TRANSFORMERS THE NEXT GENERATION CHAPTER 3 In the surgical sickbay of StarFox Headquarters, the robot healthcare companion known as BayMax was hard at work. He and his creator Hiro Hamada were reviving the StarFox Autobots after another brief clash with the StarWolf Decepticons. Both were being assisted by Dead-Eye Duck the ace-gunner and inventor as they performed a medical checkup on Sonia Hedgehog. SONIA: So what's the final verdict? Am I cleared to continue my duties. BAYMAX: Affirmative, you have no internal injuries or wounds on your person so to speak. Therefore I give you a clean bill of health. SONIA: Yes! Now I can try out the gold chrome wheel trims Willy DuWitt bought for me. HIRO: Cool, bet they make you look beautiful, that is in NASCAR racing car form. SONIA: Uh, yup. The King Richard Petty that is alias #43. BAYMAX: Oh bother... DEAD-EYE: Shiver me timbers! I got some bad news, mates. We are running low on an alien material known as Cornerinite. HIRO: Oh, that's bad, huh? Good grief. Later that day, after Hiro and BayMax flew away back to San Francisco where they lived...Dead-Eye reported to Buzz Lightyear. DEAD-EYE: So unless we can get ahold of the special metals, like Cornernite, that I need to do repairs, many of our teammates will no longer be able to function. BUZZ: The only place we can find such things is on Corneria and Star Command. And we do not have the resources to fight off the Decepticons and return to look for it. Fara Phoenix the AR-Wing test pilot had been listening to the conversation. FARA: There is a way to get supplies of those special materials, without leaving Earth. She goes onto explain of a past or previous showdown with StarWolf after her arrival on the humanoid world with Sonia, Buzz and others. The war-games raged in a mountain valley. FARA: If StarWolf hasn't gotten there first, we might find what we need. If I can find the valley again. While she went off to look at maps and refresh her memory, Buzz set about organizing a salvage expedition to the site of the war-games and collect everything they could that might be useful. Soon the StarFox convoy was ready to roll. Fara was to lead the way, she was certain she could find the place. Next came Dead-Eye as usual. His job would be to choose the useful bits and pieces. Bruiser Baboon and Jenny Cat made up the rest of the party. They would lift and drag any big pieces of wreckage. All of a sudden there came the sound of running footsteps as Willy DuWitt, son of David and Susan DuWitt appeared on-site and with him was Susie his girlfriend classmate. Both kids stopped to catch their breaths then spoke. SUSIE: Please, can we go too? We could be useful to the cause. WILLY: Earth people like us know a lot that even you magic aliens do not. BUZZ: Why not, terran navigators can be helpful anytime. You may go but don't get in the way. BOTH KIDS: To infinity and beyond! BUZZ: To infinity and beyond! To avoid being seen, the StarFox gang left their HQ at dusk. Night was falling as they cruised along deserted roads towards the mountains and the valley where the war-games had been fought so long ago. Suddenly the northern sky was lit up by brilliant flashes of light. The flashes became streamers which rippled and glowed against the dark sky. FARA: Holy smokes! Team StarWolf! SUSIE: No, that's the Northern Lights. The aurora borealis. WILLY: It's harmless so it cannot harm us. FARA: What causes it? WILLY: I've been told by my parents that it's some sort of electricity in the upper atmosphere. It sometimes interferes with radio signals. In the light of a full moon, the Autobots reached the valley. They morphed to mutant selves and watched as Fara examined the landscape. She rejoined the others. FARA: Yes, it is just as I remember. JENNY: Tell us all about it another time, test-pilot. We're here to work, not to listen to accounts of battles. The aliens scattered across the valley, their magic rings searching for extra-terrestrial metals. Willy and Susie climbed a little way up the hill and found a sheltered ledge. There they sat and searched in the moonlight for a sign of anything. SUSIE: What do you think they will find? WILLY: Beats me I don't know what kind of alien metal they have in mind. SUSIE: Hey, you hear something? WILLY: Yeah, sounds like jet engines flying through the sky, headed this way. Both kids looked for the source and stared in shock disbelief as out of nowhere hurtling into view came a Dassault Rafale, a Eurofighter Typhoon, a SU-47 Berkut, a SU-30 Flanker and AH-64 Apache Longbow. WILLY: Decepticons! SUSIE: What are