Alright so it's been a while but I'm back again!
Does anyone even care enough to review? I like writing this series but it kinda feels like I'm shouting to a void. I would appericate if someone would leave feedback at least ONCE.
*Sigh* Anyway. Transformers Animated is owned by Hasbro/Takara I own nothing but the plot and interpretations of Scoop
It took a few days for Scoop to finally emerge once again. The autobots had erroneously assumed that he would only strike at night, as such all Autobots took double duty on patrols. They would do their patrol in pairs or one would shadow the other. The Autobots were convinced that Scoop would attack solely at night, suspecting that it would be easier to surprise them.
One midday was all it took to shatter their suspicions.
The day had started out normal enough, Sari and Bumblebee had taken advantage of the warmer weather to head out on a small date/ice cream run.
"I think you may have gone a bit overboard." Bee said, observing Sari's five scoops which were leaning and about ready to fall from her cone. By contrast he'd only gotten two scoops.
"My teeth may hate me later but it's so worth the price!" Sari said, before happily licking her monstrosity.
"Whatever you say." Bumblebee said, watching as Sari attempted to keep her small tower balanced. "Maybe you should've gotten a bowl."
"No way, the best part about ice cream is eating the cone afterward!" Sari explained.
Before any more chatter about large amounts of frozen dairy could be made, the sound of screaming reached their ears.
"Can we go on one date without this kind of thing happening?" Sari muttered.
"I wonder who it is this time.." Bee said, trailing off and dropping his cone as the orange front loader roared into view. People screamed and ran away as it went on a mini rampage.
First Scoop slammed his bucket into the pavement and grabbed a car. He tossed it into the air, letting it fall to the middle of the street with a crash. He proceeded to do the same with two more cars before changing form. He slammed his fist down in front of the ice cream parlor, knocking the two teens on their backs. Saris ice cream flew up and splattered across both of them.
"Greetings, "priestess", I have come to have a word with you." Scoop hissed.
"The word had better be "I'll buy you some new ice cream." Sari glared, whipping it off herself.
"Such trivial things will not matter, for I have come to pass sentence upon you for impersonating the priestess of the Allspark!"
"The sentence better be about buying me more ice cream." Sari huffed, crossing her arms. Scoop gaped and threw his arms up.
"What is with you and this ice cream, why is it so important?"
"It's good, and you spilled mine." She retorted. Scoop stared blankly at her whilst Bumblebee tried not to laugh.
"There will be no "ice cream" where you;re going for your sentence is eternity in the PIT!" Scoop boomed before whipping out his pistol. Bumblebee and Sari's faces changed to looks of shock.
Scoop pulled the trigger and Sari threw her hands in front of her. The laser's path was interrupted by a small wall of fire that sprang up from nowhere. Before he realized what had happened, Scoop was thrown back as a fireball connected with his chest.
Sari stared him down whilst her armor shifted over her body. Bumblebee scampered off toward his vehicle mode to shut down his holoform. As he sat up, Scoop stared at the girl with wide optics.
"So you've finally decided to show your true self to the world!" He said, pointing dramatically at her "Revealing the devil that which you are!"
This comment got Scoop a wicked fire punch to the jaw which sent him back into the hovered over him and spread her wings.
"That comment just got you a life sentence into "Ouch" Sari said.
"Ouch, that's not even a real place!" Scoop shouted as he stood up. His response was Sari once again striking him with a flame covered fist.
"Ouch" Scoop hissed.
"Now it is." Sari said teasingly as Bee ran over to join the fight. He activated his stingers and started blasting away.
"Hey shouldn't we call Prime and the others?" She asked.
"We've got him right where we want him this time, we'll have him bagged in a cycle!" Bumblebee said confidently. His confidence proceeded to get shattered as Scoop fired off a shot that struck him in the chest. Bee let out a cry of pain and fell back.
Scoop fired several more times, these shots directed at Sari, who had to weave around each blast. She threw a fireball at him, but he sidestepped and it hit the road.
"Do you even care that you ruined my life?" Scoop asked.
"Considering what you've done to me, not really." responded Sari.
