A/N: Saw Real Steel with my little cousin and I loved all the robots - many Transformer elements. Plus the fight with Atom and Zeus was effing epic and I don't care what all the haters say!
Summary: Max hasn't been having a good day, Charlie has been sinking into the depths of depression. The preteen needed a miracle, and when he met a black and yellow Camaro with his teenage charges - the child was pretty sure he just found it. Can both sides help each other get back to normal? Multi-Chap fic.
Continuities: Transformers Movieverse, AU Elements (Continues after 2007 movie, G1 Elements), and follows Reel Steel.
Warnings: Cussing, Boxing violence.
Disclaimer: Alright, I own NOTHING that is licensed here! ...Which is actually really sad. :(
Chapter 1 - Depression
It was the year 2020.
Robots have taken over the boxing industry, much to many fans' delight; just recently one specific robot has become a crowd favourite. And his name, was Atom.
Charlie Kenton was a former professional boxer, former owner of Ambush and the famous Noisy Boy, and is now currently a father to Max Kenton. He used to be vain, overconfident, and most of the time - reckless.
Yet, during the quick length of one year, he's learned many things; how to be yourself, how money is not the most important thing in the world, the depth of his love for family, how to feel, how not to judge a book by its cover.
And that last important lesson is exactly how he got like he is today - with a wonderful girlfriend, named Bailey Tallet, a spunky kid, and a G2 Sparring Robot named Atom.
It was sad though, good times usually never last.
I guess this was one of these times.
And now it was November 6, 2021, a year after the fight with Zeus at the WRB, World Robot Boxing League, when disaster struck.
They were at Bailey's boxing gym again. Bailey was sitting on the edge of one of the boxing rings, reading a newspaper and drinking some coffee, swinging her legs slightly. A light breeze came from an open window, making her dark hair bob slightly in it's ponytail. She sighed serenely. All was peaceful.
Even Max was relaxing today, he had just finished practicing fighting with Atom and was now drinking some soda on the table at the far side of the gym, where Atom was usually sat at when he was in need of repairs. Atom, himself, followed Charlie, mimicking his movements with that nifty Shadow Boxing tool of his.
"Hey Max," Bailey greeted, to which Max replied to with a distracted grunt. The woman shook her head in bemusement before greeting Atom, "Hey, 'People's Champion.'"
Max stopped at that, the slightest traces of pride and smugness outlining his face, and he waved, rousing Atom to do the same (though it wasn't like the robot had the consciousness to be coherent enough to understand his movements...at least, that's what the woman thought). Bailey chuckled at this.
The door at the entrance of the gym creaked slightly as it was opened. Bailey twisted and turned around to tell whoever had entered that they were closed, only to come face to face with a familiar person.
"Charlie!" She greeted with a smile.
"Hey dad," Max also acknowledged, a grin appearing on his face. He quickly switched off Atom's shadow boxing feature, before running up to the man and affectionately punching him in the shoulder.
Charlie laughed at that, "You need to work a little harder if you want to beat me, son." He noogied the boy playfully before excusing himself.
"Now if you two will excuse me," He gave them one more smile before exiting to a small, hidden room, that only the three knew about, in the gym.
Max and Bailey smiled back, before the caring expressions were abruptly wiped off their faces.
"You saw it this time, right?" Max inquired to the taller woman.
She sighed, shoulders deflating slightly, "His expression..."
Max nodded, "It was strained. Bailey, there's something wrong with him."
Bailey had to agree, despite Max's naturally blunt nature, he was right this time. Was Charlie really sinking into the depths of depression? This was serious, right after Charlie became himself again, with the help of Max and Atom, he was becoming depressed? About what? Why? What's going to happen?
Questions, so many questions, were running through the heads of both humans alike. There was an anxious silence for a minute or two, before Max sighed, resigned, and stated, "I'm going out for a walk with Atom." Then left, leaving Bailey to watch his retreating figure as he went.
...
Max ran through the empty streets with Atom. Both jogging, with Atom's shadow feature back on. They turned a familiar corner on the route they had always taken, but were met with a foreign sight.
The preteen's heart raced, he could feel it beating hard at the sight. Behind him, Atom's systems could be heard whirring, as he too, stopped jogging behind the boy. They both stood, Max staring.
He gulped, before finding his lost voice, "Is...Is that a robot?"
This...was bad.
Like, really bad.
And not the kind of 'Please don't break up with me' bad, but the whole 'OH CRAP I'M FUCKED' bad.
Do you want to know why this is bad?
Because Sam was officially lost.
