Date September 6th, 2014

Time 1:16 pm

"you, you know who I am!?" Tyler stammered a bit as he took a step back, the shock over the supreme commander of skyway patrol knowing Tyler is firebird rush over him,

"of course I do young man," told Hawkins coldly, looking at Tyler dead in the eye, while turning his head to dr Wakeman who had a regretful look on her face "thanks to Nora here, I am supreme commander James Hawkins of skyway patrol, and you are in big trouble young man,"

"What kind of big trouble?" Tyler snapped

Hawkins wasted no time pulling out a scrolled document, as a long piece of paper rolled out "you young man, including Nora Wakeman, have violated many laws, especially against skyway patrol," he explained "this list here shows crimes consisting of vigilantism, robbery of a prototype experimental machine, working with a retired member of our organization, and operating above the law"

"you gotta be kidding me!" cried jenny "you guys are suing us!?"

"don't blame us, all of this is on Nora's head most of all, XJ9" replied Hawkins coldly,

"her name's Jenny," snarled Tyler "and I made that decision to pilot firebird! I even asked and was trained by dr Wakeman for your information!"

"by Nora herself?" Hawkins raised an eyebrow "you don't say, young man,"

"Hawkins, please let Tyler go" dr Wakeman broke in, "he's only a teenager like XJ9"

"What did I just say?" Tyler snapped, darting an eye to jenny

"in any other case, Tyler," prompted Hawkins, pulling out the paper yet again, "you are under these charges unless you can prove yourself in court or any other means to show you are innocent, until then, Nora is under house arrest,"

"jokes on you," spoke jenny "she doesn't get out very often,"

"wait, really?" asked an officer restraining dr Wakeman "wow, she hasn't had it good since she left,"

"you guys are ones to talk," Tyler snarled,

"Yeah, you guys just haven't gotten ANY better in 20 years," huffed jenny crossing her arms

"my point still stands," Hawkins broke in "Nora is under house arrest, and this young man must prove you're both innocent, in court"

"But what about firebird?" asked Tyler "he's breaking down right now, and we need to get him renovated right away!"

"we will deal with our creation in due time," replied Hawkins "you must face these charges first,"

"UGH! you guys can't do this!" pleaded jenny "we need her! and you need us!"

"and we don't need vigilantes operating above the law" snapped Hawkins "these extraterrestrial attacks are our business!"

"oh yeah!?" snapped Tyler taking a step towards Hawkins "and where were YOU guys when vexus had jenny mind-controlled and tearing up the high school?! where were you guys when vexus had mini bots attacking the city?! and where were you guys when vexus sent another one of her minions to destroy us!?"

"We were just doing paperwork" an officer replied with a straight face "mountains and mountains of paperwork too,"

immediately Tyler turned his head towards the officer with a blank look on his face "..really?" he replied disgustedly "really?"

the skyway patrol officer nodded "really"

"really?"

"really"

"REALLY!?" Tyler snapped with a raised angered voice

this made the officer flinch as well as a few others, even jenny and her mother were taken back by Tyler, they never heard or even seen him THIS angry, especially against skyway patrol, a legal organization who was created when an intergalactic war broke out on earth and in present time reduced to doing paperwork for the sake of it,

"paperwork?" Tyler retorted "just PAPERWORK!?"

"...yes?" another one of the skyway patrol officers spoke foolishly,

"YOU GUYS ARE SUCH BLOODY IDIOTS!" Tyler roared angrily

"I'm sorry young man," replied Hawkins calmly "but our paperwork is what keeps our organization going,"

"not to mention we have to fill all of them out if we're to do anything" spoke one of the officers restraining dr Wakeman

"so paperwork is more important to you then saving real people!?" growled Tyler again clenching his fists

"and to think you guys harass me all the time for 'unauthorized' aviation" snapped jenny "you guys are no better than your so-called 'unauthorization'"

"and not to mention you guys just let chaos happen all the time over mountains of paper!" shouted Tyler "and I was even told you guys once fought in a war alongside dr Wakeman here!"

"yes but that was in the past," replied Hawkins "now we are pressured by nothing but paperwork, there is nothing we can do about it,"

"it's always like that isn't it?" Tyler snapped, taking a step towards Hawkins "'nothing we can do about it,' I'm so sick and tired of hearing that overused excuse! well, you guys aren't any better than the aliens you fought, vexus, or the evil across the world here!"

"and what do you know of evil, young man?" said Hawkins trying to defend himself

"I know that vexus' minions tried to kill people, destroy homes, and enslave humanity!" Tyler countered

"hmm..vexus you say?..." Hawkins said in thought

"wait, you guys know her?" jenny broke in

"we've dealt with vexus and her kind back in the first intergalactic war," Hawkins explained, "They were a force to be reckoned with, that was until we created armagedroid, who ended the war for earth for us, even though Nora tricked him into the earth's molten core"

"well, it wasn't enough," snarked Tyler "they're back and jenny and firebird are as of now, our only hope against them!"

"war and the battlefield are no place for CHILDREN," Hawkins retorted, not convinced of how much is at stake, "I'm sorry but you all are facing these charges until your trial commences,"

"and what about Tremonton?!" Tyler snapped, concerned about the people's safety, knowing vexus could strike any moment,

"until we get that paperwork done," told Hawkins as he walked past Tyler "we'll see what we can do,"

"but Hawkins," snapped dr Wakeman " you know that could take decades!"

