At the Axle City Garage, Blaze and Crusher were inside playing with a ball. Each of the had a racket attached to their back ends while Gabby stood on some boxes and acted as the announcer.
"Blaze takes the ball!" she announced. "He bounces it to Crusher... who then bumps it and drives forward... then he hits it back to Blaze and it's... in the goal!"
"Whoo-hoo!" Blaze let out a cheer as he bumped the ball through a diamond-shaped goal.
"Yeah-heh!" Crusher grinned and high-tired with brother. "Nice work, Blaze!"
"Great play from you too, Crusher!" Blaze laughed.
"Nice Truckball play, you two!" Gabby clapped her hands. "Best teamwork I've seen in a while!"
"Come on!" Blaze urged the dark blue truck. "Let's go shoot some hoops!"
"Alright!" Crusher nodded. "Gabby, throw us a ball!"
"Here ya go!" Gabby threw the ball to them, and the dark blue truck bounced the ball into his paddle before shooting it towards the goal. "Nice shot!"
"Thanks," Crusher sighed, wiping sweat off his forehead. "Phew!"
"The one time you get a break from inventing, and you're STILL getting tired," Blaze let out a laugh. "Maybe we should take a break?"
"Guys! GUYS!" Suddenly, Pickle and AJ dashed into the garage, looking excited. "Come quick, you guys! You've gotta see what's happening at the Monster Dome!"
"No break then," Crusher let out a sigh, causing the red truck to laugh as AJ boarded his driver's seat.
Gabby got on her ATV then they all zoomed out of the garage. They entered the Monster Dome and gasped as they saw the sports court set up inside.
"Wow!" Blaze's eyes lit up. "It's a giant Truckball court!"
"Hellooooo Monster Machines!" Bump greeted the crowd from the stand. "And welcome to the Truckball Tournament!" A round of cheers and applauds came from the crowd. "It's almost time for the big game, all we need are two teams ready to play!"
"Ooh, me!" Blaze raised his tire and planned to drive forward. "I wanna play--!"
"Blaze, NO!" Crusher grabbed him with the tow hook and pulled him back. "Blaze, my dearest brother, how many trucks are on our team?"
"Uh... well, there's you and me, so... two," Blaze replied.
"Well, I'm sorry, but you can't play unless you have a team," the referre spoke, driving to them. "And to be a team, you need to have five trucks,"
"That's right!" the brothers turned to see Speedrick enter the field with four other trucks. "Ha-ha! Too bad, Blaze! I guess you can't play in the Truckball Tournament like me and my team!"
"Back off, lunatic." Crusher glared daggers at the large white truck.
"Speedrick?! YOU have a Truckball team?!?" Blaze's jaw dropped.
"I sure do! See?" Speedrick motioned to the team he had behind him. "I've got five trucks on my team: one, two, three, four, and me! Ha-ha-ha-ha!" He then turned to Crusher and smirked. "Come to watch me win, lightning boy?~"
"Psh, as if," Crusher huffed, crossing his tires. "If you were the only one who's gonna play then I'd rather not watch at all,"
"You sure?~" Speedrick raised an eyebrow. "You could be my cheerleader~"
"He said NO THANKS, Speedrick." Pickle snarled as Gabby crossed her arms and nodded.
"Oh, well, maybe next time," Speedrick shrugged him off before turning, singing mockingly. "~I get to play Truckball, but Blaze ca-an't! ~'Cause he doesn't have a team, team, team--- WHOAAAAA!!! WHOA!"
He yelped as he slipped on the ball and fell off. Pickle and Gabby snickered as they all drove to the pits. Crusher himself snorted at Speedrick's misfortune before turning to Blaze, who was sulking.
"Aww..." he sighed. "I can't believe I don't get to play Truckball,"
"I'm sorry, Blaze," AJ patted him on the hood.
"Yeah," Gabby nodded sadly. "I know how much you wanted to play,"
"Man, if you just had a few more trucks," Pickle wondered with a hum. "You could have a great team!"
"Don't YOU wanna play, Pickle?" Gabby asked, turning to the green truck.
"Nah, I'M cheerleader material, not Truckball material," Pickle shook his head.
