Kidnapped!

**Kidnapped!** is the twenty-second *TUGS: The Bigg City Chronicles* story.

## Plot

Ten Cents, Sunshine, Moonlight, O.J. and Hercules are exchanging tales of their past with Moonlight recalling how three tugs named Nightshade, Oleander and Foxglove were fired from the Salvage Fleet. Then Top Hat comes along and recalls his old friends Tillie and Jebediah who worked on the railroad he came from. Sunshine then recalls her old friend, Corona, who was meant to be bought by Captain Star instead of her. It was Corona who had suggested that Sunshine should be chartered to Captain Star whilst she underwent maintenance in the hopes that he will help to find a new owner for Sunshine. Of course, Sunshine was bought instead and she realises that she forgot about Corona. Hercules promises to track Corona down and ask Captain Star to buy her. With that, the six tugs get back to work.

Because Warrior is helping to shift some timber, Sunshine was in charge of Lord Stinker. Sunshine tells him about Corona unaware that three larger tugs (Nightshade, Oleander and Foxglove) have overheard her and are plotting to kidnap her.

Meanwhile, Ten Cents helps Big Mac at the waterworks. The latter recalls how two Scottish twins named Donald and Douglas tricked into thinking they were the same engine but Big Mac was able to outsmart them in the end. Ten Cents then tells Big Mac about Corona and Big Mac promises to let Captain Star now.

Sunshine is heading back to the Star Dock and is still thinking about Corona. Suddenly, Oleander and Foxglove bump her from behind and she is cut off by Nightshade. The three nasty tugs gave Sunshine strict instructions on where to go. Sunshine is taken to a dark and dingy shed in a disused part of the harbour. There, Sunshine is tied her up and the kidnappers reveal that they will be giving her the Final Firing and their boss will take Sunshine's place in the Star Fleet. As the three tugs leave, Sunshine is scared to tears.

Ten Cents and Moonlight grew worried when Sunshine doesn't return so O.J. organises a search party. The Z-Stacks overheard. Although Zak and Zeus are unsympathetic, Zorran takes the issue seriously and agrees that he and the other Z-Stacks will help. Captain Star asks Captain Salvage to send the Salvage Fleet to help and accompanies O.J. and Zorran. Grampus and Zilly go to ask Peeper Pipes and Davy Jones to assist, unaware they aren't the only ones they'd find to help.

Zorran, O.J. and Captain Star check at the waste dump but there's no sign of Sunshine. Lord Stinker and Jack promises to keep a lookout.

Ten Cents and Moonlight look for Sunshine in a disused part of the harbour. Ten Cents recognises this as the dock where O.J.'s old fleet used to be based. Then, he and Moonlight hear whimpering from a nearby shed.

Zip, Zug, Ember, Scorpio, Pisces and Misty met up at the same disused quayside where Big Mac and Sunshine were tricked into coming to by Zip and Zug. The six tugs looked inside an old warehouse to see Nightshade, Oleander and Foxglove with a smaller tug. Ember, Pisces, Scorpio and Misty are shocked as they recognise the smaller tug. When they overhear the plot to kill Sunshine, Ember goes to fetch Peeper Pipes and Davy Jones whilst Pisces explains her plan to Zip, Zug, Scorpio and Misty.

Sunshine is terrified at the thought of being killed. As she hears puffing coming towards her, she prepares herself for the end but is relieved to see Ten Cents and Moonlight. After Sunshine explains what happened, Moonlight quickly maneuveres his sister next to a jagged piece of metal.

Meanwhile, Nightshade, Oleander, Foxglove and their boss are about to head back to Sunshine when Zug nervously enters the warehouse and says there's an emergency at the waterworks. The four evil tugs follow Zug of the warehouse but are ambushed by Pisces, Scorpio, Misty and Zip who pin them against the quayside. Ember comes back with Peeper Pipes and Davy Jones as well as two new members of the Coast Guard team named Cappy and Snowy.

