I only own my OC's and the plot. Enjoy.
The AutoKnights VII: The Battle for Paradise
Chapter 10: News
One day went by since the upgrade happened. And this day was gonna be the day the AutoKnights was going to try out all of their new powers and weapons. And there was no chance in hell Lilo was gonna miss something as awesome as that. Jumba, Stitch and the others weren't gonna either.
After they all ate another awesome breakfast made by Kari and Trevor, all of them went down into Teletraan's chamber below where it was much bigger and safe to transform. Once down there, those with the power all took on their AutoKnight forms with a spectacular show of light. Something those without AutoKnight power never got tired of viewing. The change was completed seconds later.
"So are we just gonna go one at a time or all at once?" Ratchet asked.
"One at a time of course." Optimus said. "I wanna see what everyone can do. Sideswipe, we've already seen your new powers. So who's up next?... … …. …. … .. … .uuuuuuuuhhhhhhh ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ah! I know. How about you, Arcee? Would you mind going first?"
Arcee shook her head.
"Of course not. Let's see what this Stealth Force gave me." The pink AutoKnight said.
Everyone backed up to give her some space as she transformed into her vehicle mode. Everyone immediately took notice that her racing stripes were colored white now instead of the black they've been for a long time.
Then she activated her Stealth Force. Her battle mode consisted of two giant six barreled gatling guns popping out of her racing stripes on her hood with smaller missile launchers on the sides and in between them. There were also four grenade launchers and machine guns coming out of her two side doors, and out of her backside, her spoiler acted as a mount for a pivoting rapid fire plasma turret. Bumblebee nearly fainted at the sight of his girlfriend's new firepower.
But that was just her vehicle mode. When she transformed back to suit mode, she found that she had gained even more tech and gadgets. Like Optimus, she now had two grappling hooks that revealed out of the top of her wrists. She could make use with those.
When she thought she was finished with everything, Ironhide shook her head.
"Look a little bit closer. I'm sure you forgot a little something."
The weapons expert's words made Arcee scan her suit one last time before she realized what Ironhide was talking about. She engaged the weapon.
Her chest opened up, but it didn't reveal her spark chamber. Instead, a giant six barreled spinning cannon came out and hummed to life.
And Arcee LOVED it. She retracted the giant gun and looked at the black suited knight.
"What the heck was that?"
Ironhide chuckled.
"THAT Arcee, was my latest creation. I call it, a Blitz Cannon. It's nearly as powerful as my arm cannons. But not quite. I can't have any of you carrying around stronger guns than me. I mean come on."
Everyone understood that quite well. Ironhide liked to have the most powerful guns of them all. And no one blamed her. She made all of their weapons they have now. She deserves to save the best for herself.
As time went on, everyone went on to display their improved weapons and vehicle modes. And for Lilo and her family, they were seeing some vehicle modes for the first time. Ratchet took on the form of a greenish-yellow H2 Hummer Ambulance with a red medical stripe going across the sides. Jazz was a silver Pontiac Solstice with a red and blue stripe going all the way down the center of it. And Trailbreaker transformed into a grey Chevy Tahoe that was heavily modified. Elevated a few feet off the ground, extra light everywhere on the front, and a reinforced grille. It looked like a monster truck's baby. But then things got interesting when they got to Optimus and Blurr.
Optimus gained a few more weapons in suit and robot mode. He gained thicker armor to sustain heavier damage. And he now had a mod on both of his arms that acted something like brass knuckles. Actually, it was just spikes made from Cybertanium that locked into place above his knuckles. They were designed for shredding apart small and big cons easily with one punch.
And then he took on his vehicle mode. His stealth force was what he went with first. The long nose of his truck opened up on all three sides revealing two laser turrets on the sides, and one rocket launcher on the top side. There was also another gatling gun coming out of his front grille. His two smokestacks had also taken on a new form. They were now bent over and facing frontwards as plasma cannons. The side's of his cab opened up and six missile launchers popped out on each side. And that was his Stealth Force mode.
But that's not what everyone was looking at, despite how cool it was.
"Uummm….Prime?" Jetfire said. "Do you notice….anything else?"
"No." Optimus answered. "Why?"
"Oh nothing." Jetfire answered. "Except for the TINY fact that there's now a very big trailer rigged up to your truck."
Optimus adjusted his mirrors and saw that Jetfire was right as he turned off his Stealth Force. There was now a fill sized eight-wheeled trailer rigged up to him. It was silver with a blue and grey stripe going across it three quarters of the way, and then going diagonally to the top the rest of the way.
"Um…Ironhide? Why do I have a trailer?" Optimus asked.
"Well, I had a lot of ideas for all of us." Ironhide said. "But I couldn't fit them all into our suits. So I decided to put the ones I couldn't fit into the form of a trailer."
"Well let's take a look then." Optimus said as he transformed back to human mode and turned around.
But there was a problem as he turned to view the trailer. The problem was that the trailer itself was gone. And it was nowhere in the room. This actually got everyone, even Optimus confused, because something that big couldn't just vanish like that.
"Where did it go?" Optimus asked. "You guys were watching? Did you see where it went?"
None of them nodded or said yes to him. Because none of them had any clue where that trailer went.
"Do it again." Jumba suggested. "And this time, keep eye on trailer."
Optimus nodded and looked at his team, asking them to do the same thing. Keep an eye on the trailer. He transformed back into his truck mode and sure enough, the trailer mysteriously appeared attached to him again.
"Okay…..NOW!" Optimus shouted.
He transformed from truck to suit as fast as he possibly could which took no more than one second, and then he quickly turned around.
