn’t make sense, don’t worry, it will as you read along. And if it helps you to visualize the Unraveled Episode As A Lover, I invite you to just imagine whomever it is you are most attracted to---or for those who don’t experience attraction, whomever it is you find most aesthetically pleasing---and then just add in the wild personality traits I describe through the course of this post.

Second: I know what you’re thinking. “Avian, the characteristics of what makes a good lover is subjective!” And I wholeheartedly agree. I’ve been through college, and I’ve witnessed my friends whom I love so dearly enter relationships with some of the most wack ass motherfuckers I’ve ever met. I know that people are into different things. But do I judge them for it? Well, kinda, yeah! Yes, what we want in a lover is subjective, but I’ve consumed a metric fuckton of romance media over the course of my life and am also in a wonderful relationship with my own girlfriend, and thus have my own personal idealized ranking for what makes a good lover. Feel free to disagree with my rankings of Unraveled Lovers, but also, I’m writing this post. I say this with as much love as I possibly can, but if you disagree with me, make your own post. If you don’t wanna make your own post, you’re just going to have to trust me for 2.1k more words.

With that out of the way, let me take you on a journey through the 23 Unraveled Lovers, from worst to best.

BAD TIER: I would probably advise you to break up with these Unraveled Lovers as soon as you are emotionally capable of doing so.

Hoo boy, we’re starting at the bottom. The perfectionists, the nitpickers, the emotionally unavailables. These Unraveled Lovers would have good intentions, but just have aspects within their personality that will wear you and your relationship together down until both of you can no longer take it.

“Ranking all 200+ Megaman robots” is a lover obsessed with the concept of “is this worth it?” They would unknowingly but inevitably rank parts of your own personality on a scale of ���worth the trouble in this relationship’ and ‘not worth the trouble’. Any lover who deals with you with this kind of dichotomy is somebody you should not be with. You should be accepted and loved for all your parts, the beautiful and the ugly.

“How to make the perfect E3 press conference” is a lover who spent years consuming romance media and has a list of what makes the perfect relationship. So not only do they have unrealistic expectations for what a relationship is, but they will be obsessed with reaching that unreachable perfection. That will definitely put a strain on your relationship until the veneer of desired perfection crumbles away, leaving you both tired and sad.

On a less deep note, “How to tell apart all 596 Fire Emblem characters” just won’t remember any of the names of your friends or family. Sure, they’ll try, but they’ll give up in like 15 minutes and you’ll never be able to take this Unraveled Lover to a family reunion or a party with your friends. Probably not a dealbreaker, but as the Spice Girls said “If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends.” This Unraveled Lover will not. Next.

“No one asked but I found Mortal Kombat’s best cuddler” and “I wasted 3 weeks of my life finding Castlevania’s hottest monster” are two Unraveled Lovers with a similar problem: they both won’t shut the fuck up about their exes. Mortal Kuddler constantly brings up all the other cuddles they’ve experienced and Castlevanias Hottest Monster will tell you you’re beautiful, but also bring up like 69 other monsters they think are also beautiful. This might not be a red flag, but personally, this would tire me out, always being thought of in comparison or contrast to others.

That ends the BAD TIER and brings us to the OKAY TIER where a large chunk of the Unraveled Lovers fall into, so much so that I had to create more specific sub tiers under the OKAY TIER.

So let’s get into the OKAY TIER: These Unraveleds Lovers are alright, you’ll just have a sublimely weird relationship.

These Unraveled Lovers will treat you right but they’re also just very peculiar. Nothing wrong with that at all, but I’m here to explain to you just in what ways these okayest lovers are bizarre. Let’s start with the first sub tier.

OKAY SUB TIER: College Students who are way too into their major

There are a lot of Unraveled Lovers under this subtier, and this shouldn’t surprise you, because Unraveleds are inherently nerdy. These are lovers that will be good to you but also just never fucking shut up about what it is they’re studying.