He just couldn't understand how this happened, an hour ago he was at Mikaela's place, picking her up to bring her to the Autobot base so they could chill there for the weekend. But, somehow, they ended up stranded in some dark alley in who knows what place they were in!
...He supposed that the bright white light that engulfed them should have given him a clue to how they got here.
"'Bee!" The boy groaned, his palm meeting forehead, "Please tell me we're not lost."
The Camaro shifted nervously in his bi-pedal form, his head ducked slightly in nervousness, and also to hide himself behind a building. His doorwings tucked almost flat against his back.
"Sorry-bzzt-But-kzgt-We have a problem-" He played out in clips of radio.
Another exasperated groan, "Bumblebee, we were supposed to go back with Mikaela, not get lost on our way to base!"
Leaning against the wall of said building 'Bee was hiding behind, Mikaela could be seen sighing and looking particularly tired, "Give him a break Sam. You were the one giving him the directions."
"Which is why I told you we should've never gotten that GPS! Those things should never be trusted," He countered, only to get backhanded.
The yellow and black Camaro merely watched, his optics shuttering at times. "Krzzt-Sorry," He replied again, to which he got an affectionate pat on the leg by Mikaela and a sympathetic smile from Sam.
"It's alright, 'Bee. It wasn't your fault anyways." Sam sighed, then perked up, "For now, why don't we look around and go sightseeing!"
Mikaela grinned, "Best idea you've had all day."
Yet, as soon as Sam turned around and saw a kid staring at him, or more paticularly - behind him and at Bumblebee, he knew he had reached the level of 'bad' that surpasses 'OH CRAP I'M FUCKED' bad.
"Is...Is that a robot?" The kid asked.
Sam looked back at 'Bee, then looked at the boy once again suspiciously, "Yes..." He then saw a robot behind the kid and it was his turn to stammer, "I-Is that a robot?"
The brown-haired child also looked behind him, causing Atom to turn his head behind him. Then the boy jerked his thumb behind him, and with a tilt of his head, asked, "You mean you don't know who he is?"
"Uh...no."
"He's Atom! You know, 'The People's Champion!' He versed Zeus in the WRB and survived, tarnishing that gorilla-bot's reputation! How do you NOT know? It's the biggest news in the history of Robot Boxing ever!" The child threw his hands up in the air in disbelief.
Sam watched suspiciously as the supposed 'Atom' threw his hands up in the air, copying the boy's actions. The teen shook his head and asked with a raised eyebrow, "Wait, robot boxing?"
Mikaela snorted in disbelief, then muttered, "What do you mean robots? Who are you? And where did you get Atom?"
"My name is Max," The preteen stated, "And Atom is from...well, that's classified. And, I mean, you should know about robot boxing, you have a robot of your own, don't you? Where did you get him? He's pretty big, reminds me of a car. Although, he doesn't seem much like a boxer. Is he a sparring robot like Atom? Nah, his frame's too big..."
Mikaela and Sam looked at each other as Max continued to ramble on about one of his favourite joys in life. They looked back at Bumblebee.
'Bee, however, was scanning the robot in front of him. There was no spark signature resonating from it and it copied all of the boy's movements.
For all 'Bee cared, this was practically a drone in front of him. Yet, there was something about this 'Atom' however that told Bumblebee something was about to change - probably considering this robot.
Max snapped his fingers, "Maybe he is a boxer. I'd like to see this guy verse the Twin Cities. 'Bet that would be a real show."
This kid made Sam real nervous, the teenager decided. He looked anywhere but him and his robot, and all of a sudden saw an advertisement on a billboard.
"No...No, that's..impossible," He thought to himself, before asking outloud, "Hey..Max?"
The kid stopped, "What?"
"What...what year is it?"
"...you stupid?" He asked incredulously, before chastisting himself, "Oh God, sorry, that was rude. I really have to stop that, but seriously, you don't know?"
Mikaela seemed suspicious as to where Sam was getting to, but he shook his head in the negative.
Max sighed, "It's the year 2021."
A silence reigned over the five before Mikaela yelped.
"WHAT?"
It was over.
But was it enough?
He'd protected his family, his loved ones, and they helped him in return, and everything should've been good. But, it didn't feel like enough. Now that he wasn't 'Charlie, the guy who made money off of killing robots', but was now 'Charlie, the awesome dad and epic boxer', he felt like he could be someone Max could look up to, someone to take away all of his child's pain, but it was too much. What if Max thought he was actually a failure?
Was he really someone Max could look up to?
He had been such a bad influence before? Thankfully Max was already so grown up. Maybe Charlie had just been using those robots to distract himself from the pain, from the denial...
