"Someday, broette, you're going to be the one sending everyone into battle." Dad waves at the bustling city around us with a proud glint in his gaze. "You're going to be the best District 3 Leader since your mom, you know? We're going to be so proud of you. And I'll take the diff of any bro who tells me otherwise."

---

"Leader Platinumclaw is gonna take you down!" I crow, crouching at Everest as he drives by. I end up leaping straight onto his roof, taking him by surprise.

"Ford, bro! Keep up that stealth tackle and you'll have every anti-clan around defeated before they can even get off their ships." My brother chuckles. I proudly beam as we continue on. "Did dad send you?"

"Nope! I was just showing you my signature leader manuver!"

"Leader manuver?"

"Yeah! Dad says every leader has a signature move. Even he and Faloan do! It's a tradition."

"I'm glad you're already practicing, then. Don't forget you'll need about 14 years of school before you can even be considered though, Will." My essence sinks.

"School?" I gag in disgust. "I don't need school! I already know every move and I'm sure I can shoot a pop can off Domic's hood a mile away! Who needs stinky old school?"

"No car knows everything, Willow. No car knows everything."

---

I excitedly switch the stuff on my desk around and familiarize myself with the manual. The day had finally come; I was in War-Prep School! I nearly squeal at the top of my lungs I currently had in sheer exhilaration. Not realizing I was dancing around in my seat like a fool, I self consciously glance over at the kid next to me giving me an impatient grimace. I had waited years to be enrolled in this place. I wasn't about to let anyone around me ruin my experience.
Finally, our teacher drives in, the big, red Dodge Power Wagon known as Houston. While everyone around me groans expectantly, I perk up.

"Huh. There's more of you in here than I usually get at the start of a new year." He blinks, apparently surprised. "Anyway, I'm Houston! And I'm going to be your guide in the wild apprenticeship you poor kids were just thrown into by your parents. As is the way of life at Greenton 3, unfortunately. Start em young, that's the goal. Well, kiddos, I'm going to go around the class here, ask for you to introduce yourselves, and we'll spend this day getting to know each other, eh?" One by one, we all introduce ourselves at the front of the classroom. My turn rolls around, and I merrily skip to address my future besties.

"Hi! I'm Willow, daughter of Platinumbrawn and Jenna herself! Someday, I'm going to be the next D3 leader! Daddy says so."

"You!" A boy laughs. "Good luck, girly, because I'm gonna be the next leader. You'd just try to take down the bad guys with finger nail polish!"

"Lance." Hou snaps as I gape in astound. "It's good Willow wants to be the next leader. That's why she and you are all here for, alright?" He bows at me. "Go ahead. Ignore him."

"... Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean that I can't be a leader." I press, lifting my front end. "Look at my mom! She's the reason you and your family even exists."

"Your mom isn't a spoiled princess that screams and cries when she doesn't get her way." Lance continues, dryly. "She fought and forged a path. What's your plan; cop an attitude until the anti-clans roll over for you?"

"N-n-no! They'll be too scared to even try my District! We'll be there waiting on them! And you won't be one of us, so there!"

"Alright, that's enough. All of you; Willow, sit down. Thanks."

---

"All of you will go into pairs! You and your partner will spend the day studying and practicing defensive tactics." He calls out our names two at a time until it was down to me and the only other kid. "Willow, Lance is the only other left; Jamie and Aster are sick at home. They'll be paired up when they get back next week." I whip around to angrily glare at the Ford F-350 across the way, him already countering my hostile gaze. "Work it out or you're both going into detention! And I'll also hold you back a week to catch up with the other kids."

"That's not fair!" I cry, absolutely dumbfounded. "Why can't we start when Jamie gets back? I want her!"

"It doesn't work like that, Princess." Lance grumbles in total aggravation. "Dodge, you just don't get anything!"

"I'm going to call my dad and tell him how mean you are to me!" He only feins a fearful expression in response.

"Everyone, grab your partner in the order I assigned you and follow me outside. This will be an outdoor workshop today. Hope you have good all terrain tires equipped!" We grudgingly file at the back of the class, following the others who seemed happy enough with their other halves.

"Lance and Willow, sittin' in a tree!" Milo whispers in front of us. "N-U-Z-Z-L-I-N-G!"