"it is a necessary evil Nora," told Hawkins "until then, you are not to leave this house, or I will have you all thrown in jail,"

"There is no such thing as 'necessary evil'" Tyler snarled, quite agitated and unbelieving in the ideal that is 'a necessary evil'

"We shall see," snapped Hawkins "until then, see you in court firebird," he then walked away with the rest of his men as they then released dr Wakeman and walked away

Tyler only clenched his fists even more "THEY are the ones who are children,"

"yeah, seriously mountains of paperwork?" huffed jenny, "no wonder mom retired,"

"Tyler, xj9," said dr Wakeman "this is serious, this is the law we are dealing with,"

"and as far as I know," replied Tyler "the law can be just as corrupt as vexus and her minions,"

"in any other case," dr Wakeman sighed "we must prove we're innocent, and that will mean a testimony by you young man,"

"in court?" said Tyler "but that would risk our identities, dr Wakeman, you know this, also because court's freaking boring, I get that it's necessary, but seriously it's going back and forth with talking while providing evidence, I'd fall asleep, it's super awkward,"

"huh," said jenny raising an eyebrow "fair point"

"This is not the time," dr Wakeman snapped "right now we must risk it all, or else firebird and the earth is doomed,"

"what about vexus and her forces in the meantime?" Tyler asked

"well, since I'm under house arrest I can only do so much young man," dr Wakeman sighed sadly "you and xj9 are as of now our only hope like you said so yourself, "

"Indeed we are..." Tyler said as he lowered his head "but how will we handle the law and vexus at the same time?"

"Hopefully by working together Tyler," replied jenny "mom didn't train you for nothing,"

"no she didn't, but as I said before, I have no intention of running either, we'll handle BOTH cases if we must," replied Tyler

"let us hope we can young man," prayed dr Wakeman, looking out the window of the living room,

location cluster prime, vexus' palace

in the hangar bay at vexus' palace, an army of cluster drones, including newly mass-produced mega cluster drones, were at the launch pad where the portal to earth lied, at vexus's post, a cluster drone came up to her

"My queen," the drone kneeled "our forces are ready for departure,"

"excellent" vexus nodded "do you understand your mission?"

"yes my queen," the cluster drone nodded "finish off firebird before he has a chance to recover,"

"yes," vexus grinned "and your target is this primal earth home where he resides, destroy it if you have to get to firebird, but capturing XJ9, is your secondary objective, finishing firebird is your primary objective,"

"understood my queen," vexus's minion nodded "we shall now depart"

"go then," boomed vexus with glee "make those miserable organics suffer!"

as her minion left to join his squadron, vexus pressed a button and the portal to earth opened and the armada of cluster drones and mega cluster drones flew towards their destination, and to finish off the blue gladiator and his friends...

location earth, Tremonton, Wakeman residence

time 3:45 pm

for the past 2 hours, Tyler, jenny, and dr Wakeman had been working desperately to find the evidence necessary to win their upcoming trial, so far they've been able to find firebird's building permit, but proving Tyler didn't steal firebird would require a testimony between Tyler and dr Wakeman, but somehow, they also got to prove skyway patrol is far from blameless, even though this will not leave our heroes unpunished from the court,

"mom, are you sure this permit of firebird's construction can prove you created firebird just like you created me?" asked jenny

"This paper may be our only chance at proving that XJ9," dr Wakeman replied "we must protect this, but Tyler, proving you didn't steal firebird will mean we both must present our case"

"indeed dr Wakeman," said Tyler "but if you ask me, I'm not sure if I'm one on letting skyway patrol go unpunished,"

"I can't say I disagree with you young man," said dr Wakeman "but what I must say is how can we prove that skyway patrol being so inept to notice the chaos that goes on for 20 years prior?"

"not to mention all the trouble I went to protecting the earth before you became firebird," added jenny "what idiots these guys are, I can see why you created me, mom, alongside having Tyler be firebird,"

"I would think the only to do that would be to expose the paperwork they do daily," thought Tyler out loud, "but we can hardly touch skyway patrol for the duration until our trial, that would just be more administration to our guilt,"

"I'm afraid your right young man," sighed dr Wakeman "I warned you didn't I? they meant business, they could even take xj9 from us"

"they're children," snapped Tyler "as I said they're no better than vexus, or her minions, in any other case there's no turning back, we MUST win this trial, or else our lives and our careers will be taken before their time,"

"Yeah, as well as everyone here on earth if we can't be here to protect it," added jenny setting aside her grips with saving the world, "but in the meantime, we gotta have more evidence if we're gonna win that trial, man! wish we could do it our way,"

"I know Jenny," replied Tyler "but as much as I have grips against the government and politics, fighting this trial would only make things worse,"

"Tyler is right," said dr Wakeman "we'd only go against the system if absolutely necessary,"

"yeah dr Wakeman," replied Tyler "especially the oppressive ones, but we must face this one,"

but before they could talk more, an explosion could be heard outside the house, immediately they scrambled to their feet, they rushed out towards the back window to find multiple mega cluster drones assaulting the backyard firing their lasers across the lush grass, which meant only one thing,

"the cluster!" all three cried out in horror, realizing vexus is behind this attack

"I should've known vexus would have the nerve to take advantage!" cried dr Wakeman, anticipating the queen of cluster prime's plan,

"at a time like this too!" groaned jenny

"yeah her timing is at lousy as ever!" agreed Tyler "we have to get out there and take them down!"

"without firebird?" asked dr Wakeman

"mom, this may be that time our training pays off!" speculated jenny

"jenny's right dr Wakeman," agreed Tyler "we've got to go out there!"

"hurry then," replied dr Wakeman "I will remain here and defend the house from vexus's minions should they get past you two,"

"understood dr Wakeman!" nodded Tyler "let's go jenny!"

"got it Tyler!" replied jenny with a nod "time to see our training pay off!"

with that, dr Wakeman's two prodigies left the house through the back door and rushed through the yard towards the enemy troops, leaving dr Wakeman alone in the house she then went down to the basement...