they doing here? As they watched the five aircraft magically changed into sinister-evil looking mutants who instantly began firing laser guns at the opposition. WILLY: Guys! Enemy forces heading your way. From the cover of rocks and boulders, the Autobots kept up a steady fire against the enemy, forcing them to withdraw for a moment. Then the kids saw the mutants change back into vehicles and race at top speed for the entrance to the valley. Keeping in the shadows, they ran to meet them. SUSIE Wait for us! FARA: Quick, jump in! Phoenix then accelerated with the others into a narrow gorge leading out of the valley. Kale led the way followed by his brother Romero, girlfriend Zephyr, Al Negator, Slyly Zod, Kate O'Donnell the daughter of her father Wolf, and Anubis the jackal bodyguard to Zurg. By then of course the heroes of Corneria disappeared into the darkness of the gorge. Almost at the last moment the Decepticons saw the gorge was too narrow for their wingspans. They banked sharply between the rocky walls. Romero misjudged the distance, and his wingtips struck the rock walls showering sparks everywhere and he cried out in shock and pain. Where the gorge was narrowest, the Autobots morphed back to mutant warriors. As their enemy tried to reach them they came under fierce fire from laser guns and magic rings. At length they gave up, and the sound of their jet engines faded in the distance. Last to go was Romero, wobbling into the air with the last shots of the Autobots whizzing around him. SUSIE: Wow, that was too close. DEAD-EYE: Yeah, I'll say it was too close. JENNY: What did StarWolf try to scare us away like that? Are they protecting something? BRUISER: Banana-oil! Something evil is stirring within the magic, I can feel it. WILLY: We better get back to base and report to Buzz. FARA: Aye-aye, back to base then. After dropping off the kids at their homes the StarFox Autobots were making their report to Lightyear as usual. FARA: We did not find anything. But we might have done if we had not been ambushed by Team StarWolf. BUZZ: Huh, how did they manage to find you? FARA: Beats me. What puzzles me is...how the heck did they know that we were coming? BUZZ: They must have found some new way of keeping us under surveillance. Perhaps they have an outpost in the hills that we know nothing of. NINJARA: I suggest that we carry out a thorough investigation of the whole area of the battlefield. I can be ready for takeoff at first light tomorrow. FIONA: Count me in, this sounds like fun to me. BUZZ: As you wish my dear. Meanwhile, at the StarWolf fortress, Zurg watched the return of Lien-Da, his daughter Kate, Anubis, Romero, Kale, Zephyr, Negator and Slyly then the evil terrorists changed to normal forms. ZURG: The surveillance system? It worked? ANUBIS: They had no warning until we were on top of them. ZURG: So they were destroyed? ANUBIS: Well, no. They took refuge in a rocky canyon. We couldn't... ZURG: Fool, idiot! You couldn't deal with a bunch of simple-minded Autobots! What's your problem? ROMERO: My lord, I injured myself trying to escape being shot down. ZURG: Go and get medical treatment at once, my daughter will fix you up again. You haven't heard the last of this! In the meantime it was Sally Acorn, Monkey Kahn, Bucky Hare, Jenny Cat, Bruiser Baboon, Dead-Eye Duck still in mourning and grief over the deaths of their fellow teammates...Krystal, Falco Lombardi, Rocket Raccoon, Lupe Wolf, Aries Ram, Tigress, and of course Fox McCloud. Ken missed his girlfriend sweetheart Tigress with whom he spent many happy times or moments when they would practice Kung Fu & Wushu fighting, meditation sessions, light-saber mock duels too. Then of course when they would make love when no one knew a thing about their love affair. Jenny missed Krystal since she and the blue vixen were skilled in reading people's minds and sensing feelings or emotions. Bucky missed Rocket who always boasted he would bring in fugitives dead or alive to claim his reward. Bruiser missed hanging out with Falco on occasion, etc. Even the three vixen sisters experienced the same grief and sorrow. Bucky, Jenny, Dead-Eye and Bruiser left HQ for the City by the Bay to spend time with their human friend Willy DuWitt the ace engineer of course...Sally and Ken tagged along since Acorn needed Willy's companionship, friendship and love to help get her through the pain. That left Miriam taking Ninjara and Fiona into San Francisco too to hangout with Hiro Hamada, BayMax and company. BUCKY: I wonder what Willy is doing. Maybe he's taking classes at SFIT. DEAD-EYE: