Meanwhile, Blaze and AJ screamed as they floated over a forest. They hung onto each other as the bubble floated over a desert canyon. Once it did, the bubble began to shake. Blaze noticed this with wide eyes.
"Hey, look!" he cried out. "The bubble! I think it's about to-"
POP!
The duo screamed as they dropped down out of the sky. AJ hung onto the seat belt and shut his eyes as they kept falling. Finally, they were able to land on the sand with a thud. Blaze sighed in relief.
"Whew! What a ri-ide!"
"You can say THAT again!" AJ agreed as he got off the red truck's driver seat. "Hey Blaze, where do you think we are?"
"I don't know, AJ," Blaze frowned, looking around. "But we're far from Axle City, that's for sure. We have to get back before-"
"HELLOOOOO?!" A familiar voice from a distance yelled out. "CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?!"
"That sounds like Stripes, the tiger truck!" AJ gasped and looked around to find the tiger truck. "But... I don't see him!"
"Me neither," Blaze helped the other look before glancing up to see Stripes floating above them. "There he is!"
"Stripes!" AJ cried out, trying to get the other racer's attention.
"Stripes! Down here!" Blaze called out.
"Blaze! AJ!" Stripes sighed in relief as he spotted them. "Oh, boy am I glad to see you- OOOOOOH!" Stripes yelped as his bubble popped, and he landed into some vines. "RRRAAAWWWW! Oh no! I'm tangled in these vines!"
"Hang in there, Stripes! We'll find a way to get you out of there!" Blaze exclaimed, ready to drive towards the tiger truck when AJ stopped him.
"But Blaze, Stripes is up really high!" the boy told him. "How are we gonna climb up to him?"
"Hmm..." Blaze looked around to think before an idea came up on his mind. "Ooh! I have an idea!"
AJ nodded and jumped back into his brother's driver seat. Blaze drove over some ramps and smiled.
"We can use these rocks to help us jump to the top!" he said.
"Great idea, Blaze!" AJ grinned, placing his visor down. "Huh, according to this, the orange ramp is steeper, so we'll go high and be able to reach Stripes!"
"Let's do it, AJ!" Blaze nodded before zooming to the orange ramp, jumping off it with a cheer as they landed with a thud. "Yeah-ah!"
"It worked, Blaze!" AJ celebrated. "We made it!"
"Whoa...WHOA!" The duo turned to see some of the vines break, causing Stripes to yelp and gasp. "Blaze, AJ, the vines are starting to break!"
"Gaskets!" Blaze's eyes widened. "We have to get to Stripes fast!"
"Over there!" AJ pointed to more rocks. "A green ramp and a yellow ramp."
"Which ramp gets us to the top of the ledge?" Blaze asked, watching as his little brother lowered his visor.
"The green one! It's got just the right steepness!" AJ yelled out, placing both his hands on the steering. "Go for it, Blaze!"
Blaze nodded and revved his engines before zooming off and jumping off the ramp. He landed accurately with a thud.
"Yes!" he cheered.
"All right!" AJ grinned. "We made it!"
"Oh no!" Stripes cried out as he watched more vines break. "Guys, HELP!"
"Hang on, Stripes!" Blaze called out as he looked around. "Look, two more ramps! AJ?"
"That blue one!" AJ urgently answered. "Come on!"
"Oh, yeah!" Blaze gave a nod and zoomed to the ramp, jumping up to another ledge.
"WHOA!" Stripes screeched, gritting his teeth as more vines broke.
Blaze looked up and gasped. "Stripes is barely hanging on!"
"Hurry! Just one more jump!" AJ set his visor down, turning to the rocks. "The red one! Come on!"
"All right, AJ, give me some speed!" Blaze revved his engine then he zoomed forward.
The last of the vines broke, letting Stripes fall. The tiger truck yelped as he fell while Blaze sounded his horn and caught him before he could get hurt.
"Gotcha!"
"Wow, you saved me!" Stripes hugged the red truck as they landed to safety. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Oh-ho, you're welcome, Stripes!" Blaze smiled.
"But are you sure you're okay?" AJ asked as the other set him down.
"Yeah... I just wish I wasn't so far away," Stripes sighed. "I so wanted to be in that championship race, but... oh, I'll never make it back in time,"
"Hey, don't give up, Stripes," Blaze assured him. "We'll help you make it back. We just have to-"
"BLAZE! AJ!"
