The Strongest in the Universe
Chapter 1 Saiyaman's Big Return
Gohan pushed his way through the mob of students swarming the hallway and hummed a popular song he had heard from the radio. Opening a locker he retrieved his books and carefully placed them inside his bag before clasping it shut. After a long and tiring day of school he was looking forward to his extracurricular activities. You see, while most students joined an after school club or headed home to their families, he was assuming the role as the hero of justice Saiyaman, punching bad guys and fighting crime with style. There was nothing he loved more than saving lives and putting criminals in their place, all the while posing stylishly for his fans. He supposed he should feel guilty for enjoying it so much, but no one said you can't have fun and help others in the process.
Besides, he always felt a rush of excitement whenever he thought about having a secret identity like one of his childhood heroes. Always on the verge of discovery, they managed to evade the cops and mobbing fans to keep their secret intact and live on to fight villains another day. It was exciting to wonder that at any moment his true identity could be found out and his entire life changed in the blink of an eye. Not that his normal self was some sort of playboy billionaire or anything, but he loved that it added some uncertainty to his everyday life that he had been missing over the last seven years.
Secretly, however, he relished the attention. Over the years he and his father had fought off countless aliens who sought to either rule or destroy the earth, but the only one who ever got any credit was Hercule. Maybe his father didn't mind being the unsung hero but he craved the acknowledgment of his actions. He was the one who had defeated Cell and saved the earth seven years ago… but no one would ever believe him.
He sighed and shook his head. This definitely wasn't the way to reignite his career with a bang. What he really needed was a flight over the city to clear his head and sort out his thoughts. But of course things can never go as planned.
"Hey Gohan!" He couldn't help but flinch as a voice yelled over the chatter of students and drew every eye in the room towards him. Peeking his head around the locker door, he paled when he saw Videl heading straight towards his position. Whispers began to take over the narrow hallway and in a panic he hid his face behind the locker door even though his hair stuck out over the top.
Stopping next to him Videl leaned on the next locker and flicked some stray bangs out of her face. She was the last person he wanted to talk to right now. Not that she had offended him or anything, but the fact that she knew that he was Saiyaman made him easy blackmail material. Equally frustrating was the fact that she was Mr. Satan's daughter and her presence was definitely not helping him get over the thoughts he was trying to suppress from earlier.
Checking the contents of his locker his frantic mind tried to come up with a plan to get away without making it look to obvious. Nothing was coming to him and Videl finally lost patience and coughed loudly. He tensed and closed the metal door.
"Uh oh hey V-Videl. I-I didn't see you there. Wh-what do you want?" His voice cracked no less than three times and Videl rolled her eyes. She would ignore his blatant attempt to dodge her… for now.
"So are you planning on getting back to kicking some criminals around?" She gave him a thumb's up and winked.
"Hey shush, I thought you were going to keep my secret." Horrified at the thought that somebody had heard he frantically looked around to see if anyone was close enough to overhear.
"Oh lighten up, my friends already know your secret and nobody's stupid enough to listen in on us unless they want to get pummeled into the ground." She punched her fist into her other hand to prove her point. The whispers suddenly died and students began to disperse around them.
"See what'd I tell ya." She gestured to the now almost empty hallway.
He shook his head in frustration. "Still could we not talk about it at school?"
She rolled her eyes and punched him lightly in the shoulder. Leading them down the hallway she waved to her friends as they headed out the front door.
"Happy?" She asked when they were finally outside.
"Yes actually." They came to a stop on the sidewalk in front of the school steps. The late afternoon sun was beginning to start its descent towards the horizon.
"You want some backup on patrol today; I mean I know you can handle yourself I just think it would be more efficient if we did it together." She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and if he didn't know better he would have thought she was nervous.
"While I appreciate the offer Videl, I don't think you would be much help." She glared at him and he immediately backtracked.
"Uh, that came out wrong. What I meant to say was that it would be kind of weird if you and Saiyaman just suddenly started working together ya know. I mean people might start to talk and I just don't want either of us to have to deal with that, ha ha ha." laughing nervously he rubbed the back of his neck. When she remained silent, he nervously shifted from one foot to the other hoping that she would accept his answer.
