Chapter 9: Speed Metal
A red European sports car was driving through the night. He was listening to the radio about the illegal street races that have been going on lately.
"As metropolitan PD continues to crack down on illegal street racing, citing the danger to both drivers and pedestrians-"
Knockout showed no interest to it and turned off the radio. He continued driving through the night.
As Knockout arrived at the race, he stopped next to a black car with a tattooed driver. The driver looked over at Knockout in his alt mode.
"Not from around here, European design?" the driver asked.
Knockout didn't answer. He always hated the weak, fleshy humans, especially those ninja.
"Sure is pretty," the driver commented, "Too pretty."
The driver used his ring and scratched Knockout's painted door. Knockout used his side-view mirror to see the damage. He then looked at the driver who shrugged and closed his window.
"Big... mistake." Knockout growled to himself as he changed the gears.
The referee held the flashlight in his hand and switched it on, signaling the racers to go. The four racers took off and began to make their way to the finish line.
The driver in the black car was currently in the lead while Knockout was last. The driver smirked as he pressed the pedal and went even faster.
Smoke and fire came from the engine as the RPM went up to 7000.
The driver looked back to see if there were any drivers behind him. Just then, he saw Knockout catching up with him, and fast.
Knockout rammed into the back of the driver's car.
"Hey!" the driver yelled.
As they turned a corner on the tracks Knockout rammed into the black car one more time. The driver swerved a little and went over the edge of the cliff. Instead of tumbling down the wall, the car landed on the bottom upside down.
"Uh… Dude." The driver moaned.
Knockout looked over at the driver and sneered. "You scratch my paint, I scratch yours."
Knockout then shifted his gears and drove off to the finish line.
o~o
The bell rang as school was out for the day. Jack walked over to Arcee as he was talking to Naruto on his cell phone.
"Can't you just take us around Jasper just once?" Naruto asked.
"I don't know," Jack answered, "I've got school, a job, we have to find you clothes so you can blend in, and you probably have to ask Optimus."
"He might let us go," Naruto said hopefully, "And besides, we don't necessarily need clothes to blend in, Optimus knows about our transformation jutsu."
He heard Konohamaru shout what sounded like an agreement in the background.
He sighed. "We'll talk about it when I get to base."
Naruto groaned. "Fine. See you later."
Jack then hung up and put his phone in his back pocket. He put on his helmet and he and Arcee backed up in the parking lot.
"Hey, cherry moped." A voice said.
Jack turned around to see a red-headed boy with a green jacket and blue jeans leaning on the back of his car.
His name was Vince. He's actually known to be the school bully. Picking on him, Miko, or Rafael, and trying to get with any girl he could. Jack thought about what would happen if he met Bulkhead or one of the Leaf ninja… or maybe Temari. He would have been blown away with her, literally (seriously, Jack sometimes wondered if that nineteen year old was totally sane with that fan of hers.)
"Uh… this 'moped' has dual carbs and can go from zero to sixty in three point five seconds." Jack said proudly before driving away.
As the stoplight turned red, the duo stopped and Arcee spoke up.
"Um… Jack, a lady's vital stats are her own business." She told him. He sighed.
Jack sighed. "Hey, Nick right?" a voice asked.
Jack turned around to see Sierra and her best friend on the sidewalk.
"Actually, it's Jack." He corrected.
"Sorry, Jack. I'm Sierra." She introduced.
"I know."
"You once offered to take me for a ride," Sierra recalled.
"Of course, I did." Jack said, "Anytime."
"I'm your guardian kiddo. Not your wingman." Arcee reminded him quietly.
"So," Sierra began, "How about now?"
"Uh…" Jack thought for a moment, but was stopped short when Vince pulled up next to him.
"Hey, hey! Small world!" Vince began.
"I'm trying to have a conversation." Jack said a little irritated.
"Cheer captain here might enjoy watching you take on four wheels of muscle car." Vince smirked as he gestured to Sierra and her friend, who was whispering something in her ear.
"Are you challenging me?" Jack questioned, "To a race?"
"Catch on quick ponge. What do you say?" Vince asked impatiently.
"Uh…" Jack stuttered nervously. He saw Sierra encouraging him. But before he could answer, the light turned green and Arcee drove off with Jack yelping in surprise.
"You didn't let me answer!" Jack yelled in frustration.
"Nope." Arcee answered for him.
"But Arcee we can smoke him." He tried to persuade.
"Yep." She said in agreement.
Jack sighed. "You just don't get it."
"Jack," Arcee began to explain as they stopped at the next light, "I don't make the rules, Optimus does. And rule number one, in case you missed it: never abuse power for personal gain, and that includes horsepower."
Jack sighed as Vince drove up next to him.
"Vince, maybe racing isn't such a good idea," but was cut off as Vince began to laugh at him.
"Figured! You ride around like your bike is something special! But it's just a chunky, lunky, trike! And ugly!" Vince finished. The lights turned green and Vince made a u-turn and drove off.
"THAT'S IT!" Arcee growled, that definitely cheesed her off, "THE YAHOO'S GOING DOWN!" She then made a u-turn herself and drove off after him.