“I read all 337 books of Skyrim so that you don’t have to” and "Understanding Kingdom Hearts (and every other story" are Creative Writing majors obsessed with analyzing every single thing they read. As a Creative Writing major myself, I would advise you to never date a Creative Writing major unless you are a Creative Writing major yourself. I think that’s the only way the relationship can be ethical. Being sent essays from the New Yorker every day would be torture if you didn’t actively enjoy it.

“We made all 78 Breath of Wild recipes in one day” is a Culinary Arts major and, score, they’re gonna wanna cook for you! A lot! Beware though, because it’ll be a hit or miss on whether or not the food will be good, but you must admit, that there is nothing quite as attractive as your lover making you food (let’s just hope the food doesn’t harm you).

“Smash Bros. owes millions of dollars in OSHA violations” is going to law school and that should be a dealbreaker in itself, but I’ll be a bit lenient because they’re always working towards the safety of everybody. This Unraveled Lover will always remind you to put your seatbelt on and also tell you exactly what laws you are violating.

“Bowser’s military hierarchy” is a Political Science major, and Political Science majors scare me. So I’ll just say they’re okay, and leave it at that.

“Which Dark Souls Boss is the best manager?” is a rare non-evil Management major because they actually truly care for the welfare of employees. They just will always talk about it, even when you guys are on a date. I know worker’s rights are important, but it’s not exactly what I want to talk about in between kisses, yknow?

“I fixed Fallout’s music by creating a totally new genre” is a Music major who keeps accidentally making Ska love songs to you. You didn’t know Ska love songs could be a thing. This Unraveled Lover makes it a thing.

“Scientifically Calculating the Game of the Year” is a Math major so you will never have to worry about calculating bills because they can do it for you.

“Calculate your pet’s HP with my 100% legitimate formula” is a Veterinary Medicine major so if you’re an animal lover, this Unraveled is the one for you! Just beware, because this Unraveled Lover will also spend a lot of time observing you from afar to quantify your health points, but both of you will inexplicably find this activity strengthens your relationship.

And last but not least for this sub tier, “When can Mario retire?” is a disillusioned Accounting and Finance major who chose this line of study to get a job and, through the years, realized what a hellscape capitalism is. You may have to deal with a lot of zoning out and staring off into the distance, with this Unraveled Lover, but a lover who hates capitalism sure is a good egg.

That brings us to our next sub tier!

OKAY SUB TIER: Cultists or Conspiracy Theorists (AKA...College Students who are way too into their extracurriculars)

These Unraveled Lovers are alright! They’re just a little bit off the shits.

“Every Sonic game is blasphemous” will get really really worked up about things and probably try to start a cult. For most, that’s a definite dealbreaker, but what makes Sonic Bible an okay lover is that they eventually calm down from the cult outburst and apologize. So this Unraveled Lover will treat you well, you just have to be ready to ground them when they get a little bit bonkers.

“Solving the Zelda Timeline in 15 minutes” is very similar to Sonic Bible, except instead of starting a cult, every once in a while they’ll just sit you down on a chair and explain to you their latest obsession while slowly and intensely stripping. Which, hey, that could make for a fun night, if you’re into that kinda stuff! Definitely okay in my book.

That brings us to our last okay sub tier.

OKAY SUB TIER: Your Unraveled Lover might need to schedule some sessions with a therapist, and that’s Okay

Listen, we all have baggage. We all have problems. These are Unraveled Lovers who want to be the best for you, but at the same time have issues of their own, and you’re going to have to support them when they pop into their local psych clinic to make themselves better people.

“Waluigi” is an Unraveled Lover who is going through some identity issues. They want to be good for you, but they don’t even know who exactly they are. They may feel as if they are tricking you into being in this relationship, that they aren’t who you think they are, and while these fears are irrational, they wholeheartedly believe it and will never feel fully secure in this relationship until they have made peace with themselves. If you love this Unraveled Lover, you’re going to have to stick with them as they learn more about who they are.