But the trailer was apparently faster. Because it was once again gone without a trace. And it was the same results the third time, and the fourth time, until Optimus finally gave up on the twenty third time.
"Okay. Did you make it like that?" Optimus asked his girlfriend.
"I never designed it to vanish into thin air." Ironhide defended. "I guess it just knows when to come."
"So…the trailer…is alive?" Pleakly asked a bit uneasy about that thought.
"Maybe, maybe not." Ironhide answered. "I honestly have no clue."
"Alright. Let's just move on already." Shadow got fed up about the trailer. "We've seen everyone's new powers except for one. Blurr, let's see what you got."
Blurr nodded. It was finally his turn. First he scanned his suit for new weapons, and he immediately found some. He reached into the sides of his suit on his waist where two hatches opened up. He pulled out two long barreled blasters.
"Alright. I finally pack heat." Blurr liked it.
As he put the guns away, he noticed that he had one more handle sticking out of his back. He reached over, pulled on it, and then pulled some more, it took about a few more pulls to finally pull out a gun with a barrel nearly as long as his own body, leaving everyone speechless, and Stitch and Jumba drooling.
"Whoa." Blurr said shocked himself. "What's this?"
"That would be a sniper rifle, Blurr. It's very power and even more accurate." Ironhide explained.
"I say we put that to the test." Shadow said as he began to glow green.
The green light enveloped all of them and in an instant, they were all outside in the open sunlight, right in front of the Pelakai house.
"Blurr, teleport yourself to a faraway distance and point your gun. See how far the range goes." Shadow instructed.
Grasping the handle and barrel of his rifle, Blurr vanished using Chaos Control. And then Trailbreaker opened up his comlink to speak with him.
"Blurr, where'd ya go?" the hedgehog asked.
"I'm over here on Oahu again. On top of the biggest mountain I could find. And I can see you guys perfectly."
Oahu? How was that even possible? No one believed it and thought he was only screwing with them. But when Teletraan and Nicole scanned for his signal, they found that Blurr wasn't fibbing. His signal was coming from the highest point on Oahu.
For even more confirmation, Stitch decided to show off some of his own abilities. His eyes began to glow green. Then his vision began to amplify and magnify in the direction Oahu was. And a few minutes of searching later, he spotted Blurr sitting over the edge of the mountain looking into the scope of his rifle.
"Yes Stitch. I can see you too."
Blurr's voice came once again through Trailbreaker's comm. They established that Blurr was very far away. Now they needed to test that big sniper rifle. And immediately, Sideswipe had an idea and looked at Shadow.
"Hey Shadow. Go back into the base, go into the fridge, and bring me one of those cans of Slurm."
Shadow shrugged and warped away. One second later, he reappeared and tossed the silver knight the can. It took probably ten seconds for Sideswipe to drink that whole can of soda. Then he found a good sized rock near the tree line and placed it in the middle of the drive path, and then set the empty can on top of the rock.
"Let's start simple." Sideswipe stated. "Blurr, shoot the can. Everyone else who wants to keep their heads, let's get clear."
Everyone nodded and took some shelter near the house away from the can. Over on Oahu, Blurr took aim at the can. But this was a whole new experience for him. Usually he just used his saw blade and throwing stars for weapons. He had never actually aimed with an actual gun before. So he didn't want to accidentally go off balance and take off someone's head.
Taking aim and trying to hold steady, he fired his first shot. To him, it was pretty gang loud and a fast traveling bullet at a very fast speed towards the can in the form of a blue ball of energy no bigger than a baseball.
But he missed the can by a few meters to the left. And then he did the same thing again. But this time came up a bit short.
"I suck with guns." Blurr said.
Shadow grabbed Trailbreaker's arm and spoke into his comlink.
"Blurr, try this. Take aim at the can, exhale slowly, and then shoot."
It seemed too simple to actually work. But Blurr decided to give it a shot. He cocked his rifle again and looked through the scope. He saw the can right there and tried to relax his hands to lock on. Then he followed Shadow's instruction's and slowly exhaled his breath. Then he pulled the trigger.
The blue ball of energy formed in the gun and shot out at super strong speed and force. And to everyone's surprise, and delight, the shot was dead on target. The can of Slurm was obliterated by the shot.
"Alright! Right on the dot!" Amy cried.
"Alright, Blurr. Well done." Shadow walked forward and picked up the rock. "Now let's see how you do with moving targets."
Then Shadow tossed the rock up into the air and Blurr followed it with his gun and shot it again as the rock descended. Once again, he was accurate in his aim and the rock was reduced to nothing but gravel.
Satisfied, Blurr teleported himself back to Oahu and rubbed his new rifle gently.
"Big, hard to handle, but I think I can get used to it." He said as he returned the rifle to his suit.
With that, Shadow Chaos Controlled them all back into the Teletraan Chamber of the base where Blurr took on his vehicular form. But he didn't activate his Stealth Force mode because everyone took immediate notice of something.
"Didn't his car mode look different?" Nani asked.
Indeed it did. The upgrade did a lot more to Blurr than expected. His entire vehicle mode was altered to look different. It was less sleek than it usually was and the back wheels were no longer hollow like a tread system. But no one knew why. Except for Ironhide of course.
"Sorry about that, Blurr. But since your vehicle mode was a lot sleeker and less armed than all of ours, I had to make some changes and alter the chassis of your vehicle and robot mode to make all your weapons fit. I hope you're not mad at me."
His robot mode was changed too. This he had to see. Not even thinking about trying out his Stealth Force, he went straight to robot mode from his vehicle mode. And boy was it different than how it used to be.