"Alright, just be careful okay. If you get hurt while I'm not there I'll never let you live it down." He released a shaky breath and nodded.
"Well anyway, see ya tomorrow." He backed away a few steps and waved.
"Y-Yeah." She rubbed her arm with her gloved hand and looked down at the sidewalk. Gohan failed to catch the blush that lighted her cheeks.
"Well bye." He turned and ran around the corner before pressing the red button on his watch. Transformation complete, he powered up and flew off into the sky. He sighed in relief when he could no longer see her silhouette. That had gone better than he had expected. Setting a course for downtown he scanned the streets below.
"Now if I were trouble where would I be?"
"Absolutely not!" The old bots voice reverberated across the silo.
"Please Ratchet, I promise I'll keep it short." Miko was giving the medic the biggest puppy dog face she could muster. The bot pinched his nose and sighed. He could tell she wasn't going to budge until she got her way but he was too stubborn to give in that easily.
"Miko please, the groundbridge is for emergency purposes only and we are low enough on energon as it is." The Japanese girl crossed her arms and huffed.
"I already promised I'd be good." She pouted.
"That's not the point!" He roughly shook his head. If sentient robots could get headaches he certainly would have had one by this point. For the past half hour she had been attempting to convince him to open the groundbridge for what she had called 'sightseeing'. How he wished with all his spark that Optimus had been here to give her an explanation and light scolding, but the prime was currently predisposed.
"C'mon Ratch I just want to show bulkhead my hometown." She clutched onto his leg and looked up into his optics teary eyed. Neither broke eye contact for a full minute until Ratchet sighed.
"Fine." He placed a hand over his optics in frustration. At the same time he had a flash of inspiration and if he hadn't been known for being the old cranky doctor he would have smirked.
"But you have to take Jack and Raf with you."
"Deal!" She ran off to tell the others singing a heavy metal song and strumming an air guitar.
"At least I can get some peace and quiet around here for a while." He turned back to the console where he spent most of his time and tried to remember where he had left off.
"Bulkhead I got Ratch to let us all visit my hometown!" She was practically bouncing up and down as she came running into the room.
"Whoa really?" Raf looked up from his laptop in surprise and adjusted his glasses.
"Yeah how did you manage that? Ratchet's more stubborn than my mom." Jack commented. Smirking proudly, Miko put her hands on her hips and told them about how she had bugged the old doctor for nearly an hour. Jack and Raf couldn't help but burst out laughing as she told them.
"Yeah that's Miko for you." Jack remarked while wiping a tear out of his eye.
"No kidding." Raf added.
"Well are we gonna just stand around all day or do you want to see where I grew up!"
"Grew up where now?" Arcee walked into the energon storage room just in time to catch the tail end of the conversation.
"Miko convinced Ratchet to let us go see her home in Japan." Raf informed her. Arcee quirked an eyebrow and was about ready to ask something until Miko interrupted her.
"Last one to the groundbridge is a frozen scraplet!" Impatient as always she ran off towards the main hanger. Jack and Raf looked to each other and shrugged before they raced after her, leaving Bulkhead and Arcee alone among the energon cubes.
"Mind if I come." Bulkhead looked at Arcee in confused surprise.
"What? It beats patrolling around Jasper."
"Uh, okaaaay." He decided that he probably shouldn't ask and they followed after the children.
"Okay Ratch do the thing." Miko pointed both fingers at Ratchet who rolled his optics and pulled the lever for the groundbridge. Looking up at Arcee, Jack gestured in the direction of the bridge and she nodded. Transforming into a motorcycle she revved her engine.
"Hop on" She told him while adjusting her mirrors to better look at him.
"Over here Raf you're riding with me." Miko waved at Raf from the driver's seat of Bulkheads vehicle form. Caught up in the excitement he almost sprinted for the passenger seat, but thought of something at the last second and turned around. Looking up at the medic he pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose.
"See ya later Ratchet." To his surprise the bot turned his head and nodded at him. The twelve year old smiled and ducked into the passenger's seat.