The trio looked up and gasped as a helicopter hovered over them. From inside, Crusher opened the door and waved over at them. Blaze and AJ lit up.
"CRUSHER!"
The dark blue truck smiled before he lowered the helicopter down. It soon landed in front of the trio, and Crusher opened the door.
"Blaze! AJ!" he enveloped his brothers in a hug. "You two are okay!"
"We're so glad to see you, big brother!" Blaze returned the hug with a smile.
"Looks like it," Crusher chuckled before turning to Stripes. "Hey! You found one of the racers! You alright, Stripes?"
"Yep!" Stripes nodded.
"We still haven't found the others yet," AJ told the dark blue truck.
"Well, we can search on our way back," Crusher assured him. "Come, get in. We've got a long way to go, and this helicopter already has boosters in it!"
"Wow!" Stripes jumped into the helicopter. "Huh, the design in this is... familiar..."
"It's Crusher's signature design," Blaze clarified as they all entered the helicopter, closing the dorr behind them.
"His- WAIT," Stripes gasped, turning to the dark truck. "YOU'RE THE CRUSHER, THE YOUNGEST INVENTOR TO BE RECOGNIZED ALL OVER THE WORLD?!"
"Oh shoot, I thought no one could recognize me," Crusher grimaced but grinned, driving to the front to take the wheel.
"This should be a fun flight," Blaze giggled as the helicopter slowly hovered up from the sand and made it's way back to the Axle City.
X
"Ladies and gentletrucks!" Bump announced to the audience. "Fasten your seatbelts, because the Monster Machine World Championship is starting soon!"
The audience cheered. Just as they did, though, Bump had another announcement.
"But first, there's one change for today's race - it seems all the racers have mysteriously disappeared, except for...Speedrick!"
Speedrick was at the starting line, snickering as he waved to the crowd. The audience gasped, along with Gabby and Pickle, who were watching from the pit rows.
"Oh no!" Gabby said. "If the other racers don't make it back in time, Speedrick's gonna win the race! And get the trophy!"
"And that's why we have to make sure the race doesn't start before everyone else gets here!" Pickle grinned. "And get Speedrick back for his sabotage!"
"But how?" Gabby asked.
"Watch," Pickle giggled and drove up to the large monster machine, feigning a defeated expression. "Oh no! The other racers are gone! Man, Speedrick, I guess you're sure to win, now,"
"Finally! A fan that respects me!" Speedrick smirked before sighing. "If only lightning boy was here to see me win..."
Pickle had to fight the urge to punch the other in the face as he forced in a smile. He drove to the other, holding something behind his back.
"Why don't you sit back and relax, and... here!" he held out cotton candy from behind him. "Have some of my cotton candy!"
"Ick!" Speedrick gagged. "No, ugh..."
'Ungrateful swine!' Pickle hissed as he still tried to give the cotton candy over. "Oh, come on!"
"Ugh, too sticky!" Speedrick shook his head drove away a bit. "And no WAY am I letting it mess up MY hair!"
"I just think you'll like it!" Pickle insisted, a smirk on his face now.
"Euch, no!" Speedrick huffed.
"Okay, I understand," Pickle rolled his eyes. "You don't want any, so... I'll just keep it over here," He set it next to a blowing fan and snickered, "where it's far away, and..."
The cotton candy was blown off by the wind, and it blew towards Speedrick's hair. Said monster machine screeched before driving off, grabbing his brush to remove the cotton candy.
"GET IT OFF MY HAIR! GET IT OFF MY HAIR!"
"Nice one, Pickle," Gabby giggled, approaching the green truck as they watched the white monster truck zoom off.
"It's good karma for him," Pickle snorted before he looked up at the open roof and frowned. "I just hope they can all get back on time..."
X
The helicopter was soon hovering over the forest. Crusher looked around and about before descending the helicopter.
"Crush?" Blaze noticed what his brother was doing and frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Out of fuel," Crusher sighed as the helicopter landed smoothly. "I'm gonna try to fix it and turn it into battery power, so it would be more effective and long-lasting. Until I do, you guys can search the forest for the other racers,"
"Good idea," Blaze smiled and nodded, turning to open the door. "Call us when you get the helicopter fixed, alright?"
"Alright," Crusher gave a nod. "Stay safe,"
"We will, don't worry about it, Crusher," AJ assured him as the tiger truck jumped off and sniffed the air.
"Hey, guys! I'm picking up a scent!" Stripes cried out.
