The Energon Pub

This is a story running alongside Prison Break, to show what the other Autobots are doing during the absence of Sunstreaker and Bluestreak.

I

The Transformer named Fearswoop landed on a balcony on planet Cybertron’s most famous restaurant. He quickly transformed into his robotic, one-eyed form, and walked in. He sat down at a table and looked at a waiter.

“Waiter!” he called.

The waiter, named Scattorshot, walked over with a laugh.

“You know, you usually wait for me to walk over before I take your order.”

“Yeah. But I’ve had a long, interesting day. Working for Commander Starscream can really be adventurous. Anyway, I’ll just take an oilcan. No food right now.”

“Right away.”

****

Fearswoop sat up. He must’ve been daydreaming. He remembered that day so well. The day he’d become friends with Scattorshot. But he also remembered the day that they had gone to different factions.

Fearswoop didn’t have friends anymore.

****

The next day, at the Autobot temporary base in Tranquility, the heroic Sideswipe woke up. He walked over to the Autobots’ command center. There was a note saying,

WE HAVE THE DAY OFF. DO WHATEVER YOU WANT. P.S. WE’RE AT THR LAKE.
CROSSHAIRS

Sideswipe transformed and drove out the door. He looked at the speed limit sign to make sure he was following the humans’ laws, and then drove to Tranquility Lake, where the Autobots were throwing Frisbees with Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes, shooting at targets with U.S. Military soldiers, preparing a picnic, and just relaxing. Luckily, all humans in the city knew to leave the Autobots alone. After The Fallen's transmission during the battle for the Harvester, everyone knew about the Transformers. Sideswipe transformed into robot mode and went to relax with the others.

“Hey, Sideswipe!” called Autobot Rollbar, “Join the fun!”

That was all Sideswipe needed to be told.

He ran forward, grabbed the disc, and threw it back to Sam, who caught it with an, “Oof.”

Sam hauled up the giant Frisbee and tossed it to Autobot Knock Out.

“Nice shot!”

Sideswipe sat down by the lake, where the Autobot named Smokescreen was relaxing. He sat down beside the Autobot to hang out under the warm sun, in the cool breeze, by the lake.

“SO WHAT?”

Sideswipe bolted up and turned around.

“So what if you killed more Decepticons during the battle of Diego Garcia?”

Autobot Wingblade was arguing with the older Ironhide.

“It’s just because you’re older, and you have more experience!”

“So, I’m better.”

“No, you’re older!”

Scattorshot put his head in his hands. These two had been at this for ten minutes.

Sideswipe couldn’t help but giggle as he walked away from the lake to find Optimus Prime. He found the Autobot leader sitting on the opposite side of the lake, relaxing for the first time in a long, long time.

“Hey, Optimus.”

“Hello, Sideswipe.”

“Why aren’t you over with the others, playing with the humans?”

“I was just thinking.”

“Well, can you think while we’re eating?”

“Sure.”

The two friends walked over to where the Autobots were waiting for them. There, they saw Ratchet preparing the food. What they didn’t see was the silver Audi R8 sitting by the curb. Another thing they didn’t see was the Decepticon emblem on its trunk.

Yeah, I know Sideways is supposed to be dead, but what with his toy being included with Blowpipe and the fourpack with Longarm, Breakaway, and Rampage, it seems that Hasbro believes he may be (somehow) revived. So, here he is, alive, and in the Cybertronian flesh.

II

Sideways, a loyal Decepticon spy, watched the Autobots’ merrymaking with disgust. If it weren’t for his new Audi R8 sports car mode, he would never have been able to sneak up on the Autobots.

He watched for a few more seconds. Then, he drove away.

****

Landmine was a young Autobot, but he had a keen optical sensor. So when he saw an Audi R8 driving away, he knew it couldn’t be good.

“I’ll be right back,” he said.

He turned and transformed, then followed the mysterious car. He called out: “Pull over!” but the driver kept going.

“I said stop!”

He transformed and blocked the Audi’s way. Then, he watched in shock as the vehicle transformed into Sideways.

“Out of the way, Autobot.”