Gohan looked down at his watch while dodging a flock of irritable geese. He had been patrolling for almost two hours and there hadn't been even a sign of criminal activity.
"Of course now that I'm out of school they decide to take a break." He frowned.
Somehow the bad guys always chose the worst possible moment to commit crimes. He would always have to ask to leave for the bathroom in the middle of class. He sighed and stopped mid-flight to look up at the bright blue sky. The late afternoon sun glared off his visor and he closed his eyes for a moment to let himself rest. When he opened them again he took the time to enjoy the vast expanse of sky in front of him. The lighting was beautiful at this time of day as afternoon turned to evening until finally fading into dusk, and he absorbed the scenery as he thought aloud.
"At least dealing with criminals is better than fighting with aliens who could destroy the planet with a single glance." He dropped his gaze back down to the city and looked for a decent spot to descend. A secluded area behind an office building was the best he could find and he dropped altitude until his feet touched the ground. Pushing himself against the wall he peeked around the corner to see if anyone was approaching. Once satisfied that no one would spot him he pressed the red button on his watch and his normal clothes reappeared.
"I guess I'll drop by Videls house before I head home." Re-emerging on the sidewalk he headed in the direction of Mr. Satan's mansion.
"My house is just down the street Bulkhead." Miko pointed at a certain street and he took a left as they drove by several near identical houses.
"Oh I can't wait to show my parents my new Autobot friends." She all but squealed as she jumped around in her seat.
"Miko we already talked about this. Your parents can't know we exist, it's too dangerous." Annoyed she slouched in her seat and muttered something under her breath.
Meanwhile Raf was transfixed. The houses here were far more futuristic than anything in the states and he was absorbing everything he laid his eyes on with childlike wonder.
"Wow." He remarked in awe. Miko noticed and smiled proudly, promptly forgetting what she was upset about.
"Yeah my city didn't used to be this high tech but apparently some world hero or something lives here and they renamed the city after him." Raf nodded but didn't move his eyes from the window.
"Wait Bulkhead there's my house!" She pointed to a building a couple houses down on the left and they pulled to a stop at the side of the street. Curious as to what Miko's house would look like when compared to the rest of the neighborhood Raf tried to look past her.
"Wow I didn't know my neighborhood had changed so much." She practically had her face glued to the window and Raf had to wait until she pulled away to get a look. When he did the first thing he noticed was that her house was rather simplistic compared to everything else in the neighborhood.
The front of the house was composed of a rounded structure painted plain white like the surrounding houses, but the square building behind it suggested that the dome was a recent addition and not part of the original design. The lawn was even stranger with overgrown grass almost a foot tall and a flowerbed overflowing with pansies and cosmos in a rainbow of different colors. Even the mailbox was an odd shade of yellow that seemed to clash with everything else. Not to say that it looked horrible or anything just a bit out of place compared to everything else in the neighborhood. He smiled. It was just like Miko. A bit odd but normal enough that you could accept the few quirks that came with her.
Variety is the spice of life. He thought.
"Bulkhead can I please show you to my parents?" She quickly lost interest in her childhood home and had taken up pleading again.
"Absolutely not. Technically you're not supposed to even be in Japan right now." He started to drive off and Miko took one long look at her house before hunching over and pouting. Raf's smile broadened.
Yep just like Miko.
"You want some music?" Bulkhead asked in hope that it would appease her.
"No."
"How about we catch up with Jack and Arcee?" Raf suggested. Miko gave him a curt nod and Bulkhead steered them towards the heart of town.
"Lord Megatron." Starscream approached and gave a mock bow to his master.
"What is it Starscream?" Megatron gave his first lieutenant an annoyed glare before turning his back to him.
"My liege we have pinpointed the location of several Autobots who are outside their base. Currently they are on the landmass of what the humans have deemed Japan" He examined his claw like hands with thinly veiled pride.
"Your point Starscream." His master's dismissal left the lieutenant bitter and he had to suppress the feeling unless it showed on his countenance.
"Why I believe now is the perfect time to interrogate one of them for the location of their hideaway. I can send some vehicons to capture the one known as Arcee with your permission my lord." He did a half bow that did little to keep his pride in check.