Back at the Star Dock, the rest of the Stars, the rest of the Salvage Team, most of the Z-Stacks (Zak and Zeus being the exceptions) and Captain Star are worrying about Sunshine. Then Ten Cents and Moonlight return with a shaken-up Sunshine and explain what happened. Then Zip, Zug, Pisces, Scorpio, Misty, Ember and the Coast Guard then come up with Nightshade, Oleander, Foxglove and the smaller tug who Sunshine, Moonlight, Stormy and Hail are horrified to discover is Corona. As it turned out, Corona were angry when Sunshine was chosen over her, pointing how she had suffered with her abusive owner. Sunshine apologises for getting caught up in the moment but then, through angry tears, yells at Corona for trying to kill her. The Star Tugs, the Salvage Fleet and most of the Z-Stacks are also angry and upset with Corona, although Zak and Zeus are secretly impressed. Captain Star apologises to Corona for forgetting about her when he bought Sunshine but agrees with his tugs and makes it clear that Corona is not welcome in his fleet. As Corona and the three Poison Plant tugs are taken away, she declares her friendship with Sunshine over. After they've left, Sunshine bursts in tears over everything that's happened. Captain Star sends Sunshine to see Captain Lucky for counseling. Ten Cents leads her there and Moonlight comes too to give his younger sister comfort. Sunshine then tells Ten Cents he is her true best friend and thanks him for not giving up on her after the Duchess incident.

It took Sunshine a while to recover from her traumatic experience but the Stars, the Salvage Fleet, Captain Star and Captain Lucky help her through. Most of the Z-Stacks (again, with the exception of Zak and Zeus) show concern for her as do Sea Rogue, O'Malley and Billy Shoepack. Thankfully, there are no more kidnapping incidents for a few years, but the next kidnapping to occur would be even more horrific.

## Differences between the Buzz Books story and this version

* In the original story, Zip and Zug kidnap Sunshine as a harmless prank. In the adaptation, it's Corona, Nightshade, Oleander and Foxglove who kidnap so they can kill her and Corona take over Sunshine's spot in the Star Fleet. Zip and Zug help to capture the four evil tugs.
* In the original story, Zorran is the only Z-Stack who assists with the search party. Here, all the Z-Stacks help. Also Zak and Zeus take Zorran's line from the original story whilst Zorran takes Sunshine's disappearance more seriously. The Salvage Fleet also help as well as does Captain Star himself.
* In the original story, Sunshine is able to escape by himself and treats the whole thing like an adventure. In this version, Sunshine is too scared at the thought of dying so has to rely Ten Cents and Moonlight to rescue her and she is heartbroken and betrayed at learning that Corona was the one who led the plot to kill her.
* In the original story, Zip and Zug are found by Zorran and punished with dredger duty whilst the Star Tugs never find out. Here, everyone knows that Corona, Nightshade, Oleander and Foxglove were responsible and the four evil tugs are put in dry dock as punishment.

## Characters

* Captain Star
* Ten Cents
* Big Mac
* O.J.
* Top Hat
* Warrior
* Hercules
* Sunshine
* Grampus
* Zorran
* Zebedee (does not speak)
* Zak
* Zug
* Zip
* Zeus
* Zob (does not speak)
* Zilly (does not speak)
* Pisces
* Misty
* Scorpio
* Ember
* Stormy
* Hail
* Moonlight
* Peeper Pipes
* Davy Jones
* Cappy
* Snowy
* Lord Stinker
* Jack the Grappler
* Donald and Douglas
* Tillie
* Jebediah
* Sea Rogue (mentioned)
* O'Malley (mentioned)
* Billy Shoepack (mentioned)
* Captain Zero (mentioned)
* Captain Lucky (mentioned)
* Captain Salvage (mentioned)

## Voices

### Official

* Simon Nash as Ten Cents
* Sean Barrett as Big Mac and Hercules
* Ian James Corlett as O.J. and Lord Stinker
* John Baddeley as Top Hat
* Chris Tulloch as Zorran
* Shaun Prendergrast as Zak
* Nigel Anthony as Zug
* Lee Cornes as Grampus
* Kath Souice as Tillie
* Frank Welker as Jebediah
* Rob Rackstraw as Donald
* Joe Mills as Douglas
* Paul Dobson as Jack the Grappler

### Fan chosen

* Peter Dickson as Captain Star
* Jeff Bennett as Warrior
* Michelle Creber as Sunshine
* Tara Strong as Zip and Misty
* Richard White as Zeus
* Catherine Cavadini as Pisces
* E.G. Daily as Scorpio
* Ali Milner as Ember
* Nicole Sullivan as Stormy
* Katie Leigh as Hail
* Shaun Prendergrast as Moonlight
* Jennifer Hale as Corona
* Rob Paulsen as Nightshade and Oleander
* Roger L. Jackson as Foxglove
* Paul Dobson as Cappy
* Anya Taylor-Joy as Snowy

## Trivia

* This marks the first appearances of Corona, Nightshade, Oleander, Foxglove, Cappy, Snowy, Tillie and Jebediah.