“No.”

“You won’t live to regret fighting me.”

Luckily, the rookie Autobot Knock Out rolled up. Knock Out had seen Landmine leave, and in youthful curiosity, had decided to follow Landmine.

“Stop!”

“Ah. Two Autobots for the price of one.”

Sideways kicked furiously at Landmine, while Knock Out ducked and punched Sideways in the knee. The Decepticon howled in pain and turned to face Knock Out. As soon as he did, Landmine nailed him with his blaster.

“Another day,” Sideways growled.

The Autobots watched him retreat, and then went back to where the others were just about to eat.

****

Sideways screeched to a halt on the other side of Tranquility. The Autobots could drive him up the wall, at times.

This was one of those times.

He pulled into the mall parking lot, and shut down for a while.

****


Earth.

It might not the biggest planet in the universe, but it’s the most populated.

Cybertron.

It was once the most populated planet in the universe, until Megatron’s rise to power. Which was better liked? It depended on who you were. For the Autobots Backtrack, Skyblast, Armorhide, Cosmos, and Clocker, Cybertron was the only home they’d ever known. But now, they were leaving. They were going to earth, and it didn’t matter how much they liked Cybertron. Earth was their new home.

“Commence ignition,” ordered Armorhide.

“Five, four, three, two, one,” said Skyblast.

"We have liftoff!" Cosmos shouted.

“Good,” replied Clocker.

In a matter of hours, the Autobots’ spaceship began orbiting the moon. Then, they transformed into their protoform modes and soared down.

“Scan alternate forms,” ordered Clocker.

Backtrack scanned a motorcycle, Skyblast scanned a jet, Clocker took a racecar, and Armorhide scanned a semi-truck, and Cosmos remained in his Cybertronian flying saucer form.

“Great. Now, let’s get to Optimus Prime,” said Clocker.

****

Optimus was just about to start eating, when armies of Decepticons burst from the ground.

“No!” cried Knock Out.

Three Swindle drones jumped on him and tied him up.

“Help!” cried Autobot Depth Charge.

Five Dropkick drones had attacked him from behind. In only a matter of minutes, the Autobots had been completely overcome.

“Ready for transport,” said Fearswoop.

Soon, the Autobots were each in a cell in the secondary Decepticon base, hidden in the desert.

“Now, the Decepticon warrior Thundercracker will fight any Autobot challenger,” said an announcer.

The Autobots realized that they were going to be put in a gladiatorial arena!

“I’ll fight!” growled Ironhide.

“No,” said Optimus, “I will.”

“Optimus, no!”

“Too late,” Optimus said as he was taken into the arena, “I will defeat him.”

If it seems odd that Air Raid is in this story even though he died in Reign of Starscream, remember that there is an ROTF Superion combiner called Air Raid. It's him.

III

Backtrack looked around and said, “Where are the other Autobots?”

Suddenly, twenty Decepticons jumped out of the bushes and captured these Autobots, too. When they arrived on the ship, they didn’t like what they saw.

Optimus Prime was dueling Thundercracker in hand-to-hand combat!

“What’s going on?” asked Skyblast.

“They’re dueling – to the death,” said Air Raid.

Meanwhile, Optimus threw the first punch, which Thundercracker dodged. The Decepticon quickly returned with a swing of his arm blade. Optimus deflected the blow with his own swords.

“Time!” called the announcer. “Round two. Fight!”

As Thundercracker punched Optimus in the chest, the Autobot leader toppled over.

“We’re doomed!” whispered Autobot Salvage.

“Wait,” replied Bumblebee, “Salvage, you can blast that Dropkick drone with your arm blasters! Then, Evac can grab the key from him.”

“Right.”

In a flash, the Autobots had completed the task. They waited ‘til Optimus took a particularly hard blow, so that the audience was too busy to notice. Then, they broke free and attacked the other guards. The Decepticon ship’s arena was now an enormous battlefield. Bumblebee kneed a Decepticon in the chest. He took his cannon back from the villain, and then began firing at the drones that were pouring into the arena.

