Date September 6th, 2014
Time 9:00 am
the next day, Tyler went over to the Wakeman residence, during the morning Tyler had explained to brad and tuck what happened during firebird's previous battle, the two brothers were worried, for if firebird were to fall, it would be down to jenny, and Tyler might not be able to help as much but they placed their trust in dr Wakeman's expertise in helping the young hero manage,
soon enough Tyler arrived and knocked at the door, dr Wakeman herself opening the door was his answer,
"ah, good morning young man!" exclaimed dr Wakeman "it's good to see you've arrived on time,"
"I always try to keep my promises, dr Wakeman" nodded Tyler and entered the house with dr Wakeman closing the door, jenny standing alongside the nearby couch
"now then," prompted dr Wakeman "before we begin, I would like to ask a couple of questions I know I said firebird were rusting up, but I want to be sure what kind of problems you had experienced first hand,"
"you got it, dr Wakeman," replied Tyler "I'm all ears,"
"The first question," said dr Wakeman "what was the first sign that something was wrong?"
"was firebird's energy flowing at it's fullest?"
Tyler placed a hand on his chin in thought, trying to remember "well," he said "when I tried to dodge the cluster super robot's arm guns, I was barely able too, but I got hit anyways, I even felt a bit slower than usual,"
"very good young man," nodded dr Wakeman, "now, the second question, was firebird's energy flowing at it's fullest?"
"his energy seemed to function in the basic movements," answered Tyler "but, it wasn't properly routed, so I couldn't fire my rocket punches even through their gears were grinding regardless, and I only had a few shots with the Raijin beam, jenny and I were barely able to turn it around,"
"thank you again Tyler," nodded dr Wakeman again, "now, for your last question, were you able to use the sword and shield?"
"I wasn't able to," shook Tyler, "the system HUD said that the storage sections containing them were jammed and unable to open, I had very few weapons to work with,"
dr Wakeman hummed, her fears about firebird's condition confirmed, "I was afraid of this," she sighed "and your answers to these questions makes this more serious than I thought,"
"But mom," spoke jenny " you created firebird right? shouldn't you be able to fix him?"
"it's not that simple, xj9" replied dr Wakeman, "even if we were to get skyway patrol's help, along with the resources it would still take quite a while to repair him, I am only one woman after all,"
"then I won't be able to help as much..." lamented Tyler, realizing firebird may be out of commission for a while,
"I wouldn't say that Tyler," replied jenny placing a metallic hand on Tyler's shoulder, shooting him a sympathetic smile, "I'm sure you can still help out one way or another,"
"XJ9 is right young man," dr Wakeman added "which is why we will not only be going through more training today, but we also figure out another way you can help should firebird break down completely,"
"thank you, jenny, dr Wakeman," smiled Tyler "alright then, let's get started,"
"Right this way, young man," nodded dr Wakeman as she leads jenny and Tyler downstairs to the basement training center,
location cluster prime
at a hanger inside vexus' palace, where the queen of cluster prime herself was overseeing the battalion being prepared to attack and target firebird and the earth...
"Ah my queen, you're just in time," greeted a cluster drone "final preparations have begun for the next attack on earth and on firebird,"
"excellent darling," smiled Vexus wickedly "are the mega cluster drones ready to launch as well?"
"affirmative my queen," the cluster drone spoke again, "they've been updated and ready to seek revenge against firebird,"
"yes," added Vexus, "and my minions and I have been working on discovering the one who controls him, once we destroy firebird, we'll destroy them as well,"
"yes, my queen," the cluster drone spoke again "and what of XJ9?"
