//------------------------------// // Chapter 24 // Story: American Fox // by madhat886 //------------------------------// ! Charlie Brown Norton had changed from the wishy washy boy he was before his mother found him, after an event took him from this world hanging from a tree by a kite string. His new mother took him in and raised him like he was her own flesh and blood. Charlie has grown into fine man who is the second oldest after Sunset, he was found during the two years road trip to build up support for the election that made the Norton's the royal family of the United States. Charlie being the next in line of the throne, if there was a throne that is he was brought up just like Sunset. But with her being older and being the one who wanted the title of empress, turn his attention to the entertainment business. He loved sports and wanted to spread the fun of playing a sport, donating sport equipment to schools as well as other school supplies. And as time went on and the standard of living grew with people not needing to work such long hours, people got more free time thanks to all the new labor saving devices being made. Which gave them more free time then they had before, which is where Charlie came in. As with his younger sister Ginger, Charlie ran his own company Norton's Entertainment which is mainly a sport's company, supplying equipments and stadiums for sport teams. And just like Cookie Corners the company has branched out over the years, with Charlie going into building one of the first TV stations which played the recorded entertainment from tapes to blue-ray. There are also a number of radio stations that also plays the songs by his sisters Penny and Peppermint. Then there's the film studio that came from an event which Charlie now owns where not only films are being made but also tv shows. Laffer Studios seem to had come from a world where many women are slim and buxom seeing how many of the women who were on the grounds of the film lot are that, while the men are hit and miss. And the films made there are very adult themed. It seemed that sex wasn’t something that was hidden as it is in the new world the people who came with the film lot discovered. Charlie hearing about the film lot went and pulled some strings and brought the land the film lot appeared on and became the owner of the lot that was renamed Norton Studios. Larry Loveage the nephew of the owner of the lot and Denise who ran the studio gave ownership of the studio over to Charlie after he help settle all of them in the new world they found themselves in. The high sexual themes and the revealing clothes some of the women wore had to be changed if they were going to live in this world. The studio has been downgraded a bit as a tv studio with plans of producing a movie. But the theaters that are here and there, but mostly played the tv shows and movies that people found and brought to Spookhouse. There are some tv sets here and there but are mostly in the hands of the people who could afford them or in places like bars where there's alot of people around. And then there's the radio shows which the sound effects for movies are being used for the radio shows they make as well. They're doing alot to make money. A lot of changes had to be made to get the studio up and running, not to mention to tone done all the sexual content so things would workout for the morel standards of the world the studio is in now. Which is why Charlie put a woman who worked for him as an aid and had experience in working in entertainment in her world. Parker Kovak who in her world was the overworked, underpaid daytime talk show producer of, The Dee Show. A kind hearted but mildly neurotic woman in her late twenties. Charlie is currently in a meeting with Parker in updates about the studio. Which is her driving a go cart with Charlie sitting next to her as she gives him a tour of the studio. In the back are Jacky and his sister Sarah, the Bryant siblings are watching him, as the other bodyguards are wondering around the studio. There is the securitron and two eye bots keeping up with the go cart for added protection. With Charlie being second in line for the title of Emperor of the United States, there are many people who want to get close to him for one thing or another. Many gold diggers have thrown themselves at him with some being out worlders who had been high class women, who were mostly women who lived off the wealth of the men they attached themselves to who suddenly found themselves penniless and were willing to do what it takes to get back to the good life. Some claimed to be his girlfriends or lovers hoping to get the media and public on their side winning them over with their sob story, but in this world with them being nobodies and how different things are from the worlds they came from. The women were ignored as none could back up their claims. Some women came from worlds where it was ok for a woman to get even a baby boy the electric chair just because she saw his penis, as she was a nurse at his birth. And once in this world quickly found that the things they use to be able to do and get away with, is seen as them being monsters. With cases of them being beaten and lynch by angry mobs. (1) People weren't that ready to jump on whatever wagon came their way, as the same thing happen with Barbie Norton and still is happening. Even cases of some people claiming to be her children who she had abandon. Barbie helped her son in handling the women doing what they could to either charm, Charlie or trying to get a one night stand so that they could have his child. As