“Stop them!” cried Starscream. “Megatron will not be pleased if they get away!”

The Autobot Cliffjumper began firing his plasma cannon at the Decepticon warriors. Then, he transformed the cannon into a blade and stabbed at Fearswoop.

****

Optimus kneed Thundercracker in the face, and the Decepticon scrambled backwards. He stabbed desperately at Optimus, but the Autobot leader dodged the blow and stabbed one of his swords into Thundercracker’s chest. The Decepticon fell over, defeated and destroyed.

“Autobots, continue the attack!” he ordered.

As Decepticons swarmed over the Autobots, Optimus tried to keep himself between the Decepticons and Autobots.

“Optimus!” called Bumblebee, “Look out!”

Optimus looked up as Megatron fell toward him. He jumped to meet the villain as the Decepticon warriors finally made their full attack on the Autobots.

****

Bumblebee fired his plasma cannon as a Decepticon closed in on him.

“Cliffjumper!” he called, “Shoot the lights!”

The Autobot nodded and fired his cannon at the ceiling. The lights went out. This gave the Autobots a chance to sneak back to the spacebridge. When the lights came back on, Megatron growled. They were gone.

IV

Optimus and the other Autobots returned to their base, bruised and battered. They all took turns taking energy baths, and then they went to bed. Then next day, Optimus ordered defenses to be set up around the town. The town was covered in Autobot blaster turrets, all ready to fire on the Decepticons if they lowered from the sky.

“Ready, men?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Swerve,” Optimus said, “You guard the mall. Bumblebee, you take the high school. Ironhide, guard the power plant. Ratchet, take up a position near the highway. Everyone else, guard where you want.”

“Sir,” said the Autobot Arcee, “My men and I would like to guard the police station.”

“You do that, Arcee.”

She, Clocker, Crosshairs, Clocker, Skyblast, Chromia, Elita-1, and Cliffjumper went to the station.

“I want to stay with Ironhide and keep score,” said Wingblade.

“Alright,” Optimus said, chuckling softly.

“Sir, I’d like permission to guard Bobby Bolivia’s Car Lot,” insisted Strongarm.

“Very well.”

“My men and I will fight back from the sky,” said Silverbolt.

"I'll assist him and the Aerialbots," Breakaway said.

“Good. Now, the rest of you need to plant mine charges anywhere in town.”

“Yes, sir.”

Soon, the Autobots were prepared. They waited and waited. Finally, at sundown, Backtrack spotted many dark spots in the sky. As the sun vanished and stars appeared, the Autobots and turrets began firing at the Decepticon attackers.

“Fire back!” ordered Megatron.

“Everyone attack!” Optimus said.

“Charge!” Arcee ordered.

The sky was lit in a beautiful display of blue, red, orange, and yellow laser blasts. Deadly missiles followed the lasers toward their targets. Arcee rolled away as a rocket fired by Decepticon Ransack slammed into the ground where she’d been standing.

“Decepticons, full attack!” shouted Starscream.

A Decepticon drone landed on a mine, blowing him away.

****

Ironhide ripped an Elite drone’s arm off. The drone temporarily halted his attack, but charged back forward. Ironhide pumped lasers into the drone and it collapsed.

“Seventeen,” he said.

“Already?” exclaimed Wingblade.

“I can fire at flying Decepticons.”

“Oh. Ten, eleven, twelve!”

Ironhide grinned and fired again and again. He and Wingblade were in separate parts of the plant, each firing at their own set of Decepticon drones. A Stunticon Scout started to leap at Ironhide. Wingblade cut its head off.

“Twenty!” Wingblade said.

“Twenty-five!” Ironhide replied.

He grabbed a drone and threw it across the plant, where it slammed into the explosive canisters sitting there.

“There are going to be a lot of dead Decepticons that we didn’t kill!” he cried.

Then, the air turned white hot, and smelled like burnt computer chips. Ironhide and Wingblade sat up; looked at each other, and scrambled up to continue their competition.

****

Bumblebee and Soundwave, who had finally come down from space to fight the Autobots, faced off in the schoolyard, punching and kicking each other.