...had he?
Was he really such a bad dad?
Everybody probably thinks he's a horrible boxer, too. Yes, that's it. Bailey and Max were just taking pity on him.
There was no real love, no happiness. Just pain.
Was Charlie blowing all this out of proportion? He might as well have been, wouldn't make much of a difference now.
Charlie brought a hand to his face and scrubbed at the stubble, his eyes closed tightly as the pounding in his head got worse. This was all too much, too confusing, and it hurt. Physically, too.
In the small closet at the back of the gym, there the man sat on a small stool. His hand clenched on his face until he was sure his knuckles turned white. Max didn't really accept him, did he? He was hurting Max wasn't he?
How? Don't ask him, he just knew.
Or...or was he really just being stupid? Over exaggerating?
Maybe...or not...
This was starting to get puzzling. It was so confusing, too. How was Charlie supposed to choose between his mind and his heart?
Another excruciating throb of pain brought the ex-boxer back to reality.
He heard a loud crash and, after exhaling and rubbing his temples to calm himself of another headache, got up off the stool to go see what it was.
The world spun for a second, forcing him to hold onto a nearby counter to make sure he didn't collapse. After steadying his feet and making sure he could control himself and his balance, he headed for the exit.
Charlie got up and took cautious steps towards the door before letting it slide open in front of him. Yet, what he saw surprised him.
In front of him, was a big robot. It looked suspiciously like a car and it was black and yellow. Innocent, shining, blue optics shuttered before looking straight at him. On the robot's shoulders were two teenagers, also now looking at him. Below, he saw Max and Bailey, only just noticing him now and seeing his panicked look, they sent him reassuring smiles.
"Max?" He asked, his voice suspiciously hoarse.
"Yeah dad?"
"Did you buy another robot?"
Bailey's beautiful laugh rang out, "Nope. Been there, done that with Ambush and Noisy Boy." She chuckled more at Charlie's pointed look, "These guys, are Bumblebee, Sam, and Mikaela."
"Hi," A girl, probably Mikaela, greeted from atop the robot.
The other teenager beamed, "Hey, I'm Sam."
The robot...surprisingly, actually...raised it's arm..and waved, then made a noise in...greeting.
"How is your robot moving on it's own?" Charlie asked, flabbergasted, his feet moving on their own as he got closer to the 'bot, curiosity overtaking him.
Sam fidgeted, "Erm, well, he's not exactly a robot. I mean, yeah, he is, but...it's complicated."
Max shrugged when Charlie sent him a look, "They wouldn't tell me anything."
Mikaela smirked, a look directed at Max, "Becuase that's classified information."
The boy huffed at that, but shot her a smirk back after a moment.
Immediately, Max's coy/business side came out. "Alright, well, if you tell us where your robot is from and how he is doing that, we'll tell you what you want to know. Eh, might even help you if it's important." He gave them a smirk. Max was practically playing the part of a car's salesmen, who's first priority was, "Hey there! Now, how can I get you inside one of these cars?"
Sam seemed to roll the idea round in his head, eyelids closing for a moment in thought, before he relaxed into a more comfortable position. "Alright, but listen to us first."
"Shoot."
"Well, I know this is going to sound weird, but...we aren't exactly..from here."
Max nodded, "Well duh, I mean, you obviously couldn't have been from here if you've never heard of the WRB."
Mikaela shook her head negatively, "No, we mean...we aren't exactly from your...dimension?" She looked at Sam as if asking if that was the right word to explain it. After he nodded in confirmation, she continued, "I mean, from where we're from, robots like these haven't even been invented yet! So, you can imagine our surprise seeing Atom and this 'WRB' stuff. It's not even 2020 in our world yet!"
"But you have a robot of your own, and obviously he's a fighter," Max pointed out, looking at all the dents and scratches Bumblebee acquired.
"Well, yes, he's a robot, but he's alive, and well, an alien." Sam countered slowly.
Bailey, Max, and Charlie all stared at them with deadpanned looks.
Mikaela protested, "We're serious! They've got a whole war going on and everything."
Bumblebee nodded.
Now, seeing as this was the year 2020 and all technology was way more advanced, the three WRB-fans weren't convinced.
"You're not serious, right?" Bailey questioned.
Sam and Mikaela were gently lowered to the ground, courtesy of Bumblebee. Sam, undeterred, still stated, "No, really! Here, look, he can even transform into a Camaro!"
And soon enough, the unforgettable clicking and whirring of Bumblebee transforming filled the otherwise silent room, before he was in his alt mode - slightly worse for wear, but there nonetheless.