“Kirby” is an Unraveled Lover who, for some reason, is obsessed with the constant quest to make things make sense. This need of theirs bleeds into every aspect of their life and can definitely affect your relationship. This Unraveled Lover may sometimes perhaps cite that they don’t deserve you because they can’t seem to figure out a logical and objective answer for why you are with them. This issue of treating everything like a puzzle to solve is an issue they will have to work out and recover from, and they will be receptive to this process of recovery because they cherish the relationship they have with you and understand that not everything has to be solved; some things can just be felt. If you choose to stay with this Unraveled Lover, you must be prepared to support them when they take a mysterious but needed soul searching journey in the woods. You must be prepared to sit with them along the shores of the beach and reassure them that life is about living, not about answers.

And that, dear readers, ends the OKAY TIERs. Now it’s time for the tier you have all been waiting for.

Drumroll, please!

GOOD TIER: Pop open the champagne, bring out the strawberries dipped in chocolate, and let Spotify play Careless Whisper, baby, because we’re in the Ideal Lover zone.

Welcome to the Ideal Lover Zone. Here, we have three Unraveled Lovers who are just extremely good fellas.

“I used the Sims to perfect my apartment” is an Unraveled Lover who will work their hardest to be the best for you, but unlike the BAD TIER perfectionists, it will naturally dawn to them that perfection is unattainable. After this realization, they will find comfort and happiness in your romantic relationship and the other healthy relationships they have with other people. This Unraveled Lover will be sincere with you when the time calls for it, but will also not be afraid to be goofy for it. Above all, this Unraveled Lover will ask for help when they need it. They may often be shy, at first, but they understand their limits and will openly communicate to you when situations call for it. Communication is the bedrock of any good relationship, and this Unraveled Lover will never keep you guessing.

“The Perfect Pokerap” is similar to the Sims, in the sense that they will at first strive for perfection in the honeymoon phase of your relationship but then understand that that isn’t possible and then set more reasonable and realistic goals. What sets this Unraveled Lover out from the crowd though is just how much they cherish you. How devoted they are to you. The love you will feel in this relationship will be transcendental, and, even if you do break up, this Unraveled Lover will never forget you.

And finally. Who---according to me, a mildly delirious 21 year old rando on the internet---is the most ideal Unraveled Lover?

It’s “Find your Kojima name with my simple 11 page form.” Why? Because this Unraveled Lover wants to know you. They want to know everything about you, the parts you like and the parts you don’t like. This is a lover who will not shy away from any aspect of yourself, but instead, embrace you for who you are as a full fledged person.

They’ll also give you a whack ass pet name, and boy, isn’t that romantic?

Well, there you have it. All (as of May, 2020) of the Unraveled Episodes as 23 Unraveled Lovers. What did I learn from this endeavor? That romantic love is complicated, but if you’re into it, it is definitely worth the trials and tribulations.

...As long as I’m not dating the Castlevania Unraveled. Seriously, when we’re making out, I don’t wanna hear about how sexy the Hyena With Gun is. Learn how to read the room, dude.

(Thanks for reading.)

[chao-chachaslide]

What if I was to post my personal headcanons for the Chaos Dimension timeline in this post? It's just the timeframe of when the games take place in my head lol

Also please take this into consideration

Sonic 4 Episodes 1&2 are a bit before SA1. Probably around a year. This is the first time Sonic meets Eggman, Metal and Tails. Even though Episode 3 never saw the light of day assume it happens after the first two. And also the cutscene from SA1 where Sonic saves Amy from Metal. If Sega eventually decides against the Chaos/Classic AU thingy just ignore this paragraph sans the first sentence and dump the Classic timeline before it. Which is annoying actually because I constructed the Classic and Chaos timelines so they run parallel. (Hey that kinda happened)

SA1 is not long after Sonic's 13th birthday. All the Dreamcast games take place within the following year. Realistically Eggman wouldn't be able to do all this stuff in such a short time, but a) it's fiction b) robot army

if the empire can rebuild the death star in a couple years so can Eggman

Advance 1 takes place while Eggman is trying to find Shadow and all of Gerald's shit because honestly not much happens in that game; it's mainly filler.