“You aren’t going to defend this pathetic planet this time,” Soundwave growled.

Bumblebee fired his shoulder cannons at the villain, who dodged the plasma bursts with barely an inch to spare. Soundwave returned the blow with a punch. And then the explosions from the power plant engulfed the school and the two combatants.

Have a busy day tomorrow, so I'll be updating my stories today.

V

Crosshairs and Reverb dueled near the police station. Crosshairs spun and kicked Reverb across the face. The Decepticon stumbled backwards.

“You’re gonna pay for that, Autobot!”

“Never!”

Crosshairs threw his axe, and the blade went through Reverb's shoulder, connecting the Decepticon to the wall. Struggling to free himself, Reverb fired his cannon wildly. A prison window broke open, allowing prisoners to escape.

"I'll get 'em!" said Autobot Prowl.

Transforming into a police car, he raced after the escapees.

****

Knock Out and the Decepticon Dead End punched and kicked at each other. Whenever their metal arms would collide, sparks would fill the air.

“Why do you continue fighting, Autobot?” Dead End asked.

“Because we must protect the humans!”

A laser bolt slammed into the ground dangerously near Knock Out’s feet, but he didn’t care. He kept fighting. Dead End balled his clawed hands into fists and punched at Knock Out.

****

Sideswipe and the Decepticon Jetstorm grappled on top of a tall building. They pushed each other across other buildings, off the buildings, and through parking lots.

“You’ll lose eventually!” cried Jetstorm.

“No, we won’t,” whipsered Sideswipe.

Soon, they reached an open plain, where the grass was starting to burn from the laser bolts and missiles. Their huge feet left craters as they ran.

****

Optimus Prime and Megatron clashed near the lake, where no other Autobot or Decepticon could interrupt. They smashed their fists into each other’s chest, fired at the other, and rammed their opponent.

“You will die, and this planet with you!” Megatron growled.

“Never!”

“I will destroy you with my bare hands!”

“No.”

They clashed again, ready to destroy the other.

****

Scattorshot and Fearswoop fired at each other, pushing the thoughts of their past friendship out of their heads. Scattorshot fired and kicked Fearswoop to the ground, looked in the one-eyed 'Con's face, and stopped. Fearswoop kicked him.

“This is war!” growled Fearswoop.

“I know. But why did you join them?”

"For power."

They fought through the town, both of them nearly forgetting their past.

“You will be defeated!” cried Fearswoop.

“No! It's over!”

****

Many hours passed, many of the Autobots growing tired, barely able to hold out against the Decepticons. Arcee and Backtrack desperately tried to hold off their opponents, but the Decepticons kept on.

“Fight on!” urged Optimus.

Even Ironhide and Wingblade were barely keeping up with their opponents.

“This is terrible!” said Sam.

“We can help,” replied the Real Gear Robots.

“How? You’re tiny.”

“That is how we can help.”

“They’re right,” said Major Lennox. “Sam, do you still have those TECH weapons?”

“Yeah.”

“Great. You use Flash Bang and Autofire, we’ll use our missile launchers, and the Real Gear Robots can distract the Decepticons.”

“Alright.”

“We’re ready, sir,” said Epps.

"Then let's go," replied Lennox.

They ran from Sam’s house, hiding until the Robots could distract the Decepticons. Soon, that was just what happened. The humans went into action. Decepticon drones exploded as Lennox’s men fired.

“Thanks!” Salvage said, knocking down his enemy.

The other Autobots benefited from the distraction, as well.

“Retreat!” Megatron cried.

Mines exploded everywhere as the frantic Decepticons ran over them.

“Thank goodness,” muttered Sam.

****

“We’ll be back,” growled Megatron, looking down on earth, “And you’ll pay for killing Thundercracker.”

He turned to his men. Even though the attack had been unsuccessful, they seemed pleased, for many of the Autobots’ drones had been destroyed. They would be back. And then, Optimus would pay.

****

“I WON!!” cheered Wingblade.

“Yeah. You won fair and square,” replied Ironhide.

“YES!!!!”

