Daisy already felt like she was losing her mind here.
It had been days since she’d awoken in this mysterious compound, with no idea where she was or how she’d arrived.
There was nowhere to get answers, and absolutely nothing to do to pass the time.
“Oh, Penelope! Bless you. I worried sick when they let me outside and you weren’t here too.”
Penelope perched beside Daisy. “I think they’re trying to play mind games on us.”
“But who is? Who are these people?!”
“I don’t think we want to stay around long enough to find out.”
“Still no sign of Sul Sul then?” Daisy asked, afraid of the answer.
“No. Just us, plus that weird guy in the cell.”
“Maybe he got away then…”
At that moment, they heard the sound of jet-skis pulling ashore.
Daisy had only heard this once before - when Penelope first arrived.
When Sul Sul finally regained consciousness, he was met with a thumping headache and sore wrists.
He slowly lifted himself up and began to survey his surroundings.
Things didn’t look good.
“Foxtrot! You’re awake. I’d say I was ecstatic to see you again, but I hoped you wouldn’t end up here too.”
Sul Sul peered through the bars & saw a rugged man staring back at him.
“What did you just call me?”
“Huh? Foxtrot - it’s me, Echo.”
Sul Sul stared blankly back at him.
“Look. I’m sorry. Long story short, I have no memory of you,” said Sul Sul. “And I don’t mean to be blunt, but if you know why we’re here…”
“I… Foxtrot…? Well, okay… it was the swathes of disappearances, wasn’t it? The fishermen. We came to investigate, & found this place…”
Sul Sul thought for a moment.
“Then you got captured, & I lost my mind. Well, whatever this is, a corrupt SIA Agent & a Landgraab are involved.”
Echo considered this.
“The Landgraabs… that checks out. And not the SIA Agent here, I hope. Agent Fuzz…”
“Penelope! She’s here?!”
The pair’s reunion was then brought to a sudden halt with the arrival of one of their captors, Agent Fizz.
“Okay boys, it’s showtime. You’ve got an audience with the Queen.”
Nancy sighed as she looked at the forlorn faces dotted around the room, her gaze eventually settling upon Sul Sul.
“Oh, sweet boy. I actually quite enjoyed you, you know. What must happen now does not please me in the slightest. I even wore black, and I never wear black.”
“What is this place, Nancy? What is going on here?”
Nancy paused.
“Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tell you. You’ll all be dead within the hour, anyway.”
She turned to Agent Fizz for confirmation.
“Yes,” he said. “The self destruct process has initiated. 27 minutes to go.”
“Then I shall enlighten you,” said Nancy. “You and your little friends are on Landgraab Island. The home of our top secret lab.”
“For years we have designed and built the most evil of things here. Well, that was until you irksome… but devilishly handsome… soldiers came meddling.”
“Meddling?” cursed Echo. “We came only to investigate the dozens of fisherman missing in the area.”
“Ah yes… those pesky boats. They kept coming too close to our island. An inconvenience I regret led to our eventual discovery. Still, they made good fodder for our experiments.”
“Wait a minute… all the boats that went missing… it was because of you!” shrieked Daisy. “My husband & son… just experiment fodder to you!”
“Oh calm down, lady. That was like three years ago. Do you know how many more we’ve killed since then?”
“CALM DOWN?! YOU… COW-PLANT!”
“Nancy, how could you be so… EVIL?” accused Sul Sul, pained by Daisy’s sadness.
“Evil?! Ha! That is the biggest compliment one could give me. But enough of this.” Her tone hardened. “The moping bores me! I want one last bit of fun before this place goes up in flames.”
Nancy summoned Echo to the front of the room, & like a child excited by a new toy, she unearthed a device of some kind & pointed it straight at him.
“Our night in the cell was fun, but Sul Sul did a much better job in the dumpster.”
Before anyone could stop her, she fired.
By the time Sul Sul had sprung to his feet, it was already too late for his former comrade.
“Dag Dag, Sul Sul. You’ve about 20 mins before you’re all a pile of ashes.”
As the door locked shut behind Nancy, panic erupted.
“What in the Plum are we to do now?!” yelped Penelope.
“So, is everything set?” Nancy asked Agent Fizz.
“Yes. The rocket is ready to blast us out of here before this whole place goes up in flames in 5 minutes.”
“Good,” remarked Nancy, “I still don’t get the need for these stupid costumes though.”
“Not costumes, Nancy.”
“So, all that’s left to do now is for me to board the ship. Right?”
“Yes. It’ll autopilot us all the way to the correct destination.”
Nancy smiled. “Perfect. In that case, I just have one last loose end to tie up.”
Agent Fizz’s smile vanished in an instance.
The door to the control room suddenly burst open.
Penelope, Daisy & Sul Sul came running through, headed straight for the rocket.
“What the Plum?!” yelped Nancy.
“I know a thing or two about picking a lock, you stupid cow-plant,” said Daisy, giving Nancy the royal wave.
Sul Sul, Penelope & Daisy stood ready to board the rocket ship. A final 60 second countdown had started to play on the tannoy system around them.
“Let’s get out of here,” urged Penelope.
“You’re going nowhere without me!” Nancy screamed, having run down the stairs behind them.
“Nancy, you can’t seriously think we’re going to let you come with us.”
“You must!” Nancy gasped.
A sense of panic began to spread across her face.
“After everything you’ve done to us, and to the people we love… No, I’m sorry, Nancy. Its all over for you now.”
*SELF DESTRUCT COMMENCES IN 30 SECONDS*
Sul Sul began turning back towards the rocket ship, following Daisy and Penelope’s lead. It was all over now.
“YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME HERE SUL SUL….” Nancy begged.
“BECAUSE… YOU SEE… I’M… I’M PREGNANT WITH YOUR BABY!”
Moments before the Landgraab’s secret island facility went up in flames, Sul Sul & the gang blasted to safety.
The mystery of Sul Sul’s appearance on the shores of Tartosa had been resolved, and yet his true identity would perhaps remain unknown forever.
