The Voyagers were walking to the beach where humans first touched down to Ooo. "What do you think it is that Miss Campbell wanted to show us?" Elisa asked Finn. "I dunno, but it's gotta do something with water." Finn said. "Maybe it's a new-and-improved Gauntlet Dock!" Jake guessed excitedly. "I know that it's a project that she's been working on for a while." Chad said.
They get to the hill overlooking the beach, finding not only a dock, but a white battleship floating in the water. "Woah, that's a giant ship!" Finn observed. They walk to the dock and approach a single prototype Minervabot that Minerva was controlling. "Hello, Voyagers! Welcome to the Ursa Kildare" she greeted them. "What's with this ship, mom?" Finn asked her.
"I'm building this in case you need to carry a large amount of supplies or move things from one place or another without straining Springer too much." Minerva answered. "Do we really need a ship this big?" Simon wondered. "Potentially, yes." Minerva answered. "So, do we have another mission this week?" Finn asked her. "Yes, your next mission is to Japan, an island on the eastern side of the world." Mineva answered.
"What can you tell us about Japan, Simon?" Seamus asked Simon. "There's a lot to talk about. Back in the day, Japan was a country that was tied with Detroit, Griffin Rock, and Faxian in being technologically advanced. Because of this, they were attacked by Decepticons intending to steal their tech. In response, the Japanese government contracted them to create eighteen drones to protect select cities." Simon explained. "I took some Japanese lessons some years ago along with Korean, but I never got the hang of the pronunciation." Jake commented. "So, are we going to use that ship instead of the groundbridge, Miss Campbell?" Chad asked Minerva. "As part of its maiden voyage, you will enter a groundbridge with the ship to the coordinates of the radio signal we received." Minerva answered.
"So, I guess it's already stocked?" Finn asked. "We're almost finished with loading the supplies and equipment into the ship. Check back in two hours." Minerva informed them. As they walked back towards Hub City, the Minervabot blinks and Minerva is transferred to another prototype Minervabot in a large laboratory where several Minervabots are building a headless Transformer the size of Bumblebee. Another Minervabot walks up to her with a gold bracelet. "The Master Brace is complete." it informed her.
Sometime later, The Voyagers return to the ship with Springer and Fallback on the helipad at the back. They are led to the bridge by a Minervabot. "Look at all the buttons I don't know how to use!" Seamus commented. "Don't worry, this ship uses an autopilot that will steer it to its intended destination and can also be controlled manually." Minerva assured. "Does anyone here know how to drive a ship in case the autopilot is borked?" Jake asked the team.
"It's like flying a transport ship, right?" Elisa offered as she held her hand up. "I based the ship mostly on pre-war blueprints, but the manual controls are like that of Hub transport ships." Minerva elaborated. "Now, onto the crew quarters." Minerva said as she directed them to the exit. As they left the bridge, the Minervabots were loading it up with crates. Inside one crate was Ellie in motorcycle mode.
Much later, the tour concludes with The Voyagers standing on the deck, facing the ocean. "And that concludes our tour. You will soon be bridged to the local range of the distress signal in central Japan. I hope to see you all very soon after your mission." Minerva said. "Bye, mom!" Finn waved to her as she disembarked from the ship. At a console at the dock, a Minervabot was operating it. The boarding steps descend as Minerva walks away from the boat and stands beside the other Minervabot.
On the console, a 3D model of a large groundbridge arch is emerging from the ocean. In reality, the actual arch rises from the sea, towering over the ship. "Wow, that's a huge metal donut!" Jake noted. "Firing up seabridge in three… two… one…" Minerva counted down. A spark lit the middle of the arch before green floods the inside of the ring.
"Prepare to set sail!" Minerva exclaimed. On its own, the ship starts to move towards the arch. "We're moving!" Simon observed. Finn goes to the railing to wave to his mother one last time. "Bye, mom! See you soon!" Finn yelled.
Minerve waves back to Finn with a smile. As the ship enters the arch, a single Minervabot runs to the end of the dock and throws a bottle of champagne at the hull before turning to Minerva and giving her a thumb up. The ship is then fully engulfed into the green before the arch shuts down. A Minervabot approaches Minerva. "The Candy Kingdom requests assistance in defending against an army of dogs." it informed her.
A groundbridge appears on the other side of the world with Ursa Kildare to emerge intact. "We're alive!" Jake exclaimed. "Well, we did survive the last four groundbridge trips, after all. This one would be no different." Chad corrected. "Land ho!" Elisa announced, pointing to the horizon. Ahead of them was a mist that soon dissipated, revealing a landmass. "We're here! Japan: land of the rising sun!" Simon announced.
Ursa Kildare moves into a river that splits in two by a long island in the middle. "Where are we now, Simon?" Finn asked Simon. "We're in the Kyukitakami River, split into two by Nakaze; an island most commonly known for having the Ishinomori Manga Museum. It showcases works of Ishinomori Shotaro; a famous artist and filmmaker known for his superheroes. I guess the distress signal is around here." Simon explained. The ship docks itself on the aforementioned island on its west side. Boarding steps emerge from the hull of the ship as Springer takes off and picks up Fallback.