"in due time darling," replied Vexus, "and I may as well personally oversee the attack, in the meantime, get those final preparations underway, we must attack firebird while we have the chance,"
"yes, my queen," the cluster drone bowed and walked away to continue his work,
After sending out another one of her small spies to earth after the human who controls firebird Vexus was then walking alongside the railing of the hangar, overseeing a squadron of mega cluster drones and normal drones earning herself a sinister grin, knowing her plans to defeat firebird are about to be fulfilled...
location earth, Tremorton, Wakeman residence
time 9:30 am
dr Wakeman was overseeing Tyler training hard at a punching machine practicing his dodging, the young hero was sweating, yet he did his best to keep up with the punches from the machine, this would be but the first of his and jenny's exercises, should firebird break down completely,
"Hey, mom?" asked jenny turning towards her mother "are you sure we could find the resources to get firebird back on his feet?"
"as I said before" dr Wakeman began "unless we get skyway patrol's help, we may not be able to restore firebird,"
"How soon do you think we can go to them?" jenny asked again, "like Tyler said, vexus is sooner or later bound to take advantage of this, the sooner we get firebird renovated the better, right?"
"that is correct," answered dr Wakeman "that is why at the beginning I've been training Tyler to be just as formidable outside of firebird"
"that's great to hear" replied jenny "but against vexus?"
"I may have something in mind for Tyler should vexus come for him," said dr Wakeman "but you and Tyler until then, will have to work together more often,"
"I suppose your right mom," said Jenny as she lowered her head, "will it be my turn soon?"
"indeed xj9, just as soon as Tyler is done with his session," said dr Wakeman as they continued to watch Tyler dodge from the training machine
Tyler continued and struggled with dodging the blows from the machine, the challenge for this training session, was to dodge punch after punch from the opponent, and he had to only counter-attack a few times, the young hero was sweating, and getting a bit tired, but he was not giving up, for after a few blow Tyler counter with a punch to the machine's head, temporarily stunning it, and then after a few minutes, the challenge was over, as Tyler then went to sit nearby a bench
"whew..." panted Tyler as he wiped the sweat off his forehead, "that was some intense dodging..."
"Indeed it was Tyler," replied dr Wakeman walking towards her young protege, "now then, XJ9, it's your turn"
"Alright mom," said Jenny as she walked over to the door to the training room, "what's my challenge?"
"This challenge will focus on your defensive and deliberate maneuvers," answered dr Wakeman "in simple terms, think before you act young lady,"
"...I'll do my best mom," sighed jenny barely resisting the urge to complain, then she walked over to the next training machine, which will test her ability to not always use brute force to get around every situation as 7 metallic poles began to rise from the floor in front of jenny,
jenny's eyes narrowed a bit as each pole shined a dim white light on them, she then walked over to the first pole, and checked her surroundings before moving a hand towards it, the light then went green, meaning she was safe, with a sigh of relief, she went over to the second white lighted pole,
she then looked closer to the pole, trying to figure out whether or not it's safe to touch, she moved a hand slowly, but then, barley relented and ignored it, and she went on the next one,
after making past the third pole, she then strolled towards the fouth pole and placed a hand on it, when the light turned red, and a buzzer goes off,
"dang it!" cried jenny in frustration, a mistake now made, "I thought I had that one,"
"Don't get discouraged, XJ9" replied dr Wakeman through a speakerphone, "keep going young lady, I know you'll turn this around,"
"Thanks, mom," sighed jenny as then went on to the fifth pole, this time more careful than last time, and went around it, as the pole flashed green,
she then went to the sixth pole, she barely resisted pressing on it, and went on to the final pole, this time, she placed a hand on it, after checking her surroundings twice and it glowed green, she had made it through the training field
later, jenny returned to where Tyler and dr Wakeman were sitting, sat next to her mother,
"man," sighed Jenny, "That was sure harder then I thought,"
"Indeed XJ9," replied dr Wakeman "but just know, there will be more to come,"
"Yeah, we still got a lot of work ahead of us," added Tyler
"I'll do my best to hang in there, mom," said Jenny, already feeling a bit worn out,
"so, dr Wakeman," asked Tyler as he turned his head to her "anything on skyway patrol yet?"
"about that young man," replied dr Wakeman "I hope to meet with skyway patrol at their airborne headquarters tomorrow?"
