I think its safe to say that we can classify this little project as a series right about now can't we? For those of you who don't remember Chasing the Sun was supposed to start off a TFA series. Its more than a bit obvious that the original concepts not going anywhere. You will see more ideas from that come down the road here tough so stay tuned.
As always I must warn you: Transformers Animated is owned by HAsbro/Tarakra. Please leave a review so I know you're thoughts and enjoy!
Nighttime, the period within twenty four hours that most with criminal intention say is the perfect time to commit a crime.
Few people were out, and there was little traffic. The employees of the Detroit police department however, were well aware of the fact night was when criminals struck. Keeping this in mind, they were more staffed at night than during the day.
Most criminals, with the exception of green and blue tanks and helicopters, had to be careful and plan out crimes because of this. Only the ones who have a perfectly laid plan strike.
Luckily for Dirt Boss, he had, in his mind, the perfect plan.
If only his subordinates would stop messing it all up!
"Move it to the left!" Mixmaster told Scrapper. Scrapper grunted and pushed the large trailer to the left.
"Now a little bit more." Mixmaster told him.
"Can't we just have the new guy back up to this?" Scrapper bemoaned. Dirt Boss, who had been standing on the trailer, reached out and smacked Scrapper.
"Shut it you cog, this is part of your punishment for thinkin ya can moonlight on me!"
"But that was a year ago! Scrapper said defensively.
"Yeah but I'm still mad yous so keep pushing!" Dirt Boss said and then tapped his forehead. "Or do I got to pull out the big guns?"
Scrapper visibly whimpered before grabbing the trailer once again. He shifted it more and set it down, almost out of breath.
"More to the left!" Dirt Boss snapped.
"I think can get it."
A large crane truck started to back toward the trailer, a hitch having been added onto it. Dirt Boss jumped down and threw up his arms.
"Hey, you don't move unless I say so newbie!"
"But I can easily-"
Shut up unless ya want to become a pile of scrap!" Dirt Boss snapped. As a shadow appeared over him, he turned his gaze toward the orange and yellow bot nw standing over him.
"Whataya you want?" He groused.
"How about you laying off the hate of my associate." Scoop crossed his arms.
"I can do whatever I want!" Dirt Boss shouted, pointing at Scoop.
"You boys work for me now remember, because if it wasn't for me you'd be scrap on the dockside!"
"Personally I don't." Scoop said, giving Hightower a dirty look. Somehow Hightower managed to shrink back in vehicle mode.
"But seeing as how there are no better options for now we work together."
Dirt Boss glared at Scoop, ever since they'd patched him up he'd been like this. Cold, distant, and very rude to pretty much everyone. Dirt Boss was beginning to wonder if he was worth it. Hightower was one he'd like to keep though, as he went about whatever tasks were given to him with pride.
"May I remind you that I only serve-"
"We know, you serve that uh...what was his name again?" Mixmaster asked.
"Prius?" Offered Scrapper.
"No, no that's a car."
"Shut up and get that there trailer hooked up!" Dirt Boss shouted. Scrapper and Mixmaster immediately jumped and rammed the trailer into Hightower's hitch. Hightower let out a yell but went silent as Dirt Boss glared at him.
The diminutive Decepticon walked over and hopped onto the trailer. He turned himself around to glare at all of those assembled under him.
"Despite as how I drilled it into your skulls,you are a bunch of mororns so I must ask, do I need to repeat the plan?." None of the Constructicons dared to speak, for fear of incurring his wrath.
Satisfied with this answer, Dirt Boss pulled out a tiny remote and pressed the button.
The door to their new hideout slid open and Hightower rolled out, hauling the trailer with Dirt Boss and Skipjack on it. Mixmaster and Scrapper followed close behind.
Scoop stared after them for a moment in quiet contemplation. They'd given him the most important part of the mission, but at the same time one that he could use. All it would take was for him to just run and keep running, leave Hightower to his fate and let him rust with the others. He'd gotten them into this mess, had he been awake, Scoop would have objected to it right away.
But at the very same time, there wasn't anywhere else to go, not only that but this mission had handed him a perfect opportunity.
He transformed into his front end loader alternate form and then rumbled off into the dark streets of Detroit.
"Any sign of Decepticon activity Bulkhead?"
"No dice Jazz, haven't seen or heard a thing since we caught Soundwave." Bulkhead was likewise rumbling along the streets of Detroit. Due to the recent events, the Autobots had taken a proactive role once again.