"Ironhide, Wingblade," Optimus called. "Don't get too busy - we're moving back to Diego Garcia."

He was lifting a box and loading it onto the giant Autobot Stratosphere.

"We could use some help," said Prowl.

He loaded the escapees back in the prison and picked up a box.

"Right, let's go," said Ironhide.

Wingblade nodded and transformed into his own large plane mode.

"All aboard!" he said.

****

So, that's the end of that chapter. Next update - Friday. (No, it ain't over. )

VI

Stratosphere loomed over the Atlantic Ocean, the huge waves below him, and the Aerialbots, Wingblade, and Breakaway beside him.

"Nice day," said Ratchet from inside the cargo hold.

He wrapped a patch around Bumblebee's leg. After the explosion at the high school, a chunk of the building had fallen on the small Autobot, wounding him.

"T-thanks...Ratchet," Bumblebee said.

For several months, the young Autobot had been working on his voice. He could almost talk now. Almost.

"No problem, Bumblebee," replied Ratchet. "Just be careful on that leg."

He walked farther in to the huge Autobot's cargo hold and found Ironhide and Optimus sitting with Prowl.

"There were three more Autobots with you?" Optimus asked Prowl.

"Yes, sir. Bluestreak, Sunstreaker, and Inferno. We were attacked by Soundwave, Rumble, Laserbeak, and Astrotrain. I don't think Inferno survived. Sunstreaker and Bluestreak might've."

"Hmm. If the Decepticons have captured them, they could put them up for ransom. I just led a rescue mission to the Nemesis not long ago, but it looks like I'm leading another one."

"No you are not!" Ironhide snapped. "We need your help fixing the base! Those two will have to fend for themselves. I trained them personally back on Cybertron. They can handle themselves, trust me. They may not be the best fighters, but they're fast and maneuverable."

"Well, then, they'll be fine," Prowl replied. "We'll worry about them when we get the base set up."

Optimus shook his head. He needed to take care of his forces, not leave them to Decepticon cruelty. But if Prowl and Ironhide agreed that they'd be fine, he had a funny feeling that they'd be fine.

"Alright, then. Stratosphere, full speed ahead to Diego Garcia!"

Like I said in Prison Break, I'm out of town Monday - update today.

VII

As Stratosphere landed on Diego Garcia, the first one out of the hold was Beachcomber, a young, nature-loving, peaceful Autobot. As he transformed into his dune buggy mode, Ironhide called out.

"Hey, Beachcomber!" he said. "We could use a hand unpacking!"

"Right!" Beachcomber called back. "Just give me a mega cycle!"

The blue dune buggy raced in between the trees and past beautiful lakes. Beachcomber finally transformed into robot mode and sat on the ground next to a particularly large lake. He glanced at the gatling guns that were mounted on each shoulder. Sure, he was a nice, peaceful guy, but he had to fight. After the Decepticons had roasted parts of Diego Garcia, he'd been infuriated. Harming nature was inexcusable. He'd fight those 'Cons, even if he didn't like it.

"Hey, 'Comber," said Longarm.

The larger Autobot had walked up silently. Beachcomber nodded, showing that he acknowledged Longarm's presence.

"We could use your help," Longarm said.

"I know," Beachcomber said. "Just wanted to explore a bit. Let's go."

****

Slap Dash grabbed a box, raced into the ruined base, put it down, and raced back to Stratosphere. Ironhide shook his fist at the speedster.

"Slow down!" he cried. "You're going to break something!"

"I'll pay for it later!" he said.

Optimus Prime laughed and put his hand on Ironhide's shoulder.

"He's young. He'll come around."

"Who? Beachcomber or Slap Dash?"

"Both," Optimus admitted.

"I see."

Optimus pointed at Knock Out, who was dragging the biggest box out of all the Autobots.

"He used to be a young speedster, just like Slap Dash. After the battles in Peru and Rome, look at him now."

"True."

Optimus motioned to Beachcomber and Longarm.

"See? Now, let's get back to work. It's going to be a long solar cycle."

Very short today.

VIII

"Whirl, Prime wants you to report to the command center, immediately."