while there were some hard working women with job skills or talents, others were just in it for the luxuries of having a rich meal ticket and if they needed to have a kid with him to do so then they would do it. Which cause Barbie to drive those women away one way or another as she didn't want her son to have anything to do with those kinds of women. Many young women saw that the way of getting close to Charlie was through his mother's blessing. Causing women to do what they could to get close to either so they have a chance of climbing the ladder. As well as other women of lower classes who saw him as a way to get a better life and to get into the upper class. Then there are all the royalties and nobles who saw him as a way to get connected to the new royal house which is both rich and well connected. "The new changes have already paying for themselves," Parker said stopping the cart in front of the radio show building. "We also been doing a radio news shows as well." "The town has grown since, I was last here," Charlie said. "Yes there are lots of people moving in and we needed to build some homes for the people who came with the studio," Parker said. "What about the animated studio?" Charlie ask. "It be finish by the end of this week," Parker said. "Good, it's just be cheaper to animated films then big budget movies," Charlie said. "Tell me about it. There are just too many big wig movie actors who still expect to be paid millions per movie," Parker said. "I'm still find it weird how much things cost," Jacky said. "Well people aren't as well paid as they are in our world, at least the time we're from," Sarah said. "There you are," a talking gorilla said spotting the cart. "Magilla Gorilla?" Jacky ask recognizing him. Magilla Gorilla an anthropomorphic gorilla who spends his time languishing in the front display window of Melvin Peebles' pet shop, eating bananas and being a drain on the businessman's finances. Peebles and later by marked down Magilla's price considerably, but Magilla was invariably only purchased for a short time, typically by some thieves who needed a gorilla to break into a bank or by an advertising agency looking for a mascot for their new product. The customers always ended up returning Magilla, forcing Peebles to refund their money. Magilla Gorilla sported a bow tie, shorts held up by suspenders, and an undersized purple derby hat. "Yup that's me," Magilla said. "What you need?" Parker ask. "The Neptunes are here and want to play for Mr. Norton here so that he'll give a good word in to his sisters," Magilla said. "Wait that cartoon with a talking shark?" Sarah asked. "The same," Parker said. Jabberjaw, a 15-foot air-breathing great white shark, is the drummer for The Neptunes, a rock group made up of four teenagers Biff, Shelly, Bubbles and Clamhead who live in an underwater civilization in the year 2035. Jabberjaw and The Neptunes travel to various underwater cities where they encounter and deal with assorted megalomaniacs and supervillains who want to conquer the undersea world. "I still can't believe how many cartoons are real in this world," Jacky said. "I was like the young one from the comics when I was younger," Charlie said. "Yes but you're nothing like how you were when you were younger," Sarah said. "That's thanks to my mother," Charlie said as it was his mother who made him into what he is now. "Which reminds me where is she?" "She's on set directing a new film," Parker said. Director Barbie while isn't in charge of the studio is still the mother of the owner, so what she wants usually gets done. ! Elsewhere - Queen Vexus look over at the cauldron that she has taken over. She has reprogrammed all the machines to follow her orders and gotten the machines to start building her soldiers. With her as always are Scratch and Grounder who are fools, but are still useful as they do get things done. Then there are the rest of her minions who had been following her for years before Cobra Commander showed up. Before that she's had been searching and gathering robots who found themselves in this world from here and there. It's how she found the Transformers a race of alien robots like herself, who can transform themselves from machines to organic. She worked hard in gathering them together and keeping them all together, laying down the long term plan of hers. But with Cobra Commander taking over and getting things done better as he and the other non robots he has brought with him, didn't had to hide themselves from being found. She reminded her fellow robots that unlike them, the commander couldn't live past a 100 Earth years unlike them. And that he's getting what they needed, just means they just follow him for now. Vexus looks around the room as the Predacons of the transformers of her group looked over the computer systems of the human sized room. She found them while overseas and brought them with her and they been following her since. It helps that she had long ago found a machine that created energon the fuel that kept them alive. Inferno who wholeheartedly believes that he is a fire ant and that whoever he follows is his queen, which Vexus does enjoy having such a loyal subject. Unlike many Predacons, he has no personal ambitions or future plans, everything he does is for the good of the colony and his queen. Luckily for Inferno, many of the tasks his queen assigns him involve burning things and he likes burning things. Keeping with his ant mentality, Inferno has absolutely no regard for his own personal safety whatsoever. He is fanatically loyal to Vexus, and as such will use his heavy