"Keep firing!" shouted a cluster drone "firebird is down there somewhere! destroy the entire settlement if you have too!"

the mega cluster drones fired another one of their palm lasers, setting parts of the lush grass yard ablaze, then Tyler ran up towards the drones while jenny flew overhead, laser guns at the ready,

"it's XJ9!" a cluster drone shouted, "and one of those organics!"

"you guys sure know how to make a mess!" cried Jenny, now firing her laser cannons, blasting back a few of the mega cluster drones

"capture XJ9!" ordered a cluster drone "queen vexus wants her captured alive!"

"and what of the human?" one of the mega cluster drones asked

"Kill him!" cried a cluster drone "queen vexus wants no human alive! terminate him!"

some of the cluster drones rushed to Tyler, some with pincher claws and some with blasters, but the young hero countered attacked with his new skills acquired from his recent training, some of the cluster drones fell, but regardless, Tyler knew he was only human, and he could only do some much against the mechanical menace without firebird

meanwhile, jenny was blasting through the mega cluster drones with her laser blasters, she even managed to blast one of their blaster arms off, large missile pods then came out from her back as she sprayed the field with missiles, many of the cluster drones were blown to pieces, while the mega cluster drones suffered much damage from the barrage

but as Tyler was still fighting off the cluster drones, he eventually started to struggle, some of the drones even started to get past him,

"jenny!" called out Tyler acting fast, as he kicks down a drone "they're getting away!"

"Not for long!" shouted Jenny, turning her left shoulder missile pod towards the fleeing drones towards the Wakeman residence, as she fired some of them got hit, but some managed to reach the house and drill into the back walls of the house "mom!" she cried and tried to fly towards the drones, but got interrupted by the mega cluster drones blasting her

"are you forgetting someone XJ9?" one of the mega cluster drones taunted "you must defeat all of us if you are to stop us from destroying firebird! which is impossible!"

"and let me guess" jenny retorted "vexus wants me to join you guys? I already told you guys! I won't!" she then proceeded to blast the mega cluster drones, desperate to get past them and save her mother,

"dr Wakeman!" Tyler shouted as he started to get a bit overwhelmed by the cluster drones,

inside the Wakeman residence, the cluster drones storm the living room, one of them held out a scanner and tries to locate firebird's hangar,

"firebird should be in here," one of the drones pondered "our queen is certain of it"

"yes, right underneath this very house," spoke one of the drones "the secret hangar is there as well!"

"then let's get down there and finish what we came for" shouted one of the drones as they began to tunnel down to the basement while some of them went down the stairs, there they made their way to firebird's hangar, eventually they reached their destination

"there he is!" shouted one of the drones "firebird! the accursed robot who has robbed queen vexus of xj9 so many times!"

"destroy him!" said one of the drones as he then threw a large hand grenade but before it could hit the blue gladiator, a laser blast shot out and detonated the grenade,

"What!?" cried one of the drones "who shot that!?"

"I did!" shouted a female voice, the cluster drones turned and out of the shadows came dr Wakeman, in her old skyway patrol uniform, holding a laser pistol,

"It can't be!" cried one of the drones "your still alive!?"

"It may have been awhile," said dr Wakeman "but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve!" she then fired her blaster as the cluster drones started firing back

"We can still destroy firebird here and now!" cried one of the cluster drones amongst the crossfire, "try again with the explosive!"

"yes sir!" cried one of the drones, hanging out a laser bazooka, getting ready to fire

"oh no you don't!" cried dr Wakeman firing her blaster to the laser bazooka, making it explode and sending the cluster drones flying across the metal floor,

dr Wakeman then took the chance to go and face them in hand to hand combat, one of the drones reached for their gun, but dr Wakeman managed to punch them before he could get the chance, she then fought every cluster drone in the area head-on, punching every one of them, she had yet to lose her touch from her former days as a volunteer of skyway patrol,

"But we were so close!" cried a drone "we cannot be stopped here!"

"that's what you think!" cried dr Wakeman as she kicks the last drone across the room then placing a grip on her left glove, "hmm, looks like I still got it..." she then turned to firebird in his resting place standing up "I just hope XJ9 and Tyler are doing well up there,"

back on the surface, Tyler and Jenny were still hard at work handing the ground troops of the cluster, jenny was able to destroy one mega cluster drone, and then swooped down to help Tyler in defeating the cluster drones, transforming her left arm into a sledgehammer swinging it on them

"Thanks, Jenny!" cried out Tyler throwing a punch to a nearby cluster drone and then throwing a kick towards another

"no problem Tyler!" Yelled jenny as she swung her sledgehammer arm bashing a cluster drone across the field then transforming her right arm into a dart shooter piercing many of the drones

"what's going on!?" asked one of the cluster drones "our forces should have destroyed the hangar containing firebird by now!"

"Maybe they've messed up!" cried one of the mega cluster drones as they marched towards the house "we'll finish the job!"

"I don't think so!" shouted Jenny as her arm transformed into a chained spike mace as she swung it towards one of the mega cluster drones, making him fall to the ground

Tyler continued fighting the cluster drones when jenny lent Tyler her assistance by swing the ball towards them "Tyler!" jenny shrieked "duck!" and duck Tyler did, just as the long metal chain holding the spiked ball swung over him, and smashed the squad of cluster drones across the field,

"Thanks, Jenny!" cried Tyler "now let's finish the job!"

