During a trip to Bermuda, Hercules mysteriously vanished on his return trip. Repeated search attempts by
A Map of the Bermuda Triangle for reference.
aeroplanes were unsuccessful, and by the next week, he was declared missing. The tugs are very worried, since he was their ocean going tug. Ten Cents and Sunshine remembered when Hercules helped them during the events of Ghosts."I think I might have an idea what happend to Hercules."said Emily "I heard this when I was working in New York; if you trace a line from Florida to Bermuda to Puerto Rico and back to Florida, you get the Bermuda Triangle. The triangle is infamous for ships and aeroplanes vanishing mysteriously in the area.Some stories say that there's a giant magnet there or something, but most report that sea monsters or extraterrestrials are the cause of the disappearances;but I don't know much about that."
Now worried that Hercules was the next victim of the disappearances, Ten Cents and Sunshine decided to mount a rescue mission. They got a bit of help from Rackham, who gave them several marker buoys plus a large barge. Billy Shoepack agreed to help with his dynamite.
Late at night, while the other tugs were asleep, Ten Cents and Sunshine snuck out into the estuary, and were almost caught by Lillie Lightship. Lillie admitted that she'd been fretting about Hercules, too, but told them not to worry. However, when they told her about the Bermuda Triangle, Lillie, (reluctantly) let them go off.
The next morning, Emily noticed that Ten Cents and Sunshine aren't in the docks. She inspected everywhere, and ended up checking out Lucky's Yard, where Rackham was doing some early morning dredging with Bert. When asked about the disappearance of Ten Cents and Sunshine, he stumbleb a bit, accidently revealing that Ten Cents and Sunshine were in trouble. Emily finally got him to spill the beans, and he admitted that they had gone to Bermuda to search for Hercules.
The Star Tugs were immediately called to search for Ten Cents and Sunshine. However, after 2 days, the search was called off, since work needed to be done. Bigg City was already experiencing signs the Great Depression wasn't far away.
Meanwhile, Ten Cents and Sunshine inquired the Port Authority in Bermuda about Hercules. The Port Authority explained that the day after Hercules left Bermuda, a huge storm came in, and any ship out in the ocean was likely to get shipwrecked. Now frightened, the 2 tugs set out into the Bermuda triangle, but ran into an unexpected cyclone.
Emily attempted to use morse code to contact Ten Cents and Sunshine, but she couldn't find any way to contact them.
Ten Cents had been marking buoys all over their path, to chart the course they used. Ten Cents, Billy Shoepack and Sunshine, now caught in the cyclone, were worried they'd get lost once it's over. However, Ten Cents spotted one of the buoys, and they head towards it. Unfortunately, they didn't count on the Gulf Stream, and were swept through. They were swept into a large cove, and stop. Ten Cents looked around and saw, to his surprise, Hercules! He moved forward towards him, but found himself wedging against a sandbar. Hercules explained he was trying to get a good look of the cove himself, but got caught on the sandbar. Billy Shoepack took some of his dynamite to loosen the sandbar and pulls back. Unfortunately, the explosion only capsized Ten Cents and Hercules. Sunshine was left with the task of returning to the Star Dock to warn the other tugs. To prevent him from being pulled by the Gulf Stream like a marker buoy, some miscellaneous items from the tugs were placed on his deck and inside him. After some final checks, Sunshine entered the Gulf Stream.
Sunshine realized he is in Bermuda Triangle territory, and began to shake with fear. As he looked into the water, he saw a very odd round object moving towards him. Sunshine realized that this must be part of the Bermuda Triangle myth, and tried to escape. However, he realized the object was leading him somewhere. He began to follow it.
2 days later, Emily was out next to Lillie Lightship, still trying to contact Ten Cents and Sunshine when she saw a familiar tug out in the distance. Sunshine pulled up and explained the situation. Emily was curious about how he managed to get home. Sunshine explained that he didn't bother looking for Ten Cents' buoys; he followed a mysterious round object in the water. However, when they looked down into the water, the object had vanished.
Captain Star and the Coast Guard weren't happy that Sunshine and Ten Cents left without permission. They decided to discuss it as soon as Ten Cents and Hercules were safe again. So, with several cranes in tow, and some weights so they could charge the Gulf Stream, Warrior, Big Mac, Top Hat and Emily leeft out to reach the Star Tugs. Sunshine was left to do the work he missed while away (and then some).
After several long days, the tugs reached Bermuda and got some more tugs. They were given more sandbags for Ten Cents and Hercules, and headed down the Gulf Stream to the cove. There, they found Ten Cents and Hercules, while Billy Shoepack is keeping them company. Rackham first dug out most of the sandbar, and several ropes were attached to Hercules and Ten Cents to put them upright again. After several failed attempts, the tugs managed to get back to their original positions. However, repeated attempts to get them out of the sandbar failed, and in the end, the two tugs had to try to restart their boilers to get out. After several sandbags were place inside them, they head back to the Bigg City Port.
At the Star Dock, a week later, Captain Star was having a serious talk with Ten Cents and Sunshine. They were sentenced to work on destroying an old factory that recently closed due to financial difficulties. Billy Shoepack was sentenced to help them with his dynamite, which he gladly obliged to.
Several nights later, Sunshine is tired out from demolishing the old factory, and wanted a nice rest, when he saw the mysterious round object come flying out of the water and into the sky before vanishing in a blinding flash. Sunshine wondered if there are mysteries around the world, waiting to be discovered.
Story by TenCents