His robotic body was a lot bulkier rather than the thin sleek design it used to be. The two front doors of his vehicle mode hung off the sides of his waist and they acted as holsters for his two smaller guns. The front windshield was over his chest and the AutoKnight insignia was right there in the center. And his head had very much changed as well. Instead of a long spike coming out of the back of his head, from the sides of his head, two panels extended out at an angle. The only thing that remained the same for him was that he didn't lose an ounce of his speed and the big dark blue antenna on the top of his head.
"Well this sure is….different." Blurr said. "But I'm not mad, Ironhide. If anything I'm quite pleased."
Ironhide felt better after hearing him say that. But then the proximity alarm went off and Teletraan turned on the main screen to see camera footage of a man in the elevator to the base. A man they didn't know.
"Oh crap! It's someone we don't know!" Jetfire horrifically stated.
"How did he even get in here?" Ironhide asked.
"Who cares?" Optimus said. "Everyone, hide!"
"Hide? How are you supposed to hide down here?" Pleakly asked.
"Like this." Chromia answered.
All twelve of them got clear of everyone else and then their suits began to gush out mechanical parts, concealing their bodies. And then all of their robot modes formed from those parts and they all towered over their smaller friends who were amazed at their appearance.
"So much technology." Jumba muttered. "Just think what evil I could do with it."
His eyes were beginning to sparkle while everyone else's just showed plain concern.
"Easy there, Jumba. We don't want you taking them apart." Nani said to him.
He didn't calm down, but he stopped staring when the door to the chamber opened up and a man walked through. Hawaiian no doubt. He was wearing a black suit with sunglasses and had no hair.
"Cobra?" Nani muttered.
It was Cobra Bubbles. Lilo and the others had a good familiarity with him.
"Hello there, Nani. Lilo." He greeted them.
"Hi Mr. Bubbles." Lilo waved at him.
Stitch and Angel Waved hello as Sideswipe and Ratchet chuckled from behind.
"Mr. Bubbles? WTF man?" Sideswipe whispered to Ratchet who was trying his best to not crack up.
"Is there a reason you're here?" Pleakly asked. "Did the Grand Council Woman call you? Does she want to see us?"
"Actually the GCW did call me but not because of any of you." Cobra said as he looked at the robot's directions. "She and my commanding officer called me because of them."
It was right then that Blurr looked closely at Cobra. He recognized him. But from where. That's it!
He transformed down to his suit mode and approached him.
"I remember you now." He said. "I met you and Agent Topaz's wedding."
"And I remember meeting you." Cobra extended his hand. "It's good to see you again, Blurr."
"Likewise." Blurr shook Cobra's hand and then looked back to his team. "It's okay you guys. This guy's cool."
The other eleven knights shifted down from their robot modes and looked at Cobra.
"How did you even get into our base?" Chromia asked.
"Your bird friend helped me in." Cobra answered.
Bird friend? What bird was he referring to? And then that's when they all recalled that there was still one minor member of the team still missing. Then that member revealed himself from standing behind Cobra.
It was a bird-like creature as tall as Blurr and had green feathers on him and orange feathers on his stomach, tailfeathers, and head. His eyes were red and he had a short yellow pointed beak. Takamon gave a smile as he approached him.
"Before you say anything dirty, I suggest you know that there are little kids present."
The bird looked over Blurr's shoulder and noticed Lilo and the other Pelakai members staring at him. Along with all the knights.
"No promises, buddy."
Blurr laughed and then gave the bird a hug, to which the green and orange creature reciprocated as he wrapped his wings around the cyan knight. And then Lilo approached the two of them.
"Blurr, who is this?" the young girl asked.
"Ah. Of course." Blurr said. "Lilo, I want you to meet my best friend in any world. Gukkumon."
"I like to go by GK."
GK was his name. He was Blurr's best friend and total whore monger.
"Wait a sec. How did YOU even in?" Blurr asked the bird.
"He kept banging on the door until I let him in." Teletraan asked. "Apparently he saw you and Trailbreaker during your morning run and followed you."
"Oh. Well that's settled I guess." Bumblebee pointed out.
"All but one thing." Nani said as she looked over at Cobra. "Cobra, is there a problem with my house or something? Why are you here?"
"I'm not here to speak to YOU this time, Nani." Cobra replied to which Nani took a sigh of relief. "No, I'm here to speak to the AutoKnights about the recent events that have been taking place here on the island."
"Well excuse me sir but…..who are you?" Sideswipe asked.
That's when Cobra remembered he never gave out his name and credentials.
"Agent Cobra Bubbles. Current CIA operative."
"Current?" Nani said. "I thought you didn't work for the CIA anymore."
"I didn't up until a few weeks ago when all this alien robot stuff went down." Cobra answered. "But since my specialty is in Extra Terrestrial lifeforms, the CIA asked for me to come back temporarily after the battle of Station Square. And I took the offer."
"So do you carry a gun now?" Lilo asked.
"Lilo!" Nani scolded her for asking such a question.
"Actually I do now." Cobra honestly answered. "But it's nothing compared to what these guys have."
He gestured towards the knights who were still looking at him.
"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Agent….Bubbles." Ratchet managed to say that without laughing. "But you still haven't explained to us why you're….BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!"
Ratchet just broke down laughing and fell to the ground.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Ratchet cried between chuckles. "I mean COME ON! Cobra Bubbles! What kind of name is that? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Sideswipe actually joined in on laughing with him. But then the laughing stopped when a loud horn was heard coming from Bumblebee.