"Right!" Yelled jenny as she flew towards the mega cluster drones transforming her right arm into a large double-bladed ax she slashed one of the mega cluster drones, dealing critical damage to him and exploded into pieces she then blasted the other mega cluster drone with both hand repulsors, blasting him back, and then finishing him off with a drill kick to the chest,

"the mega cluster drones have fallen!" cried one of the normal drones "and the troops who were sent to destroy firebird have been destroyed as well!"

"yeah!" shouted jenny "everyone is down! you're through!"

"it's no use!" cried one of the cluster drones "we must retreat! retreat!"

one of the cluster drones pulled out a device and used it to open a portal back to cluster prime and they all flew towards the portal "we'll get you someday XJ9, and that organic too!" one of them taunted as the portal closed soon afterward,

Tyler collapsed onto his knees in exhaustion, "we..we did it..." he panted, trying to catch his breath,

"Yeah!" cheered jenny "that'll show vexus!" she then helped Tyler up to his feet,

"yeah, but I barely did anything besides handle the normal drones..." Tyler lamented acknowledging his human limits,

"hey, you still did good," reassured jenny, "but something's off here..."

"what's that jenny?" asked Tyler

"one of those drones said the ones that went past us had been destroyed," thought jenny

"we'd better head back inside and find out," said Tyler

"Yeah, let's go," said Jenny, as they all went back inside the Wakeman residence

Tyler and Jenny rushed down the stairs to the basement where firebird's resting place was, hoping the clusters have not succeeded in destroying him, when they reached the hangar they not only saw firebird unharmed but the cluster drones laying on the floor, beaten

"man!" said jenny "these guys look messed up!"

"yeah," said Tyler "but the question is, what happened to them?"

"oh they've been dealt with," spoke dr Wakeman as she stepped forward, still in her skyway patrol uniform

"Mom?" asked jenny "is that your former uniform when you used to work with skyway patrol?"

"Indeed it is XJ9" replied dr Wakeman "and I see you and Tyler have been able to hold back vexus' forces"

"barely," sighed Tyler "some of the drones managed to get past us and nearly destroyed firebird,"

"oh no worries young man," reassured dr Wakeman "they only slipped past you, nothing more,"

"I guess your right, dr Wakeman," replied Tyler "and now with vexus' minions out of the way, we can now focus on our trial"

"yes, excellent work you two!" cheered dr Wakeman

"Thanks, mom!" smiled jenny "by the way what about the evidence we've been setting up for the trial?"

"I was able to hide the evidence in a safe place while I came down here to protect firebird from here," explained dr Wakeman

"that's good to hear," said Tyler "but now we must bring the evidence out, we need it if we are to win our trial,"

"right young man," nodded dr Wakeman "this way now," she then leads her two prodigies to a nearby drawer containing the building permit for firebird,

"thank the heavens," sighed Tyler in relief "we still have it, but I think we'd outta make a copy of the permit, and the blueprints,"

"yes," said dr Wakeman "but the testimony that firebird was not stolen and the events afterward will require testimony from the two of us,"

"what about skyway patrol?" asked Tyler "these guys just let paperwork consume their lives, leaving us to pick up the pieces, I hate to see them go unpunished"

"There is a legal way of doing that young man," replied dr Wakeman "we could provide a countersue against them"

"a countersue?" asked jenny "how are we gonna do that mom?"

"well from my experience of skyway patrol as a volunteer should give this countersue an insight," explained dr Wakeman "by filing a complaint about skyway patrol's...ahem, negligence on their duties with their paperwork, but we must do our part to make sure this countersue goes through,"

"understood dr Wakeman," nodded Tyler "whether it's the legal system or not, skyway patrol WILL NOT get away with neglecting their jobs, or taking jenny and firebird!"

"Yeah, mom!" cheered jenny "as we said earlier we're with you all the way!"

"thank you both," smiled dr Wakeman "but now we must get started on practicing our testimony and winning our case"

"right!" both Tyler and jenny nodded as they all then head back upstairs to continue practicing for their trial at court later on...

dr Wakeman used the printer on her workbench to create a copy of firebird's building permit, and a copy of the blueprint pictures of the blue gladiator, afterward she called Tyler and jenny to collaborate on their testimony they must present to the court, despite the risks it holds for Tyler's true identity alongside jenny's vigilantism, and the threesome's future then they also banded together to set up their countersue against skyway patrol, they looked for a tape consisting of security footage from skyway patrol, a newspaper dating from May 17th, 2007 and another security footage of a crime scene to help prosecute skyway patrol for their upcoming trial...

date Tuesday, September 8th, 2014

time 11:00 am

the day of the trial had soon come, Tyler and jenny were released early from school due to their upcoming trial at the courthouse in downtown Tremonton, dr Wakeman, brad, and tuck soon joined the two friends at the entrance of the courthouse

"I can't believe this is it," sighed Tyler "us, vs skyway patrol in court"

"indeed young man," replied dr Wakeman "and as a former volunteer of skyway patrol, never have I thought I would be going against them with all of you in court"

"well like Tyler and I said, mom," said Jenny " we're all in this together"

"you bet!" cheered brad "I just can't believe those guys, 'paperwork' over actually doing something, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"

"Yeah!" agreed tuck "and these guys are supposed to be our line of defense?"

"and these guys also used to fight an intergalactic war for earth alongside dr Wakeman..." huffed Tyler crossing his arms "and they have the nerve to harass jenny and me because we can do what they can't!"

"easy now young man," replied dr Wakeman "remember what we must do here"

"right mom," nodded jenny "clear our name, reveal our evidence,"

"reveal our testimony together," added Tyler "tell the truth, file that countersuit, and tell the court our evidence that skyway patrol are not blameless"

"that is correct young man," nodded dr Wakeman "I hope we'll be able to win this case,"

"We have to mom," said Jenny "firebird and the whole world depends on us winning this trial,"

"jenny's right," told brad " tuck and I will be cheering you guys on in the gallery"

"Thanks, brad," nodded Tyler "well, looks like it's time, wish us luck!"