"One question first Starscream." Megatron turned to face the seeker with a visible sneer.
"Why have you not dispatched a squadron already instead of preening your ego?" The gladiators tone was scathing.
"B-because my lord I thought you might like to have the honor of crushing the other Autobot." He slowly edged away from his master.
"The only Autobot worthy of being obliterated by me is Optimus Prime!" The con leader continued to corner his first lieutenant into the door of the bridge.
"Yes, yes of course Lord Megatron it was impudent of me to impose otherwise." He fell to his knees in submission as the dark lord towered over him. Grabbing him by the wing Megatron lifted him up to eye level.
"But if you are so eager to snuff out another Autobot spark Starscream then the honor is all yours." He dropped the frightened seeker and returned to the prow of his bridge. Starscream pulled himself to his feet and bowed.
"Why thank you for this opportunity my Lord." Every word was dripping with venom.
The rumble of Arcees engine was soothing as she and Jack cruised down Main Street. There were fewer people than one might expect for a main thoroughfare and Jack thought that now would be the best time to ask what was on his mind.
"Hey Cee?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think maybe when we get back to Jasper we could go for a drive? It's been a while."
"What do you think we're doing now?" He shook his head.
"You know it's just not the same Arcee. Driving down a street at thirty miles an hour doesn't even compare when we're on the outskirts of Jasper flying across the dirt at over a hundred. Plus you can easily break one fifty and if the designers didn't want us to go that fast they shouldn't have given us the option." If she had been in robot form he would have seen a hint of a smile on her face.
"Sure Jack we can go for a drive." They rolled to a stop when the light turned red and a convertible pulled up beside them.
"Yo dude nice bike." The owner of the car rolled down his window and rested his arm on the side.
"Thanks." Jack could barely understand the guys heavily accented English but he had gotten enough to know it was a compliment.
"From the looks of you I'd say you're not from around here." Jack couldn't understand what the man was up to by starting a conversation but he might as well act nice and answer the question.
"No I'm visiting."
"Well hope you enjoy your visit." The man extended his hand in a friendly manner. Jack looked warily at him before deciding he didn't mean any harm and took his hand.
"I'm Yamcha, nice to meet you."
"Jack." They shook hands and Jack could feel the strength in the man's grip. They both returned their attention back to the road just in time as the light turned green. Yamcha gave him a wave before he made a right turn.
"See you around kid if you're still here." Jack couldn't really hear what was said so he just shrugged it off.
"He was interesting." Arcee commented.
"Yeah and I swear I've seen him from somewhere before." He hit the throttle and Arcee lurched forward.
"Really, Where?" Unbeknownst to the two of them several cons were slowly sneaking up from behind.
"I don't know I just feel like I should know him." They passed through several more intersections until the revving of engines caught the Autobot's attention.
"Scrap!" The blue bot took control and accelerated through a red light.
"What is it Arcee?!" She made a sharp turn and one of the vehicons crashed into a fire hydrant behind them.
"Cons." She adjusted her rearview mirror to get a better look. The two remaining lackeys were weaving through traffic and it wouldn't be long before they caught up. Kicking her engine up another gear she veered into an alley. Their best bet would be either to lose them or get them outside the city and fight them the old fashioned way. Coming out the other side Jack glanced in the mirror and was relieved to see that the alley wasn't wide enough for them to follow.
"Whew that was close." He spoke to soon as blue and red lights flashed and a siren sounded.
"Scrap." They both said simultaneously. A police car pulled up beside them and the window rolled down.
"Pull over!" Arcee kicked her engine into maximum overdrive and Jack was forced to tighten his grip as they pulled ahead of the cops.
"Uh Cee we shouldn't be running from the police."
"Normally yes, but this is a special exception." They ran several more lights and Jack checked the mirrors.
"Cee?"
"Yeah I know." The cop had a radio in his hand and was clearly calling in for backup.
"Well this is just great."
