Mixed-Up

Prologue: Disappearances

A/N: This is a sequel to 'Different Beginnings'.

It was official; they were doomed. Primus himself was looking down from the Well of All Sparks and laughing at them, of that Optimus Prime was certain. Either that or Bumblebee was a demon from the Pit in disguise sent to test them and see if they were worthy of going to the Well of All Sparks after being off-lined. They were going to be richly rewarded or else Optimus was going to strangle a certain yellow minibot himself. While it was true that things had improved ever since they had arrived on Earth and rescued Bulkhead from the Decepticons there was still a certain amount of tension in the air. Especially since Bumblebee was very fond of playing pranks on everyone but Prowl was his favorite target, which resulted in a lot of blood-curdling screams and chases through the base.

"Out of my way!" Bumblebee called. "Speed demon coming through!"

Optimus pressed himself next to the wall just in time to avoid getting run over.

"Sorry," Bumblebee yelled before disappearing.

Optimus sighed and shook his head then continued to walk down the hallway only to jump out of the way in the nick of time as Prowl raced past him, fury written all over the black-and-gold motorcycle's frame. Optimus waited for several minutes and when he heard and saw nothing else he warily continued his journey, keeping an optic out for anymore furious bots. Seeing none he was nonetheless relieved when he finally arrived at the living room and gratefully sank down onto the couch.

A few minutes later Ratchet entered the room and sat down next to Optimus, laying several tools down on the coffee table in front of him. He placed his left servo on the table as well then picked up one of the tools and began working on the limb.

"Need any help?" Optimus offered.

"Nope," Ratchet grunted. "One of my digits got stuck again. Take just a minute and it'll be good as new…at least until next week that is."

A smile crept across Optimus's faceplate but he quickly wiped it off, aware that Ratchet would not appreciate it. Bumblebee had said more than once that Ratchet didn't have a sense of humor and Optimus was inclined to agree with him.

The sound of heavy footsteps signaled the arrival of Bulkhead. Shortly afterwards the big, green mech himself walked in, blue paint covering his servos and splattered all over his chassis.

"I'm not even going to ask," Optimus said after taking one look at the messy bot.

"What?"Bulkhead looked confused then he glanced down and smiled. "Oh I had a slight accident with the paint when Bumblebee and Prowl came though."

Optimus nodded, needing no further explanation. Bumblebee-related incidents were as common as mild oil leaks and needed no explanations nor were they wanted.

Prowl drove in about two minutes later then transformed and remained standing where he was as Bumblebee entered the room as well, transforming after screeching to a halt.

"You put shaving cream on me while I was recharging," Prowl said through gritted denta.

"What makes you so sure that it was me? For all you know it could have been Bulkhead,"
"It wasn't me," Bulkhead protested.

"Optimus," Bumblebee continued.

"Excuse me?" Optimus raised an optic ridge.

"Or even Ratchet."

"What did you say?" a growl escaped the medibot's vocalizer.

"So why are you so insistent that it was me?" Bumblebee finished, looking very innocent as he blinked his baby blue optics at Prowl who managed to ignore the look.

"Because it's always you. You're the one who plays all the pranks all the time so why shouldn't this time be any different?"

"Why does everyone always assume that I'm responsible?" Bumblebee whined.

The other four mechs turned and stared at him incredulously. "Because you're the juvenile one out of all of us," Prowl said.

Bulkhead winced internally as Bumblebee's faceplate darkened but to his surprise the minibot simply turned and walked out of the room, head held high.

"Prowl," Optimus chided. "What have I told you about being nice to Bumblebee?"

"But he keeps acting like a young bot," Prowl protested.

"That's because he is a young bot," the red-and-blue mech hissed. "I for one am happy to see him acting his age."

Prowl opened his mouth to argue but before he could say anything a bright light filled the room. Shielding their optics the four Autobots looked on in shock and amazement at what appeared to be a space bridge field in the middle of their living room.

"Slag," Optimus moaned.

The portal stayed where it was for a minute then slowly moved through the room, sucking Prowl into its swirly middle. "Prowl!" Optimus shouted even as Bulkhead went flying. Seconds later Optimus and Ratchet soon followed, the last thing Optimus remembered seeing was Bumblebee's faceplate as the yellow minibot raced into the room.

A/N/N: 5 reviews per chapter.

A/N/N/N: Sorry this is so late.