"Hey, you're right!" Blaze's eyes lit up. "That's what we're gonna do! We're gonna ask some of our monster truck friends to be on a team with us!"
"Yeah!" Crusher grinned. "Once we have five trucks, we can play in the tournament against Speedrick's team!"
"Oh yeah!" Blaze cheered. "Let's go and get our team!"
With that, the brothers zoomed out of the Monster Dome. Pickle and Gabby waved them off, wishing them luck.
"So, we here to make sure Speedrick doesn't do anything to stop them again?" the mechanic questioned.
"Yep, pretty much," Pickle nodded. "You know how that lunatic is,"
"Good point," Gabby gave a nod. "I just hope they get back here before the game starts..."
Meanwhile, on a nearby ranch, Starla was feeding a group of pigs at a trough.
"Starla!"
"Hmm?" Starla turned and smiled to see Blaze and Crusher drive over, with AJ dismounting from Blaze's driver seat before perching up on a fence. "Howdy, boys! How y'all doin'?"
"Hey, Starla," AJ greeted. "Guess what? Blaze and Crusher are putting together a Truckball team!"
"A Truckball team?!?" Starla gasped as she took out a ball to show her skills. "Shoo-whee! I love Truckball!"
"Whoa!" Crusher's eyes lit up as they watched her. "Impressive skills, Starla!"
"If we can get five players, our team can play in the Truckball tournament!" Blaze said. "So whaddya say, will you be on our team?"
"Yee-haw!" Starla nodded with a grin. "I'd love to be on your team!"
"All right!" the brothers cheered, high-tiring with Starla.
"Didja hear that, piggies? I'm gon' play Truckball!" Starla turned to her pigs before gasping at the empty trough in front of her. "Pigs? Where'd ya go?"
"Oh, no!" AJ pointed over to the pigs, who were running out into the cornfield. "The fence was open, and the pigs got out!"
"Silly pigs!" Starla shook her head and took out her lasso before chasing after them. "Get on back here!"
"Don't worry, Starla!" Blaze spoke as he and Crusher took out their own lassos. "We'll help you catch 'em!"
The brothers zoomed over to the pigs, catching up to the cowgirl truck.
"All righty, now," Starla looked around. "There's eight pigs we gotta catch. You fellas ready?"
"Ready!" Crusher and Blaze nodded.
"YEE-HAW!" Starla cried out then the three of them sped after the pigs.
They twirled their lassos as they caught after the pigs. Starla was the first to launch and catch some of them.
"Lookee here, I caught three pigs!" she rejoiced.
"And I got two!" Crusher exclaimed.
"I also got two" Blaze added. "That makes seven!"
"Come along, piggies!" Starla urged them to them back to the pigpen.
"Hmm," AJ watched in thought as they did. "Eight pigs ran away, and we caught seven of them. That means there's only one pig left to find!"
"Come on, let's go find that last pig!" Blaze said.
They closed the pigpen and drove around to search the farm, calling out for the pig. After a while, Starla let out a sigh.
"Well, bust my bumpers!" she hissed. "That last little pig must be hidin'!"
"Where could that pig be...?" Blaze looked around.
"There he is!" Crusher pointed out to the pig hiding under the scarecrow hat. "In the scarecrow!"
The pig jumped in surprise before driving over to snuggle him. Crusher giggled and petted the pig.
" Come on, little guy. Let's get you back where you belong,"
He led the pig back to the pen. Once the pig was inside, AJ closed the gate again with a smile.
"Great job everyone, that's the last pig!" he congratulated them.
"Hey, now I can come and play Truckball with y'all!" Starla cheered.
"Well, here, you're gonna need this," Blaze took out a truckball racket and helped attach it to her back.
"Well, I'll be, it's ma' very own racket!" Starla let out a squeal as one of the pigs tossed a ball for them to practice with. "Whoo-hoo!"
"Nice one, Starla!" Crusher let out a laugh.
"Oof!" Blaze chuckled as the ball was passed to him then he passed to the dark blue truck. "Whoop!"
"Whoo!" Crusher caught it with ease and a grin.
"This is great, guys!" AJ said. "Now you guys have THREE trucks on your team,"
"Right, but our team needs five trucks to play in the tournament," Crusher reminded.
"So we've gotta hurry and find two more trucks," Blaze finished as AJ boarded him.