Walking down the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets Gohan was bored out of his mind. How he wished he could transform and fly to Videls mansion but that would kind of defeat the whole point of the conversation they had had earlier. He sighed. It was his first day back on the job and nothing interesting had happened. He had been hoping that something exciting would kickstart his big return but it didn't look like that was going to happen.
Just then Arcee and Jack whizzed past him with three cop cars in hot pursuit. Gohan smiled brightly.
"Yes!" He pumped his fist and quickly ducked into an alley. Pressing the button on his watch he could feel the adrenaline pumping in his blood.
"Alright time for Saiyaman's big entrance." He powered up and launched into the sky.
"Now where- Ah there they are." They had taken the on ramp for the highway and were fast approaching a sign that read-
Satan City Limits
"Time to show them what I'm made of." He cracked his knuckles.
In the blink of an eye he landed in front of them and Arcee slammed on the brakes as she came to a screeching halt only a foot away from the Saiyan. Behind them the police were forced to come to a sudden stop and crashed into each other to become a smoking pile of cars on the shoulder of the highway.
"Oops." Gohan rubbed the back of his helmet and surveyed the accident he had just caused. It was only when he noticed Jack was staring at him with a weird look that he coughed and put on his superhero voice.
"Ahem. It is I the guardian of this city and the protector of justice, the Great Saiyaman!" He went through his rehearsed routine until finally finishing with his iconic pose. Jack watched the entire thing in stunned silence until Arcee revved her engine to snap him out of his trance.
"Um could you move, I'm trying to get home." Gohan was annoyed for a brief moment but he did another pose and answered back.
"Why of course- As soon as you explain to me and these wonderful gentleman why you were going one fifty in a thirty." The police had pulled the rest of their officers from the melting pile of scrap cars and were looking angrily in his direction. Jack gulped.
"Uh that's kind of a long story." Arcee took the time while they were talking to check the expanse of road behind them. Her spark sputtered angrily when she saw purple vehicles fast approaching.
"Jack, wrap it up." She whispered above the engine noise.
"Anyway I really have to check in with my mom or she is going to kill me." Jack got off the bike and tried to push it around Gohan, but the Saiyan stepped into his path.
"I'm afraid I can't until you give me a reason."
"Jack." The bot whispered more urgently. The sound of burning rubber was steadily growing louder. Jack tried again to get past Gohan but was cut off.
"Jack!" She couldn't waste any more time and hit the gas. Luckily he was able to jump back on in time and they accelerated down the highway right before the two vehicons whirred past Saiyaman.
The superhero froze in shock. He blinked three times before turning around to watch them get smaller on the horizon.
"Wh-what just happened?"
He stood there for another minute unable to process what happened until one of the policemen tapped him on the shoulder.
"You gonna go after them or what?"
Gohan stared at the man for a second before he shook his helmeted head and blasted off into the sky.
"What is going on today?"
"Miko for the last time will you quit asking if you can show me to your parents. I've already given you my answer ten times over the last half hour." The Autobot turned down a side street through a residential neighborhood and the two occupants lurched forward in their seats from the motion. Yet somehow Miko still managed to look put out.
"Fine Bulkhead but you're taking me to do something awesome this weekend." The bot sighed but didn't say anything in protest. Raf exhaled in relief and opened his laptop.
"Seriously you brought your computer on a road trip?" She looked at the twelve year old incredulously.
"Never know when you might need to hack into something." He typed in the password on the keyboard with one hand and adjusted his red rimmed glasses with the other. She rolled her eyes and kicked her feet up on the dash left of the steering wheel.
"Nerd alert." He decided to ignore the comment and opened the browser.
"Do you even get wifi out here?" She asked only half interested.
"If you know how." She put her arms behind her head and stared at a spot in the sky. For a brief moment there was silence.
"Bulkhead." The femme bots voice was urgent as it came through the radio speakers.
"What is it Cee hit traffic?"
"Worse cons." The green Autobot slammed on the breaks in the middle of the street. Luckily there were no other cars on the road at that moment.
"Here? In Japan? Are you sure?"
"Bulkhead I don't have time for twenty questions right now!" Her audio cut out for a second as what sounded like an energy blast rang from the sound system.