SA2 is not that long after. I'd say it's still summer if not early autumn so like august~september ish. Eggman probably already owned Gerald's diary so the part that takes the most time is locating Shadow. Conveniently the cutscenes in this game actually tell you the day and time they are happening. The hero story is roughly 3 days long, while dark starts a bit beforehand.

Advance 2 happens a few months later, followed closely by Heroes.

SHtH has a wintery vibe (maybe it's the darkness of the stages idk) December~January.

Closely followed by Battle and Advance 3.

Metarex arc doesn't happen exactly like the anime because the canons are slightly different (eg Chris isn't canon lmao). All we know is Cosmo existed and died in the same way probably. I haven't watched the anime but I'll give the events a few months to play out. Like the whole thing with Molly might not have happened. All I know is Seedrian mass genocide, Cosmo dies, Sonic and Shads go super and blow shit up, the end.

Rush is ~14th bday ish maybe. Idk.

Riders is just afterwards.

06 is summery (mainly Soleanna) so July.

Rivals happens instead of 06 so also July.

SatSR is just after.

Rush Adventure is summery so August. Idk how meteorology works in the Sol Dimension so we'll assume it's the same.

Rivals 2 is in September because I need it to go somewhere.

Riders 2 can happen just after that. It would make sense actually; look at the sky in the opening/ending cutscenes.

Unleashed is in late October-early November because of course it is.

I’m actually gonna give Eggman some time to recover from Unleashed and prep for Colours lol.

SatBK happens probably like a week after Unleashed. So November. Like that grey sky not quite subzero but can be if desired. Will randomly just be sunny some days. Btec December.

Free Riders can be early spring. March or April.

The ending from colours looks late spring/early summer so we'll say May

Gens takes place on June 23rd aka Chaos!Sonic's 15th/Classic's 16th.

Give Eggman a bit of time to get out of White Space but Lost World still has summer vibes and I can't space it out too much so let’s go July. Classic Robotnik also needs to get back to his Universe.

TSR can be August.

Episode Shadow takes place over a few months. Jackal Squad was probably wrecked somewhere around the time Lost World was happening and leads up directly to Lvl 1 of Forces. Let’s say September-October for Lost Valley.

Then there’s a 6 month timeskip lol so now we're in March-April.

NOTE: If Sonic has another bday in canon and his age doesn’t change push everything back by one year. Or if he doesn't but we end up with too much content.

If you want to count IDW then it probably has taken place over at least 2 months by now.

[gumnut-logic]

Stowaway

Title: Stowaway

Author: Gumnut

2 Jun 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: How could he possibly screw up even more than he already had?

Word count: 2921

Spoilers & warnings: SPOILERS FOR SEASON 3 EPISODE 12

Timeline: Episode Tag

Author’s note: I really enjoyed the episode, so I just had to write something. This is mostly brothers being brothers. I hope you enjoy it :D

Disclaimer: Mine? You’ve got to be kidding. Money? Don’t have any, don’t bother.

-o-o-o-

“Gordon did what?!”

“Borrowed Thunderbird One to look for Sherbet.”

“The dog?”

“Yes, that’s the one.”

Virgil stared at the hologram of his orbiting brother. “You’re kidding me.”

“No, scout’s honour.”

“Does Scott know?”

“Yes.”

“Will I have a Tracy Island to land on?”

John shrugged. “Maybe. Scott is still on his way in on Thunderbird Three. Gordon is on approach.” John’s eyes shifted to the left, obviously scanning readouts. “Assuming he manages to dock TB1 without landing her in the comms room, the Island should be safe.” A smirk. “I tend to think Gordon himself is likely a right-off.” John’s eyes shifted to something closer to serious. “You may be needed, big bro.”