"go get em you guys!" cheered tuck waving to them as Tyler, jenny and dr Wakeman enter the courthouse, as tuck and his older brother entered to join the gallery in the courtroom,

minutes later, everyone entered the courtroom, brad and tuck were among those at the gallery on the sides of the courtroom, the three main defendants were seated at a long narrow desk then the bailiff came next to the judge's bench to stand guard, then the plaintiff came towards a desk right next to the defendants'

"Please don't fall asleep...please don't fall asleep...please don't fall asleep..." Tyler mentally chanted to himself, trying to maintain his composure while jenny and dr Wakeman did the same, after a while, the four bibbles were passed to the plaintiff, and the three defendants

"I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me god, amen," they said as they swore their oath,

"order!" called the bailiff silencing everyone and making the gally rise "all rise! here comes the honorable judge" the judge then walked towards his bench taking his seat, the bailiff presents today's case "case number 3045 skyway patrol vs Wakeman, jenny, and Tyler, the parties have been sworn in, ladies and gentlemen, you may be seated,"

everyone in the gally then took their seats while the plaintiff and the defendants stood up "let the trial commence, the plaintiff may proceed with their opening statement,"

"yes your honor," said James Hawkins as he stood up "you all may have heard of me, I am head of the skyway patrol, the earth's first line of defense, and these three stand accused of vigilantism, a robbery of a prototype experimental machine that was created 20 years ago, working with a member of our organization that had retired years ago, and operating above the law, we shall prove that these crimes were committed by these people, thank you, your honor"

"thank you, Mr. Hawkins," said the judge "ms Nora Wakeman you may proceed with your opening statement,'

"thank you, your honor," dr Wakeman nodded "yes, it's true I retired from skyway patrol, and I was a volunteer during the first intergalactic war that occurred over 20 years ago, after I created armagedroid and how turned against us, I vowed to make up for that mistake by creating the XJ series of robots, and firebird to replace armagedroid, and we've operated above the law to do so in protecting the earth, but we will prove that we did all this for a reason, and that firebird was not stolen, and this young man was innocent, alongside XJ9, the defense also asks for a gag order for today's trial, thank you, your honor"

"thank you, ms Wakeman," said the judge "we shall take a break, everyone, please stay seated, we will then resume the trial"

the judge then left the bench and into his private chambers while the bailiff keeps everyone in order, Tyler, jenny, and dr Wakeman converse silently while they wait, 15 minutes later, the judge returned and the bailiff made sure everything was in order

"the court has made their decision," said the judge as he banged his gavel "request approved, the gag order is now instituted, anyone who speaks of what happens here in public will be charged with contempt of court, now, let us resume the trial, the plaintiff may now present your evidence,"

"yes your honor," said Hawkins pulling out a newspaper dating from august 26th 2014, "we first heard about firebird being active at this date when an attack occurred by one of our enemies during the intergalactic war, the cluster, we had not appointed one of our officers to pilot him, after that, we tried giving ms Wakeman here a chance to shut it all down,"

"thank you, Mr. Hawkins," said the judge "the defendant may now present their evidence,"

"yes, your honor," said dr Wakeman, pulling out firebird's building permit "this permit was signed by me when I used to work with skyway patrol, on the project of a giant robot we called firebird, built to be earth's protector in armagedroid's place, only instead of A.I, it would be piloted by a trained human being,"

"thank you, dr Wakeman," said the judge, "the plaintiff may provide their second piece of evidence,"

"yes your honor," said James Hawkins as he pulled out the confiscation paper "this paper is when we confiscated the project, during the final energy test, we pumped the energy onto firebird, but it shorted out and the project proved a failure until now it appears, seeing as though firebird was piloted by a young man,"

"thank you, Mr. Hawkins," said the judge "the defense may now proceedeth their second piece of evidence"

"yes, your honor," said dr Wakeman as she presented firebird's blueprints which also showed dr Wakeman's signature written on it "these blueprints were crafted by me, while skyway patrol handed me the building permit to create firebird, I designed these blueprints to see how he should be built, as I was head of the whole project"

"thank you, dr Wakeman," said the judge "Mr. Hawkins, your final piece of evidence?"

"of course, your honor," said James Hawkins as he pulled out a second newspaper "this newspaper, your honor dates to September 5th, 2014 it was another attack brought upon by the cluster, but this time, the paper said firebird was slower than normal, we have reason to believe he was rusting, considering it has been 20 years since skyway patrol last saw our creation, when we read this paper, it was the last straw for us,"

"thank you, Mr. Hawkins," said the judge "the defense may present their final piece of evidence"

"yes your honor," said dr Wakeman "I call Tyler Watkins, as my first witness"

Tyler knew it was his time to look firm as dr Wakeman turned to him "Tyler, you know that I and skyway patrol created firebird, and yet you chose to become his pilot and protect humanity, why?" she asked her young prodigy

"yes, it's true I am the robot fighter you've heard about in the newspapers," responded Tyler with honesty "fighting alongside jenny, and I was recruited by dr Wakeman to pilot firebird when I asked dr Wakeman herself, 'how will we be able to protect the earth if jenny was turned?' but I tell you this, I became firebird because I wanted to help people, as we know we all have our faults of pride, greed, and fear, but I for one, though it was a hard lesson to learn, for many of us, I was tired of those who never took responsibility, I always felt like I was the only one who has to do everything, and I had to take full responsibility, such as protecting my loved ones and my family, every time I entered firebird's cockpit, it always felt like I could do just that, and thus I vowed to protect everyone here on earth,"

jenny felt much warmth alongside dr Wakeman as she spoke "thank you Tyler," she said "next witness please, XJ9"

jenny turned towards her mother/creator "XJ9, would you say since the previous events with the cluster and firebird, Tyler Watkins is the right choice for piloting firebird?" dr Wakeman asked