Whirl looked over at Ratchet and nodded stiffly.

"Right."

He ran to the command center.

"News, Prime?"

"No, just...call it intuition. I want you to keep watch over the NEST battle fleet stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Their aircraft carriers and battleships are too important to lose."

"Right. Anything else?"

"Yes. There are several Aerialbot Warriors stationed there, so use their help if possible. Look, I - I don't anticipate a Decepticon attack, but that would be the smartest place to attack. If they do strike there, they'll effectively cripple our ocean forces. And with soldiers like Storm Surge and Sonar, they'd have a distinct advantage."

"Yes, sir."

Transforming, Whirl flew away. Prime watched him go and looked around curiously. How much did they have to fix?

The Decepticon referred to as Ruination in this story is from The Veiled Threat, and he's an Osprey.

IX

Whirl landed on the biggest carrier in the fleet. Four Aerialbots were awaiting him.

"This is my defense force?" he muttered.

"No, sir. There are many more Aerialbots on the other cruisers. Silverbolt, Air Raid, Fireflight, Skydive, and Airazor are waiting on that ship."

The Aerialbot that was talking pointed at a carrier in the distance. Whirl nodded.

"I want to go over some training exersizes. Meet me back here with as many Aerialbots as possible in twenty cycles."

"Yes, sir."

The Aerialbots flew away. Whirl shot holograms of large rings into the sky. When the Aerialbots returned, Silverbolt and the others were with them.

"I want you all to take turns flying through those rings. Flight accuracy is important in battle."

One by one, the Aerialbots did the exersize. Then, Whirl made holograms of 200 Decepticon fliers.

"I want you to terminate as many as possible in five cycles."

As before, the Aerialbots handled the mission with the most accurate skill Whirl had ever seen.

"Good. Now, if a Decepticon has a human at gunpoint, what do you do?"

"Blow the 'Con to shreds?" asked an Aerialbot.

"No."

"Actually," said Skydive, "you distract the Decepticon while another Aerialbot goes in to save the human."

"Correct," Whirl replied. "Now, what do you do when facing an amazing flier like Thundercracker or Ramjet?"

"Blow them out of the sky!" Air Raid said.

"Maneuver carefully to lead them into an ambush!" Airazor insisted.

"Trick them into making a mistake so they crash!" Fireflight said.

"You have a good team, Silverbolt," said Whirl.

"Sir?" said an Aerialbot.

"Yes?"

"What do you do when two hundred Decepticons are converging on your position?"

"Why do you ask that?"

"Because they are!"

Whirl turned around. Spinister, Fearswoop, Ruination, and two hundred Seeker Snipers were flying down from space.

"Prepare for battle!" Whirl commanded. "Go! Go!"

An alarm blared. NEST soldiers began hopping into jet fighters and taking off. The Aerialbots shot into the sky to reinforce the humans. Silverbolt and his team of four turned to Whirl.

"What do we do, sir?" Silverbolt asked.

"Get to fighting, now!"

I'm back. PS, in this story, Kicker is played by Kelly Blatz, and Arkeville is played by...the man who plays Doctor Necros on Aaron Stone, whose name escapes me.

X


Chad Jones, nicknamed Kicker since kindergarten, was an old childhood friend of Sam Witwicky. He had seen The Fallen on TV – seen Sam’s face alongside Mikaela Banes and Leo Spitz – seen Sam running from his college. Now, Kicker was visiting Sam, sitting in his old pal’s apartment. The summer evening allowed sufficient light without having to turn on a lamp. Not that they were talking, anyway. The two old pals were playing new video game versions of ‘Star Wars’ and eating huge cheeseburgers.

“So,” Kicker said as he fought to kill the cheap alien and robot enemies on the video game without getting his own avatar killed, “I guess you’re way past these games.”

“What do you mean?” asked Sam.

“The giant robots from space. How cool is that? You’re good friends with a giant robot that turns into a lightning-fast Camaro, dude!”

“Yeah. Still fun though. The games.”

“Right. Of course. Look out!”