"Whoa, whoa, what happened to rule number one?" Jack asked.
"Get's bent," Arcee answered, "Just. This. Once."
Sierra and her friend were calmly walking down the sidewalk as Vince drove up next to them.
"Yo girls!" he called, "Your pal Darby, he's-"
"Ready when you are Vinny!" Jack said as he drove up next to him.
Vince was a surprised, but then shook it off and smirked. "Dirt road by trucker's ranch, one hour."
o~o
The four teens arrived on the dusty road. Vince and Jack were getting ready to race while Sierra and her friend were watching from the side.
"From here to the next mile marker. Ready, GO!" Vince yelled as he stepped on the gas.
"Well that was fair." Jack said sarcastically before Arcee drove off.
Vince and Jack drove past the two girls as they made sure their skirts didn't fly up.
Jack then noticed that Arcee wasn't trying and that Vince was in the lead.
"Um… Arcee?" Jack questioned.
"Winning isn't enough Jack," Arcee explained, "You wanna make him cry." She then started to gain up on him.
Vince looked into the mirror of his car and saw that Jack wasn't behind him. He then heard an engine as she saw Jack driving next to him. Arcee pulled a wheelie and drove past Vince and made it past the mile marker. He looked on in shock.
"Whoo hoo! Outstanding!" Jack cheered, "Um hey, now might be a good time to give Sierra a quick once around the block?"
"Don't push it." Arcee warned.
Jack sighed in defeat.
o~o
In the sick bay on the Nemesis, Breakdown was buffing up the comatose Megatron. Starscream entered, "Ah, Breakdown." He stopped buffing. "Has there been any change in Megatron's condition?"
"Hmm, only cosmetic." Breakdown stated.
"Well I'm sure that you and the good doctor have been doing everything in your power." Starscream barely noticed Knockout's absence. "Were is Knockout?"
Shortly after he said that he entered the med-lab. "Can you believe what some skin-job did to me?" He pointed out the scratch on his arm/door. "Oh!"
"You have been street racing among the humans again, haven't you!" Starscream was outraged.
"I'm not only an automobile, I am an automobile enthusiast."
"I do strive to run a tight ship, Knockout! I would strongly suggest that you seek my permission next time you decide to disappear on one of your little... jaunts."
"No worries, El Commandant."
"It is 'Lord' to you."
"Only if Megatron takes a nosedive."
Starscream growled as he went face-to-face with Knockout. "The day our master emerges from stasis, I will graciously relinquish the title. But I believe that outcome is unlikely. Something to do with the quality of medical care around here. So continue buffing. We do want Megatron looking his best for the memorial." He leaves the room.
"Buff this." Knockout said holding out his arm.
o~o
Jack and Arcee arrived at base after the race they had with Vince.
In the hallway, Jack took off and was holding his helmet and Arcee drove up to him and transformed.
"Not a word to anyone." Arcee told him.
"Our little secret." Jack winked.
Arcee smiled and walked away from Jack.
"Dude!" Miko called out in excitement as she made car noises, "And the winner is…!"
"Miko, who told you?" Jack asked nervously.
"You're kidding?" Miko asked, "It's all over school!"
"You beat the pants off that blowhard bully Vince!" Rafael piped in.
Miko yelped in surprise as Jack pulled her closer as the three formed a group huddle. "You have to keep this on the DL, especially from Optimus." Jack whispered to them.
o~o
The next day, the school bell rang as everyone walked outside. Jack noticed that Arcee wasn't here yet and decided to wait for her.
"Hey!" a voice called out. Jack turned around to see Sierra walk out of the school. "I've been looking for you. The race, how great was that? I was like 'Yeah! Go Jack!'"
"It was no big deal." Jack shrugged.
"You got that right." Vince said as he shoved Jack with his shoulder. "If you think you can run with the big boys, the circuit. Tonight. 11 p.m."
Jack cleared his throat and looked at Sierra, who was encouraging him to go.
Jack sighed. "I'll do it."
Vince smirked. "Better not chicken out, Darby." Vince then walked off to his car and drove off, leaving Jack and Sierra alone.
"You'll win, don't worry." Sierra reassured.
Jack sighed. "It's not winning or losing that I'm worried about."
"I'll be at the race to support you." Sierra said. She then looked into the parking lot and saw something rather odd. "Isn't that your motorcycle?"
Jack looked behind him to see Arcee coming in the lot with two other people driving it driving. The one in the back wore a light purple spaghetti-strap tank top with cream lace at the top, a mini jean skirt, and brown lace-up boots. She had red bracelets on her wrists as well. The driver had on a white shirt with light brown sleeves, khaki shorts, and grey sneakers.
As Arcee parked in front of the school, the riders took off their helmet to reveal the driver with spiky brown hair and eyes, while the passenger had teal eyes and dirty blonde hair tied in four pigtails in the back. Jack's mouth dropped.
'T-Temari? Kankuro? Whoa, weird to see him without his facepaint on.' Jack thought in surprise.