Virgil sighed. “FAB.” Great. Just what he needed after spending all night on the other side of the planet disassembling a terrorist attempt. The GDF had called both him and Kayo in on this one. Kayo for her subtlety and Virgil for the opposite. Turned out that he had been less needed for his heavy lifting and more for his engineering skills. He had ended up butt up in the components of an automated harvester that had been reprogrammed to harvest more sapient crops than wheat. Yet again, he was left stunned that there were actually people on this planet who would do something like that.

Kayo had assisted the GDF in rounding up the culprits, Virgil had killed the harvester, and he’d spent the rest of the time hauling the massive chunk of machinery back out of the city to the nearest GDF base where it could be examined.

In short, he was tired, annoyed and disappointed in people.

A Scott vs. Gordon showdown was more of a headache than he needed.

Another sigh. Whatever.

Tracy Island was a welcome sight in any case and as he kicked in VTOL on approach to land, he felt some of the stress fall off his shoulders. Kayo had already beaten him home. Thunderbird Two was the slowest of all their craft, something his brothers never let him forget, but he loved her with his very soul and would take those extra few minutes over the fastest of their ships any day.

After all, who did half of them have to wait for anyway?

The solid, but soft thump as her wheels hit the tarmac and she trundled through her palm tree guard of honour, the cliff face bowing to her entry. A spin on her axis, he killed her engines and let her whine down to silence.

His shoulders dropped, he closed his eyes and took the moment to just relax.

A breath.

Another.

Pause.

Eyes open, he shoved his chair back.

Okay, next.

-o-o-o-

“You did what?!”

“C’mon, Virg, help me out here.” Gordon had the biggest puppy dog pleading look on his face Virgil had ever seen, and he’d seen doozies.

“Tell me why?”

“Because you are my brother and you love me?” Okay, was that doubt in that eye crinkle?

“I’m considering disowning you.” Virgil glared at Gordon. “You are trying to tell me that you boarded TB1 smelling like that?! And now you expect me to help you clean out her cockpit?”

“Yeeeah.”

“Before Scott gets back which is likely within the next half hour?”

“You got it in one.”

Virgil grit his teeth, but rolled his eyes. “And you wonder why I rarely let you fly my ‘bird.”

“Hey, it was an accident.”

“It always is. You said the same thing about the pink paint.”

“That was not my fault.”

“You were dating the girl, Gordon.”

“Yeeah...uh, can we get on with this? Clock’s ticking.” Gordon knew how to screw up his face to plead.

“You’ll owe me big time.”

“Anything you need, big bro.”

“Anything?”

“Just help me fix this, please.”

Another sigh. Well, it was better than a Scottonuclear detonation when the man found out. “Give me the damn cleaner.”

-o-o-o-

Gordon was right. Thunderbird One’s cockpit reeked.

Oh, he was using this for blackmail material until the end of time.

Virgil had thrown on another uniform. Working with the rocket plane always required a harness or two considering her height and there was no way Virgil was going to rely on that stupid personnel bridge Scott used. The thing was an occupational health and safety nightmare and Virgil valued his life. One of these days he’d drum that far enough into Scott’s brain to get the thing a railing.

So, it was grapple packs and harnesses and a little sonic disruption cleaning at a ninety-degree angle to the horizon.

Another thing to love about his ‘bird. She made sense. TB1 was all speed and no comfort.

Um.

Okay, so his ‘bird was all grunt and no comfort, but at least she rested parallel to the ground. None of this defying gravity crap.

“You okay up there, Virg.”

“Just fine and dandy, Gordon. You are welcome to join me.”

“Uh.”

“That’s what I thought. In debt forever, bro, forever.”

Was that a whimper he heard? Serve him damn right.