"Come on you guys. Show some respect." Bumblebee said sternly.
Ratchet got back up with Sideswipe as Bumblebee looked at Cobra.
"I think what my friend here was trying to say is, you haven't told us why you're here." The yellow knight said.
"How rude of me." Cobra said. "I've been sent here by my superiors. You see they've requested your presence in Nevada."
The knights all took a second to process that. And that went by fast.
"Nevada? And may we ask why?" Jolt asked.
"Normally I would say no. But since you are the last line of defense of this world, I guess I'll have to in order to make you understand." Cobra explained. "But I can't do it right now. We will have to discuss it in the plane ride over there."
The knights powered down their suits and resumed their conversation.
"We don't need to ride in a plane." Rouge told him. "We have a perfectly good portal maker right over there."
The bat pointed at the ground bridge tunnel. But even though Cobra was impressed, he wasn't planning on using a space bridge.
"I have orders. And my orders are to bring you in by air travel. Not a portal." Cobra said.
"Why not use it?" Lilo asked. "It'll be faster by a hundred times."
"I'm sure it would be. And I would prefer to use it myself. In fact I knew you guys were somehow able to make portals because I've been watching you. But the guy who sent me is very persistent and really wants you guys to go in a plane. I'm really sorry. But…could you please just go in the damn plane so he'll get off my case?"
Seeing as how this guy was telling the truth, they decided to give him a break and go in the plane. The knights were for sure going. So were Amy, Rouge, and Shadow. GK decided to chill behind in the base along with Gatomon and Patamon. Blaze wanted to go too. But she wasn't so sure about leaving Emma with the three of them. Knowing GK, he'll use the kid to get a woman. And Patamon and Gatomon have their own hands full just trying to get through their own pregnancy.
"Wait." Blaze asked. "Who's gonna watch Emma?"
Thinking, Takamon already had a plan for that.
"Be right back. Chaos Control!"
He warped away in a flash of grey light. And ten seconds later, he warped back with someone else with him.
It was a female Mobian like Sonic. She had yellow fur, green eyes, round ears, and long flowing purple hair. She was a Mobian Mongoose. And Blaze's face lit up seeing her.
"Mina!"
Her name was Mina Mongoose. And she was Blaze's best friend just like GK was to Takamon. Turning around, Mina saw Blaze and smiled too as they embraced in a hug and Takamon got a hold of Emma.
"Oh I've missed you, girl!" Mina said. "But everyone in Station Square saw a video of you on YouTube performing Firework. They all wanted me to tell all of you that they missed you."
"Oh how nice." Blaze said before getting to the point. "Listen Mina. I have a favor to ask. You see, the other knights, along with me, we're gonna be away for a few hours and we think Emma should be left here. Would you mind babysitting until we get back?"
"Are you kidding me? Of course I would." And it was right then Mina noticed she was in the company of everyone she said good-bye to no less than a week ago. "Oh hey you guys!"
"It's nice to see you again, Mina." Tai greeted the mongoose.
Mina nodded at him and then looked over at GK with a smirk.
"Hey, GK."
"Um…hey Mina."
GK and Mina had quite a history together.* But they were able to put the past behind them and move on as friends.
(Of course I recall the many events that took place in The AutoKnights 6.5)
Then Mina walked over Takamon and he handed Emma over to her.
"You remember Aunt Mina, don't you honey?" Takamon asked his daughter.
"Gaaah." Was Emma's response.
But she said with a smile on her cute little face. And that was enough for Mina to smile as well. But then Lilo walked over to her with Stitch at her side.
"Hi. I'm Lilo. It's always cool to meet a friend of the AutoKnights."
"Well hey there, Lilo. My name's Mina."
"And the introductions will continue upon our return." Cobra said. "I'm sorry for the rush. But we have to go now. Nani, Jumba, Pleakly, Lilo, Stitch, you come too. Chances are you're gonna find out from the knights either way. And there's someone waiting for us in Nevada who would like to see you."
It was odd that these aliens and these two human sisters were also being summoned to somewhere as random as Nevada. But the Pelakai family had a feeling they knew who it was. SO they agreed. After saying goodbye to those who were staying behind, the knights all left the base and headed upstairs with the others staying in the house. And GK sat on the couch next to Mina.
"How about a quickie for old time's sake?" he asked.
Mina just chuckled at the bird even though she knew he was being serious.
"I don't think so, GK."
"Aw come on. We've already done it together. I've already seen everything there is to see."
He never changed.
After the knights all followed Cobra to the airport, he showed them on board a private military jet where they all took their seats and shortly took off. This plane was traveling a lot faster than conventional airliners. It was going at supersonic speed. This was a special plane meant for escorting VIP's and top secret information. It needed to be fast to help avoid enemies. And the knights themselves were considered to be too precious for this world to lose. So the plane was called in. But on the bright side it came with free peanut bags and pretty much free anything for them.
When it was finally safe to roam about the plane freely. The knights all unbuckled their seatbelts and gathered around with Cobra as they all ordered some drinks for the flight. Fry ordered alcohol. Something Trevor wasn't very fond of but the guy was old enough to drink unlike anyone else who had the power. Takamon could since he was over 200 years old but he never drank.
"So would you mind telling us why you're taking us to Nevada now?" Kari asked.
"Certainly." Cobra responded. "We believe you might be able to help us with a small matter."
"And this small matter would be what exactly?" Takato asked.
"Cybertronian matter." Cobra replied. "You see, the CIA is in possession of some Cybertronian technology we think you might be able to make help us. Ever since the recent events that transpired in Hawaii, these guys seem to know what's going on. But they won't tell us."