"Shut up, Milo!" We snap. Houston leads us out under a nice shade tree, the ground under tread supple but not slick from the rain a couple days ago.

"We're going to be practicing the scenario shown by the diagram on page 310 in the guidance manual. This is a basic survival tactic, good against most civilians without basic offensive training. Take turns being the offender and defender until I say stop." Everyone else takes on their charges and starts either slamming into their partner or pulling to the side and bracing against them with their front fenders. I watch Houston merrily pull into a sunny spot and poise to soak up some rays.

"Gaaaaaaahhh!!" Lance bellows without warning, charging right for me. "Bow before my Forden treads, Rams and Chevies!!" He butts me so hard, I go rolling across the field.

"You idiot; I wasn't bracing!!" I scream, coming to a stop while upside down.

"You sat there long enough; you should have told me!" I full out start wailing. "D-Dodge, shut up! You're going to get us thrown into detention!" The other kids stop training to curiously look over at us. Lance circles around me, confused on how to right me back to all fours. "Hold on, I've got an idea! Don't freak out, not that you're not already."

"Hurry up; I feel my oil pooling in my engine!!" I screech, the kid finally getting into a good position to right me. Unfortunately, he ends up ramming me so hard that I flip onto all fours but keep leaning until I flop onto my side. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!" The other trainees erupt into laughter as mortified Lance just freezes in a fearful gape. Houston finally comes drifting in, enraged before seeing what was going on. He takes a deep breath, slaps a tire on my roof, and shoves me back over.

"For the sweet love of Dodge, what was I thinking when I applied to be a teacher?" He moans. "What happened?"

"I wasn't bracing and he rammed me anyway!!"

"She wasn't paying attention!! She should have warned me or at least have been focusing on the task!" Lance pleads, shocked.

"Apparently you're not ready for this advanced level of a beginner course. Until you two can burn off whatever you have stuck up your tailpipes, book studies only for you! Get your tailgates back into the school. NOW."

---

"I should be out there trumping everyone right now!" Lance steams, angrily scribbling something down on his paper. "But oh no; I was forced to partner a whiney baby! If I get kicked out of Green Acres because of you, then I'm making sure you get kicked with me."

"You know what else being a soldier requires?! Compassion!!"

"They're your enemies; we're in this school so we can learn ten thousand ways to spread their fluids across the pavement, not let them shoot us first. Compassion just gets in the way."

"Your parents might hate you, but that doesn't mean you get to bully people around!" He finally slams his pencil down on the desk and jumps up to return to his usual form in seething rage.

"You know what? My parents do hate me. Both of them. They don't let a day pass without reminding me how worthless I am compared to my brother. They throw my sketches away and punish me. Warriors don't draw, they fight. They kill. They don't take hostages, they drop everyone around. And they definitely don't feel compassion." I stare at a gouge on his hood that disturbingly looked like it was caused by a wheel claw. Lance sees me looking and lifts his front end again with an expression that seemed to dare me to ask.

"... I'm sorry. That your parents beat you." I finally admit, looking at my paper again. "Your whole family sounds about as worthless as Lincoln. And I'm sorry for causing a rough time."

"It's fine. And I'm sorry for catching you off guard. But you still should have been paying attention." He goes human to flop back into his seat, though not the slightest bit less angry.

The deranged, power hungry daughter of Bryon and Jenna teams up with another evil anti-clan leader named Sandstorm to first destroy District 3 and then blow up Prismona.
Jenna is the first person unless otherwise noted.

"Well, I see you're alone for now." A voice smoothly calls. I freeze and slowly look up. "Mmm. Yeah, you screwed up, daddy. You can't deny it. Now I'll eagerly show you just what you've done." The ESV rams right into me. I scream in misery as I hit the ground and roll. Pain sears through my abdomen as I lie there, cringing. Willow slowly drives over, idling aggressively. "Feels good to hurt, right? How does it feel to be me without my eternal spark? You took him away from me, dad. You could never just be happy for me and my accomplishments; you always had to run over my enthusiasm just like I will to you!!" I leap up and go ESV to counter her fender butt. We take each other's headlights out in impact.

"Thanks to your scrap heap of a partner's body, we were able to figure out your precious anti-Icorid technology." I snarl as she gapes in confusion. I glare at Willow, squarely. It had all come down to this. It was father against daughter for the sake of Prismona and everyone I loved still living.