Securing himself, Virgil clambered up to Scott’s pilot seat and perched himself there. Grabbing the pack, he’d dragged up there with him, he pulled out the sonic cleaner and clamped it to the cockpit ‘ceiling’. A flick of a switch, and the subharmonics started yanking molecules from the air.

Virgil was not a fan of the gadget. It was efficient and cleaned far better than any rag with any chemical could, but it set him on edge. Something about those unheard harmonics got into his bones and grated them together. He shuddered.

Of course, nothing ensured clean more than a good wipe over, so next came the cleaner and that cleaning rag.

Another whimper.

���Gordon?”

“Yeah?”

“You okay?”

“Apart from owing you my soul, yeah. Why?”

A frown. He could have sworn...

Another whimper.

Followed by a whine.

Oh, you have got to be kidding me.

Swinging around and out of the pilot’s chair, Virgil lowered himself to the cargo bay access and clambered in. The lights came on automatically and he peered around.

This time the whimper was a pathetic bark and Virgil was able to narrow in on Sherbet at the very bottom of the bay, snagged in the harness recess.

“Uh, Gordon?”

“Yeah?”

“You know that trouble you’re in?”

“Yeah, way to rub it in, bro.”

“Well, it just doubled.” A pendulum push, Virgil snagged the internal ladder, and hurriedly climbed down to the bottom. “You have a stowaway.”

“I’ve got what?!”

“Sherbet is in TB1’s cargo hold.”

“Shit!”

“My thoughts exactly.”

He reached the bottom and carefully made his way over to the distressed dog. “Hey, Bertie, whatcha doing down here?” More whimpering and a distraught bark. “Did Gordon kidnap you?”

“I did no such thing!”

Sherbet jumped at Gordon’s voice and snarled.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.” Virgil softened his tone. “Let’s get you out of there, hey?” He crouched down and offered the pug his hand. Sherbet sniffed it. “Remember me?”

Apparently, he did as Virgil’s glove was suddenly slobbered on.

Taking that as permission, the engineer began untangling the little dog. How he had managed to climb into Thunderbird One, Virgil had no idea. No doubt Gordon would be the one to answer that. If he survived Lady Penelope.

And Scott.

There may be bloodshed.

Sherbet came loose and Virgil quickly examined him for injury. There was none apparent, other than the terror in the little dog’s shaking body. A scan in the infirmary would be a good idea. Considering he had been unsecured during flight; he was lucky to be alive.

“Gordon, get your ass up here and finish the cleaning. I have a patient to attend to.”

“Is he alright?”

“You better hope so.”

-o-o-o-

Sherbet was alright. A collective sigh of relief settled across the island. A few bruises was all the scan showed. Lucky dog.

Virgil gently lifted him off the bed and held him close. He was still shaking. “It’s okay, Bertie, I promise. Now let’s get your mom on the line.”

He had expected Lady Penelope to contact them as soon as possible, but he hadn’t wanted to contact her until he had ascertained Sherbet’s condition. Now was the time to face up to the inevitable.

“Virgil?”

And there was the bell, no saving included.

“Yes, John?”

“Gordon tells me you found Sherbet.”

“Yes, and he is fine.” As if to emphasise the point, Sherbet barked at John’s hologram.

“I see.” A flicker of expression. “Lady Penelope is quite distressed. Would you like to speak to her? I think it would be better if you take this one rather than Gordon.”

“Sure.”

John smiled just a little, a vague reassurance, before the hologram flickered to, yes, a distressed Lady Penelope. “Virgil! You found him!”

“Yes, he’s right here.” He held the little dog up to make sure the holoprojector would catch him.

“Oh, thank goodness!” And to his horror, Penny wavered where she was standing. A hand shot out and steadied her, Parker appearing beside her with a stormy expression.

“He’s okay, Penny. I promise. A bit of a fright and a couple of bruises, is all. He’s perfectly fine.”

“Bruises!”

Shit.

Sherbet barked at her hologram.