"What?" Blaze jumped off and landed beside the tiger truck. "What do you smell?"
"I think... " Stripes took in another sniff. "...there's another Monster Machine nearby,"
"Huh," AJ dismounted from the red truck's driver seat. "I wonder where,"
"Lets drive ahead and take a closer look," Blaze suggested, to which the others nodded before they drove forward.
Soon, they reached a hillside and found Darington driving through. Blaze lit up with a gasp.
"Hey, it's Darington, the racer who loves doing tricks!"
"You mean, the one who fell for you?" AJ teased, causing to Stripes to snicker
"AJ! NOT THE TIME!" Blaze shook his head, lightly glaring at the boy. "Seriously, ONE glance, and it's the joke of the day,"
"Darington, over here!" Stripes called out towards the stunt truck.
Darington turned and beamed at the sight of them. He drove forward, zooming as fast as he can.
"DARINGTOOOOOOOON!" He jumped over a hill with a cheer. "Dueeeeeyyy... whoa... whoa!"
He yelped as he crashed onto the ground with a thud. Blaze's eyes widened before zooming over to help.
"Yeah-heh!" AJ chuckled.
"Whoa-ho!" Stripes glanced over at the pair with a smirk as the red truck helped the stunt truck up. "Fall at first sight, huh?"
"Yep," AJ nodded with a grin as the duo approached them.
Stripes snorted before turning to the stunt truck. "Hey, Darington!"
"Boy, am I glad to see you guys!" Darington smiled. "You'll never guess what I saw out here in these woods!"
"What?" Blaze's eyebrows furrowed in concern. "What did you see?"
"Grizzly trucks!"
"Grizzly trucks?!" AJ gasped.
"What did you do?!" Stripes cried out.
"Well, I sped away from them as fast as I could!" Darington replied. "but wherever I went, those grizzlies were right behind me!"
"Wow!" Blaze looked amazed. "So, how did you get away?"
"Ah... I didn't," Darington gulped. "They're... still right behind me,"
"WHAT?!"
There was few roars, and the group turned to see a group of grizzly bear trucks appear on the hill. The group gasped.
"Yeah, that's them!" Darington yelped.
The grizzlies began to drive in their direction. AJ got alert and quickly mounted back onto Blaze's driver seat.
"Let's get outta here!" Stripes screamed, to which the rest of them agreed to without a doubt as they began to dash off.
They all let out a scream as they drove away from the bears. They found a bush and quickly hid inside, causing the grizzlies to speed past them, unaware of their hiding spot. As soon as they were gone, Blaze peeked out to check if the coast was clear.
"They gone?"
"Uh-huh," AJ nodded. "I think we lost them... for now, anyway,"
They all sighed in relief before jumping out from the bushes. As he did, Darington spat out some leaves, causing the others to laugh. Blaze smiled before turning to lead the way.
"This way, guys!"
They drove off to a different direction. They soon approached a river, causing them to skid to a stop.
"Uh-oh, a river!" Stripes gasped.
"Oh man, oh man, we've gotta get across!" Darington cried out in panic. "But w-we don't have much time before the grizzlies catch up!"
"Hmm..." Blaze thought for a while. "I know! We can float across the river. Quick, everyone look for something we can float on,"
They spread out to search the forest. After a while, they regrouped back at the river to show what they found.
"I found a big, flat piece of wood!" Stripes spoke, setting it down on the ground.
"I found a rock..." Darington grunted, setting it down beside the wood.
"And I found this curved piece of wood," Blaze completed the set and hummed in thought. "Hmm... we need something that can float us down the river. Which do you think will float?"
"Well, let's test them all out!" AJ suggested.
They tossed all the stuff out into the river. The wood pieces floated while the rock sank.
"Huh, the rock sank straight to the bottom!" Stripes observed.
"I guess we can't use that to float across the river," AJ spoke.
"Aha! But both pieces of wood are floating, we can get away on those!" Darington grinned. "DARINGTOOOOOOOON!" He sang as he jumped onto the flat wood and landed with a thud. "Ta-da!"
As soon as he did, however, he began to stumble and sink. He yelped.
"Huh? W-what's goin' on here?!"
"Darington, you're sinking!" Blaze cried out.
"Jump!" Stripes yelled out.
"Whoaaaaa!" Darington did so and found himself on the curved wood. "Ta-da?"
"It's floating!" AJ cheered.
Suddenly, there was a roar, and the group turned to see the grizzlies coming down the hill. They gasped.