"wait, they have an aerial mobile headquarters?" Tyler asked as his eyes widened as Jenny also raised a brow
"yes, they certainly do," replied dr Wakeman, "that is where they command their operations at,"
"Geez," said Jenny "these guys sure take the name 'skyway patrol' quite literally,"
"They sure do jenny," agreed Tyler, also now curious about more of firebird's origins "where was the place where you guys built firebird? before jenny of course,"
"When we found that meteorite," answered dr Wakeman as she adjusted her red glasses "our base of operations was on the ground at the time when we were building firebird however, the project was held at an underground bunker, 500 miles away from our headquarters, essentially, making it a secret lab"
"wow mom," replied Jenny, "you guys sure had a lot going for you back then,"
"and that must've been after the war..." speculated Tyler, "and of course after armagedroid.."
"indeed Tyler," sighed dr Wakeman "I just don't know what I'm going to tell skyway patrol that I let a young man pilot one of our greatest creations, and convince them, as you convinced me that you are responsible enough for such a privilege..."
"well, whatever happens," said Tyler as he wrapped an arm around dr Wakeman's shoulder, "Jenny and I will support you, even if we have to talk to them with you,"
"We sure will mom," smiled Jenny
dr Wakeman felt baffled, "a-are you sure about that young man?" she asked under her breath, "they've had an unpleasant history with XJ9, but with you, who I entrusted firebird with, they could do anything to you, and I would also pay the price for keeping this from them,"
Tyler was silent for a few moments, narrowing his eyes a bit then spoke, "I know,"
"Young man, you don't know what you are asking for!" Yelped dr Wakeman, "all 3 of us could be placed under arrest by skyway patrol, and they would take XJ9 and firebird from us, all because I did this behind their backs..."
Tyler lowered his head a bit, his eyes fully closed, his decision intended "I understand, but nothing can stop that now..."
"Tyler's right mom," added Jenny, "we'd have to talk to them somehow,"
"Think of what you are saying, young man! If skyway patrol were to know of you piloting firebird, they would arrest you," warned dr Wakeman "and prevent you from going to school, to live your life as XJ9 desires, not only that, Vexus would have the grand opportunity to destroy mankind while skyway patrol has us all in their hands, can you accept that?"
"Well, if there's one thing I don't like," Tyler spoke firmly, as he stood up, "it's lying, and by the same token, I have no intention on running either, there is no going back from this, I was given firebird by you, to protect those I love, my friends, my family, and everyone who lives here from Vexus and the cluster empire, as well as others who would do the same...nothing can change that now, skyway patrol may as well do their worst, I'm facing this head-on no matter what they say, or what they do,"
"Tyler..." shook dr Wakeman under her breath as she watched her young protege, almost as if tears of pride and joy were threatening to spill from her eyes...
jenny also felt quite moved by her close friend's words, to think that this young man was one of those three who came by her window to be friends with her, and now he's ready to take a stand against skyway patrol, for his right to be firebird, she was glad to have met Tyler, along with brad and tuck...
"whatever happens mom," sighed Jenny softly "we're all in this together..."
dr Wakeman's face cracked a wide smile as she looked to Tyler who responded with a nod, then after a moment of silence, the three embraced each other, ever ready to face whatever skyway patrol or Vexus May throw at them...
3 hours later...
Time 12:25 pm
location tremorton mall
After a while of training, Tyler and Jenny decided to spend their time hanging out at the mall with brad and tuck as They were having lunch at the food court, brad and tyler were each eating a cheese burger and fries while tuck ate a grilled cheese sandwich and sweet potato fries
"wow Tyler," said brad as he ate his cheese burger, "sounds like ms Wakeman is working you and jenny overtime,"
"and for a reason, brad," nodded Tyler as he ate his cheese burger "firebird may be helpless, and so will I, unless we get help,"
"I don't think that's true Tyler," smiled brad as he then munched on fries after a bite of his cheese burger "you're just as helpful as Tyler as you are as firebird,"
"yeah! also, isn't it what ms Wakeman said earlier?" asked tuck as he ate his grilled cheese sandwich"skyway patrol co-created firebird? shouldn't they be able to help?"