"Hold on. When you say "they" what exactly are you referring to?" Shadow asked.
"Yeah. It sounds like you're talking about actual people like Autobots." Sonic said.
"That can't be true." TK asked. "There aren't any Autobots here on Earth besides us."
Cobra took off his sunglasses and looked at the team.
"That's where you're wrong."
Those four words were definitely not what the team of heroes expected to hear come from him. And their faces all clearly showed it.
"Come again?" Trevor muttered.
Cobra sighed and told the team what he knew.
"Who here knows about the rumor about the Roswell UFO in 1947?"
Everyone raised their hands to that. It was general knowledge these days. Even to Trevor and Violet.
"Well…it's no rumor. It's the truth. We're just the only people on the face of the Earth who know that is." Cobra said.
The stewardess brought out everyone's beverage and then walked away. Tai took a sip of his root beer and took his turn to speak.
"So there really was a ship? And Area 51 is real?" he asked.
"Quite real." Cobra answered. "In fact, that's where we're going. This plane is taking us straight to Nevada. A few more people some of you might recognize are there waiting for our arrival. The Grand Council Woman of the Galactic Federation, and the agent from the CIA who assigned me to come and get you are among them."
"Okay. That's nice and all, but I don't really care who assigned you to come get us, and I have no clue what the Galactic Federation is." Shadow said a bit fed up. "You said we were wrong about there being other Autobots on Earth. Would you care to enlighten us on who exactly you have?"
Cobra eyed the black hedgehog with his own glare but Shadow's had him beat out. Wiping the lens of his glasses with the napkin he had, he answered the hedgehog.
"There wasn't one robot at Roswell. There were three." He said immediately getting all of their attention. "They tell us that they used to be the top three scientists on Cybertron before the war broke out and the Autobots and Decepticons separated into two factions."
"Scientists you say?" Lilo noticed that word. "Hey, Trevor. You think these three might know about that Dark Energon stuff?"
Lilo had a point there. And all the knights noticed it.
"You know what, Lilo? There's a possibility that they might." Kari answered.
"Hold up. What's this Dark energon stuff?" Cobra asked wanting to know.
"That's something that you shouldn't concern yourself with." Takamon said.
"Oh I think differently." Cobra said flatly. "You let us in on whatever it is you kids got going on in Hawaii. Because it's not only a threat to those islands, these Decepticons are a threat to the whole world. Now I'm not saying you guys aren't capable of dealing with them because I've seen you all in action. But what I AM saying is that it wouldn't hurt to have some help coming from normal humans."
They all sighed. They knew he was right. This new plan Megatron had cooked up in his head was gonna be a lot harder to deal with even if they were united. So they might as well get all the help they can get. Trevor began to explain.
"A few days ago, we found out the leader of the Decepticons is planning to raise an army of undead Cybertronian soldiers using a very dangerous substance called Dark Energon."
Cobra listened closely as Trevor and the others explained the situation to him. Dark Energon, zombie robots, total destruction, yada yada yada. It was the same routine. Bad guy cooks up plan, good guys beat him and send him packing. But this time around, the knights weren't aware of the other plans that some other con had in store. And they were going to find out about fairly quick. In fact, they were gonna find out this very day.
Shortly after the explanation, the plane landed in the airport near Las Vegas. They would travel by road from there. And that was perfectly alright with the knights. They simply took on their AutoKnight forms once more and then their vehicular forms once more. And the trailer came up once more out of nowhere and attached itself to Optimus. It was way too uncanny. Where was that thing coming from?
After driving through the strip of Las Vegas, much to their enjoyment, the knights were directed to head out to the desert area. After half an hour of going down the only road to the desert, they saw on the horizon what appeared to be a gated facility.
"AutoKnights, welcome to Area 51." Cobra said.
Lilo had always dreamed of coming here ever since she was four. And now thanks to a bunch of teenage kids and an army of robots bent on world domination, along with her best friend who happens to be an alien, she got to see her dream come true.
Cobra showed the man at the gate his credentials and the knights were allowed to drive in. Jetfire just hovered in above them. But then Jetfire's eyes were diverted when he saw those people Cobra talked about before. People they would recognize. But the fact was, only a few of them recognized said people.
The Grand Council Woman of the Galactic Federation was waiting at the door. Lilo, Stitch, Angel, Pleakly, Jumba, and Nani were quite familiar with her. And then three of the knights took immediate notice of a man standing next to her. Those three knights were Optimus, Ironhide, and Ratchet. Because only those three had met him before.
This man was tall, well shaped, had a very large chin and black hair. He was wearing a blue suit with an American Flag pin. His name was Stan Smith. And he was Ratchet's father.
"Ratchet, isn't that your dad?" Ironhide asked the doc knight.
"Y-yeah." He muttered. "Why is he here?"
As all of them parked themselves, the passengers all got out, and the AutoKnights took on their more recognizable suit forms. And then they powered down entirely as Jumba, Pleakly, Stitch, Angel, Lilo, and Nani went over to the GCW.
"Ah, 626. And 624. How are you?" she asked.
"Fine." Stitch and Angel both said together.
"Grand Council Woman." Jumba gave his respect. "Why did you summon us here?"
"That will be explained in time, Jumba." The GCW told him. "For now, we have a more pressing matter to take care of."
But there was still something before that. Steve was now standing in front of everyone staring into the eyes of his father. Someone he had not seen for nearly a year.
"Dad?"
"Steve."