"I will treat you in kind then, I will take away everything you cherish and then send you into the pit!" He spat.
"I don't think so!" Bulkhead shouted as his wrecking ball flew onto the scene. It smashed into Scoops face and he went flying.
"Thanks for the save big guy!" Sari called out to their friend.
"Anytime Sari."
"Hey, we had him!" Bumblebee pouted.
"Sure ya did."
While they bantered, Scoop tumbled along the ground, smashing into a couple of mailboxes, some robot vendors, and a fire hydrant. Those that hadn't left the area were now leaving in droves as he tumbled on by. His path ended abruptly as he crashed into the awning of a store. Scoop grunted and fell back to the street like a sack of rocks.
He glanced upwards, spotting the Autobots running toward him. He decided that now would be a good time to start running and transformed. With a roar of his engine he sped down the street as the Autobots got there.
"He's getting away!" Bumblebee shouted and jumped, transforming smoothly, and landing on all four wheels.
"Bumblebee wait for us!" Bulkhead called. It was too late as Bumblebee was already racing away from them.
"You ever get the feeling that he often forgets what he learns?" Bulkhead commented drly.
"That's the thing about being attacked like that, you leap before you look." Sari huffed.
Meanwhile Bumblebee was racing along the streets, his smaller size and faster engine meant that he was able to catch up to Scoop almost immediately.
"Alright buddy the shows over!" He shouted and bashed Scoops side. Instead of responding, Scoop made a sharp turn and pulled onto a side street.
"Hey!" Bumblebee shouted, slamming on his brakes. By the time he'd stopped the street was a full block away. With no time to lose he headed back and turned onto it.
The street was lined with older buildings and stretched on for almost half a mile. Much to hiss surprise though, there was no sign of Scoop.
"Where did he go?" Bumblebee wondered as he drove down the street.
His question was answered when Scoop came rushing out of an ally, slamming his bucket into the Autobot. Bumblebee yelled in transformed, planting his feet into the ground and shoving against the bucket.
"What the slag are you trying to do!?" He shouted over the roar of Scoop engine.
"Get rid of one of the most annoying bots I've had the displeasure to come across." Scoop seethed. With a deafening roar from his engine, he pushed forward and forced Bumblebee through the wall of an adjacent building.
Pulling back, Scoop raised his bucket up, tearing at the buildings wall. The wall part of the second floor began to snap apart and collapse. He pulled back just as the section he'd been working at caved in on top of Bumblebee.
His work completed, Scoop pulled back into the alley that he'd driven out of. By the time Bulkhead rumbled onto the street, he was long gone.
"I think they went this way." Bulkhead said.
"Doing some property damage along the way, Bee's going to get an earful from prime." Sari said, observing the collapsed building.
"Think we should stop and make sure everyone's okay?" He asked.
"Keep going, if we don't find them who knows what else will happen." Sari said.
"I still think we should stop and-" Bulkhead didn't finish when Bumblebee's arm exploded from the rubble.
"AH, a zombicon!" Bulkhead shouted.
"I don't think that's a zombie bulk." Sari said, hopping out of his interior. "That's Bumblebee!"
Bumblebee waved his arm around as the pair ran over.
"Hang in there Bee, I'll have ya out in a second!" Bulkhead grabbed the arm and gave it a mighty pull. With a yell of surprise, Bumblebee burst from the pile and crashed into his friends chestplate.
"Thanks for the help Bulkhead." He said weakly.
"What happened to you Bee?" Sari dropped her mask, placing a hand onto her boyfriends.
"He jumped when when I came down this street, and he dropped the slagging building on me!" Bulkhead glanced over at the damage and winced. The building was an antique store. It hadn't completely collapsed but it was damaged.
"Well this just proves Jazz's idea that he'd only attack at night wrong."
"Really, I hadn't realized that." Bumblebee said drly. "We should tell Prime."
"I'm with ya there, I was just heading back after working on the space bridge." Bulkhead said.
"You do that, I think I owe this lovely lady some new ice cream." Bee said, wing down at Sari, whose face turned red.
"Are you sure that you're up for that little buddy?"
"I'm fine, I've done worse and drove on it!" Bee stated. Sari however looked a little bit concerned and spoke up.