"I honestly think there is no better choice mom," said Jenny "for 5 years I felt lonely in my battle against crime since I was created until one day tuck came at my door, and brad came through my window, and I met Tyler on the ground, they all felt like true friends, and Tyler and brad try hard, and I sympathize with Tyler's feelings of having to do everything and take responsibility of it, if you ask me, I wouldn't trade Tyler being firebird's pilot and us being friends/partners for anything else,"

"thank you, XJ9," said dr Wakeman "that is our testimony as evidence, your honor,"

"thank you, dr Wakeman," said the judge "would the plaintiff give out a closing statement?"

"yes your honor," said Hawkins "each of these papers has now proved that firebird was unauthorized to go into battle against our old enemies, alongside XJ9, besides the fact we confiscated the whole project years ago, and I just so happened that this young man shouldn't have made the risk of piloting such an advanced piece of technology and that no teenager should ever carry such a responsibility, I rest my case,"

"thank you, Mr. Hawkins," said the judge "finally, would the defense give their closing statement?"

"yes your honor" nodded dr Wakeman "the evidence we have provided here today shows that I was the one who designed and created firebird, and assigned this young man to pilot firebird when he asked about what he said earlier, 'how will we protect the earth if XJ9 was turned' and that I have the utmost confidence that he will be able to handle such a responsibility alongside XJ9, and that he should still have firebird, I rest my case"

"thank you, dr Wakeman," said the judge "the court will hear a verdict in 15 minutes, everyone please stay seated,"

the judge then left his bench and into his private chambers the bailiff again kept everyone in order 15 minutes later, the judge returned to his bench,

"After going over the evidence, and hearing the defense's testimony," said the judge "I am now ready to deliver my verdict,"

both the defendants and the plaintiff tensed up as the judge spoke "it is the decision of this court, that the defendant's jenny Wakeman, Tyler Watkins, and dr Wakeman are found..." the judge banged his gavel "NOT GUILTY"

James Hawkins was baffled, while the defendants sighed in relief the judge then spoke again "all other charges against the defendants are hereby dismissed"

"We did it.." sighed Tyler in relief

"yes, and now to do that countersuit," said dr Wakeman presenting a piece of paper consisting of a countersuit against skyway patrol, prosecuting them for negligence of duty, incrimination, bureaucratism, false sense of the public's trust, "your honor, if I may?"

after a moment of looking over the countersuit, the judge banged his gavel and James Hawkins and the three friends switched sides "we'll now institute case number 3046 'Wakeman, Tyler and jenny vs skyway patrol,'" the judge spoke again "would dr Wakeman her opening statement?"

"yes your honor," said dr Wakeman "we stand here today because, over the past 20 years, we have had thought skyway patrol could protect us since I was once a volunteer in their organization years ago when the first intergalactic war broke out, but in the years after armagedroid and firebird, we have not seen much out of skyway patrol doing their duties despite what their organization was built upon, preserving law and order, we will prove today, that skyway patrol have been quite neglectful of their duties, the plaintiff also requests a gag order for today's trial thank you, your honor,"

"thank you, dr Wakeman," said the judge "we shall take a break, everyone, please stay seated, we will then resume the trial"

the judge then left the bench and into his private chambers while the bailiff keeps everyone in order, while they wait, Tyler silently sneered at James Hawkins mentally saying in his thoughts "are you ready for round 2?" 15 minutes later, the judge returned and the bailiff made sure everything was in order

"the court has made their decision," said the judge as he banged his gavel "request approved, the gag order is now reinstituted, anyone who speaks of what happens here in public will be charged with contempt of court, now, let us resume the trial, the defendant may now present your evidence,"

"thank you, your honor," said Hawkins "we, skyway patrol have tried protecting the earth for many years, and have been committed to doing so, when we formed during the first intergalactic war, we fought many aliens, robots, and monsters, some of those times, we may have won, but some of those time we've been defeated, a lot of those times, horrifically but we will prove here today that skyway patrol is still doing their best to protect the planet, thank you, your honor,"

"thank you, Mr. Hawkins," said the judge "would the plaintiff give their first piece of evidence?"

"yes, your honor," said dr Wakeman as she pulled out a newspaper dating back to may 17th 2007 "this newspaper, your honor dates back to may 17th, 2007, before xj9 was created, the crime rate in Tremonton raised to a 75% increase, we saw no sign of skyway patrol doing their duties at that time, police officers could only do so much good compared to handling these crimes, skyway patrol rarely made an appearance at that time,"

"thank you, dr Wakeman," said the judge "Mr. Hawkins, please give out your first piece of evidence?"

"yes your honor," said Hawkins as he pulls out a sheet of skyway patrol's paperwork "as you see here, this is one of the paperwork we have to fill out if skyway patrol is authorized to do our duties, your honor if we don't fill out these papers, anyone who doesn't will receive red tape, you see if we are authorized to do anything, we must fill out these papers"

"thank you, Mr. Hawkins," said the judge "dr Wakeman, would you place in your second piece of evidence?"

