Jenny looked down through the windows, staring out at this new world she had entered. Much of it looked the same - grasslands and forests still marked the way to Tremorton – but every now and then there was a smoking crater or charred terrain that bore the fresh battle scars of war in the evening light.
"You okay, Jenny?" She saw a hand touch her shoulder from the corner of her eye. With a mechanical whirr, she turned around.
"I'm fine. I just hope everybody else is... how's Tuck, or Mom? And Sheldon?"
Brad cast a nervous eye towards the back of the ship, where Smytus was being held. "Tuck and Sheldon are doing great. Sheldon's an undercover agent, and my little brother is-"
"What about my Mom?" She pressed. "Come on, Brad. If she's... you know, then you can tell me."
"It was pretty recently." Brad rubbed his nose. "Dr Wakeman got caught by Smytus on a mission a few days ago."
"...Oh."
That was when Brad flashed a giant smile, and pointed to the front of the ship. "Don't worry! She's all around us now."
Jenny shot her friend a stinking glare. "Really? Are you going to get all spiritual about this right now?"
"No, seriously. She uploaded her human consciousness onto our computers before she died with some new invention of hers." Brad walked over to the monitors, and turned them on. "Or at least, that's how she explained it to us. You didn't really think a brilliant scientist like Dr. Wakeman wouldn't try to cheat death?"
Jenny walked over to the monitors just in time to see Nora's face flash onto the screen. "Bradly!"
"Dr Wakeman! I-"
"You turned off my monitor again!" Nora interrupted, raising her voice. "Now I have to find our location all over again... I never thought I'd find a young man who acted so much like my daughter, but there you have it."
"Speaking of-"
"What's this weight in the back? It's... Smytus?! You took on Smytus without me?"
Brad smacked his forehead. "Why did I turn you on, again?"
"And this other six hundred pound weight in the front? Bradly, this ship-" She stopped midsentence as her eyes fell on her robotic daughter. Her jaw dropped a little as she spoke: "Is that... is that you, Jenny?"
"Hi, Mom." Jenny gave a nervous wave, her moving parts clicking and whirring softly with the motion.
"Oh, XJ-9!" Her voice changed into something a little sterner. "Wait, where have you been all this time? What have you done to your paint job, young robot; it looks like somebody took a piece of sandpaper to your body! Oooh, as soon as we get back to base..."
"Which we're doing right now!" Brad interjected. "How about you open the landing doors so we can get in?"
Jenny frowned as she looked down. "Whoa, this is a big crater."
"Welcome to Tremorton." Brad looked over to see his friend was – once again – completely shocked.
"This is what's left of Tremorton?"
"Well, there's also that nuclear power plant near the edge, but that's Cluster territory." He steered towards the rocky side of the crater. "I think it's right here... right, Dr Wakeman?"
"The hologram is straight in front of you." Nora spoke, and Brad fired up the jet engines. As they began speeding towards it, a small frown appeared on her forehead. "Wait, Brady, you're not going straight! A little to the right, no, a little up, a little left-"
Jenny curled herself up into a shell as they sped towards what appeared to be solid rock, but the impact never came. She looked up to see Brad manoeuvring deftly down a narrow, windy tunnel before coming out the other end at what appeared to be a small docking station for airships. Small meaning just enough room for the modest ship Brad was flying and what appeared to be a small ladybug ship with a large hole in the top.
"Closer, a little closer..." On the ground, XJ-5 was directing their ship as far as it could to the back wall. "Alright, human, you're all good!"
Nora sniffed. "I think your parking is a little crooked, but at least you didn't damage anything."
"That never gets old!" Brad jumped up from the controls. "Come on, Jen. I can't wait to show you around!"
The bridge lowered on one side of the ship, and XJ-8's hulking frame came into view.
"Mandatory search will be conducted." She droned. "Please stay where you are as I look for stowaways."
Brad pointed towards the rear. "There's Smytus in the back. And-"
"Noted." The robot's face was impassive.
"-And look who's here? I found Jenny!"
"Noted. Welcome back, sis." And with that, she turned and began stomping towards the back.
"You ready, Jen?" Brad was already halfway down the bridge, unheeding XJ-8's instruction.
"Sure... let's go!" Jenny followed her friend as he quickly walked to the other end of the docking station, where a set of unmarked double doors were standing. They entered into a narrow corridor with grey tile flooring and three doorways leading off on each side. One seventh entryway was situated right at the end and above it was a plaque reading 'HQ'. This door was unlike the others; it was made of a dark grey metal many inches thick and had a keypad right next to it.
Jenny watched as Brad walked up to the keypad and placed his whole hand over it for a couple of seconds. She frowned and was about to ask what this was about when a sharp beeping came from the keypad and the metal door in front of them swung open. Brad caught it and held it open for his robotic friend.