"No offense dear but I'm not in the mood, we should probably tell Optimus." She said in a low tone. Both Autobots knew that tone of voice, this attack had no doubt been a little too personal for Sari's liking. Without a word both Autobots trasnformed and Sari hopped into Bumblebee. Once she was settled they drove off back to base.
Captain Fanzone stared in disbelief at the scene before him. The Dockyards had called in to report on a robbery, but they hadn't specified on what had been stolen.
When they got there, a sick feeling appeared in his gut as he stared up at what once was a massive oil tanker that was now leaning to the right. A pair of massive holes had been drilled into the side.
"So someone want to explain this to me?" He asked.
"We noticed that something was going on with the ship, we thought originally that it was going over." The dockyard manager explained. "When it stopped and didn't move we went to check and found well..that."
He gestured to the massive holes that'd been drilled into it. Fanzone walked over and stared at them.
"These chompers look pretty precise, looks to me like ya got robbed by professionals, where was the shipment supposed to head too?"
The dockyard manager handed him an electronic clipboard. Fanzone took it and started to look things over, he saw that the destination was the same refinery that had been robbed earlier. No doubt an attempt to cover their lost shipment.
Before he could do anymore, suddenly an ad popped up. He blinked and tried to close out of it, only for another one to pop up. Furiously he tapped the pad to get the ads to close them until there were far too many to undo.
"Sorry about that." He said, handing it back to the manager.
"How the heck did you.." The manager said in astonishment.
"To me this looks like a case of revenge or corporate sabotage." he said aloud. "Both targets were owned by the same company."
He turned back toward the manager, who was still gawking at the impossibility of the ads.
"Can you tell me when all shipments to that company are coming in?"
"Sure, I can email you the manifest." He said, right as the clipboard malfunctioned, sparked and he dropped it.
Both men stared down at it before Fanzone glanced up back at him.
"How about a fax?"
"Sure…." Said the now confused and slightly scared dock manager. Fanzone looked down at the broken clipboard and let out a sigh.
And so it began, Scoop began popping up around Detroit at the most random of intervals, always tracking down the Autobots and attacking them in some fashion.
It started with Optimus while he was out on patrol. As he drove along the darkened streets, a dumpster suddenly rolled into his path. He hit his brakes and swerved to avoid it. Unfortunately he couldn't manage it with his trailer and slid sideways into the thing. Scoop took the chance to race forward, throw his bucket under Prime's bumper and flip him.
Optimus transformed and crashed onto his back. Scoop ran over with his arm raised to punch him where he lay.
From his arm, Optimus extended his fire extinguisher and shot foam into Scoops face. He stumbled and lost his vision. This allowed Optimus to get up and tackle him, sadly since Scoop was bigger, he easily grabbed and threw him off.
Optimus landed on his feet and then fired a bolo at Scoop's legs. Scoop responded by shooting it with his pistols, vaporizing the bolo right as it reached him.
Reaching down, he grabbed the nearest thing on the street, which happened to a soda vendor bot, and threw it.
Optimus was unable to dodge before he was struck in the chest. The cart broke and soda cans and bottles burst everywhere. His vision temporarily blinded, Optimus slipped and fell to the ground.
Before he was able to get up, Scoop had managed to procure some dirt from a nearby construction site. He simply dropped it on Optimus and turned to run off. With the soda already coating him, the dirt clung to Optimus fiercely
Angrily he tried brushing it off to no avail. It was only when he grabbed and broken open a fire hydrant and let the water splash all over himself was he able to mostly get it off. However by the time he'd regained his bearings, Scoop was long gone.
The next time Scoop made a public upheaval was once again in the middle of the city. His time though it was very public and slightly dangerous.
"Your race has defiled the Allspark with it's filthy organic substances!" Scoop declared as he grabbed hold of the elevated tracks.
People screamed and ran way was he tore the tracks from their mountings with tremendous force. He moved to throw the tracks into a nearby building, but as he did so, a pink glow surrounded it.
Snarling, he turned to spot Arcee and Ratchet standing a short distance away. A Distance Arcee covered rather quickly and and moved to kick him.