firepower and incredible strength full-on and take any task given of him, no matter how suicidal. And he'll do it laughing maniacally the entire time, for the glory of the colony. Dead End is a model Predacon. He was the pride of the Predacon war academy on Cybertron and a respected soldier for years. Dead End believes that fighting to impress superiors is petty and never does so. He is embarrassed by the actions of his fellow Predacons and their constant attempts to gain power. Dead End is highly studied in military history and adept at adapting those old strategies and tactics to modern combat. He fights simply because he wants to and he takes great joy in sending his enemies to an early grave. Some think that he enjoys it too much... it has been noted that he smiles when he kills. Dead End transforms into an ammonite, an ancient ancestor of the nautilus (and not, as he is often described, a tasty peppermint candy). His tentacles form a hand-held weapon for robot mode. The shell-half on his right shoulder is actually a very large missile launcher. Manta Ray is one of the best energy scouts the Predacons have. She's got loads of sensors in her beast mode that help her track down any power hidden in the dark ocean depths. Unfortunately, her mental state isn't quite as well put together. To put it bluntly, Manta Ray talks to herself a lot. Or rather, talks to (and even argues with) other people who aren't there. It's speculated that these figments might be a side effect of long, lonely stretches spent alone below the sea. When threatened, she emits a disorienting toxic gas. Injector has a self-esteem problem he has too much self-esteem. Despite his freakish appearance, Injector is convinced that he's the handsomest thing on six legs. But his vain, foppish demeanor belies his true nature; his charisma, cunning, and sheer malevolence make him a lethal opponent. Like other Air Commanders of the past, Injector's vanity doesn't prevent him from being one of the deadliest air terrors of all. As a lionfish-hornet fuzor he is able to operate both in and out of water. Quickstrike is a spastic, violent, trigger-happy cowboy who rarely thinks beyond the next "keister he's gonna kick." This simple-minded lust for beating people up seems to be his overriding personality trait. While this makes him easy to manipulate. "Hey queeny!" Dirt Boss the boss of the Constructicons shouted to her. He is the only Decepticon who is small enough to enter the human size rooms. "What is it?" Vexus ask. "Mixmaster and Scrapper have comeback from their look around and like what I found when I looked around. The work to change things to be able to make those Vehicons like the ones that came with Shockwave, will take lots of overtime and we're looking at lots of energon and oil. Then there's the cloaking devices you want to be installed," Dirt Boss said. "Fine, I'll give you 3 extra oil and energon. Just remember this will be our new base of operations, so don't be cutting corners. We need a human factory built over this place first if we remain unseen. I haven't been searching and scrapping by, all this time looking for a place like this and have it be discovered by the humans because of someone not doing a good job," Vexus said. "Don't worry queeny. One thing we Constructicons don't do, is not cutting corners on a job," Dirt Boss said. "Just have it done as fast as you can. The Commander wants this place to be hidden away before someone see us," Vexus said. "Vexus," an old transformer spoke as he enters the room. Back in the distance past of Cybertron, when flight was a new technology, Ransack was first of the flying aces. He was a ruthless combatant, blasting his opponents out of the sky, and then strafing the helpless troops stuck on the ground without cover. He may be past his prime and equipped with outdated weapons now, but there was a time when Ransack was the most feared name on Cybertron. He transforms into a biplane. "What is it Ransack?" Vexus ask. "How long do we need to take orders from the flesh bag?" Ransack ask. "Till we either find something that opens a portal to other universes, so that we can all go back to our own worlds. Or till Shockwave figures out how to build one himself. Or we wait around long enough where someone else does and we use it ourselves," Vexus said before turning on a screen from the control panel she's using bringing up a picture of Shockwave. "Shockwave how are things on your end?" "This technology will take time to master," Shockwave said as he commands the vine like nanometal to form the under circuity for a machine of some kind that only needs a protective casing. "Once my lab is finish, I'll be able to fully control this technology. Then I'll be able to rebuild this factory using the technologies we discovered. To create an army to suit our needs." "Good it's about time that we finally have a place where we can use the technologies we have picked up. And see if you can't figure out someway to make a better oil still, the factory that's going to be built is going to be producing mushroom oil after all. Besides the oil makes good energon cubes," Vexus said. "I still don't understand how those cube things work," Ransack said. He like Shockwave and the Constructioncons all came different universes from the ones Inferno and the other preds came from. And like them how energon is made is different as well. "What is there to know? The cube machine makes empty cubes that when attached or place near an energy source converts it into liquid energon that fills the cube," Vexus said. "Yes but it still takes about 500 