Lucky for Steve, Stan wasn't even paying attention to his covered left arm. Then he ran forward to him and gave his old man a big hug, to which Stan immediately reciprocated.
"Son, I've missed you."
"Me too, Dad. I've missed you, Mom, Hayley, and even Roger and Klaus. How are they?"
"They're doing just fine, Steve. Although if you ever get the chance to visit home, don't be surprised to find Roger using your room as a walk-in bar." Stan said.
The hug ended and Steve laughed.
"He really turned my room into a bar?"
"It's actually making quite a profit. He pays rent now. At least what HE thinks is rent. Cheating bastard." Stan grumbled.
Steve looked back at his team.
"Everyone, I want you all to meet my father. Stan Smith."
Everyone walked forward to greet Stan and Trevor and Violet were up first.
"Ah. Trevor and Violet. It's good to see you again." Stan and Trevor shook hands.
"It's good to see you too, sir." Trevor said. "It's certainly been while."
"I'm glad to see you're doing okay with all the Decepticon attacks going on." Violet added.
"Okay? I'm doing great. The whole family's doing great. Steve and the rest of you are mentioned on the news all the time. Not to mention we can see you during the fights thanks to those stealthy news choppers and satellites. So we're glad to see you three are okay."
Steve then noticed the rest of the team.
"And I suppose the rest of you are AutoKnights as well." Stan said.
"Yeah." Steve said. "Dad, I want you to meet, Tai, TK, Kari, Fry, Henry, Takato, Rika, Takamon and Sonic. We all make up twelve of the fourteen AutoKnights. And then that's Shadow, Rouge, Amy, and Blaze. They're extra muscle."
Stan nodded and greeted every single one of them.
"It is a great honor to meet you all in person." Stan said.
"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Smith." Tai said. "Steve talks about you a lot."
"Really. How awesome." Stan said. "As much as I would love to catch up with you, son, I'm pretty sure you're all wondering why you were called here. Cobra, have you told them the basics."
"Yes sir. Let's bring them inside." Cobra responded.
"Excellent. Everyone follow me. And no cameras are allowed inside this place. This is top secret." Stan said.
The main door to the facility opened up and Stan led all of the AutoKnights inside. As they passed through, every single worker stopped what they were doing and just watched the knights walk by along with the other aliens and Digimon. Not to mention Mobians.
As they reached a corridor, Steve spoke up.
"Dad, what's going on? Who are these Autobots and why do you need us to talk to them?"
"These Autobots say they used to be scientists and war mongers. But one of the recent attacks from Hawaii made them act bizarre. If I recall correctly, it was probably two days ago." Stan explained.
"Two days ago?" Sonic said. "That was the fight against those Dark Energon zombies."
"Whatever they were, seeing them made these three go silent. Something they never do. It was obvious they knew something we didn't."
"But when we asked them what was troubling them, they refused to answer." The GCW said. "We brought you here because we want you to try and reason with them. Being part Cybertronian yourselves should give you an advantage we normal people don't have."
"Well, it's definitely worth a shot to me." Blaze said. "What do you think, Trev?"
"I agree. Mr. Smith, let's meet these guys."
Stan nodded as they reached the main door and opened it. As the door opened up, the first thing they did was walk inside the chamber. And the second thing they did was duck because something nearly hit them. It was a giant empty barrel of oil. And then the group got a good look at the robots who threw the projectile.
There were three of them. And the glowing blue of their eyes indicated that they were indeed Autobots like Cobra said. The other thing all three of them had in common was that they were all bearing colored armor that came from stock cars from the NASCAR cup.
One of them was tall, white, green, and had a missile launcher pod on his right shoulder. On his chest, there was a big decal that said, "AMP" and a big red number 88 on his left arm.
The second was also tall. A bit taller than the green one. He was blue and white and was decorated with decals sponsoring Lowes hardware store. On both of his shoulders, there were big yellow number 48's.
And the last one was significantly shorter than the other two and a bit wider around the waist. This one was red and had a big white bullseye in his center and two white number 42's on his chest.
The three of them had their optics focused on a big screen TV built into the whole wall of the chamber. And they were tuned in to a NASCAR race and all three of them were chugging oil out of giant barrels like it was beer. That explained why one got thrown. It was empty and none of them knew there were humans present.
"These here are the Wreckers." Cobra explained. "These three bots have been classified above top secret. We don't really let them off the premises very often because they're assholes."
"Do they have names?" Kari asked.
"The red one is called Leadfoot." The GCW answered. "The blue one they call Topspin, and the green one, whom the other two follow like a leader, is called Roadbuster. They seem to have an affinity for your culture's stock car racing."
"We could have gotten that from their armor." Nani added.
But then the three robots began to fight with each other.
"What do you mean, Junior's not the best?" Roadbuster shouted. "He's the spawn of one of the best NASCAR drivers in history!"
"And yet he can't win a race to save his life!" Topspin shouted. "Johnson will kick his little ass any day of the week!"
They were speaking with southern accents and watching NASCAR with cans of oil in their hands. That was pretty much a very stereotypical image they were making. Not of Autobots but of some other people. And they were fighting with each other. Fists and all.
"I'm not getting the best vibe of these guys." Amy said as she took a step back.
"You're not the only one." TK agreed.
"Well what are you waiting for Trev? Talk to them." Tai said.
Trevor wasn't getting the very best vibe off of these guys either. He didn't want to be the one to do it.
"I'm not talking to them. You do it, Tai." Trevor argued.
"Me? No way! You're the leader you do it!"
"I'm the leader and I'm telling you to do it!"