Penelope’s posture straightened and a more familiar fire lit in her eyes. “Please look after him, Virgil. We will be there shortly. Parker, bring the car around.”

The hologram cut off.

Oh, hell.

-o-o-o-

“He did what?!”

Scott had had a stressful day. Space rescues were a thing, but not his favourite thing. He much preferred his ‘bird and a wide, blue sky. The silence in space was just...well, silent.

Thunderbird Three was on approach, Alan levelling her off and bringing her around for landing. All three of them were tired at least emotionally after the day’s events, and Scott, physically. Too many near misses for his comfort.

“Now, Scott. You know he is rated to fly Thunderbird One and this was an opportunity to increase his flight time in your ‘bird.” John’s expression was firm.

“I’ll increase his flight time...”

“There was no harm done. Well, very little.”

Alan glanced at him before reversing Three’s engines and starting their descent into her silo.

“Little? What little?”

“Well...”

“John!”

“Yes?”

Scott drew in a breath and his lips thinned. “Do you remember what happened last time you tried to cover for Gordon?”

“I remember perfectly and I have acted accordingly. You no longer have access to my rooms, Scott, so don’t bother trying to threaten me. I’m only the messenger, after all.”

“John.”

“Yes, Scott?”

“Oh, ho, ho, you’re playing with fire, bro.” Alan’s grin was infuriating. “Big bro looks to go all explodey.”

Scott glared at him. “Alan, mind your own.” But his little brother just grinned, immune to his glare.

“Everything has been resolved, Scott. Your cockpit is clean and Lady Penelope is on her way to the island to collect Sherbet.”

Words could stop time. “What? What do you mean my cockpit is clean? What the hell happened?”

John’s hologram smirked. “A polecat. But I’ll let Gordon explain that little incident.”

“A polecat!”

But anything more John had to say was dulled out by the roar of rocket engines killing speed as Alan lowered his bird into her silo. And John cut off the signal, the red-headed chicken.

-o-o-o-

It was a good twenty minutes of post-flight checks, a shower and clothing later before Scott made it to the comms room. Striding from the elevator he found Virgil on the lounge, an arm full of Sherbet. His brother was speaking in that familiar ‘rescuee’ tone of his, a soft rumbling, gentle reassurance. Sherbet was gazing up at him with decisive worship.

No doubt the pieces of bacon in Virgil’s other hand were also helping the situation.

“Virg? How was the harvester-?”

Both his brother and Sherbet jumped. The pug turned to glare and growl at Scott.

Virgil frowned at his brother, but looked back down, offering Sherbet a tidbit and the pug settled once again. “It’s resolved. Report later.”

“Uh, sorry.”

“He’s had quite a fright. Couldn’t have been good to be stuck in One’s cargo hold unsecured.”

Scott lowered his voice as he approached and sat opposite his brother. “Any idea how he got there?”

“Gordon must have lowered One’s stairs. It’s the only way I can think he could have possibly boarded.”

“Gordon hasn’t told you?”

“Gordon is...upset.”

“So he should be.”

“Take a breath on this one, Scott. He is well aware he has screwed up.” Brown eyes grabbed his. “Code Penny.”

“Good point.”

“She’s not happy and Gordon is beside himself.”

“So where is he?”

“I told him to go get cleaned up. Penelope will be here any minute.” Sherbet wriggled, yipped and licked Virgil’s fingers. More bacon was provided.

“Sherbet is okay?”

“A few bruises. Very lucky dog.” A pause. “Not so lucky aquanaut.”

As if to emphasise the point FAB One appeared out of the blue and with hiss of VTOL landed beside the pool.

“Well, that’s a new one.” Scott stood up and eyed the pink Rolls Royce.

Virgil rose to his feet beside him, Sherbet licking his chin. “As I said, not happy.”

“Time to face the music.” Scott let out a breath.