"yeah tuck, but mom's nervous about that," sighed jenny "after all we pretty much did all this behind their backs,"
"oh," realized tuck as he started to eat his sweet potato fries after eating his grilled cheese sandwich "that's definitely a problem,"
"yeah," agreed brad as he ate some of his fries "but I know one thing, if Wakeman hadn't thought about giving you firebird Tyler, we wouldn't be here right now,"
"you're probably right brad," replied Tyler, as he munched on his cheese burger "but as I told her, I don't intend on backing down,"
"man Tyler," replied Tuck, as he munched on his sweet potato fries, "you're almost as relentless as jenny,"
"yeah tuck" smiled jenny, "I guess that's why mom chose him,"
"speaking of miss Wakeman," added brad as he was halfway through his cheese burger, "didn't she say she'd call you when she's ready for more training?"
"yeah she did," said Tyler in thought as he switched to his fries "though, I think we should check up on her after lunch,"
"can't argue with that," replied Jenny, "let's just have a good time until then!"
"yeah!" smiled brad, eating what's left of his fries,
later, after having lunch, the group of friends ventured around the mall for a little while, Tyler and jenny then sat down near a bench as they decided to check up on dr Wakeman, brad and tuck then soon joined them,
"Alright," said jenny "time to call mom,"
she then activated her portable small wide-screen communicator to contact dr Wakeman, Tyler, brad, and tuck looked at the screen as static formed around it the screen soon clear revealing a bookcase like room, staring at a lone small chair on the desk, but dr Wakeman was not there
the group of friends looks turned to worry, as jenny looked closer at the screen,
"Mom?" she said "mom? are you there?"
"it's not like dr Wakeman to not answer," added Tyler
"yeah what happened?" added brad also worried
"mom! are you there?!" cried jenny as the screen then turned to black and a mono speaker said to await voice-mail
tyler's look turned serious as he looked at jenny "jenny," he said "I don't like this, we'd better hurry back to your house and find out if she's alright,"
jenny nodded and she and Tyler stood up
"will you guys be alright?" asked tuck
"we'll be alright tuck," assured Tyler, "we just have to see if dr Wakeman's alright,"
"hey, not a problem," said brad "see you guys soon!"
"see you brad!" cried Tyler as he and jenny rushed out of the mall and back to the Wakeman residence...
time 1:15 pm
location Wakeman residence
jenny flew overhead as Tyler raced behind her back to her house to check on dr Wakeman, she wasn't usually like this, to not respond to jenny's calls, although dr Wakeman calls her first...
"hang on dr Wakeman!" Tyler panted in his thoughts "jenny and I are coming! we need you at a time like this!"
then, as they approached the Wakeman residence jenny descended and landed on the ground, Tyler caught up and soon looked around them, to see black colored vehicles, with red nose cones at the front of them,
"what the!?" cried Jenny, "what are all these vehicles doing at mom's house?"
"I don't know jenny," panted Tyler catching his breath "but I have a feeling we'll find out once we find dr Wakeman,"
"Alright," said jenny "let's go inside,"
Tyler and Jenny then walked towards the entrance and opened the door, to see a squadron of skyway patrol officers surrounding the building, and with 2 of then restraining dr Wakeman with a sad look on her face and with supreme commander Hawkins waiting for them,
"Mom!" cried jenny as she saw her mother restrained
"dr Wakeman!" added Tyler, worried about her and why skyway patrol was assaulting the Wakeman residence
the two officers continued to restrain dr Wakeman as Hawkins then walked up towards Tyler with a stone-cold look on his face and spoke up,
"Tyler, the pilot of the firebird robot I assume?"
To Be Continued...