"It's too bad it has to end this way, Platinumbrawn." Willow snorts, lowering her front end. I crouch with a harsh snort.

"It still doesn't. You can back off right here and now and go wherever the Ford, as long as it's far away from here." I growl.

"Still trying to boss me around like old times, right?" Will sneers. "Ah, well, I guess that's to be expected. You still see me as your daughter. As your underling. Your little birch, is that right?"

"You might be shocked to know, but even after all you've done, I don't want to kill you, Willow!!"

"Oh, I know. Because you're pathetically weak. You suck up to your enemies like a mewling Lincoln. That's sick right there. Be a Cadillac, bro! Come on! Show some diff! Kill me!"

"I don't like your tone."

"Taunt me all you want! I'll give you the first shot, tailpipe. But then, when you miss, It'll be my turn." I draw my guns, and Willow squints, impressed. "Guess crap just got real, eh, dad?"

"We'll see about that." I fire! Willow easily dodges, draws her guns, and fires all in one moment while whipping around to keep her grille protected. I jump to the side and double bluff as she fires again. She had my skills, that was for sure. There was no doubt Willow was my daughter.
Not even in my own eyes.

"Give up yet?!" I hiss.

"Not remotely!" She fires again. I cloak, fly up, and land in front of her to uncloak. POW-POW!! I shoot off her guns. She goes to draw her Special Elites, but I shoot those off, too. She blinks before cracking up. "So smart, aren't you?" She crows. "Now I know where I get it from!"

"Would you give up?"

"Give up? So you're trying to drag me into your pity party too? Don't forget I have my strength with or without bullets." She springs! I draw back my guns and counter butt with my fender. We glare into each other's eyes as we try to roll each other.

"Not backing down, Willow." I grunt, throwing it into 4 wheel drive. Willow goes wide eyed as I gain the upper hand and roll her. She tries to scramble up, but I rear up on her underside and firmly secure her. "Time out, broette."

"Ford!! This is just sad!! Out of all the ever loving moves I could have fallen for, I fell for the GM-loving DAUGHTER HOLD!!" Will roars, furiously.

"You were being too big of a high and mighty, Ford-arrogant tailpipe to avoid it!! Listen to me!! NOW." Willow shuts up for once. "Thank you. Now listen. The leadership thing was-"

"BOO-HOO!!"

"LISTEN TO ME NOW!!!" Will submissively flashes her lights. "The leadership thing was not personal!! I thought you would have been an awesome leader, bro! That's why I chose you to be next in line!! But things don't always work out and circumstances change, Willow!! That is the first thing every leader learns! That doesn't mean you need to conjure up a revenge clan and kill your father's life!!"

"You don't know what it takes to be a good leader!! My clan feared me!! D-3 will leave you someday hungry for a better leader!! They'll all abandon you someday like you abandoned me."

"Stop saying that." I hiss

"Abandoned. Forgotten. You can't deny it, dad. There'll be a day that you're gone, and D-3 fades from recollection. Even the brightest stars eventually fade into nothing. Mom will forget you. Ev will forget you. Faloan will forget you, Jack will forget you. And there won't be anything you can do to stop that." Without warning, she flings herself off the ground with her hatch, knocking me to the side. I gape as she draws another pair of guns from her underside.

TATATATATATA!! Gatling 698's blare from behind me. 8 bullets score Will's radiator before I could even cry out. She zones for a moment before passively rolling onto her side. I heave in shock, even as Jorgen and the northern trucks hustle over.

"Platinumbrawn!" Ceph pants as I heave, unable to move. I couldn't stop staring at Willow's punctured grille, her radiator oozing coolant as her now silent engine settles. I whimper and slowly creep up to her.

"She thought I abandoned her." I numbly sniffle. "Who called the shot, bro?" The squad slowly looks over at Jorgen, who retracts his guns and bows, respectfully.

"For Silveraction." He mutters. I slowly nod.

"G-good shot, bro." He gives me a saddened, knowing blink.

"I sorry for your loss and for the loss of Green Acres." Jorgen sighs. "If only we did not have to put her down. But she would have got you, sir."

"I know. And thanks, bro."

"...You okay?" Tycho worries.

"No. Not at all."