"yes your honor," said dr Wakeman calling for a tv which plays a video of security footage, showing a robbery taking place but no sign of skyway patrol, only police officers, "as you can see through this security footage, a robbery took place on May 20th, 2007, in which officers fought valiantly to stop the crime, but if you look closer, to the outside the building, there was no sign of skyway patrol's vehicles, as they were busy with their paperwork,"

"thank you, dr Wakeman," said the judge "the defendant may present their second piece of evidence"

"thank you, your honor," said Hawkins he then presents a newspaper dating from 2005, titled 'skyway patrol lieutenant arrests bank robber ring leader' "as you see here, we have our moments of action, as seen here when one of our lieutenants took care of an operation upheld by bank robbers when authorized, we are sure to take action against such terrorists"

"thank you, Mr. Hawkins," said the judge "will the plaintiff present their final piece of evidence?"

"yes your honor," said dr Wakeman as she adjusted the tv projector showing security cam footage of the mountains upon mountains of paperwork and skyway patrol officers trying to sign it all "as you see here, behind the scenes of chaos, the officers here try to sign thousands upon thousands of paperwork, they still do to this day, they might even be doing it outside this very trial your honor, and all while this happens, people are being hurt by criminals, hence why firebird and XJ9 were created to protect them when skyway patrol couldn't"

"thank you, dr Wakeman," said the judge "does the defendant have their final piece of evidence?"

"yes your honor," said Hawkins as he presented a newspaper dating back to the first days of the intergalactic war, where skyway patrol was formed "this dates back when dr Wakeman was at first a volunteer, your honor, we were at first a private military platoon, trained for taking the fight to space, or in this case, earth, and the skies, but as we grew, paperwork was becoming more and more demanding, eventually to the point where one of our members retired from our organization, and in the years since, paperwork amounts grew by duplicate, and triplicate, we can still fight the good fight, however, many times over,"

"thank you, Mr. Hawkins," said the judge "dr Wakeman, please carry out your closing statement,"

"yes your honor," said dr Wakeman "as we have seen here today, skyway patrol has incorporated upon themselves with thousands upon thousands of paperwork, though we work above the law, doing paperwork is no excuse for such irresponsibility, think about how many people have been hurt or even killed by such neglect? this proves you have to take responsibility, despite the papers you have to sign or not, as it carries many consequences, you should even take a moment to even look what you have become when your skyway patrol, neglecting your duty, and responsibility to the public trust and protecting lives, I rest my case"

"thank you, dr Wakeman," said the judge "the defendant may present his closing statement,"

"yes your honor," said Hawkins "skyway patrol as you see from years ago has been a dedicated and noble cause to protect the innocent from beyond the intergalactic war, we may have our moments of paperwork and red tape, but we are still doing our best to protect the people here on earth from aliens, killer robots and so much more, even terrorists that wreak havoc upon the planet and Tremonton like XJ9 and firebird I rest my case"

"thank you, Mr. Hawkins," said the judge "the court will again have a verdict in 15 minutes, everyone please stay in your seats,"

the judge left to his private chambers yet again, the bailiff kept everyone in order, while the three friends hoped their evidence would be enough, they're not about to allow skyway patrol to get away with what they ran away from,

after 15 minutes the judge went back to his bench to deliver his second verdict for today's trial, "after carefully studying the evidence provided by the plaintiff and the defendant, I am now ready to deliver the verdict for this trial,"

everyone tensed up as the judge was preparing to decide the verdict "it is the decision of this court, that the defendants, James Hawkins, and the organization skyway patrol are found..." he banged his gavel "GUILTY!"

James Hawkins froze as the judge spoke again "a noble cause perhaps, but it's no excuse for neglecting your duty to protect the people, by relying on paperwork, you have endangered the lives of millions and have betrayed the public's trust tenfold, James Hawkins, you and skyway patrol are hereby sentenced to community service, reorganization, to make a plan to reduce paperwork to 50%, to make a public apology, you shall receive monthly status reports, accountability, Receive fine charges of $2,000,000 and staff reorganization,"

James Hawkins could barely speak, he couldn't believe it, skyway patrol, the organization which was formed to protect the earth during the intergalactic war, found guilty of neglect of duty, by a retired volunteer, a teenage robot, and just one young man

"case is closed," said the judge "and now, I would like to have a word with Mr. Watkins, would the bailiff please escort him to my private chambers?"

"yes, your honor," said the bailiff "this way young man,"

"yes sir," said Tyler as he stood up and allowed the court officer to escort him to the judge's private chambers, where they would be alone, the bailiff then closes the doors

"Tyler Watkins," said the judge "or should I say firebird?"

"well," said Tyler with ease, knowing everyone in the courtroom now knows who firebird really is "there's no denying that anymore.."

"no there isn't," agreed the judge "but I assure you, you aren't in trouble,"

"Really?" asked Tyler, raising an eyebrow

"yes," said the judge "I would like to say I'm proud of you for the things you've done for the past few weeks, even here today in court during your testimony,"

"to be fair, dr Wakeman lead the charge," said Tyler "she deserves the credit here,"

"yes she does," said the judge "but I also wanted to thank you, for saving my son in one of those attacks by the cluster"

"your son?" asked Tyler

"yes, he's heard about you when jenny was attacking the school," said the judge

"to be fair, your honor vexus and the cluster had jenny held on a leash" reminded Tyler "for about 15 minutes,"

"yes, I suppose your right" agreed the judge "but regardless, me and my son are grateful for what you and jenny have done for the past few weeks, and I too, sympathize with your feelings young man,"

"my feelings?" asked Tyler

"yes, you feel like you have to do everything in the world when no one else can, "said the judge "and that you have to take responsibility for all of it, I almost feel that very same way being a judge,"

"Indeed," said Tyler "having to choose whether someone is innocent or guilty for crimes they either did or did not commit"

"yes, it's not an easy life young man," said the judge "neither is yours,"

"I know that all too well by now..." sighed Tyler "and neither should it be neglected"

"no it shouldn't," said the judge "as dr Wakeman said back there, how many people have been hurt or even killed by such neglect?"