"Well, come on, then!" Starla let out a cheerful cry. "Let's go find us some more teammates! Yee-haw!"
They zoomed out of the farm with their own cheer to look for more teammates.
Meanwhile, back in the Monster Dome, Speedrick's team was practicing their plays. Despite being in the opposite team, Pickle was still cheering them on as he held red and blue pom poms on his tires.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha! All right! Hit it! Whack it! Pass that ball!" he encouraged them. "Yay, team! Way to practice! Way... to practice! Way, way... to practice!"
Speedrick, of course, was not even bothering to practice. Instead, he was looking at himself in a mirror and fixing his hair. Pickle rolled his eyes at him before driving to him with a frown.
"Speedrick, everybody's practicing except for you," he pointed out.
"So what?" Speedrick scoffed.
"Sooooo... you... should practice!" Pickle growled. "You... should practice!"
"Pah-lease," Speedrick snorted, keeping the mirror. "I don't need to practice, you little cucumber! I can play Truckball with my eyes closed!"
Pickle rolled his eyes but watched as the truck shut his eyes and began to practice, only to slip up and send the ball bouncing everywhere. His teammates shrieked in surprise as the ball knocked over a rack of balls, which crash on top of Speedrick.
"Ow! Eek! Ow!"
"Pfft," Pickle snorted as he guiltlessly watched the larger truck struggle to pick himself up. "Well, looks to me that that play still needs a little work,"
Meanwhile, Blaze, Crusher and Starla drove through Dinosaur Valley until they came upon a prehistoric cave. Inside, Zeg was about to eat a really big sandwich.
"Mmm! Time to eat!" Zeg claimed before stomping on the ground, which sent all the condiments flying as they landed in his mouth. "ZEEEEEEG!"
Blaze and Crusher's horns echoed through as they entered the cave with Starla. They each greeted their dinosaur friend with a wave.
"Hey, Zeg!"
"Hello!"
"Howdy, partner!"
"Blaze! AJ! Crusher! Starla!"Zeg zoomed over to envelop Crusher into a hug. "Zeg so happy to see you all!"
"Oh," Crusher grunted at the strength of the dinosaur truck but smiled anyway. "we're happy to see you too, big fella!"
"We came to ask if you wanna play on our Truckball team!" Blaze said excitedly.
"Ooh, Truckball?" Zeg jumped for joy repeatedly. "Yay! Zeg love Truckball! Zeg play Truckball!"
The trio let out a yelp as his jumping caused the ground to shake. Suddenly, rocks began to fall off the shelves. On the last jump, a big rock began to rock and fall.
"Everybody, look out!" AJ cried out.
"WHOA!!!"
They all screamed as the rock fell with a huge thud. Dust briefly flooded the room, which caused them to cough the dust off their lungs.
"That close," Zeg sighed in relief. "Friends okay?"
"I'm alright," Blaze assured him.
"Me too," AJ spoke, getting off Blaze.
"Same here," Starla nodded.
"Never been better," Crusher coughed out what's left of the dust.
"Phew, Zeg glad. Now, Zeg play Truckball!" the dinosaur truck cheered, but just as he was about to move, he felt himself staying where he is. "Hey, Zeg not moving,"
"Uh-oh," AJ gasped, pointing to the giant stone on his friend's tail. "Zeg, your tail is stuck under that rock!"
"Oh, no!" Zeg let out a cry. "Zeg can't play Truckball with tail stuck!"
"Don't worry, Zeg, we'll help you!" Blaze told him.
He, Starla and Crusher drove over to try to move the rock. They pushed with all their might, but the rock was too heavy for them to move.
"Bust my bumpers!" the cowgirl let out a hiss. "This rock is too heavy! We can't lift it!"
"Hmm..." Crusher gave a thought. "To lift a rock this big, we're gonna need a lever,"
"Lever?" Zeg tilted his head. "What that?"
"A lever makes it easy to lift heavy things," AJ explained.
"Come on, let's build one," Blaze said as he grabbed a pole from nearby. "We can use this pole to make the lever arm,"
"And this block can go underneath to make the fulcrum," Crusher added, grabbing the nearby block and setting it up with his brother. "Now, on the count of three, let's all push down on this side to lift the rock off of Zeg's tail,"
Blaze and Starla nodded before moving over to help. The three of them grabbed onto the upper part of the pole.
