CHAPTER 1 TEAM TERRAN "Hey, everybody," Dot Malto said as she climbed out of her park ranger truck at the Malto family farm. "I have big news!" Dot's children--Mo, Robby, Twitch, Thrash, Jawbreaker, Nightshade, and Hashtag--were exercising outside while their father, Alex, cooked vegetables on the grill. "What's the news, Mom?" Jawbreaker asked. "Tomorrow is Witwicky Community Day!" Dot replied. "It's an annual event for volunteers to help local businesses, fix old streets, and clean up areas around town." "Cleaning up?" Robby asked as he raised the visor on his Cyber-Suit. "That doesn't sound as exciting as fighting Decepticons." "I think it sounds like fun!" Hashtag offered.
"I volunteer to help make Witwicky look fabulous!" "Count me in too!" Twitch said, nodding. "That's the spirit!" Alex said. "There may be one concern." Nightshade pondered. "Our battles with Decepticons have resulted in damage to various structures and properties, and many human citizens regard Transformers robots as hazardous. If we participate in Community Day, will we be. welcome?" "I asked myself that same question, Nightshade," Dot said, "and then I phoned the event's organizers. I told them my kids want to be involved, and they agreed to meet with us at Town Hall in fifteen minutes.
" "Just fifteen minutes?" Mo asked. "We'd better get moving!" Team Terran arrived at Town Hall and found a group of civic leaders waiting for them in the parking lot. The group included several business owners and Mr. Smelt, the drama teacher at Witwicky Charter. Mr. Smelt frowned as he glanced at Dot. "We appreciate that your, um. family wants to help our community, but.
to be honest, a lot of locals are afraid that robots will only cause damage to our town," he said. " Your town?!" Mo rebutted. "It's our town too! And if the Terrans weren't around to defend it against Decepticons, Witwicky would be in ruins by now!" "Take it easy, Mo," Dot said, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Mr. Smelt, we understand some people feel uncomfortable around Transformers robots. But if you give my children a chance, they'll show everyone that they only want to be helpful." "Please, Mr. Smelt, we'll do anything," Twitch begged.
"We'll take on the toughest cleanup jobs!" One of the business owners smiled and said, "I say we let them help." "I agree," said another. Mr. Smelt shrugged. "Very well. We look forward to seeing you here at nine o'clock tomorrow morning," he said, and walked away. Hashtag jumped with joy. "Yippee! I predict that tomorrow, we'll make bunches of new friends!" As the Malto family left the Town Hall's parking lot, they failed to notice a robot hiding nearby in a dark alley.
The robot was the Chaos Terran named Spitfire. "So," Spitfire muttered to herself, "Team Terran wants to help out the humans? I can't wait to tell Aftermath!" Spitfire grinned wickedly as she changed to her drone mode and flew out of the alley.