"Let's get her body back to D-3 and elect a stand in for Platinumbrawn." Ceph orders. "Green Acres and Prismona are safe again. But it was at a very high price." Schickard glumly exchanges heartfelt looks with Jorg and Tycho before trotting up to me.

"I'll haul her home, sir." He nods. "I'll take good care of her. Go home and rest. Alright? Your partner needs you and you need her." I slowly look down at Willow's essenceless chassis.
I couldn't feel anything but love and agony that she felt that way. I crouch and nuzzle her with a plaintive whimper.

Willow gets her chance to join her partner in Rhemaria after years of redemption and service, but her last task is to make up with her ex boyfriend and their son that she abandoned in her haste to destroy her father's dreams.
Willow is the first person.



“…So she’s your niece.”

“Why do you care?! Why does anyone care?!” I smile in amusement.

“We were already partners before we found out. But we didn’t care; we weren’t planning on having kids so we never bothered kneading the bread, if you know what I mean. You can be in a partnership just for the sake of being with someone after all.” I explain as Sandstorm angrily grumbles to himself.

---

“They would probably never want to see what became of me.” Willow continues, ashamed. “I can imagine the day that Larson figured out he was half Escalade! He probably threw an unholy fit, that kid. He was mine. Ours.” She glares at me. “And I threw them both away for nothing. I’ll never quite understand what I was thinking, looking back on it. I was simply blinded by rage and betrayal. I’d say sorry, but I’ll rot for eternity knowing that sorry will never cut it.”

---

“It’s so bright! I feel like I need sunglasses up here.” Sandy crows, trotting around. “Willow, get up here! I wanted to experience this with you.”

“…I can’t .” I admit. “I must not be accepted yet.”

---

“You have one last thing to do before you become a Rhemarian with your partner: you need to find Lance and Larson and reconcile.” Rod points. I go wide eyed.

“Okay, that’s not happening!” I hiss, self consciously. “If I can even find them, they’ll never speak to me. They know what I did. Everybody knows what I did. There has to be some other way, bro!”

“You have a son together. You may have never been partners, but once you bond with someone you never really forget it.”

---

“Green Acres D1.” I mutter, anxiety drowning out every emotion other than grief and regret. “They both went on to be kick-hatch warriors, and I tried to destroy their lifestyle. Go me.” I slowly raise a tire to wistfully paw the door before it opens. I sheepishly look up at the lifted silver F250 Platinum now looking down at me in confusion.

“…Hello? Who are you, miss?” He blinks.

“Hi.” I gulp. “I came looking for Silveressay and Platinumlance. Are you Larson?” He nods and lowers his front end.

“Yeah, I'm Larson. Uh, may I help you before I take you to…?” His eyes widen in realization. I awkwardly smile.

“…Before you ask… I’m your momma.”

---

“What are you doing here?!” Lance snarls as I crouch in mild terror. “How dare you show your front end in my District, let alone out of the hole you crawled from!! I should drop you right here just to teach your kind a lesson. Give me a good reason why I shouldn’t.”

“I’m on the road to redemption. I’ve partnered with Dawnrise and helped them save the world several times now! Better agency than your crummy one, might I add? You should totally switch over.” Both expectantly squint at me. “Anyway, I’m trying to get to Rhemaria with my partner—” I instantly cringe.

“Rhemaria? You? Heaven doesn’t welcome devils.”

“Well, Rod himself told me that the last thing I had to do was reconcile with you in order to get in! Now that I’ve reconciled, I’ll just be on my way, now!”

“Willow. Do you even know what reconciliation means?” Lance grumbles in obvious mental agony. I pause.

“…Er, no. I don’t, actually.”

“Well, whatever it means to you, forget it! It’s not happening.” I snort and barge in front of the HD as he turns to storm off.

“Listen here, you stubborn butt face!” I press. “At least I’m making an effort! Would I if it didn’t mean I’d never get into Rhemaria? No, actually. But I really, really want to make it up to you!” He continues to give me an unimpressed squint. “You want me to grovel.”

“I don’t want you to grovel.” I go human to flop on my back.

“Ohh, woe is meeee! Here I am, grovelling before thee mighty Platinumlance!”

“Stop grovelling; People are looking at me.”

“Forgive me, thy mighty beast! Accept my apology or else my grovelling apology will never cease!”

