Chapter 4 - A Prefectly Good Day

July 15, 2017

Portland, Oregon

As the sun lowered on the horizon, and casted an orange hue onto the land, Bumblebee was slowly limping away from a recent battle. He gritted his teeth, and wiped the Energon from his mouth. He stared at the pink substance on his fingers and instantly remembered what happened. Not too long ago, he was in a brawl with Barricade. Barricade was known for his aggressiveness, and sometimes his violent tendencies would get he better of him. No one was around, and they were near a factory, so Barricade thought it would be fun to pick on the poor bot.

Bumblebee noticed that Barricade didn't use his buzzsaw. That meant that Enemy was out and about, and he was stirring up trouble. Well, at least Barricade didn't use the buzzsaw. But that didn't make the beating he received any less unbearable. Barricade was a tough fighter, and weilded a powerful baton to match.

Still, Bumblebee couldn't complain. His spark was still beating, and being alive counted for a lot these days. The pain quickly subsided. Bumblebee had gotten use to pain ever since Tyger Pax. He just transformed into his alt mode, and silently drove into a car dealership, and he parked. As the sun set, Bumblebee's auto repair systems initiated, and Bumblebee drifted into a nice stasis nap..

Elsewhere,

Spike was lying in bed, with a shirt and basketball shorts on. He was on the phone with a friend of his.

"I just don't know what to do, Rad." said Spike. "Every time I try to approach her, I turn into a nervous wreck and breakdown like a raggedy, old car."

"Well, that's because you're doing it wrong, Spike. You've gotta find a way to get her attention." said Rad.

"How do I do that?" He asked.

"You've passed Drivers Ed, haven't you?" Rad asked.

"Yeah, why?" He replied

"What you need is a car! Chicks dig cars. Plus, your dad works as a part time auto mechanic! He'll definitely let you buy a car!"

"What makes you so sure? About girls and cars, I mean."

"Trust me, Spike. They don't call Rad White, Ladiesman217 for nothing."

"I hate it when you refer to yourself in third person. Anyway, I'll try it tomorrow. Thanks Rad,"

"See? Who would be without me, Spike?"

"Time to find out." Spike hung up the phone, and drifted off to sleep.

The Next Day

July 16, 2017

Sparkplug was out in the garage about to work on another car, when Spike slowly walked out to the garage to talk to him.

"Dad, I wanted to ask you something." Spike said.

"Do you? Now is this you asking me something, or is this you asking me for something?" asked Sparkplug.

"Uh, the second option." Spike replied.

"Well, what is it?" He asked.

"Dad, I wanted to have my own car. The family one is fine, but I wanted a car that was for me personally." Spike nervously asked.

After a few seconds, Sparkplug responded. "Well, it's about time!" He said,

"Excuse me?" Spike replied, confused.

"Spike, you are coming of age now, and I understand the importance of you wanting your own freedoms. I remember when I was a your age, asking my father the same thing. Plus, you didn't take Drivers Ed for nothing, did you?" Sparkplug said.

"Wow, um. Thanks, Dad." Spike said. Spike didn't think that Rad's advice would work, but he was definitely feeling optimistic.

"But, you know what I expect. With great power such as this, comes great responsibility. You're getting older, and you are going to have to be responsible for yourself from now one. I can't be there to bail you out if trouble. You need to make your own informed decisions and be accountable for your own actions." said Sparkplug.

"Sure thing, dad." Spike replied.

Spike and Sparkplug got inside the family car, and drove out to a dealership a few blocks away from their house.

As the car parked outside the dealership, Spike and Sparkplug got outside of the car. Meanwhile, in the car lot, Bumblebee was rebooting after his long stasis nap. Bumblebee looked around, and saw Spike and Sparkplug walking up to the car salesman. Upon further observation, Sparkplug seem to match the description of one of Blackrock's employees. Upon realization, Bumblebee sent a message to Prowl.

"Prowl, this is Bumblebee. I think I've spotted one of the Decepticon's high priority targets. I'll continue my analysis once I've got my confirmation. Bumblebee out."

Bumblebee kept quiet, as to not give away his position. The humans spent a few minutes checking out some of the cars in the lot, but none of them really appealed to Spike. Soon, Spike pointed at Bumblebee, indicating that car he was most interested in. The car salesman, Spike and Sparkplug walked over to car.

"How about this one." The salesman asked.

Spike glanced over at the yellow muscle car. For some odd reason, he preferred this one over the other cars in the lot.

"I'll take it." said Spike.

"Excellent! Come with me to fill out some papers, and the car is yours!" the salesman replied. Spike, Sparkplug and the salesman headed back inside, but not before Spike glanced over and smiled at what was about to be his new car.

Bumblebee didn't know what to think. Millions of thought files were racing through his neocortex. What if the humans found out the truth about him? What if Barricade found Bumblebee outside the human's place of residence and attacked him? Most important of all, what if the humans got their disgusting fluids on his brand new leather seats? Despite all of this, Bee knew he had to remain calm.

The Following Day,

June 17, 2017

Sparkplug was out at work, so Spike decided to give his car a test run. Carly would usually go jogging at the park at two o' clock, and would start to head home at four. Spike, being quite "observant" knew this. Carly's house was a bit far from the park, so Spike thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to talk to her.