He rapidly pressed buttons, instantly vaporizing two enemies that were not far from Sam. Sam grinned. Moments later, he threw the controls to the ground as a grenade blew up near his feet.

“No!”

“Dude!” Kicker muttered. “Bad luck!”

Sam sat back down and picked up the control once again as his avatar revived. This time, he made sure to watch for grenades.

“So,” Kicker said finally, “when do I get to meet him?”

“Who?”

“The Camaro.”

“Oh. I…I’ll introduce you tonight. But first, let’s finish these bots!”

After finishing off their dinner and taking care of the last enemies, Sam and Kicker ran to the parking lot. There, a bright yellow-and-black striped Camaro sat, looking as if it were a regular vehicle.

“Hey, ‘Bee, can you take us somewhere where Kicker can see you transform?” asked Sam. “He’s an old pal of mine.”

Bumblebee honked his horn. Soon, they pulled into an old warehouse. Sam and Kicker got out of Bumblebee, and the bright Camaro began shifting forms. Its doors became like wings, its trunk became feet, and its hood became a chest as it folded back to reveal the Autobot’s friendly face.

“Whoa!” Kicker said. “That’s awesome!”

“Now, Bumblebee, show him your guns!” Sam insisted.

Bumblebee nodded, and a battle mask shifted to cover his face. Twin shoulder cannons flipped out and his hand converted into a long plasma cannon. The three weapons fired, and a brick wall collapsed upon itself.

“Oh, man, that’s sweet!” cried Kicker. “I’d love to see him in battle.”

Bumblebee’s comm lit up.

“Bumblebee, this is Prime. A Decepticon named Wreckloose is tearing up town a few miles from you. Please intercept.”

“Roger that, Prime,” Bumblebee replied.

He transformed back into his car form, and the two teens jumped into the car.

“Looks like you’ll get the opportunity,” Sam said to Kicker.

Bumblebee soon came to a halt and both humans got out. Bumblebee converted and activated his plasma cannon. The weapon began humming. A green Audi R8 raced by and rammed into Bumblebee. Kicker and Sam ran for cover as Wreckloose transformed into robot mode. His own arm converted into a buzz saw and he charged. Bumblebee dodged and transformed his other arm into a stinger blade. The two car bots clashed with their bladed weapons. Wreckloose groaned as Bumblebee cut through his arm.

“Take that, Decepticon,” Bumblebee said.

Wreckloose kicked Bumblebee.

“Quit it! I’m supposed to be hitting you!” Bumblebee cried.

He blasted Wreckloose’s blade arm off. The Decepticon transformed and raced away. Kicker gaped in awe.

“That was awesome!” he said.

“Yeah,” Sam said.

“Can’t believe you fell for that!” a voice cried.

A Decepticon called Shadow Striker blasted Bumblebee into unconsciousness while another Decepticon, Overload, grabbed Sam. A bald human male, a wicked smirk on his face, grabbed Kicker by the shirt collar.

“Hello, boy. I am Doctor Arkeville. Your friend is an ally of the Autobots. He must be destroyed.”

“Why are you doing this, doctor?”

“You idiots who have allied yourselves with the Autobots are on the losing side. The Decepticons will prevail. And when they do…I will be on their side.”

The doctor punched Kicker in the face, knocking the teen out cold. He looked up at Long Haul, who had transformed into a large articulated dump truck.

“Let’s go, Overload. Megatron will want the boy at my lab soon. Roll out!”

The doctor jumped onto Trenchmouth, who had also converted – into his favorite earth vehicle, a red racing motorcycle. The large vehicle, as well as the much smaller one, rolled slowly away.

****

Hours passed. Kicker sat up and rubbed his head. A black and green motorcycle rolled up. It instantly folded upon itself and became Knock Out. Mikaela and Leo ran up to Kicker.

“What happened?” asked Leo.

“The Decepticons…took Sam.”

“Bumblebee?” Knock Out said. “Please wake up.”

“Uh…Knock Out. Sam!”

“We’ll get him back,” promised Mikaela.

“You bet we will,” Kicker said. “I will make sure of it.”