They did nightly drives and guarded Sumdac Tower in shifts now. It wasn't just Optimus, or Ratchet feeling that things had changed, it was everyone.
Though Bulkhead liked driving around as, at least in his mind, it helped served as inspiration for his art. Another reason he drove at night was because there were less things around to smash.
"Well keep it cool Bulk, but stay alert for them cons."
"I'm not just a constriction bot anymore Jazz." Bulkhead said, slowing down to turn a corner. "Things have changed since we came to Earth, for the better."
"I hear ya Bulk, this planets a crazy place."
"Yeah it is, I'm not just a big clumsy "mudflap who smashes things" anymore!" Bulkhead said, getting temporarily lost in his memories. This moment cost him dearly for he might have noticed the orange front end loader racing toward him.
This allowed the loader to blindside and shove him hardly.
"Hey, what's this guy's problem?" Bulkhead inditnighly shouted. His train of thought crashed along with himself as he was pushed into a storefront.
The front end loader pulled back which allowed Bulkhead to right himself. Shifting into Robot mode, his size accidently did more damage to the storefront and building.
"Okay so maybe some stuff gets smashed." Bulkhead muttered.
"Bulkhead you alright?" Jazz asked.
"Yeah Jazz I'm fine, just some jerk in a construction vehicle...wait since when are they orange?" Bulkhead looked over the offending vehicle. His optics trailed over it before settling on the cab, upon doing so he realized that there wasn't a driver.
"Wait a second…"
"You don't even have that long, heretic!" The loader raised its bucket and charged forward. In spite of his size and the loaders speed, Bulkhead managed to catch the bucket right before it struck him.
He then turned and threw it down the street, watching as it crashed along the road before skidding to a stop.
"I thought I recognized you, you're that crazy bot who came after Sari!"
Scoop snarled as he too transformed, pulling out his pistols.
"I wouldn't go around calling myself crazy for protecting a fake priestess." He stood his ground and fired his pistols.
Bulkhead was left with little options and so he picked up the nearest thing to shield himself. That thing behind a nearby truck. The lasers tore through the truck and reduced it to scrap. Bulkhead threw the truck toward Scoop but he simply stepped out of the way.
"You have failed to grasp what myself and Hightower offered!" Scoop shouted and shot at Bulkhead once again.
The shots struck Bulkhead but did him little damage. Stepping back he transformed his right arm into his signature wrecking ball.
"Sorry but we're not buying right now!" The wrecking ball burst from Bulkheads arm and went flying right into Scoop's abdomen. The ex-Autobot was sent sprawling onto his back, as well as a crater in the road.
"Bulk man, talk to me, what's going down?" Asked Jazz.
"Remember those bots that came here and tired to worship Sari?" Asked Bulkhead as he brought back his wrecking ball.
"Let me guess, they just popped back into town."
"The orange one did at least, no sign of his buddy." Bulkhead said as Scoop stood up.
"Unfortunately Hightower has fallen out of my favor, and for the moment is excommunicated." Scoop got back to his feet as Bulkhead blinked.
"I think he said he ditched the big red guy." He answered Jazz. Bulkhead was forced to end the conversation as Scoop ran over to try and punch him.
Bulkhead twisted and pulled himself out of Scoops way. Scoop turned and tried to punch him again, this time Bulkhead caught his arm and then punched him back up the street.
Scoop flew back, crashing into a traffic light pole. Bulkhead started to run over but Scoop once again fired off his guns. The shot hit home in Bulkheads leg, bringing him to an earth shaking halt.
"Just stay cool Bulk, helps on the way."
"Make it fast, he's not messing around this time." Bulkhead answered.
"Oh you simple minded fool, I was never messing around!" Scoop replied and sent a kick into Bulkheads face.
He fell over and onto his back as Scoop walked over toward him.
"You've humiliated me, took away almost everything I believed in, and had me unfairly branded as a criminal."
"Unfairly, you tried to kill Sari!"
"She impersonated the priestess of the Allspark, doing so, especially when the impersonator is organic is-"
He was cut off mid sentence as Bulkhead punched him with his wrecking ball once again. Scoop managed to jump out of the way of the way this time. But it gave Bulkhead enough time to pull himself back up..
"Sorry but I wanted to hear some of that scrap I'd talk to Sentinel."