Tai was beat right there. But he had an idea.
"Kari, as your older brother, I'm telling you to talk to them."
Kari received stares from everyone.
"Well….as much a pleasure it would be…I think Fry should do it. He's the oldest after all."
Now everyone was looking at Fry.
"I'm not talking to those robot hicks!" Fry shouted before looking back at Henry. "Let's go, Henry. Time to be a man."
Henry stepped back.
"I'm not doing it."
"Why not?" Steve asked.
"I don't need a reason!"
"Oh this is just ridiculous!" Cobra got fed up. "Leader boy! Get your skinny white ass over there and talk to them!"
No one had ever seen Cobra shout like that before. But it was enough to make Trevor finally give in.
"Okay. I'm going. Jeez."
As he began to walk forward, he gave a small yelp. He dove to the ground and dodged yet another empty can of oil. Then he got back up and approached them again.
"HEY!"
The Wreckers finally stopped bickering and stood up straight to see the approaching human. Roadbuster took a few steps forwards himself and smiled.
"Well as I live and pump energon! Take a look at who we got here, boys! It's that little wonder boy with the power of ol' Prime! And he's got the rest of the crew with im'!"
Leadfoot and Topspin did immediately recognized Trevor and his team from the news reports and when they were broadcast over the whole world during the fight in their super forms.
"My name is Trevor Bauer." He said.
"Pleasure to meet you there, Trevor. We're the Wreckers. What can we do for ya?" Roadbuster asked.
Trevor gave a breath of air hoping this would go smooth.
"I hear you guys used to be some of Cybertron's top scientists before the war. That true?"
"Sure is, boy." Leadfoot said. "But then all hell broke loose and it turned us into the war mongers we are today."
Topspin kneeled down and showed Trevor a large scratch on his left arm.
"You see that there scar? Got that in a fight with a nasty ol' con named Ramjet. Got me right in the arm with a buzzsaw before I got his head between the palms of my hands and squeezed his brains out." The blue wrecker explained.
"Coooooooool." Lilo and Stitch both muttered.
They thought it was freakin awesome to hear a war story. But the knights didn't have time for this right now.
"That story is very….colorful." Trevor lied. "But back to what I was saying. Being scientists prior to the war, the three of you probably worked with rare substances often. Did you?"
"Almost every day." Roadbuster answered.
And then Trevor got to the punchline.
"Have you ever worked with a very rare substance called, Dark Energon?"
The Wreckers immediately froze up to the name of Dark Energon. And to Cobra and the GCW, this was new. The Wreckers never went silent like this before.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Roadbuster obviously lied.
It was then that the other eleven knights decided to join in here on to his fib. These guys knew stuff and the knights needed to know it immediately.
"Yes you do." Sonic said. "You might not wanna tell us but we HAVE to know. How much do you know about it?"
"That is none of your business!" Topspin shouted.
"The hell it isn't!" Rika shouted back. "That information is vital to saving this planet and we need to know it now! So spill!"
"Get out!" Roadbuster shouted. "Dark Energon is way too dangerous for mere humans to even be around!"
"We're not just humans! We're Autobots like you inside!" Tai shouted.
The Wreckers ignored them and all the other people there who weren't knights also shared a bit of anger at the bots' reluctance to spill the beans about the Dark Energon. Thinking they were too stubborn to break, the knights turned around.
But Lilo wasn't ready to give up on them. She walked forward as the others went the opposite direction.
"Lilo, get back here." Nani ordered.
But Lilo kept going right for the Autobots and stood in front of them.
"Hey!"
The Wreckers looked down at the girl thinking she was an idiot or something.
"Oh and what can you tell us that they haven't already?"
"You're cowards."
That was when it all went silent throughout all of Area 51. And everyone had their eyes locked on Lilo and the humans were hoping the Wreckers wouldn't crush her underneath their feet.
"Lilo! Are you in-"
Nani was cut off when she tried to go and get her by Tai.
"Let's see what this kid's got." He told her.
Nani restrained herself. Not at first but Tail helped her out with that. And then everyone just looked at Lilo as she went on.
"Look, I may not be a one million year old robot scientist, or even an AutoKnight for that matter, but I do know that the three of you know what we need to know. And you HAVE to tell us so we can save the world."
The Wreckers looked away from her.
"We….we can't." Leadfoot said. "We're too ashamed."
"Is that all?" Lilo wasn't done. "We've all done things we're not proud of. Look at me! I've done tons of things I wish I could take back in this life. And I'm only seven years old for cryin' out loud!"
The Wreckers slowly looked back at her and down.
"But it was all in the past. This is what's happening right now. The bad guy has a lot of that Dark Energon stuff with him and my friends over there need to know everything they possibly can about it. You're Autobots. I thought you were supposed to care about humans."
No one could believe it. Lilo was actually getting through to the three. After a minute of silence, Leadfoot spoke.
"Alright."
Everyone gave a sigh of relief and a smile as Lilo returned to the group.
"Not bad, kid. You've got some potential." Rouge said to her.
But then Topspin spoke.
"We'll tell you everything we know. But we want something in return."
The knights had heard enough. And now they would do anything to get that info out of them.
"Name your price." Henry told them.
"It's simple." Topspin said. "We want OUT of here. Forever. We wanna go with you guys so we can bust cons again."
"Forget it." Cobra said. "You three are under federal custody. You can't just leave here."
"Done."
Trevor was the one who uttered that word implying that he agreed to the Wreckers' deal. Then he looked over at Cobra.
"They will be perfectly alright with us. Besides, the more help we get, the better chances we have to protect this world." Trevor told them.