"One... two... three... push!!"
They pushed the lever as much as they could, which successfully lifted the rock, freeing Zeg. They cheered.
"Yes!"
"All right!"
"It worked!"
"Yee-haw!"
"Yay! Lever lift rock off of Zeg's tail!" Zeg kissed the lever. "Thank you, lever!"
Blaze giggled. "Now you can be on our Truckball team, Zeg!"
"Yeah!" Crusher gave the dino truck his racket. "Here you go, Zeg!"
"Hee-hee-hee-hee!" Zeg beamed. "Oh, goodie!"
He, Starla and Blaze began to practice for a bit. Crusher chuckled.
"This is great!" he grinned. "Now, our team has four trucks!"
"But to play in the tournament, a team has to have five trucks," AJ reminded.
"Yep! Just one more!" Crusher nodded.
"Come on, gang!" Blaze helped AJ on his driver's seat. "Let's go find our last teammate!"
They all let out a cheer as they zoom out of Zeg's cave. They soon make it back to Axle City, and at the park, Darington was doing his usual tricks in the truck skating hole.
"YEAH-HA-HA-HA-HA! Ha-ha! All right! Whoo-hoo!" he jumped up from the skating hole. "DARINGTOOOOOOOON!!!!! WHOO!" He soon hit the ground hard, causing him to grow dizzy. "Oh... oh... ugh..."
As he did, Crusher, Blaze and AJ, Zeg, and Starla approached him as the red truck helped him up.
"Hey, Darry!" Blaze giggled. "You alright?"
"Yep! Never better!" Darington laughed. "Hiya, gang! Whoo-hoo, what's goin' on?"
"We're wonderin' if you wanna play on our Truckball team, cous!" Starla asked.
"Whaddya say, Darington?" Crusher handed the racket to the stunt truck. "Do you wanna join our team?"
"Ha-ha, you bet I do!" Darington beamed and placed on the racket.
The group rejoiced before the stunt truck, the cowgirl truck and the dino truck began to practice. The brothers exchanged smiles.
"You did it, Blaze!" Crusher patted his younger brother on the back.
"Yeah!" AJ agreed. "With Darington on your team, you have five players!"
"Now we can go back and play in the Truckball Tournament!" Blaze cheered. "Come on, team! Follow me!
"Truckball! Truckball!" Zeg cried out.
"Yee-haw!" Starla cheered.
"Yeah!" Crusher laughed.
"To victory!" Darington whooped.
Meanwhile, back at the Monster Dome, Pickle watched in amusement as Speedrick tried to keep up with his teammates.
"Ugh..." Speedrick panted. "Timeout...timeout..." He sighed and moved over to the water fountain. "I need some water..."
Pickle chuckled as the white truck turned on the water fountain. The green truck drove over and shook his pom poms at him.
"Hey, JERKFACE!" he cried, causing the water to spray to the other's face. "Great news! Blaze and Crusher got a bunch of friends to be on their team, and now they can play Truckball against your team!
"WHAT?!" Speedrick cried out as the water sprayed him in the face again. "THAT ISN'T GOOD NEWS, YOU CUCUMBER!!"
"It is to US," Pickle huffed with a smug grin.
"Oh... I can't let Blaze play in the tournament!" Speedrick growled. "THAT GUY ALWAYS WINS!"
"Aww, so 'sad'," Pickle rolled his eyes. "Oh well, it's not like there's anything you can do,"
"I can!" Speedrick smirked. "I can cheat!"
He took out a box and opened it up. Metal scraps flew into the air and out of the Monster Dome.
"They'll never get past my... Robo-beanstalks!" Speedrick cackled before taking out another scrap from behind him. "And THIS one is for lightning boy!"
Pickle snarled as he watched the scraps fly out of the Monster Dome. The bulbs landed just on the grass, near the park. The bulbs started sprouting just as Blaze's team came forward. Darington was the first to notice it, raising an eyebrow at them.
"Huh. I wonder what these strange plants are..."
He moved closer before yelping as it started to sprout underneath him. It lifted him up into the air.
"WHOAAAAA!!!"