The Voyagers disembark as Fallback is lowered onto a nearby road. "This place looks empty." Seamus noted. "I'm kinda sensing a pattern here; we go to the signal, we find nobody, and some rando shows up and helps us, the rando being a girl." Jake summarised. "You left the part out where they fall in love with Finn." Simon added. "Fall in love? What are you talking about?" Finn asked.
"You were the only one to be knighted by Vicky, and Sari hugged you real tight and you blushed, we all saw it." Elisa said. "Uhh…" Finn droned as his eyes darted around. "H-hey, Fa-Fallback, where's the s-signal?" Finn asked Fallback, still flustered. His passenger door opens to let his voice be heard. "Just ahead of us, I think you can walk there." Fallback answered.
"Okay, onwards to adventure!" Finn proclaimed as he pointed his arm sword north. He marches in front of The Voyagers as they look at his with awkward looks. "You know, it's just like five years ago when the princesses first fell in love with him. Although if we think about it, I was his wingman since they fell in love with him because I kidnapped them." Simon joked. "Hey, there can only be one wingman and that's me!" Jake retorted. "Yikes, okay man, it was just a joke." Simon said.
They walk towards the domed museum on the other side of the island. Simon was holding a radar-like device in his hand with a rotating dish. "It looks like the signal is coming from inside the museum." Simon said. In the mist, Finn spies a static figure hidden within. "I think I see someone." Finn whispered.
He sneaks towards the figure with his sword ready and dimmed. As he approaches, he sees the figure clearer and clearer. He then finds that the figure is a statue of a man wearing a suit resembling green pectoral and abdominal muscles and a silver insect-like mask. "Well, this is embarrassing. It's just a statue." Finn noted as he retracted his sword. The Voyagers follow Finn and gaze at the statue.
"Simon, is this one of them superheroes you mentioned?" Jake asked Simon. "Yes, this is Kamen Rider Ichigo, or Masked Rider One in English. It's one of Ishinomori's most famous works, and spawned a franchise that lasted seventy-four years. During that time, there had been many characters based on this one that had their own shows, even after Ishinomori's passing." Simon explained. "Why does it look like a bug?" Elisa asked. "I dunno. I guess he liked bugs." Simon said. "I can't believe it's still here after a thousand years. I guess if it can survive a tsunami, it can survive age." Simon added.
"Let's head inside, we can start searching in there for the signal." Finn suggested. As the rest of The Voyagers enter the museum, Finn looks back to the statue. "I bet you were a great hero." Finn said to it before entering the museum as well. Unknown to them, a black car the same model as Bumblebee's vehicle mode pulls up in front of the building. Inside, they search through the exhibits of comic pages and costumes.
"I don't see anything that looks like a radio!" Seamus yelled to the rest of his team. "Keep looking! The signal can't come from nowhere!" Finn replied as he emerged from an "employees only" door. As Chad walked through a windowed hallway, a massive black figure crashes its hand through the window and grabs Chad. "Help! Something's got me!" he screamed. The team runs to his location and looks out the window.
They see a Transformer similar in shape to Bumblebee, but painted black, a flower symbol painted on its left breast, a helmet with a yellow crescent crest, a right eye patched with a yellow decorative eyepatch, and a blue eye opposite to it, identifying the individual as an Autobot. "Who is that? Why do they have Chad?" Finn wondered. "That's one of the Autobot guardian drones of Japan! This one is stationed is Sendai, or at least is supposed to be!" Simon answered. "Get me down from here!" Chad demanded. Suddenly, Fallback and Springer arrive at the scene and punch the guardian in the face, freeing Chad from its clutches.
He falls out of his hand is caught by Elisa. "Thanks, Lennox." he thanked Elisa in relief. The guardian stumbles and faces the two. "Alright, let's pound this bugger into the ground!" Fallback proclaimed. As they lumbered towards the guardian, Springer is taken away by a golden stealth jet with talon-like claws on its underside.
"Springer!" Fallback cried out. "What was that?" Finn wondered as Elisa crawled back into the window hole with Chad. "That was the guardian of Yurakucho!" Simon said. As Fallback was distracted, the Sendai guardian brandishes a sword and charges for him. Fallback quickly notices and blocks the slash with his right shoulder armour.
His shoulder turret then shoots the guardian, causing it to stumble back again. As the guardian was down, the turret continued to fire a flurry of bullets, only to be redirected by the guardian deflecting every one of them with its sword. One of the bullets was directed into Fallback's left eye. "I can't see a bloody thing!" he screamed. "Fallback!" Finn yelled.
He jumps out of the window hole for the rest of his team to follow. They line up in front of Fallback to shield him. "Leave our friend alone!" Finn demanded. The drone doesn't listen and prepares to swing its sword. "Toh!" a voice is heard nearby.
The guardian and The Voyagers look to the top of the building to see another Transformer hidden in the mist, performing the same pose as the Kamen Rider statue. "Huzzat?" Jake wondered. The mist clears, revealing a slim Transformer that appears to transform into a blue car-sized jet and bears a red scarf, mandibles, a blue V-shaped visor, and antennae on its silver boxy head.
To be continued…