Bumblebee chirped happily in his own voice, "Autobot Scout Bumblebee, at your service!"
Max's eyes widened, "I...I guess I believe you."
Bailey nodded, eyes sparkling, "Me too."
Charlie remained silent however, and hoisted himself up onto the boxing ring's edge to sit down.
The man, although still in a denial-like state, pestered, "Alright, well then, you said something about a war going on with the robots. Mind explaining that whole shindig?"
Bumblebee seemed to contemplate over that for a second, before his headlights flashed. There was a soft whirring, before the Autobot was projecting a hologram of Cybertron in it's ruin as the war started - much like when Optimus had first met Sam and Mikaela.
"You see, I come from a planet called Cybertron, a means away from Earth. Sadly, it collapsed as a war waged on between the Autobots and the malevolent Decepticons, completely destroying it," There was a pause as Bumblebee had to gather himself slightly, "As I mentioned before, I am an Autobot - we're the good guys - lead by the great Optimus Prime. The bad guys, Decepticons, were lead by Megatron. We... came to Earth in search of the allspark - the vessel that will rebuild Cybertron and end this blasted war once and for all."
Sam sighed, and continued, "But, to save the world," An almost smug, yet sad air followed the boy's words after that, "I pushed the allspark into Megatron's chest - offlining him, hopefully ridding us of him once and for all."
"But the Autobots' mission is not yet over," Mikaela continued thoughtfully, "Starscream, the Decepticon Second in Command, is still in space - and there are still who knows how many 'Cons laying in wait in our... dimension." It still felt weird saying that, the girl mused.
"..."
Max jumped slightly, positively beaming, "This is just awesome! We got to help them! We have to!" He looked hopeful as his head fwipped around to look at Bailey and his dad.
"Well, I don't see why not," Bailey smiled, patting Max's head.
They all turned to Charlie, who sighed and rubbed his face with his hand. Abruptly, he stood up and started,
"Look, I mean, this isn't our problem-"
Max argued, "Doesn't mean we can't help them!"
"Look, Max," Charlie stated firmly, "We don't have time for this and it's too much-"
"Dad!" Max protested.
"No Max."
"But-"
"NO, Max. And that's final," And with that, Charlie walked out, slamming the door behind him with that ominous creak, leaving silence in his wake.
Bumblebee's mechanical whine could be heard and he sunk on his tires.
Max turned back to his audience, hands clenched and tears barely brimming in his eyes. He furrowed his brow before throwing a determined look to Mikaela, Sam, and 'Bee.
"Don't worry. We'll help you."
"So what's it like in your world? I mean, these Autocons and Deceptibots sound really cool! It's weird that only you guys know 'bout 'em, though." Max commented, catching the small football Sam had thrown at him.
Sam corrected from slightly far away, "Actually, it's Autobots and Decepticons."
"...Huh, I guess that makes more sense, doesn't it." The child's head tilted slightly, as he rested his chin in his palm.
As the two boys bonded, Mikaela and Bailey chattered at the picnic table, just far away enough as to not be disturbed.
Mikaela smiled at her companion, who offered her some soda, "Thanks."
"No problem," Bailey grinned, before sitting, "So, a whole war going on - just you, Sam, and some part of the government are the only ones who know..."
"That's right."
A content sigh, "Crazy."
"Oh, you don't even know the half of it," Mikaela snickered. "One time, Bumblebee, Sam, and I were in the recreation room at the Autobot base, and abruptly, tons of confetti floated through the air-"
A loud, mechanical whine could be heard from inside the building, interrupting whatever else the teenager would've said.
Sam turned, alarmed, and ran into the building, his companions following.
"Bumblebee?"
Said Autobot could be seen standing in front of Atom, who in fact, was laying on a repair table - optics powered down.
"Sam," 'Bee wondered, "This robot...can fight?"
Max, pushing his way to the front of the crowd of three, positively beamed, "You bet! He's the best in the business!"
Bumblebee shuttered his optics contemplatively, "Would you be offended if I asked you how?"
Bailey snorted, "Would he be offended? Please, you're practically feeding his ego right now."
Max glared at the brunnette, before answering to Bumblebee, "Not at all! In fact, I'll show you right now!"
Yet, as soon as Max had turned on Atom fully and grabbed the robot's controller - there was a shout of fear.
"DECEPTICON!"
Want a chapter two? Hit the pretty little button down there and review!
Anyways, got any suggestions and constructive criticism? They feed the bunnies. No flames please, I'll have Prowl, Ratchet, and Zeus deal with those.
And if you have any questions about the story, feel free to ask away! I know I'm so not perfect in story-writing...