"Here come the grizzlies!" Stripes spoke out in panic.
"Quick! Everybody in!" Blaze told them, and they all joined Darington on the curved wood.
The wood held itself steady and floated over the river. They all cheered as they waved goodbye at the grizzlies, who had just arrived and grumbled in defeat.
"Ha-ha!" Darington grinned. "So long, grizzlies!"
They floated across the river with a cheer. They soon found themselves in a different part of the forest, and they jumped off the makeshift boat.
"That was fun!" Stripes laughed.
"And we got away from those grizzlies!" Darington celebrated. "Wa-hoo!"
"Grizzly trucks, huh?" the group turned to see Crusher approach them, covered in sweat and oil. "You know, when I said you guys should 'stay safe', I mean it,"
"Hey, big brother!" Blaze greeted with a wave. "Don't worry! We got away from those grizzly trucks no sweat!"
"Oh boy, I'm not sure I wanna know how or why you guys were chased by grizzly trucks," Crusher sighed. "Welp, the helicopter's all fixed up and battery-powered, so we're free to go!"
"Ooh, a helicopter?!" Darington flipped in excitement. "Yes!"
"What about Starla?" AJ asked.
"Yeah, we still haven't found Starla or Zeg," Stripes agreed with a nod.
"We'll have to find them on our way back," Crusher told them, turning away. "Come on! The race isn't gonna wait for you guys,"
"Yeah-heh!" Blaze nodded in agreement. "Let's go, gang!"
X
Back at the Monster Dome, Speedrick had cleaned the cotton off of his hair and was now just waiting for his victory.
"Oh yeah, that's right!" he smirked and began to sing. "~I'm the best, I'm the best!~ And no one's gonna be in the race except for
Me-me-me-me, me-me, meeeeee!~"
"Ugh," Pickle covered his ears. "Even a fork skids better on a plate than THAT racket,"
"Not so fast, Speedrick!" Gabby folded her arms and grinned. "Ya might wanna take a look up there!"
On the jumbotron, the screen showed Crusher's helicopter making it's way to Axle City. Darington, Stripes, Blaze, AJ and Crusher were inside as they flew back at top speed. Speedrick gasped.
"What?!" he was taken back so much that he stumbled over and tripped. "ARGH!"
The crowd cheered at the scene in front of them. Pickle chuckled and drove over to the white truck confidentally.
"Well, what do you know?" he spoke with a smirk. "Maybe they'll even make it back in time for the race!"
"Oh, no, no, noooo! I wanna be the only one in the race!" Speedrick wailed as he turned and stormed away. "I can't believe lightning boy's helping them get back to the race! I've gotta think of something to get rid of them! I NEED some way to cheat and stop those racers from getting here!" He thought for a while before evilly grinning. "I've got it!"
He sped back to his pit and took out a box. He let out an evil laugh as he set it down and took out a button.
"They'll never get past this..." he pressed the button and out came a machine. "It's my... Mechanical Mudslinger!"
Pickle gulped as he watched the machine soar out of the Monster Dome. It soon showed up at the jumbotron as it landed on a field and began scooping up mud and shooting it all over the place.
"Oh no!" Gabby gasped.
"That little..." Pickle gritted his teeth and glared at the white truck, who was still laughing at his triumph. "When the others get back here, I'm gonna ask Crusher to give me the bat I told him to keep for me..."
"IF they get back here," Gabby looked worried, as was everyone as they all stared at the screen.
"Knowing those brothers, they will," Pickle offered her a smile. "They always do,"
X
"Look out!" AJ cried out as they hovered over the field. "Giant mud balls!"
"AAAAAAAAH!" the group screamed as Crusher struggled to control his helicopter to avoid the mud balls.
Unfortunately, one managed to hit them, and their vehicle proceeded to crash down. The group gasped and turned to jump off the helicopter before they could collide with the ground. They landed on the grass with a thud, panting to catch their breath.
"That was close!" Stripes sighed in relief.
"AND IT'S ABOUT TO GET CLOSER!" Darington yelled, pointing at the giant mudslinger, that began to throw more mudballs at them.
"Quick! Everyone, hide behind that hill!" Blaze told them.
They all dashed to the hill to hide in. As soon as they did, they all groaned. Crusher wiped a sweat from his forehead before peeking out from behind.
"Whoa, check out that mudslinger," he said. "It's humongous!"
"Speedrick must've sent it to keep us from getting back to the race!" Blaze growled.