"You can't take them." The GCW said. "They have been placed into custody of both the Galactic Federation and the CIA for years. You do not have the authority to just take them with you."
They all smirked because of a fact they knew.
"Actually, your oddly shaped majesty," Fry started. "He DOES have that authority."
"Oh? And what authority would that be?" The GCW asked wanting to know what could possibly overrule her.
"You see," TK took a few steps forward to explain. "We've all learned something while stuck on Cybertron for five months straight. And here it is. These three robots here, are Autobots. Cybertronians from not our galaxy or even yours for that matter. And Autobots have a leader. They always have. That leader is called a Prime. And the currently active Prime is standing right over there."
TK pointed at Trevor who fiddled with his Matrix of Leadership necklace.
"The Prime has complete command over all Autobots whether on Cybertron or not. So your so called "custody" doesn't even exist unless Trevor here says so. The Wreckers follow HIS command. Not yours."
"That's actually true to the last detail." Roadbuster agreed.
And now all eyes were on Trevor as they awaited his command. Jumba, Pleakly, Stitch, and Cobra were all just taken aback a bit that there was someone who was overpowering the Grand Council Woman of the Galactic Federation. And then Trevor issued his order.
"Roadbuster, Leadfoot, Topspin, you're all coming with us. I'm sure Hot Rod will be very glad to see you anyways."
"Hot Rod? That old con crusher's still goin? Good for him." Leadfoot said as he crushed another empty can of oil in his hand.
"Well then I guess that settles it." Trevor turned to his team. "Everyone, power up and get ready to roll. Wreckers, gather up whatever stuff that belongs to you."
"Hold up there." Leadfoot went over to the other side of the room and got some more barrels of oil. "Just a few cans for the road."
"Great. They drink and drive." Rika groaned.
"Rika, just let it go." Steve said.
The twelve knights powered on their rings and immediately took on their vehicle forms. And again no one saw the big trailer come in and attach itself to Optimus.
"That is really starting to piss me off." Optimus said.
Stan hopped inside the vehicle mode of his son wanting to see them off. Amy got in Trailbreaker, Blaze and Rouge hopes inside Blurr, Lilo, Stitch, and Angel got inside Optimus and Nani, Pleakly, and Jumba got inside Bumblebee. Shadow was just gonna skate on his hover shoes. But then the GCW went over to the yellow car and handed a small device to Jumba.
"This is the reason I called you here. With all the attacks going on, I want you to report to me whenever another one occurs and the status of these knights. We need to make sure our galaxy and the next one is protected."
"You're in good hands." Bumblebee assured her.
Then the Wreckers took on their own vehicle modes. They were NASCAR stock cars decked out with guns all sorts of other things.
"AutoKnights, and respected Autobots, rollout!"
All the engines started up and all cars, trucks, and the single plane made their way out the same way they came in. Optimus took the lead as he and the others got back on the highway with the many other cars. The knights, along with the Wreckers stayed together in one group not straying too far.
"Alright, Wreckers. We held up our end of the deal. Now you hold up yours." Optimus said. "Dark Energon. How exactly did you experiment on it back in the day?"
"We can't say anything out here in the open. Take us to your base, and we swear we'll tell you everything there is to know." Roadbuster said.
"Sounds agreeable." Bumblebee contacted Teletraan. "Teletraan, open up a ground bridge back to base."
Back at base, Teletraan and Nicole were tracking the knights' energy signatures as they drove down the road.
"You got it, Bumblebee." Nicole began to punch in the coordinates. "One ground bridge coming right up."
"WAIT!"
Teletraan stopped her before she activated the bridge.
"The bridge is delayed." Teletraan said. "AutoKnights, we can't bring you back yet. Decepticons are headed your way."
On Teletraan's screen, he was reading more energy signals. But these new ones were from Decepticons. And the knights and their passengers began to look around
"Not more of those lame drones." Chromia groaned.
"No. Not all drones this time." Nicole said as she zoomed in on the signal via Sky Spy.
She saw three F-22's flying straight for the heart of Las Vegas.
"The Starscream Triplets are inbound." Nicole said. "Intercept them and stop them from whatever they're doing here."
"It's what we do best Nicole." Optimus said.
"You mean we're gonna get to see a real fight this time?" Lilo asked him.
"No way." Optimus replied. "As soon as we get off the freeway, we're dropping you guys off and us Cybertronians are going into battle."
Lilo was about to whine, but then she remembered that Optimus died once in a fight. And she wanted to live.
"Okay. But at least let Stitch go with you this time. You promised."
Optimus was beaten there. He DID promise Stitch the next time there was a fight, he would let him go into it with them.
"Alright, fine." Optimus said. "Ratchet, sirens! Now!"
Ratchet got in front of the whole group of knights and activated the sirens on his ambulance mode. Immediately, the other cars on the freeway cleared a path for him and the other knights and they all floored it.
"Full speed ahead, AutoKnights! Whatever Starscream is doing here, we gotta stop him!" Optimus ordered.
"Alright! Let's kick it up!" Blurr shouted.
As they all headed for the Vegas Strip, they all got themselves ready for a real fight. The previous ones they had were just warm-ups compared to what was about to happen. And the cons had some tricks up their sleeve.
At least ONE of them did.
XXX
I am SO sorry about this super late update. I'll try to be faster. I promise.
Blurr's new body and vehicle mode come from his toy in the Generations Toyline.
And no. Not even a human Optimus Prime can solve the mystery of the vanishing trailer. WHERE THE HELL DOES THAT THING GO?