Starla and Zeg shrieked as more bulbs sprouted underneath them and rose them up as well. Crusher and Blaze and AJ drove backwards in shock before they proceeded to dodge them.
"WHOA!!"
"Uh-oh!" AJ gasped. "Those look like... robo-beanstalks!"
"Speedrick must be trying to stop us from playing in the tournament!" Crusher growled.
"B! Crusher! AJ!" Darington cried. "W-w-we can't get down!"
"Zeg up high!" Zeg whimpered.
"Don't worry, team!" Blaze assured them as AJ hopped out. "We'll find a way to save you!"
"Hmm...we're gonna need a giant saw to cut down those beanstalks," the boy hissed.
"And I know a machine that has a giant saw," Crusher grinned. "A feller buncher! They can cut down huge trees!"
"Good thinking, Crusher!" Blaze beamed. "Let's build the parts and turn us into a feller bunchers!"
The boom arms, the grapples, and the giant circular saws materialized before the brothers transformed. AJ cheered as he got on aboard of Blaze.
C'mon, guys! We've got some chopping to do!"
The brothers zoomed off towards the beanstalks. They cut down the first beanstalk and the second one, which had Starla stranded.
"Yee-haw!" the cowgirl cheered as she jumped off.
"Zeeeeeeeeg!!!!" Zeg cried and jumped off with a laugh as Crusher cut down the beanstalk that held him.
Blaze cut down two more. Crusher drove off and cut down another one.
"There's only one beanstalk left, and Darington's on top!" AJ pointed to the last beanstalk.
"Hang on, Darry!" Blaze zoomed towards the beanstalk. "I'm coming!!"
"Back to romeo saving juliet," Starla giggled.
"Yep," Crusher chuckled as they watched the red truck cut the beanstalk.
"DARINGTOOOOOOOON!!!!!" Darington cried as he jumped off the beanstalk. "Ta-da!"
"Darry!" Blaze jumped to detransform before hugging the stunt truck. "You're safe!"
"Thanks to you!" Darington laughed as Crusher detransformed as well. "You and Crusher!"
"Yeah!" Zeg agreed. "Blaze and Crusher save friends!"
"Hey, guys, look, it's Gabby!" AJ pointed to see Gabby coming over on her ATV.
"Blaze, Crusher, there you guys are!" the girl cried. "You and your team have gotta hurry back -- the Truckball Tournament is about to start!"
"Uh-oh!" Darington gasped. "If we don't get there soon, we won't get to play Truckball!"
"Don't worry, team!" Blaze smiled. "Crusher and I'll--"
"Uh, beanstalk sprout at two o'clock!" Starla called out, pointing at the incoming beanstalk sprout.
It landed beside Crusher before grabbing onto him. He hissed and sighed as the beanstalk began to crawl out of the park.
"Really? Again?" he groaned. "Why am I not surprised anymore?"
"CRUSHER!!" Blaze and AJ gasped.
"That sicko's gotta stop with the kidnapping!" Darington snarled.
"Wait, SPEEDRICK is doing this?!" Starla looked horrified.
"And this isn't even the first time." AJ hissed.
"I'm coming, big brother!" Blaze activated his blazing speed, spreading it towards the rest of them. "Leeeeet's Blaaaze!!!"
At the Monster Dome, the tournament was just about to start. Bump took his place on the court to start the game.
"Ladies and gentletrucks! It's time for Truckball!!!"
The audience cheered, giddy and excited. Speedrick scoffed and grabbed the microphone.
"Uh... sorry, but my team is the only team here, so... we win!!" he cackled. " We win, we win!"
Pickle snarled, glaring daggers at the white truck. Before he could say anything, a familiar horn echoed through, and everyone cheered as Blaze and AJ, Gabby and their teammates enter the court.
"You're not the only team anymore!" Blaze cried.
"Blaze and his team made it!" Bump celebrated. "Unbelievable!"
"Oh NO they don't!" Speedrick shook his head. "They only have 4 trucks on your team, Blaze! You need to have FIVE trucks to play!"
"Give back my brother, Speedrick." Blaze growled. "Now."
"No, I won't," Speedrick grinned. "Or maybe I will... IF you and your team backs out of the tournament!"