Scoop was about to reply when the sound of a car engine was heard. They both looked as Bumblebee raced in, transforming and sliding along and into Scoops legs. Scoop fell forward and hit the ground as Bee came to a stop.
"Was that an entrance or was it an entrance?" He asked.
"Ummm...I think it was an entrance?" Bulkhead answered. Bumblebee gave his friend a flat look before looking back at Scoop.
"I thought we ran you and your crazy friend out of town months ago." Bumblebee said.
"You can never extinguish the light and will of the Allspark!' Scoop declared and whipped out his pistols. "Submit to its will or be outcasts!"
"Hate to tell you buddy but I'm kind of already an out-woah!" Bumblebee shouted and ran as Scoop fired at him.
Bee ran to hide behind Bulkhead as shots rattled around them.
"Man, he did not take us beating him well." He commented. Leaning over Bulkhead, he fired several electrical charges from his stingers.
The blasts hit their mark, knocking the pistols from Scoops hands. Scoop himself yelped in pain and stumbled.
Bulkhead ran forward and punched Scoop into a nearby wall. Scoop fell to his knees and scowled.
He quickly opened up his com link and whispered into it.
"Are the lot of you done yet or are you just wasting time?"
"Well umm...I think we've got enough oil."
"Enough is never enough Tower, don't you forget that!"
"Yessir Mixmaster sir!:
Scoop quickly closed the com and jumped aside as BUlkheads wrecking ball smashed into the side of the building.
His attempt to get away was short lived as Bumblebee barreled into him.
"You may be a big talker but you're definitely not a fighter!" He mocked. Scoop responded with grabbing the young Autobots head and throwing him into the ground.
"No, but I know how to strategize." He said coldly.
"Newbie, what's this I hear about you trying to push us?" Dirt Boss's voice crackled.
Bulkhead ran up and punched Scoop from behind. He sailed into the air but this time managed a handstand before flipping onto his feet.
"The Autobots are fighting hard against me, I need-"
"We're done when this trailers full, and it ain't full yet!" Dirt Boss shouted. "Keep stallin fa time because if the Autobots find us, what I'll do to you will make the way we found ya we look better by comparison!":
WIth that Dirt Boss terminated the comlink channel. Scoop turned back toward the Autobots who were now running toward him.
He needed to get back to his pistols and fast, at least to hold his ground till the order was given.
Picking up another car, he threw it at Bumblebee who tried to jump out of the way. His flight path unfortunately came into contact with Bulkheads jogging. Bee hit the ground and Bulkhead tripped over Bumblebee, falling on top him.
"Sorry little buddy!" Bulkhead said.
"Don't worry about it." Bumblebee groaned.
Suddenly scoop vaulted over the pair and landed near his weapons. He quickly grabbed them, holding them high for the two to see.
"I'm done playing around with you two." He scowled before fiddling with his weapons. Once he was done he fired off a shot at Bulkheads back.
This blast left a stinging blast mark on the big Autobots back. The green bot let out a howl of pain and rolled off his friend.
Before Scoop was able to shoot at the young scout, he recoiled in pain as something bounced off his head. The thing which had struck his noggin clattered to the ground. Getting a good look at it, a chill ran down his spinal strut.
It was a pair of glowing blue energy nunchaku. That was his only warning as Jazz came down and kicked Scoop.
Jazz dropped to the ground and retrieved his lost weapon with a smirk.
"Gotta say dude, you stink at catch" He chuckled.
"Where the slag did you come from?" Bumblebee asked while he and Bulkhead ran over.
"Cybertron, but in this situation the base" Jazz said in a "duh" fashion. "Took me a while to find, humans may be small but they build big cities."
Scoop almost growled at them while getting up. This was going nowhere, he didn't care what Dirt Boss said, he had to escape immediately. Jazz, Bulk, and Bee began to walk toward him.
"Looks like the Allsparks not exactly blessing you with good fortune." Bumblebee quipped.
"Three against one, never the best odds." Jazz pointed out.
Scoop looked above them and saw that they were beneath a freeway bridge. He looked at the supports and then back at the Autobots.
"You're both wrong, the odds are in my favor." He said and then pointed his weapons skyward. The three Autobots threw their heads upward and he fired. His blasts hit the support columns and the bridge began to buckle.
"Once again the Allspark provides just what I need!' he called.
"Everybody move!" Jazz shouted. The three had little choice and either ran or jumped as the freeway came down.