"Good point. Where are you?" What sounded like metal scraping against metal was the only response.
"Arcee?"
"Follow the highway north out of town and be careful not to get spotted, some humans were trying to follow us." She discontinued the transmission and Bulkhead pulled onto the frontage road. Cutting across four lanes he just made it to the on ramp for the highway, barely missing a truck in the process.
"Yes some action!" Miko straitened in her seat excitedly and strummed her air guitar.
"Oh no I'm calling Ratchet for a bridge." She deflated instantly.
"Aw Bulkhead just let us tag along we'll stay out of the way." He didn't say anything.
"Please we still haven't seen all the sights yet." She was progressively getting whinier the longer he didn't answer.
"Bulkheaaaad." He was swiftly reaching the outskirts of town and running out of time to make a decision and Miko's pestering was not helping.
"I cannot believe I'm even considering this."
Gohan soared over the lush green of the countryside frantically searching for the boy and his motorcycle. Now that he had time to think on what had happened he had come to the conclusion that the kid was in deep trouble. The drivers that had sped past him without a second glance were clearly gunning for the teenager and whatever they had in mind couldn't be good. So he needed to find that foreign kid right now!
"C'mon where did he go?!" The rolling hillsides were a lovely view but provided too many hideaways for him to check every one and that was assuming that the kid still wasn't burning rubber on the highway. Worst case scenario he could spend all day searching and still not find him.
"Dammit!" He clenched his fists and grimaced.
"Well only one thing to do." He stopped and closed his eyes.
"I just hope I can pinpoint such a small life force." Concentrating he let his Ki ripple out in all directions and comb the area. He would find the smallest power levels and go from there. He only wished he could remember the kid's energy signature but their interaction had been brief. Definitely not enough time to truly get a feel for his unique life force. Plus like all humans, his power level was miniscule compared to any threat Gohan had faced over the years and he had become accustomed to honing in on the largest power level available.
He gritted his teeth.
"Please let me find him before anything happens." He released more energy and doubled his efforts. It wasn't till a short burst of energy appeared and fizzled that he thought he had a chance. One energy signature fifteen miles northwest. He recalled his Ki to him and forced the reacquired energy into his feet to take off at near hypersonic speed. His blood ran cold in his veins when he thought of what he had sensed, and what he was still sensing.
"There's no way it could… If I didn't know any better I could swear that those were Ki blasts." But he only felt one power level in that direction which still left the two drivers unaccounted for. So who was releasing Ki blasts? It couldn't be the kid right? And no human other than Krillen, Yamcha, Tien, and Master Roshi knew how to actually create energy blasts. No. He had to stop theorizing, someone was in danger.
"I don't have time to think about this!" He infused even more of his ki and blasted through the sound barrier.
"Just hold on kid!"
"Jack get down!" Arcee shielded the teenager from pieces of exploding rock while he protected his face with his hands.
"Are you alright?" She pulled away some to look him over and he nodded. Retracting her arms she morphed one of her hands into a gun and returned fire. Lifting Jack in her usable hand she ducked behind a rock.
"Stay here and out of sight." Her other arm became a gun and she rolled out from behind the rock and charged.
"Yeah because this rock can protect me much better than the other one." He peeked out around the boulder. Arcee was fighting both vehicons simultaneously and one of her arms had become a blade so she could fire at one and slash at the other. He knew she could handle herself in a fight but he couldn't help but worry when two more vehicles rolled up and transformed.
"This isn't good." He looked around for anything he could use to help. The best he could find was a few pebbles from the previously shattered rock. He rolled them around in his hand and thought. If he played his cards right he could throw one and duck back before they spotted him.
"If I don't do something Arcee might be scrap." Stepping halfway out of his hideaway he chucked one as hard as he could at one of the new arrivals. The bot turned, but he was already out of sight and Arcee struck the con down in the back of the neck. Jack took another glance around and was glad to see that his plan had worked.
"Okay one down three to go." He crouched his way to the other side of the boulder and readied another pebble.
"Here goes." He pitched it straight at the cons visor and a crack formed in the glass. This time however, he wasn't so lucky to escape undetected and the drone stepped towards him.
