Tim and Johnny watched as the army engineers lowered their modified truck onto a set of steel railway tracks.

‘Don’t you love Lego?’ Tim said. ‘So many different assembly options. Driving on railway lines is going to be way more comfortable than bouncing over potholed roads.’

Johnny showed his friend the Google map location for the island previously named Ikki Ikki Bunga. ‘We’ll take the train network to Port Janus, then we’ll hitch a ride on an MI6 submarine out to the hideaway resort.’ He closed the app. ‘I never expected Dr Disastrous to return to his old base so quickly. He’s smart, but not smart enough to outfox me.’

‘So what bad news was your big bro calling with earlier?’ Tim asked.

Johnny leaned in close so that others couldn’t hear. ‘Do you want the really bad news or the worse news?’

‘This doesn’t sound good.’

‘Ian has just become Dr Disastrous’s newest recruit.’

‘He’s what?’ Tim coughed.

‘He’s gone full dark side,’ Johnny said, looking pained. ‘But that’s not the worst of it – he’s blackmailing me to come and join him.’

Tim was speechless. Johnny waggled Ian’s phone.

‘My MI6 phone is the smoking gun he’s been looking for all this time. It’s proof that I’m not who my parents think I am. The thought of my mother calling MI6 and blowing the lid on me being a faker scares me more than any killer Yuri-nator does.’

‘What are you going to do?’ Tim asked. ‘You’re not going to bail on us?’

‘Of course not.’

‘Have you told Agent Pounds?’

Johnny glared at his friend. ‘I’m not the only spy here that Dr Disastrous has tried to recruit.’

‘What?? Agent Pounds would never join him? Would she?’ Tim exclaimed.

‘She did join him briefly on my first visit to Ikki Ikki Bunga Island.’

‘Pounds did what?’ Tim yelped.

Johnny placed his fingers over his lips. ‘Shhhh. That’s a story for another day. Dr Disastrous is an expert at manipulating people close to me. I think it’s best that you and I keep as much information as possible to ourselves until this mission is completed successfully.’

‘Agreed,’ Tim said, giving his friend another knuckle bump. ‘Oh, and Johnny, I promise you I’m not leaking any information to the bad guys.’

‘That’s a relief. I hate to think what would happen to me if I was standing next to a leaky Yuri-nator!’

Commander Lazenby walked over with an iPad in his hands. ‘Vehicle re-purposing mission accomplished,’ he said briskly. ‘The hybrid train-truck awaits your boarding, and the MI6 submarine is being redirected to Port Janus as we speak.’

‘Brilliant,’ Johnny smiled. ‘I’ll put in a good word for you with Her Majesty.’

The commander grinned from ear to ear. ‘Is there anything else I can help you with, Agent Danger?’

Johnny extended his hand. ‘Can I borrow your phone? Mine has security issues.’

‘No problem,’ Commander Lazenby said, handing over his satellite phone.

‘Thanks.’ Johnny waved at Penelope. ‘It’s time to get the show on the road again,’ he said smoothly. ‘The hunt for Dr Disastrous and Yuri Boom-Boom is about to kick off.’

Penelope looked at her watch. ‘About time. I’m pleased to see that you finished playing with your Lego set.’

‘I’ll ignore that remark,’ Johnny quipped.

Penelope gathered up her backpack and headed over to Johnny, while his father unfolded himself from an upside-down yoga position.

‘Well, at least your dad isn’t giving us any headaches right now,’ Tim commented.

‘Yeah,’ Johnny agreed. ‘As every minute passes by, he’s looking less and less like a problematic killing machine.’

Johnny’s dad sauntered over and offered to carry some of Johnny’s equipment for him. ‘Let me lend a hand, Starchild,’ he said.

‘Sure.’ Johnny offered up four drink bottles, a map and his homemade metal detector.

His dad pressed the water bottles and map close to his chest then held out his right forearm for the metal detector.

KERRRRRRACCCKKK!

As soon as the metal detector touched his arm, the air filled with shrill static noises.

Mr Dangerfield smiled innocently at Johnny. ‘Man, that thing sure makes a racket, doesn’t it? You should get a silencer for it.’

‘Yeah, m-maybe I should,’ Johnny said, stunned.

Tim looked at Mr Dangerfield in shock and Johnny swooned. Not good, he mouthed.

While the group made their way to the train-truck, a long golden arm crawled across the dirt and searched for a shoulder casing to connect to. A few seconds later, two golden eyes slowly flickered back into life as a head unit lying wedged in a mound of dirt slowly reactivated its artificial brain.