Walking through, Jenny suddenly found herself in what appeared to be a large conference room, complete with a long wooden table around which was seated a small number of familiar faces. One small screen with Nora's head in it sat closest to the door, and directly opposite her was Vice Principle Razinsky, dressed in old Skyway uniform. A long line of empty chairs led up to one final figure kicking back in the end seat, a swielly black office chair with a high back.
"Tucker!" Brad immediately put his hands on his hips. "What did I tell you about feet on the table? XJ-4 is going to murder you!"
The figure at the back jumped up, his wide brown eyes staring right at Jenny. "It's... it's Jenny!"
Nora looked over. "Oh, yes. Razinsky, you do remember XJ-9?"
"Tuck!" Jenny kneeled down and spread her arms out wide as Tucker raced up to hug her. He now was taller than her when she was on her knees. "You've gotten so tall!"
"Well duh! I'm fifteen, you silly robot!" The two parted, and that was when Jenny noticed a thin white line just above his collarbone, stretching nearly the entire width of his neck.
With a concerned frown, Jenny reached out and touched the scar. "Tuck, what happened? Did that Vexus do this to you?"
"What, this?" Tucker shrugged off her concern. "Actually, it happened not long after you disappeared; I was buying candy, pulled out a fiver when the wind blew it into the air and – ghieeet – off I went to the hospital!"
Jenny raised a sceptical eyebrow at Brad.
"For once, Tiger here isn't making it up." Brad helped his younger brother back to his feet. "Heck, he's the only one not fighting and still manages to be the worst injured!"
Nora's digital image cleared her throat as Jenny stood up.
"Until recently." He added with an apologetic smile. Behind them, XJ-4 burst into the room, dustpan and brush in hand.
Tucker crossed his arms. "Who wants do superhero-y stuff anyway? Besides, my skills are put to better use down here, where it's nice and safe-"
"Tucker Corneilius Carbunkle!" There was a shriek from the other end of the long table, where XJ-4 could be seen waving a broom about wildly. "How many times have I told you, no shoes on the table!"
Tucker instinctively tensed up. "Uhhh... sorry!"
"Oooh, as soon as I get done with this table, and the dishes, and the floor, and the beds, and the clothes, and Razinsky's collection of strange toys, and Mr. Carbunkle's ship, young man, you're going to get it!"
Jenny blinked. "So, uh, what do you do around here, Tuck?
"Oh," Tucker brought out a nail file and began scouring his nails. "Only advising everyone on how to beat the Cluster! Remember that ambassador bug that mind controlled me a few years ago? Thanks to that, I now have insider knowledge of almost everything: their battle formations, their weaknesses, the type of gruel they serve to enslaved humans... anyway, with my information, I'm like the leader of the Rebels!"
Brad rolled his eyes. "Pfft. Yeah, right; if anybody's the leader, it's me! I'm the one who actually fights the Cluster."
"And I tell you where to go!"
Razinsky stood up and waded into the fight. "Hey, you two! Listen up; neither of you are leaders of anything!"
"See, Tiger-"
Jenny slipped away from the arguing, towards her mother.
"Oh, hello dear!" Nora broke out into a huge grin. "I must say, XJ-9, it's good to see you again. I missed my daughter, but you should know that with you here, we can finally launch a real attack against the Cluster!"
"Yeah... about that." Jenny blinked as she checked her auxiliary levels and found they were running low. "Could you repair something?"
"If I can instruct one of your friends to do it, I'm sure we'll have it as good as new in no time!"
"What about my main power?"
"Oh, yes, I'm sure-" Nora stopped dead. "Wait, did you say main power?"
"Mmm-hmm."
"Darling, you do realise that I can't repair that?" Nora stroked her chin. "I used to reconstruct a completely new main power system every time your old one started to break, and they took months."
"Oh..." Jenny's shoulders drooped. "I guess I'm still no good at saving the world."
"Not at the moment, but soon! I'll make it my top priority!" Nora promised. "Oh, Bradly!"
"Dr Wakeman?" Brad stopped arguing as his robotic friend dragged her feet dejectedly towards a wall plug near the side of the door. "Hey, are you okay, Jen?"
"We've got a main power system to start on!" Nora declared. "If we get started now, these six months will fly by like nothing, and then we'll be able to take on the Cluster!"
Brad's eyes widened. "Six months?!"
"Don't worry, Brad," Tucker grinned mischievously. "That's assuming nothing goes wrong."
Nora rolled her eyes. "Oh, you young people are so pessimistic! Anyway, you need to come with me to the lab. XJ-9 can charge herself up for the night here, and everybody else to bed! We will discuss this later."