Scoop rolled to the side and caused Arcee's kick to go wild. She managed a landing however and turned, this time managing to strike him.
Scoop fell to the side and struck the ground hard. Arcee pointed a blade at him before pressing it against his face.
"Stay down remain silent." She said.
Scoop looked past her with a smirk and then looked back the pink femme.
"Alright but you'll miss the train."
Both Arcee and Ratchet blinked as they heard the sound of the train rapidly approaching the station. Which was still missing a rail.
Both Ratchet and Arcee panicked and ran for the tracks, in their haste leaving Scoop ungraded, which allowed him to escape .
That was the farthest thing from their minds as Ratchet activated his magnets and pushed against the train with all his might.
"I can't hold it for very long!" He shouted out.
Arcee raced over and grabbed the rail that Scoop had dropped. She tried to grab it but unfortunately it was way too heavy for her on her own. Forced to drop it, she scanned the area to try and find some means to lessen the impact on the city.
She found only one option tight might work. Sprinting to the rail line, Arcee vaulted up and onto the roof of the train and then tap the windows.
"Attention passengers, your train is coming to a rough stop, for your safety please get as far from the front as possible."
Heeding her advice, the passengers all fled to the back of the train. Once all the passengers were there, Arcee slashed open the back of the train.
"Last call, everyone out!" The train jolted forward a little at those words. The passengers all went into a scramble to get out of the back.
Once the last passenger had left, Arcee looked up and toward Ratchet.
"Everyone's clear!" She shouted.
Ratchet deactivated his magnets with a gasp, but didn't have long to relax as the train drove off the rails.
The front half smashed into the other end and crumpled up, the first coach twisted and pulled the engine to the ground. The rest of the train followed suit and flipped onto the ground, luckily with no injuries.
Arcee had jumped down as the train crashed and ran over to Ratchet, who lay prone on his side. She looped his arm around her and helped him to his feet. The two of them looked around slowly and solemnly.
Scoop had caused so much devastation, and once again slipped through their servos.
It took less than a week for Scoop to reappear, this time in the old Detroit district. Jazz had found him demolishing a few of the old buildings and chucking the remains into the city proper. Optimus, Bumblebee, Bulkhead and himself has set up a perimeter around Scoop to grab him.
Unfortunately for them, Scoop had already seen Jazz and was laying in wait. As the four Autobots rushed him, he'd jumped through a wall, resulting in the four Autobots crashing into each other.
Wasting no time, he transformed and roared out of the building, knocking part of it down atop the hapless Autobots.
Said Autobots immediately burst out and gave chase to him, Scoop now the equivalent of Blitzwing having a night on the town in their optics.
The chase waived in, out, and around the buildings in the old city sector, Scoop shifting from vehicle to robot mode more than once to make a quicker getaway. Eventually however, he made a very fatal flaw in his plan and ran down a dead end alleyway.
"Well looks like he just made things easy." Bumblebee commented and transformed. Jazz, Optimus and Bulkhead ran over as well.
The moment they stepped into the ally however, they were set upon by blasts from his pistols.
"I don't think he's going to go down without a fight boss bot." Bulkhead said as they ducked for cover.
"Then we need to flank him." Optimus said, glancing around the area. "Bumblebee, go and draw his fire!"
"How come I'm the one who always gets to draw their fire?" The yellow bot asked.
"Because you're the fastest of us!" Bulkhead shouted.
"Oh...right." Bumblebee said and without a second thought, ran out where Scoop could see him.
"Hey buddy, you couldn't hit me if I painted a target on my chassis!" He called out.
In response, Scoop turned and tried to riddle Bumblebee with blaster marks. Bumblebee jumped and dodged the blasts like a ninja bot.
Bee's distraction was enough to allow Jazz to scale the building nearby. He ran across the roof until he was just above Scoop. Silently he dropped down and landed behind him, Scoop turned just as Jazz kicked him in the back.
He went down as the Autobots started to run over.
"You're not getting away this time, so don't even think about it." Jazz said. In response, Scoop sneered and turned his pistols toward the wall of a building.
"Sorry but I already did."