-o-o-o-

The music wasn’t as loud as expected. Virgil carried Sherbet downstairs to the pool, Scott beside him. To say Penelope hurried over would be an understatement, her heels clicking madly on the concrete. But he had to admit to himself that handing over ‘Bertie’ to his mom was pretty damn equal to any good rescue result.

“Oh, Bertie, Bertie, Bertie. I am so happy you are safe.” The little pug was plastering Penny with kisses. “Did you ride on the big Thunderbird? Did you?” Bertie barked and wriggled in her arms. “Well, we won’t let that happen again, will we? No.” More hugs and snuggles.

Virgil arched an eyebrow.

“Where is Mr Gordon?” Parker approached, cracking his knuckles.

“Ah...” Virgil wasn’t sure he was willing to answer that one with that look in Parker’s eyes. “Let’s just say he’s safe, Parker, and leave it at that.”

“Mr Virgil, sir, he caused the Lady such distress. I would like to make sure he understands h’exactly how much.” Okay, protective Parker was fully engaged.

Virgil didn’t like that much at all. Which meant Scott likely liked it a whole heap less.

The engineer took a single step forward, conveniently between the chauffeur and his eldest brother. “Now, Parker, it was an accident. Gordon is very sorry.”

“‘E better be.”

“I am.” And Gordon was standing on the edge of the patio, his whole posture defeated and morose. “I am so sorry, Lady Penelope. Can you ever forgive me?”

Penelope looked up, her lips thin and an eyebrow arched. She didn’t say a thing.

Gordon took that as a negative and somehow, his posture slouched even more. “I understand.” He turned to walk back inside.

“Gordon?” Virgil suddenly found his arms once again full of wriggling pug as Penelope handed the dog back to him and walked towards his little brother. Parker glared.

The aquanaut stopped in his tracks, turning as Penelope approached. She reached out and gently caught his arm. “I wanted to thank you for what you did today.”

“Huh?”

His brother, ever the orator.

Penelope smiled just a little. “Well, you did fly halfway around the world to help Parker rescue Bertie. I know Bertie wasn’t really in trouble, but I do appreciate the thought and the effort, not to mention the unpleasantness with the polecat.”

Gordon grabbed the back of his neck in obvious embarrassment and stared at his feet, but he was standing straighter.

Penelope reached over and touching his chin, raised his head a little to look at her. “Thank you, Gordon.”

Virgil swallowed a grin as his brother flushed scarlet and smiled just a little. “Uh, you’re welcome.”

“Good.” Penelope was smiling at him.

A moment...and the moment passed. “Very well, must go, things to do.” And Penelope was returning to Virgil, lifting Sherbet into her arms and heading to FAB One.

Blink.

“Come, Parker, appointments to attend.”

The chauffeur eyed Virgil a moment making it clear this incident was far from forgotten in his book, shot a caustic look at Gordon and turned back to the car. “Yes, m’Lady.”

Open and shut a couple of car doors, a blast of hot air as she launched, and they were gone.

All three brothers stood there a little stunned.

“Well, that went easier than expected.” Scott, the ever not-fazed.

“Oh, thank god.” Gordon wilted where he was standing. “I thought Parker was going to kill me.”

Virgil smirked. “He still might. I’d keep away from him for a while if I were you.”

“You might be right.” Gordon sighed again. “Oh, I am so glad that is over.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say it was over, little brother.” And Scott was stalking towards the aquanaut. “I believe you and I have some things to discuss.”

“Oh, we do?” Gordon squirmed.

Virgil could almost count it down in his head.

Five.

“Yes, we do.”

Four.

“Uh, are you sure, ‘cause I honestly thought this was all resolved.” Gordon took a step back.

Three.

Scott was definitely taking pleasure out of this. “Oh, no, Gordon. Definitely not resolved.”

Two.

Another step back, ready for launch. “Uh, Scott. You love me, don’t you?”

One.

“Polecat, Gordon. In my cockpit.”

“Ah, yeah?” Gordon ran.

Thunderbird Four was gone.

-o-o-o-

FIN.