Different Beginnings
Chapter 1: Arrival
He hated Sentinel Prime, Optimus Prime reflected. As a general rule he tried not to hate anybody but he would make an exception for Sentinel. Of course the feeling was mutual. Sentinel hated Optimus even more than Optimus hated him. The two had made no secret of their animosity towards each other through the years and always attempted to best each other. But now their petty rivalry was coming to an end. Sentinel had somehow managed to get Optimus, his medibot and good friend Ratchet, and a former spy-bot named Prowl shipped to some remote planet in a very remote part of the galaxy that was overrun with Decepticons and organics. A planet called Earth.
Optimus was snapped out of his musings by a not-so-gentle bump indicating they had landed.
"We're here," Ratchet growled.
"Great," Prowl's sarcastic voice floated down from the ceiling before he followed, landing gracefully on his slender pedes. "Just the three us and a planet full of Decepticons and organics."
"Now, Prowl," Optimus chided. "We were given a job and we should do it to the best of our abilities." He continued on as they exited the ship, seeming not to notice the irritated look that Ratchet had adopted or the exasperated one on Prowl. In fact Optimus probably would have continued his speech for another two hours had he not been interrupted by Ratchet.
"Prime!" the medibot yelled. "Come look at this."
Optimus frowned and walked over to where Ratchet was standing.
"What is it?" the red and blue bot asked.
"'Energon," Ratchet grinned. "Quite a lot of it too. It spreads off in two directions. This trail happens to be heading towards that populated sector down there," he gestured towards the city that was just visible through the trees.
"Why would the Decepticons go in two different directions?" Prowl frowned. "It's just not logical."
"Maybe they had a fight or something?" Optimus suggested. "Either way we need to follow this trail. If they going to the populated sector we need to head them off before innocents get hurt."
Prowl and Ratchet nodded then the three transformed and headed towards the city, following the trail of energon.
The energon abruptly stopped in front of a warehouse that had obviously seen better days but it was obvious someone had tried to fix it up. The broken windows were covered with wood and the gaping holes in the roof would have been obvious were it not for the clumsily tacked on shingles.
After making sure there was nobody around Optimus transformed and pulled open the big metal door. It creaked in protest and he froze momentarily then stepped inside, Prowl and Ratchet right behind him.
They had only gone a few feet when Optimus, who hadn't been paying attention to the floor like he should have, accidentally caught his pede in a wire stretched from wall to wall. Unfortunately the wire ran all the way up one wall and triggered some sort of release valve on the ceiling which dropped down a homemade sign that read:
Prepare To Be Annahilated
Please Wait All Of Our Operatives Are Currently Busy
We Get To You As Soon As Possible
Optimus blinked then turned to look at his companions. Prowl stood there with a stupefied expression, his mouth hanging open. Ratchet was shaking his head back and forth, muttering "I'm too old for this," over and over.
Optimus rapidly shook his head and stepped forward, ignoring the sign to the best of his abilities which was very, very difficult. Even Prowl couldn't suppress a shudder when he walked under it.
Optimus's steps slowed when the sound of voices drifted into the hallway.
"So why are we moving again?" the voice was deep, yet oddly gentle and young-sounding.
There a sign then, "Because those Decepti-creeps know where we live."
"But they already knew where we lived," confusion filled the first voice.
Another sigh, this time sounding extremely exasperated.
"Is it because of the new arrivals?" the first voice asked.
"Congratulations! You've got it!" the second voice was definitely sarcastic but young at the same time.
"But what if they're Autobots like us?" Optimus latched onto the word Autobots. Autobots. Why were there Autobots here? Sentinel had made it perfectly clear that the only Transformers on this planet were the Decepticons. Suddenly, with dread in the pit of his stomach, he remembered the particularly gleeful look on Sentinel's faceplate when he had said that.
"Look, Bulkhead," the voice was suddenly patronizing. "Why are we here?"
"Uh," there was a pause while the one called Bulkhead thought, then, "Because of that accident with Sentinel's ship?" Optimus nearly groaned in agony at the mention of his rival's name.
"Exactly. If there are other Autobots here then Sentinel must have them which means they must be the biggest losers in the entire galaxy!" Prowl stiffened at that while Ratchet growled. Optimus gestured for both of them to be quiet.
"I thought we were the biggest losers," Bulkhead sounded even more confused than he had earlier.
"So I would like to steer clear of them, okay?" the second voice just ignored Bulkhead until he was through.
"Ok."
All fell silent then there were several loud thumps and the occasional yelp.
After several minutes of listening to this Optimus had had enough and marched into the main room only to be confronted by a most unusual sight.
Two mechs stood frozen in the center of the room. One, as tall as Optimus himself but a whole lot bulkier and dark green with a little silver on his frame, mostly concentrated around his middle.
His friend was, of all things, a mini-bot; bright yellow with a single black stripe running down his chassis.
But what was truly humorous about the situation was the fact that they were in the process of trying to lift a couch made entirely of stone, together. Optimus did his absolute best not to go into hysterics right then and there.
The two bots looked at each other than the yellow one said, "We're slagged."
A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get this written but I wasn't sure which story you guys would pick so I didn't go ahead and start writing. It will be a couple of days before chapter two gets written mostly because my muse is still half-asleep (actually it's all the way asleep) and I'm going to be busy all day tomorrow.
3 reviews per chapter as usual. The next chapter will feature more Bumblebee and Bulkhead than this one, I promise.