"Scrap." He ran to the other side of the rock to hide but the con was still heading in his direction. He pressed himself as close to the rock as he could and prayed. The bot rounded the corner and-
"Arcee are you there?" Bulkhead tried for the third time to reach the other Autobot.
"C'mon pickup." The connection failed again and he angrily contacted base.
"Ratch I need a bridge to Arcee's location."
"What? Why? What's happening?"
"Just do it Ratchet! Some cons got the jump on Arcee." The medic considered this for a moment but his reply was not what the wrecker wanted to hear right then.
"What about the children?"
"No time Ratchet." The medic didn't argue further.
"I'll prepare sick bay." Bulkhead cut the transmission and the portal came to life. When he came out the other side he transformed. He held one of the children in each hand and set them on the hillside. Raf looked about ready to hurl.
"Stay here."
"What but you said-"
"Miko I promise I'll take you to the monster truck rally this weekend but you have to stay put." Not waiting to hear an answer he turned around and drove off. She would have complained but Raf caught her by surprise when he latched onto her shoulder to avoid teetering over.
"H-how do you do that on a r-regular basis?" Raf was turning an odd shade of green and Miko shrugged.
"You get used to it after a while."
"Take this!" Out of nowhere the strange man from the highway had punched the con right through the visor. His arm embedded itself up to the elbow and he felt a tear across his glove when it caught on something sharp.
The lifeless corpse of the vehicon wobbled unstably for a moment until it fell hard on its back with a clang. Gohan pulled his fist from the bots splintered helm and formed two Ki blasts, one in each hand. The commotion he caused had everyone looking in his direction and he fired at the two remaining vehicons. Both hit their targets in the chest, right where their sparks would be. They clattered to the ground unceremoniously with one falling on top of the other. With those two dealt with Gohan set his sights on the Autobot and took a fighting stance.
"One chance, leave and be spared." Arcee transformed her arms back to normal and raised her hands in submission.
"Easy I'm on your side." The Saiyan didn't ease his stance but he didn't attack either.
"Are you one of Doctor Gero's creations?" She looked confused by his question and he realized she couldn't be part of the red ribbon army. After all Gero only created androids or humanlike robots, but these things were completely different from anything he had ever seen. She had also been fighting the other two robots so maybe she was telling the truth. He breathed deeply and relaxed his posture as she lowered her arms.
"What are you?" Both he and the Autobot asked at the same time. Gohan blinked and rubbed his chin.
"Well that's kind of a long story." Jack walked out from behind the rock and came to stand by Arcee.
"So is ours." Gohan looked from the teenager to the bot in confusion.
"Here how about this, you tell us how you can do….this" Jack gestured at the dead Decepticons. "And we'll show you why they're here." He pointed to Arcee.
"Wait they as in plural." Jack clapped a hand over his mouth and Arcee rolled her optics. "Just come with us and we'll show you." She transformed into a motorcycle and Gohan couldn't help but stare. She adjusted her mirror to look at his jaw dropped face.
"You coming or what?" He didn't have a chance to answer before a car jumped from the hill at top speed and changed in midair to land with a thud.
"Alright where's the cons?" The wrecker looked around in anticipation his blaster already hot. The femme transformed back and placed a hand on her hip looking slightly amused. "Afraid you arrived too late to the party Bulkhead." The big bot looked disappointed and retracted his weapons.
"Ahem." Gohan fake coughed and the wrecker glanced at him.
"Who's the caped freak?" The bot gestured at him with his thumb.
"Hey I'll have you know that this outfit is very fashionable!" Gohan stomped his foot in indignation and the wrecker gave him a look that he was definitely not convinced.
"But seriously who is this guy?" Arcee sighed and gave him a simple answer. "It's a long story."
So how was it? I promise the other chapters won't change scenes quite as much. it's just that with everything I wanted to add it had to jump around quite a bit, but no with the group together there won't be quite as much scene hopping. Oh and for those of you wondering where Starscream is you'll just have to wait and see ;) Reviews are always welcome and favorites even more so. Anyway have a wonderful day.
-MidnightMarchioness