The section crashed into the buildings along the street before piling up in a heap of rubble. As the dust settled, the three Autobots turned to look at the damage.
"Great, Fanzone and Ratchet are gonna blow a gasket." Bulkhead bemoaned.
"At least no one's offline, that's the important thing." Jazz said, offering his arm to the bulky bot.
"Not yet anyway." Bumblebee said, shooting of like a flash toward the rubble.
"What do you think you're doing?" Jazz called out. With a burst of Speed, Bee jumped up and grabbed the side of the pile.
"I'm going to give that zelbot a peice of my processor!" Bumblebee hurtled over the pile, blasting electricity...into thin air.
He was so surprised by the lack of Scoop that he ended up landing on his rear.
"You okay little buddy, is he there?" Bulkhead called from the other side of the rubble. Whipping his head around, Bumblebee couldn't' see a thing.
There were no tire tracks, no signs of escape, any that might have been there were buried under rubble and/or dust.
"Bee?" Bulkhead asked again.
"He's gone." Bumblebee said simply.. Jazz and Bulkhead both looked at each other. Bee's voice was faint but they still made it out. The weight of his words hung over them and or a small moment no one could say a thing. It was Jazz who broke the tension with a very simple sentence.
"Man, we are not having luck catchin bad guys."
Less than half an hour later, the rest of the team as well as some of the DPD, had assembled on the sight. The police were checking to make sure that no one took advantage while rescue crews made sure there weren't any injuries.
Optimus surveyed the scene with a sour look on his face. Sari shared this same face but for two different reasons. Scoop had been one of the few times someone had come close to killing her, as such Sari was taking this a bit more seriously.
The other reason was due to them waking her up in the middle of the night. As such while her armor was activated, it was clear by her very visible pajamas she was ready to go back to sleep.
"So he just shot the bridge and left?" Ratchet asked.
"Yeah, it was like he wanted to fight but he then decided to leave." Buckhead commented before shouting as Ratchet worked on the sting.
"Oh don't be such a sparkling, you've had much worse."
"Sounds like a typical situation, attacks one and only plans for one but once more showed up they split. Jazz said.
"At least he did this so we know he's back." Bumblebee said.
"I don't know if that makes it better, or worse." Optimus replied. "I don't want this to end up like the Nightstrike accident."
"I doubt it'll get that bad ever again." Ratchet commented.
"The key thing I'm concerned about is his behaviour, if what Bulkhead and the others say is true, he could start acting rashly."
"Oh like he wasn't already?" Bumblebee said.
"He seems worse this time, I just hope he dosen't start attacking humans." Put in Bulkhead.
"It wouldn't surprise me if he did that to draw us out." Optimus said, activating his wings. "I'll do a quick sweep of the city before taking Sari home, Bumblebee you and Arcee take the roads."
"How come I can't take Sari home?" asked Bee.
"Don't you do that almost every day?" Bulkhead smirked.
"Yeah, almost!"
Optimus shook his head and gently rose into the air. Sari kept a firm grip on his water cannons. As they went higher, Sari finally spoke up.
"I know that tone big guy, you think there's something bigger going down."
"I'm afraid that this feelings been around since those two arrived on this planet." Explained Optimus.
As soon as they reached a fair enough altitude, Optimus began to fly across the cityscape., Sari clinging to him tightly.
"Does it have to do with that Wing bot they talked about?" She asked.
"Not just that, soce they got here, Decepticon activity has been increasing. We haven't seen this level of activity since Megatrons days."
"So you think that this is some sort of sign or something?"
"I don't know Sari, all I can do is hope that we're ready." Optimus said.
For the rest of the trip to Sumdac tower both of them were in a unified silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
Captain Fanzone stared at the sight before him with an angry look on his face. Half the of the oil in this dockyard was gone, snatched right out from under their noses.
"So can someone tell me how we weren't notified till after the perps got away?" He asked aloud. Another officer walked over to him, holding a tablet, containing several records from the night.
"We got this from the security office captain." he said, handing to to Fanzone.
"Alright, what am I looking at here?"
"It shows that no one entered or left the complex through any of the entrances." Fanzone stared hard at the security feed.
"So what, are we looking at an inside job?"
"We've searched the whole area sir, no sign of the oil anywhere." Another cop said.
It was at this point Fanzone noticed something, there appeared to be small glitches in the camera's function. Not only that but something had flashed by, he went o pause the feed and look.
