Epilogue

Twenty years later

Alarms rang throughout the HQ building, as a red alert came in.

Talon hurried through the corridors. He was thirty-six now, and his hair was swept-back instead of spiked, but he still retained the dark good looks of his teenage years. He was in a smart suit and a black trenchcoat.

He knocked on the door of the Chief's office.

"Chief! We've got an emergency. Someone set free all the animals from Metro Zoo! They're attacking key installations throughout the city. It seems someone's controlling them..."

Penny spun round in her chair, and faced him across her desk. In front of her was a brass nameplate. CHIEF GADGET. She had kept her single name, for work.

"You'd better get on the case right away, Inspector Claw. Take the Gadgetmobile Mark Three. With tranquilliser darts. And hurry..." She gave him a flirtatious look. "Then, I'll see you tonight. Darling."

Talon blew her a kiss, then hurried down the corridor. The Mark Three stood waiting for him in the transporter bay. It was his uncle's old MAD vehicle, part-car, part-hovercraft, with fins and glass panels that lent it a menacing appearance. With the addition of a siren, it was a powerful deterrent to crime.

He zoomed out of HQ and away.

On the corner of the block, ten-year-old Annie and her dog stood watching. Named after Penny's grandmother, Annie had her father's dark looks but was blue-eyed, just like her mother. She was watching the news of the animal invasion on her computer watch and had a determined look on her face.

"I don't like the sound of this, Brain Junior. We'd better get over there to support Dad. I mean, Inspector Claw. Come on!"

They ran after the Gadgetmobile.

Halfway down the street, a shadow fell across them, as a motorised wheelchair flew over their heads. Annie looked up.

"Great-Uncle Gadget!"

Gadget was in a cardigan, cotton pants and slippers, but still had his trilby jammed onto his head. He paused the wheelchair in its flight.

"I hear there's an emergency! Old Quimby thinks it might be MAD, back again. Let's go, Annie! Go-go-Gadget... oh. I'll think of something on the way."

With Talon in his vehicle, Annie and her dog on foot, Inspector Gadget in his chair and Penny directing everything from HQ, they ran off after the villains.

The End

That's the end of my Inspector Gadget season 5, but there may be more stories in the future! I wanted to give the series a definite conclusion - how it might have ended on TV. But I or others could easily fit more stories after Penny and Talon's wedding or in this new HQ of the future. I'm happy for others to do this if they want to!

Thanks everyone for all your kindness, reviews, suggestions and all your support for Inspector Gadget. Have a lovely Christmas and do check out my stories for Doctor Who, The Worst Witch, James Bond and other series. J :)