He blasted the wall and then uppercut Jazz. Acting quickly, Scoop ran into the hole and left the Autobots behind.
"How does he keep doing that!?" Bulkhead growled.
"Doesn't matter, we still have him cornered." Optimus said whilst pulling out his axe. "On my command."
The others all tensed up and readied themselves for a fight. Bee activated his stingers and Jazz twirled his nun chucks.
"Now!" Optimus ordered.
The four of them rushed into the building, only for to see that Scoop was outside. The next thing that crossed their minds were thoughts of regret as Scoop shot his pistols into the buildings supports.
The Autobots all cried out as the roof caved in right on top of them! The walls crumbled shortly afterward and buried them in a pile of rubble.
Scoop smirked evilly as the dust settled and turned to walk away, only to walk right into the arm of-"
"Halt evil doer, as an employee of Detroit Sanitation and I hero, I Wreck Gar must stop you!"
Wreck Gar stood in his path, armed with two stop signs wielded together into a staff. He spun it in his hand
"You have caused destruction of property and therefore must be defeated!"
Scoop stared at Wreck Gar with a look of utter disbelief. He'd never in all his years encountered a bot like this before. He was about to stutter out an answer when the cries of the Autobots erupted from the rubble. They were faint and muffled but clear audible, Wreck Gar dropped the stop sign baton in shock.
"My fellow heroes are in trouble!" He shouted. "Do not worry friends, I Wreck Gar am here to help!"
Wreck Gar pulled out a vacuum and ran over to the pile of rubble. As he started to clean up the rubble, Scoop took the opportunity to run like Megatron himself was behind him.
It took a while for Wreck Gar to reach the Autobots, who sifted the rest of the rubble off themselves.
"Wreck Gar?" Bumblebee asked in surprise.
"Yes it is I, Wreck Gar!"
Optimus sighed and looked around. While he was thankful for Wreck Gar's help, he was still upset that they lost Scoop once again.
"Maybe that...bot...saw where he went." Jazz said.
"Where who went?"
"Big guy, giant wheels on shoulders, bright paint job?" Asked Bumblebee.
"He's orange, and turns into a constructicon vehicle." Bulkhead stated.
"I knew that."
"Ah yes him, the criminal scum who trashed the building!" Wreck Gar said, waving a fist into the sky.
"So you saw him, do you happen to know where he went?" Optimus asked.
:I em...no…" Wreck Gar said. "I had him but then had to help you guys."
His statement was meet with blank stares from the other Autobots. Jazz looked up and asked,
"Couldn't you have tied him up and then helped us?"
"Oh...well I probably should have, I will remember that next time!"
Jazz facepalmed.
"Another robbery report captain."
"Just put it with the others." Fanzone sighed.
The secretary did so, dropping the folder onto the small stack on the desk. He sighed and picked it up, the tenth oil robbery in the past month. The worst part wasn't that they kept getting away, but the fact that they had zero leads on the whole case.
He set the file down before glancing at another incident report, this one detailing yet another incident with Scoop.
"As if I don't got enough problems." He grunted and was about to flick it away when he noticed something. The report detailed the time that Scoop first made himself known, and the time when he vanished.
Acting quickly, he grabbed the case file for the oil robbery. He had already gotten the details so the file was just a formality. He looked at the time stamps on when the robbery was thought to have occurred.
They almost matched up to the times when Scoop was appearing. He pulled out the other files and decided to check them asl well.
It wasn't too much of a surprise that his suspicions were confirmed. The time stamps were hitting near identical for each case.
Fanzone frowned, either this was the ultimate coincidence, or this Scoop bot was working with the crooks. As much as he'd like too, he couldn't just make the assumption. If the crooks were working or willing to work with a crazy guy..er robot like that then they could be dangerous.
"Guess it's time for some good ol fashioned detective work." He said to himself.
:Actually sir it's almost the end of your shift." The secretary said.
Fanzone blinked and glanced at the clock. It was about time for him to leave for the night.
"Alright, tomorrow it'll be time for good ol fashioned detective work."
Next time, Fanzone Shenanigans ensue!
...I wonder if anyone will actually care enough to review