Key word being went to, for as he tried the video skipped back. He waited again and then tapped the screen, only for it to zoom in.
Fanzone growled and played around with the screen a bit more until finally, an error message popped up.
"Aw, this is why I hate machines!" He said, handing the tablet back to the officer.
It was at this time another one ran up. Fanzone felt a little like Jobe at this point as the officer spoke.
"Sir you might want to come and see this."
The officer lead Fanzone and several others to the door on the security station. The officer lead Fanzone in and pointed at the door.
"What am I looking at?" He asked.
"The company says they just installed this door but take a good look at it."
Faznone did so, noticing that the door had been struck with something heavy. No doubt it had been forced open to gain entry, enough to open it without causing obvious damage to the wall.
"Something tells me we're not dealing with your average crooks." He mumbled. He turned around and faced his officers.
"Get a word out, I want all officers t start extending their patrol areas to the oil plants in the city."
"Those only two of those sir."
"Then get with patrolling them!" Fanzone shouted. With that the officers ran for their cars, though some stayed behind to keep inspecting.
Fanzone walked back to his car with a sigh. For a whole it'd been okay, things had been peaceful in Detroit for once. Sure the super villains escaped but that wasn't anything too big.
Then came the giant robot bat and things had spiraled out of control once again. In spite of himself, Fanzone actually looking a bit forward to this case.
After all there was no way one of those Decepticons could have pulled off this heist.
Scoop pulled up to the warehouse, having aimlessly driven around Old Detroit for a few hours. He had spent the time crashing into old buildings with claims that the Autobots were chasing him. Eventually Dirt Boss had given the all clear and he was allowed to come back to the base. Provided that he "shook the Autobots off his tailpipe"
The night had been long for him, and due to his actions early on he was no doubt going to get an earful.
The doors slid open and he rolled in, only transforming once the doors were shut. He didn't say anything, he just waited for a minute.
That was all the time it took for Mixmaster to punch him in the gut. Scoop went down without a sound, other than the one his body made as it hit the floor.
"Sorry newbie, boss's orders." He said
Scoop glared up at Mixmaster and opened his mouth, a decision he came to regret as he was slugged in the face. Dirt Boss smugly walked over, sneering all the while.
"I'd like ta thank yous for helping us pull off a successful job," He said, only to grab Scoops head and yank him down. ", but I'd also like ta beat you senseless!"
"The only bot who gives the orders is me, I own you lot, and you're MY employees!" He snapped angrily.
"Try to boss me around again and I'll have ya scrapped!" He said, before turning and walking away.
Once he was out of earshot, Scrapped walked over and he and Mixmaster helped Scoop up.
"Sorry about that he's...a little bit rough with everyone."
"Why do you let him push you around?" Scoop asked.
"Because he's the boss, that's why." Mixmaster added.
"Back on Cybertron, Minicons knew their place, he's smaller than almost all of us." Scoop stated, pointing in the direction Dirt Boss wandered off in.
"Do you know how easy it would be to take him down and out for good?"
He watched at the first two Constructicons looked at each other, and then back toward Scoop. He noticed the wary looks on both of their faces.
"It's not that we wouldn't like to be our own bots again but…" Mixmaster started
He's got these weird things, he pops them out and they enter your head and then you start doing..things." Scrapped explained.
"Things?" Scoop asked. "Do you mean like some form of hypnosis?"
"Call it whatever fancy words you like, it's evil!" Scrapper said.
"So he keeps you all in line with that threat?" Scoop was uninspired with both of them gave him a nod. This was bad, this was subjugation and forced labor, maybe the Allspark had Hightower meet this Dirt Boss for a reason.
Maybe this would be a blessing in disguise for them, a chance to redeem themselves by freeing these poor bots from Dirt Bosses grip.
He turned around, grabbed them both and spoke in a hushed tone.
"You two want your freedom back correct?" He asked. "Freedom to run around, be what you want, and drink all the oil you can?"
"Oh yeah we'd love that." Both of them said.
"Good, this plan might take me a while but if you help me then we'll all get to be free again." Scoop said.
"What's the plan stan?"
"That's going to take some time to figure out, right now though I have one question." Scoop said, and then pointed at their color schemes.
"How did you change my ex associates paint job?"
Another year, another Transformers Animated story. I wonder if this one will actually get reviews.
I hate to be a beggar guys but as much as I appreciate the views I'd like to hear some feedback, any feedback.
Till next time, hope you've enjoyed the story.