barrels of oil to make one cube. And that's with the mushroom oil and not the oil that the humans drill for which is double the amount," Ransack said. They also have wind and solar farms to collect energy for energon, but both take much time to produce one cube. "Well at least that kind of energon can be made without having to use a star or it all comes from one source and without it all of you are doom," Vexus said. "At least your counterparts here learn to use organic forms so that they don't have to depend solely on energon to keep them going." "Yes their internal converter to turn organic material into energon is something I have been studying," Shockwave said. "The energon is different from the one I'm use to but it still works. It's good to be at full power again," Ransack said. He had spent centuries running on low power from the lack of energon but is now at full strength again. (2) "So just behave and wait for the day we can travel back to each of our own home universes again. We unlike the flesh bags, can wait," Vexus said. Yes once she returns to her home universe and with an army of transformers at her back. She will have her revenge on both that Earthling robot as well as her own daughter. ! Elsewhere - With the dangers of giant monsters appearing from events as they happen in the past, Roosevelt had issue a special task force to handle any giant monsters appearing. The unit is only activated when there is a giant monster is reported, the members of the unit would serve as normal soldiers for the bases they're in. The units are armed with weapons and equipment to deal with large threats and have seen action in taking down the occasional dinosaur and such that appears now and then. But of course as Spookhouse grew in size over the years, the times that a giant monster needed to be taken down Spookhouse fought fire with fire. Frankenstein Jr. who is a giant robot who was found inside a abandon lab. In his world he was a superhero who battled against many different villains with his creator a young boy who's name Frankenstein couldn't remember. With his rockets he is able to fly, one of the few who could fly. He's been upgraded over the years since he was found to be able to handle just about anything. He isn't alone in fighting against giant size threats. To fight sea monsters is Moby Dick a great white whale who backs up the navy. Grape Ape who is a 40 foot purple furred gorilla who uses weapons made from large artillery pieces that he can use as a normal gun. And can throw around large bombs like grenades. Then there are the giant robots that were found but kept in storage for one reason or another, mostly for the fact of the cost of operating them and resupplying the weapons. If they didn't run on a power source that only appears in the world it came from that is. The Knightmare units as they're called are good but the power source just didn't exist in this world. And others just didn't have a big enough reason to use them to justified the cost. In a large junkyard by Jersey City the giant robot MEGAS stood in a hanger waiting for the day it would be needed again. The pilot Cooplowski or Coop busy himself running the junkyard while maintaining his robot. His friends Jamie helps him out along with Goat the owner of the junkyard, then there is Kiva Andru of the Earth Coalition Space Force. A Spookhouse base was built next to the junkyard which Kiva has been put in charge of after joining and raising in the ranks. With her knowledge of technology from her time of 3037, she's been a big help in learning about the technologies that are found from other worlds. She works hard holding onto the hope of one day being able to open a portal to another universe where she'll be able to save her time from an alien invasion. "Coop you and Jamie need to get Megas ready to go at a moment notice," Kiva said having walked into the lunchroom where Coop and Jamie are having lunch. "There's a mission for us?" Coop ask. He hasn't taken Megas out for a spin since he and the others got here to this world. He had to get a job seeing his mom isn't here and he needed to eat. But seeing how he's a wiz at auto and the hard word to say tech thing Kiva says he did in fixing Megas. He got a job with Spookhouse in repairing the vehicles that they find, and he got Jamie a job too in helping him. "Will it be like with Godzilla?" Jamie asked. "I got Megas up and ready to fight the king of monsters and it turns out it's the friendly one with laser eyes from the old Hanna-Barbera Godzilla Power Hour show. But at least I can tag team with him," Coop said. (3) "Haven't you two heard the news of all of those robot animals out east?" Kiva ask. "Oh yeah the radio said something about it," Jamie said. "Well there are and there are several giant ones the size of mountains and the brass wants everyone to be ready for action," Kiva said. "Yes!" Coop shouted. "I can't wait to use all of those upgrades I did on Megas." "Just remember unlike in our world you can't just go around blasting everything in sight. Remember that superhero version of Archie who became the Cricket or whatever. He did stop the bank robbers but his sound attack he made when he rubbed his legs together, caused more damage to the bank then the robbers did," Kiva said. (4) "Whatever happen to him?" Jamie asked. "He's in jail seeing how much property damage he caused and was already told not to go around being a costume hero without training of any kind," Kiva said. "Don't worry I have been training so that won't happen," Coop said earning him a flat look from Kiva. "Well not as much." !