Just like Hiro, Fred, Wasabi, Honey and GoGo. JENNY: Is Professor Callaghan still teaching classes after what he attempted to do with Hiro's microbots. KEN: And it was all because of the fate of his daughter Abigail lost in the Void. SALLY: Who knows anything... BRUISER: Duh, I've never been to San Francisco myself so I don't know what to expect. MIRIAM: Don't worry...we'll show you around the city. FIONA: Can't wait to meet my sister's new boyfriend Wasabi. NINJARA: Trust me, you'll like him alot. Moments later the friends entered the city crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into the heart of San Francisco itself. Fiona and Ninjara made themselves invisible so as not to be accidentally detected on radar but keeping pace with their Autobot friends below. In minutes they transformed and stood before the main gates of the San Francisco Institute of Technology. DEAD-EYE: So this is where Willy and friends create stuff. KEN: Never been here before so it looks kind of new to me. JENNY: Oh, that must be the students coming out of those buildings. BUCKY: Hey, there's Willy! SALLY: Yes, my terran boyfriend to be exact. BRUISER: Who's that black haired teenager with him? MIRIAM: That's my lover-boy, Hiro Hamada. NINJARA: There's Wasabi, the lasers expert. FIONA: He looks handsome to me. They watched as the students made their way to the dormitory apartments on-campus while others drove off to hangout in the city after class. Sally hurried over to Willy followed by Bucky, Ken, Jenny and Dead-Eye catching up to the blond haired engineer. SALLY: Hey, lover-boy... nice to see you again. WILLY: Hey-hey-hey, if it isn't the redhead herself. SALLY: That's me. So good to be with you again, yes. WILLY: You too. NINJARA: How's my favorite inventor? WASABI: The same. What is she doing here? FIONA: Hi... Ninjara saved my life before I was killed. WASABI: She did?!! Ninjara quickly explained everything of sensing something tragically in the magic about to happen and was able to prevent Lord Zurg from striking down her sister. NINJARA: Thus I helped Fiona cross over into the light-side of the magic again like myself when Miriam saved me. WASABI: All right! FIONA: It's an honor to meet my new lover-boy. FRED: Cool, two ex-StarWolf terrorists now working with StarFox. GOGO: Yeah, cool. HONEY: So what brings you here to see us. BUCKY: We're still getting over the painful loss of our comrades and decided to stay and hangout with our friends. JENNY: It will take a long time to recover though. HIRO: No sweat, it will be like when you first showed up on our world a long time ago. WILLY: Yeah, like the good old times. MIRIAM: Oh I remember those times as if they happened today or yesterday of course. BRUISER: Duh, I'm kind of new to this city so I don't know my way around. KEN: So any plans? A few seconds later the teenagers and mutant friends were walking around Fisherman's Wharf exploring the various attractions, shops & stores, trying delicious sourdough bread in soup & salad bowls, then ice cream sundae or shakes afterwards. Bucky recalled those moments first-hand. BUCKY: I do remember we enjoyed earth-food for the first time compared to what we always had on Corneria. DEAD-EYE: Me too, mate. BRUISER: This is fun. Especially trying something new that tastes good. FIONA: Me too, I like this. WASABI: Figured you would. WILLY: I still feel guilty of my actions when I tried stopping Wolf from blasting Fox because he was about to use his fusion cannon. SALLY: But you tried to help our leader so you should not feel ashamed of yourself. WILLY: Yeah, I suppose... GOGO: Woman up... MIRIAM: Wonder what that means? JENNY: Beats me... NINJARA: Okay, where to next? HIRO: How about visiting Alcatraz Island. That made Bucky and friends get excited! Moments later they were taking a ferry boat across the ocean towards the island with its run-down abandoned structures looming above including the prison penitentiary itself. Riding a tram up the steep hills to reach the prison the friends entered via the main entrance, received their audio headsets and devices then walked around the various rooms of Alcatraz listening to stories told by the wardens and inmates. Afterwards they rode the ferry back to the mainland at Fisherman's Wharf and walked around Pier 39 enjoying its attractions especially the noisy sea-lions that is. Finally the Autobots decided to return to base as they thanked Hiro, Willy and friends for having fun with them then changed into vehicles & aircraft as they flew or drove away into the horizon so to speak. TO BE CONTINUED...