Spike went into the garage and grabbed the key and opened up the door. A bee themed air freshener was inside the car. Spike inhaled and took in the new car smell. He got in and put the keys into the ignition. The cars engines started humming smoothly. Spike put his hands on the wheel, and was about to drive out, but before he did, he remembered what his father told him last night. The usual "with great power comes great responsibility" speech.

Spike then opened the garage door with the remote, and drove out and closed the garage door, as he pulled out of the driveway. As Spike drove away. Enemy was spying on Spike through the window. Barricade had sent him footage of his fight with Bumblebee, and Enemy instantly recognized the Autobot. Wanting to start up some mischief, Enemy contacted Barriacde.

"Barricade, this is Enemy. Now, get a load of this!"

The Park

It was around four o' clock and Carly was texting some of her friends in her phone. She then put the phone in her pocket, picked up her backpack. She wore a light blue tank top and jogging pants. Her backpack was black and light blue. Carly began walking out of the park, when she saw a yellow muscle car pull up to the side of the curb. The window rolled down, and she saw Spike in the driver seat.

"Carly, do you need a ride?" he asked. Carly was surprisingly. She normally saw Spike using his father's car. Carly didn't question it, and she walked over to the car.

"Spike, is this car yours?" Carly asked.

"Yeah, I just bought it." He replied.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind." She said.

She walked over to the other side of the car, and Spike opened the door for her. She put her backpack in the backseat, and Spike drove off.

"So, uh, nice car." Carly said.

Spike didn't know how to respond. He never thought he would make it this far.

"Uh, thanks." Spike tried to make the situation less awkward by starting a conversation. "So, how is your project coming along!"

"Pretty nicely." She said.

"So, have you decided what you want to major in?"

"Yeah. Robotics or chemistry. One of the two." She replied.

"Really, I wanted to major in robotics too." Spike responded

Carly had an idea of where this was going. She was aware that Spike had the hots for her.

"Are you saying that because you want to relate to me, or are you being geniuine?" She asked.

"I'm serious! I've wanted to major in robotics ever since I was a kid." He replied.

"Oh, that's cool." She said.

"Maybe I could help you with your project." He awkwardly suggested.

Carly wasn't sure. She didn't want anything too crazy to happen, but she knew that doing the project by herself would take up the whole summer.

"I'll take you up on that offer." she said.

"So, uh what time should I come over?" He asked.

"We'll meet at your place." she answered.

"Ok, cool. What time?"

"Noon." She responded

"Ok, sounds good!" Spikes heart was beating a thousand times a second. The rest of the drive home was mostly quiet. Spike pulled up to Carly's house and he opened the door for you.

"See you tomorrow, Spike!" she said, while waving.

"See ya!" He said while waving back. As Carly used her key to open the door, Spike started driving home.

"I love this car." He said while driving. He never thought that Rad's advice would actually work. The drive home was quite satisfying for Spike to say the least. Spike thought that there was nothing that could ruin his good day.

Later that night.

It was a little bit after midnight, and Spike had just went to bed. The house was completely quiet. Soon, a blonde woman slowly crept into the living room. She looked around and made her way upstairs. She saw the door to Sparkplug's room. Instead of opening it, she phased through it. She crept over to Sparkplug's dresser, and grabbed his wallet. She looked inside and found his business card. That was the confirmation she needed. She soon disappeared into thin air.

Downstairs in the garage, the car's engine automatically turned on. Spike who was half awake, heard it. He jolted out of bed, put some sweatpants on, and went outside to see what was happening. He walked into the garage, and saw the garage door was opened, and the blonde woman was inside of his car.

It took Spike a while to process what was going on, but he soon realized that his car was being stolen. The car pulled out of the drive way, and Soike decided to chase after it.

"Hey, stop!!!" He yelled. He quickly got on his bike and chased down the thief. The car was outpacing Spike, but thanks to the car's tail lights, Spike could easily follow it. The car drove past a rail road crossing and rammed into a gate with barbed wire on the top, and drove into the factory. Spike tried to catch up, to it, but a train was passing by, forcing Spike to skid to a stop. After 30 seconds, the train passed, and the car was making its way inside the factory. Spike got off the bike and ran past the railroad crossing and the gate.

The car then parked itself outside the factory. Spike slowly crept around the corner, and saw the car. He didn't make a sound. He saw the car turn it's head and tail lights off and then it emitted a sound.

"TSCHE-CHU-CHU-CHU-TSCHE"

The car began shifting into a tall, 20 foot alien robot. Spike stared in awe at what we happening he didn't know if it was a dream of if it was real. The robot looked around to make sure no one was there. It didn't see Spike. The robot then pressed a button on the side of its head.

"Prowl, this is Bumblebee. I have found one of Blackrock's Employees, and I have confirmation." he said.

Spike was consfused. He couldn't understand the alien. The alien spoke in beeps and boops.

"Excellent work, Bumblebee. Stay put, and await further orders."

"Sure thing Prowl, but look. The Decepticons are a class 4 emergency. Are you sure we shouldn't contact Optimus Prime?"

"We don't need to drag Prime into this Bumblebee. The less the Decepticons know about his continued existence, the better. You have your orders, understand?"

"I read you loud and clear Prowl." Bumblebee said as he terminated the communication. He then sighed and muttered to himself "You can be a real gearshift, you know that Prowl?" Bumblebee was about to turn around. Spike didn't know what to do except run, and that's what he did. He ran as fast as he can, grabbed his bike and rode it all the way home. He took an alternate route to avoid being caught by the robot. As Spike rode, he knew that something had ruined his good day...