"What are we gonna do, Blaze?!" Darington asked, turning to the red truck.
"Don't worry, guys," Blaze assured the stunt truck with a smile. "Crusher, AJ and I can figure out a way to get past a mudslinger,"
"Hmm..." AJ began to think. "I bet we could stop those mud balls with... a really big sprinkler!"
"Yeah!" Blaze nodded vigorously. "Sprinklers shoot out water really fast!"
"And with enough power, the water could blast away the mud balls!" Crusher added with a grin.
"Yeah!" Stripes agreed. "but where are we gonna get one?"
"We can make one!" AJ told them. "Blaze and Crusher can transform into giant sprinklers that could wash away all the mud balls!"
"Oh, yeah!" Blaze exclaimed. "We'll be Sprinkler... Mmmmmmonster Machines!"
He and Crusher began to glow, causing Darington and Stripes to gasp in awe. The brothers jumped into the air and spun around, transforming into a sprinkler.
"Whoa!" Stripes's jaw dropped.
"Looking good, guys!" Darington let out a cheer.
"Thanks, guys," Crusher smiled.
"Now come on!" Blaze motioned to his brother. "Time to blast some mud balls!"
The brothers drove off, horns of the monster machines honking as the mudslinger released the giant mudballs. They zoomed forward, spraying the first then the second, and then the third with water from their hoses and nuzzles.
"Whoo, yeah!"
"Whoo!"
"Whoa!"
Blaze, Crusher and AJ all cried out as they sprayed more giant mud balls. Darington and Stripes cheered them on as they approached the mudslinger, which then decided to scoop up the biggest mud ball it could hold and fling it to the trio.
"Whoa!" AJ gasped. "Guys, here comes the biggest mud ball yet!"
"We need to spray together!" Crusher told the other.
"Right," Blaze gave a nod before they sped up and zoomed forward.
They used their sprinkler's water together and sprayed the mud ball. As soon as the mud ball vanished, they sped up to the mudslinger and released the sprinkler's water, destroying it and reducing it to junk parts.
"Oh-ho-ho, YEAH!" Blaze cheered, both of them jumping to turn back to normal.
"Yeah!" Crusher was beaming. "We stopped the mudslinger!"
"That was incredible!" Stripes cried out as he and Darington drove over to join them.
"Yeah!" the stunt trucks agreed, high-tiring with Blaze. "The best sprinkler-ing I've ever seen!"
"Thanks, guys," Blaze's smile widened as they all laughed. "Now let's get moving!"
"Yeah, we've gotta get you back in time for the race!" AJ nodded in agreement.
"But how?" Crusher sighed and looked over at what's left of his helicopter. "We've got no ride back,"
"That's okay, Crusher," Blaze assured his brother. "Come on, let's use Blazing Speed and go super fast!"
Both dark blue truck and red truck deployed their boosters, which then glowed blue as it spread towards the other monster machines. Stripes and Darington both oohed in amazement as they all crouched down.
"Leeeeeet's Blaze!"
The brothers took off first with a zoom, with the tiger truck and the stunt truck zooming behind to follow after them.
X
"Can you believe it, folks?!" Bump announced as all the action that had taken place appeared on the jumbotron screen. "Things were lookin' bad out there, but then Blaze and Crusher saved the day again! Is there anything these brothers can't do?!"
"Go, Blaze and Crusher!" Gabby cheered. "Whoo!"
"I knew that those two could do it!" Pickle flipped and clapped his tires. "GO, GUYS, GO!"
Speedrick, on the other hand, growled as he slinked to the back.
"Ugh!" he snarled. "I can't believe that Blaze guy's actually getting all the attention! I mean, no doubt that lightning boy's getting any attention. He looked pretty hot out there, but that Blaze guy's just so... argh, annoying!" He drove past the juice stand and snatched one with a huff. "And now everyone's cheering for HIM! They're not supposed to be cheering for that red flames! They're supposed to be cheering for me, me, ME!"
He began to stomp around, causing a tantrum. As he did, his drink flung out of his tire and landed on his head, causing the liquid to spill all over his hair.
"Aw, man, MY HAIR!" he screeched as he backed up to try to clear away the liquid.
Just as he reached over, he stumbled against the juice stand and tripped with a yelp. All the juice from the stand opened up and spilled more onto his hair, causing him to scream and flick his hair around in attempt to fling the juice away.
From the distance, Pickle watched the white truck with a snort and a smirk.