"well, now skyway patrol is going to be held accountable for a long time to come," said Tyler "about time too,"

"indeed young man," said the judge "but about the giant robot himself, Hawkins said firebird was slower the last time a cluster attack occurred, is he right?"

"yes your honor," said Tyler "after the confiscation, firebird was sealed away for 20 years, and now those 20 years are catching up to him, and unless we can get firebird renovated, he may be doomed to rust completely,"

"that must not happen," said the judge "we need him, just as we need jenny, hopefully now that skyway patrol has been sentenced, they'll now be responsible and help reconstruct firebird,"

"let's hope so your honor," said Tyler "if jenny and I fall, so will the earth,"

"yes, and we can only do so much," said the judge "me and my son and the rest of us wish you luck on your mission to protect us, and to live your best life young man,"

"thank you, your honor," said Tyler "by the way, will jenny, and I be able to meet your son?"

"you may see him at high school," said the judge, "he's a freshman right now actually,"

"I'll say hi to him for you, your honor," said Tyler

"thank you Tyler," said the judge "now then, I believe you and your friends must be off on your way,"

"Indeed, your honor," said Tyler turning to leave the chambers as the judge and bailiff followed, once they resumed their seats, the judge banged his gavel

"case is closed," said the judge "ladies and gentlemen of the court let me remind you of the gag order, anyone who speaks of firebird's identity, AKA Tyler will be charged with contempt of court, and will be jailed indefinitely, everyone here is herby dismissed, good day to all," everyone then exited the courtroom

"you've all done well," smiled dr Wakeman as they exited the courtroom "I couldn't thank you enough!"

"hey mom, you were the one who did everything," smiled jenny

"yeah, dr Wakeman," said Tyler "without you, we wouldn't have been able to find the evidence we needed and win the trial, we should be thanking you"

"thank you, young man," said dr Wakeman

alongside them James Hawkins was walking past them, still in shock and muttering to himself, "impossible!" he snarled "skyway patrol found guilty, by, a retired volunteer, a robot, and just one young man!"

"it was an extraordinary young man," snapped dr Wakeman "who brought back this spirit within me, alongside XJ9 Hawkins, that was Tyler Watkins, THAT was the blue gladiator firebird!"

Hawkins said nothing as he left the courtroom, knowing he was defeated,

"the blue gladiator?" asked jenny

"I actually have been wanting to use that name for a long time," said dr Wakeman

"I honestly like the name 'blue gladiator'" said Tyler "it has a nice ring to it,"

"indeed young man," said dr Wakeman "now then, let us be off,"

"Yeah!" agreed Tyler "we've had enough court trials for one day!"

the others cheered as they met up with brad and tuck as they exit the courthouse triumphant with skyway patrol sentenced, justice has finally been done...

later, after winning the trial, our heroes celebrated with a late pizza night over at Mesmer's cafe after spending the rest of the day relaxing, even though they know firebird still needs to be renovated, but that's a problem for another day...

as for skyway patrol, mere hours after their sentence, the news of their true colors spread across the globe like wildfire, it even spread to the rest of the organization as well, the consequences arose in the forms of angry mob attacks on the ground skyway patrol HQ, a staff exodus of most of the men and women who worked in the organization, having realized the horrors of their neglect, and disgusted with their jobs being nothing but paperwork, and skyway patrol being charged with 2 million dollars, even James Hawkins was forced to make a public apology worldwide, even though apologies are not always enough, even when you neglect your duties for 20 years with paperwork, but now, the future of skyway patrol depends on their choice, face the consequences, or repentance...

whichever choice they make may decide the fate of the planet earth, as well as our heroes...

location cluster prime, vexus' palace

time 7:30 pm

but as our heroes celebrate their legal victory, vexus was on her throne in the palace control room, already plotting her next move against our heroes, she had already punished her minions who failed in their last attack, she couldn't believe her old nemesis dr Wakeman had fought against her minions,

"Nora..." snarled Vexus "so, my old organic nemesis has shown herself after all, and against my troops as well,"

She and dr Wakeman had many encounters in the past during the first intergalactic war that ended when armagedroid was created but she had a theory about the human who fought alongside Jenny, Tyler

"that human..." thought Vexus out loud "if he has such courage to fight against my minions, then he has to be firebird, if that's the case, I'll have to make this next attack more thought out, they will not survive next time..."

"My queen!" Called a cluster drone, "the troops are being prepared as we speak!"

"Excellent," said Vexus "and the latest cluster super robot?"

"already testing the weapons as we speak," answered the cluster drone "he shall be ready for the next attack soon alongside our next wave of troops,"

"have them ready as soon as possible," said Vexus as she then laid out her next plan of action "when I give the order, have the cluster drones, the mega cluster drones, and the cluster super robot attack the Wakeman residence and destroy firebird,"

"We shall be ready to attack my queen!" Said the cluster drone "And what of the human who fought our forces and controls firebird?

vexus sat up from her throne as she strolled across the floor of the throne room "I will deal with him myself,"

IS FIREBIRD DOOMED TO RUST IN PEACE?

WILL SKYWAY PATROL COME TO THEIR SENSES?

WILL DR WAKEMAN AND JENNY ABLE TO HELP TYLER?

IS VEXUS GOING TO DESTROY TYLER AND FIREBIRD ALTOGETHER?

THE ANSWERS TO THESE AND OTHER BURNING QUESTIONS,

NEXT TIME ON THE BLUE GLADIATOR FIREBIRD!

SAME BAT TIME!

SAME BAT CHANNEL!

-TO BE CONTINUED...