"You SICKO!" Crusher yelled, and they turned to see Crusher tied up by a wall, the beanstalk still gripping tight on him.
"How about we play for it?" Pickle challenged, dropping the pompom and heading over. "As much as I wouldn't want to play Truckball because it isn't really my style, but I'll play in Blaze's team. IF we win, you give us back Crusher."
"And if MY TEAM wins, I get to keep him?" Speedrick raised an eyebrow.
Pickle doesn't reply for a moment, lost in thought before smirking. "Of course. You have my word, as blue as my stripes,"
"Then it's ON!" Speedrick accepted the challenge.
"Pickle, what was THAT?!" Darington cried as they gathered around Gabby.
"Trust me on this, we'll never lose," Pickle gave them a wink as AJ got off Blaze.
"I hope you're right," Starla hissed.
"Okay, guys. When you're out there, I want you to remember the most important thing." Gabby told them.
"What that, Gabby?" Zeg asked.
"Work together and play like a team!" Gabby grinned.
"Yeah!" Blaze agreed.
"For Crusher's sake too!" Darington added.
"Yeah!" AJ nodded.
"GO TEAM!"
The tournament soon begin. Both teams drove into their starting positions, with Blaze and Speedrick in the front for the face-off. The referee held the ball.
"Okay, teams! Let's play some Truckball!"
He blew into the whistle and threw the ball high. Both Speedrick and Blaze jump, but the red truck managed to take it first. Speedrick growled as Blaze dribbled the ball past his teammates.
"Ha-ha! Check out those moves!" Bump announced as Blaze whacked the ball through the goal. "SCORE! A point for Team Blaze!"
Crusher watched as the game kept going on. Speedrick's team scored 2 points before Blaze and his teams managed to catch up.
"What a game! Every time one team scores, the other team scores right back!" Bump cried.
"You said it, Bump," Crusher murmured, though he wasn't worried.
He heard their deal, and oh, how stupid Speedrick was to think that he'd win the deal.
He doesn't know Pickle well.
Crusher then watched as Speedrick covered the floor with oil in attempt to cheat. He hissed as his brother slipped on the oil, causing him to let go of the ball and causing Speedrick to grab it.
"Hee hee hee! I'm about to win!"
"Oh, yeah!" Blaze grinned and sped up, grabbing the ball from his tires. "Not today, Speedrick!"
"WHAT?!?" Speedrick was shocked as Blaze turned to pass the ball.
"Starla, catch!" he whacked it over to her.
"Got it!" Starla beamed before whacking it to Darington. "Your turn, cousin!"
"Wo-hoo!" Darington got it with a jump before whacking it to the dino truck. "Over to you, Zeg!"
"Zeeeeeeg!"
Zeg jumped and his it over to Blaze. The red truck hopped off a hill then he whacked the ball through the goal.
"GOOOOAAAAAL!" Bump cheered as the audience rejoiced. "Blaze's team wins! Blaze's team wins!!"
The group cheered as they regrouped.
"What a game!" Darington beamed.
"We won, y'all!" Starla whooped.
"Way to go, you guys!" Gabby congratulated as she and AJ ran over.
"We knew you could do it!" the boy added.
"ARGH! NO FAIR!" Speedrick whined. "I LOST!!"
"And a deal is a deal!" Pickle smirked.
"Dammit, FINE!" Speedrick huffed and pressed a button.
The button caused the beanstalk to release Crusher, who leapt out for joy. He dashed over and hugged his brothers before grinning back at Speedrick.
"You know, you would have never won anyway," he chuckled. "Pickle's stripes are GREEN, after all,"
"YOU TRICKED ME!!" Speedrick growled at the green truck.
"Yes, I did," Pickle giggled. "Too bad, so sad,"
"Ugh!" Speedrick scoffed. "Eh, who cares? Well, next time I'm totally gonna win!" He turned and drove off with the ball. "You guys are gonna be like, 'Oh, no!' and-"
As he kept on talking, the group watched as he slowly drove subconsciously towards the oil he spilled earlier. Before any of them could warn him, he slipped on the oil, screaming. He knocked over the ball rack, and the balls hit him on the head, one by one.
"Ooh, that's gotta hurt," Darington hissed, but the grin on his face said otherwise.