“Look, dad! It’s a live drama!” A Mustang gasps as she and her apparent father drive by. “Can we watch them?! Pleeeeasse?!” Lance finally groans in disbelief and crouches.

“Fine, fine!! I forgive you. Now get out of my district!!” I turn to go, but heavily stop and look in my side view. Lance was still watching me, a cloud of different emotions in his gaze. I could tell regret and agony were the main two he was feeling. I finally whip around and storm back up to him.

“No. Forgiveness not accepted.” I shake my front end and stomp my back tire. “Because I’m not leaving until I can earn a real one. If you want me gone, tell me what I can do to make everything up to you and our son.” The Super Duty gives me an annoyed yet mildly respectful sideways glance.

“…You can start by going back to GAT school and becoming a soldier.”

"FFFFFFFFFF--"

---

“What are you doing here?” Cassidy curiously eyes me up and down for a moment. “We’re a Ford and Lincoln only District. You must be here for a really good reason. You stick out like a sore thumb.”

---

“I waited and waited for you to come home. I waited on our porch deck every day for 15 years, hoping you’d snuggle into my arms like you never left. I never wanted an explanation; all I wanted was you. …Why did you abandon us?” I admire his soulful expression for a moment before looking ahead again.

“I could tell you that I regretted it. I could tell you that it was painful leaving you both behind. The truth was… I was just too angry to care. I was blinded by my fury and greed to see everything I was already blessed with. We were young. We can look back and see how stupid we were back then. Dodge, we had Larson and weren’t even thinking about becoming partners yet. If I could have just stayed, if I could just go back and make myself see… I would do it infinite times until my stubborn hatch saw.” Lance sadly hangs his front end.

“I would do it all over again for you, Willow. I know there’s nothing we can do now, b-but if there was I would do anything.”

---

Without thinking, we lovingly press our fenders together and cuddle up. For a tender moment, it felt like all my bad decisions that I ever made never happened; that it was just Lance, Larson, and I the entire time. I was never jealous about my wholesome brother, or angry at my parents that were right the whole time. Instead, I had stayed where I should have.

Lar and I became partners, and we raised our son together. I probably became Cadillac Commander on my own as he had found leadership from his Ford commander days. Maybe we would have had another kid or two, and perhaps even some grandkids. What if the grandkids had dogs? Granddogs? I pin my side views back and jerk away, taking Lance by surprise.

“I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I don’t deserve anyone’s forgiveness.” I heavily admit, crouching in misery. “Avantis exists for a reason, Lance. I should have just stayed there.” To my amazement, he goes human to crouch in front of me and hold my bumper with an expectant look on his face.

“…I forgive you.” Lan chuckles. I look down at his head poking over my hood.

“How?”

“You’re genuinely sorry. Look at you. Dodge; you’re showing more remorse than most of my trainees ever did after they pulled a bum move on their classmates.” I pull out of his grip and turn my hatch to him.

“Well, you can’t forgive me. I forbid you.”

“So you went from groveling for my forgiveness to just ignoring it, did you?” I heave a sigh.

“…If you forgive me, and I accept it, then I’ll have to go back. Sure, it won’t be a dark wasteland anymore, but…” I finally turn back around to root into Lance’s arms again. “It might as well be without you and Larson.”

---

“…She can’t come back.” Sandstorm pleads. “She has a chance at a second life, a second chance that she’ll blow if she comes back here and is accepted into Rhemaria! Rod, you have to block her.”

“I don’t think she’ll appreciate us ghosting her like she ghosted her family, even if she deserves it.” Roderick reminds.

“I don’t care. She’ll understand someday. Everyone was right all along; I’m her uncle. If she won’t listen to her father, then she’ll listen to me.”

---

“I’m not upset, Willow! Because I know it’s what you deserve. You got to Avantis because of me; you have a second chance at life where you were supposed to be before we met.” He presses his forehead into mine. “Will I miss you? I’ll never stop. But will I be with you again? When you get up here on your own term. You didn’t turn around because you wanted to be here with me. You turned around because you wanted a life with your family. Now you don’t have to worry about giving it up anymore after all the work you put in to start over, Will.” He backs off and strongly nods. “Sincerely, your favorite uncle.”

“Sandstorm!!” I wail before he fades into thin air. “Sandstorm!!”