Temari looked at Sierra and then at Jack. "Are we interrupting something?" she asked with a quirked eyebrow, giving an amused smirk.
"Wh-who are you two?" asked Sierra in confusion. She wouldn't admit it, but something about this older girl intimidated her.
"Sierra! It's not what you think-"
"Name's Konner, spelled with a 'K', and this is Tammy, my sister." Kankuro interrupted.
"We just came to give Jack his motorcycle since it was acting up this morning. Not to worry, he's not really my type." Temari replied with a wink at the redhead. This comment caused Jack to blush in embarrassment.
The three were silent for a moment before Sierra spoke up. "I should probably go now. It's nice to meet you Tammy, Konner." Sierra then looked at Jack. "See you at the race."
She walked away, leaving Kankuro, Temari, and Arcee in confusion.
"Race?" Kankuro asked in confusion.
"What's she talking about?" Arcee demanded.
"...What did you do this time Jack?" Temari asked with an annoyed glare, that made the teen shrink back a bit.
o~o
"You agreed to WHAT?" Arcee screeched as Jack and Kankuro were riding on him, while Temari had took out her disguised battle fan, and currently riding on it right besides them, disguised with a genjutsu.
"It was some kind of secret racing club. I don't know! I had no choice. Sierra was right there!" Jack defended.
"You always have a choice, Jack." Arcee told him, "And what part of 'just this once' do you not understand?"
"I know. I'm sorry. But we're on right?" Jack asked hopefully.
"We are not 'on'." Arcee immediately answered.
"Seriously!" Kankuro said with a disapproving frown, as he glanced back at Jack through the helmet, "I'll admit, I've done my share of stupid things back home, but this takes the cake. I don't even think Naruto would have done something this stupid!"
Jack glanced at Temari riding next to them. "How come you're not saying anything?"
"Trust me, I'm with them on this," Temari said tersely, "In our world, stunts like this could get you killed, captured, or worse. And here I thought you were one of the smart ones."
Jack looked at her and sighed. "Fine… and who gave you guys those clothes you're both wearing?"
"Thank Miko." they answered in unison.
o~o
Knockout was currently driving on a dusty road in Jasper.
"Knockout, Starscream's been looking for you again. Where'd you go?" Breakdown asked.
"Out for a little drive. I just roll from town to town, sniffing around until…" a purple car raced past him, honking it's horn, "The next opportunity presents itself."
Knockout changed the gears and drove to catch up with the other car.
Unbeknownst to him, a police car off to the side of the road saw him drive by, and without blaring its sirens, covertly drove after him, keeping just out of his sight.
o~o
Rafael was currently playing a videogame with Shikamaru. The shadow ninja had woken up from his chakra exhausted coma about a week ago and had recovered enough to sit up in his bed and in a wheelchair. Sakura predicted it would take at least another week for him to be fully recovered, not that the lazy genius complained.
Shikamaru proved to be a formidable opponent for video games once he got a feel for the controls. In this round it seemed that he was winning, until Raf knocked his car off the track, causing him to lose.
"Hey!" Shikamaru lightly complained with smirk, and Raf grinned sheepishly back.
"Raf? Uh… is there any way I can borrow Bumblebee for an hour?" Jack asked nervously.
"For racing?!" Bumblebee was eager if Raf let him go.
"Jack, you know racing's against the rules." Shikamaru said with a slight frown. By now all of the Leaf and Sand ninja were aware of Jack's 'racing gig', and had argued that he shouldn't do it for multiple reasons, but they had agreed to keep it quiet for his sake.
"Yeah! What if Optimus found out?" Rafael asked nervously.
"He has a point." Bumblebee admitted.
"But Raf! He's gotta get the girl!" Miko persuaded with Bulkhead, Ino, and Choji walking in behind her, "And beat the bully!"
"Well…" Rafael trailed off. Shikamaru shook his head disapprovingly, even throwing a glare of his own at Miko when she glared at him.
"You sure about this Jack?" asked Ino.
"Yeah… I don't think this is a good idea." CHoji said apprehensively.
"Come on guys. Just this once!" Jack promised.
o~o
Jack tapped Bumblebee's steering wheel nervously. If Arcee found out about him street racing she would kill him. Actually, Arcee would have to get in line. His mother would kill him first.
The duo pulled up next to Vince. Bumblebee rolled down his window and Jack shrugged as Vince glared at the Autobot critically.
"Bike's in the shop." Jack just said.
Vince didn't say anything and just looked forward. Off to the side Jack saw Sierra wave at him. He smiled back. An announcer walked up in front of the drivers and put his hands in the air.
"Circuit drivers, are you ready? Make it mean but keep it clean! Fire 'em up in five… four… three… two… one!"
Sierra threw her hands to the ground and crouched low. She turned around to see the racers drive away to the finish line.
Jack and Vince didn't care about the other racers. Right now it was just between the two teens to see who the best was. Little did they know that Knockout was apart of the race and that he was behind the two boys. The police car that had been tailing him had raced ahead before the race had started and was now currently lying in wait at one of the checkpoints.
"The Autobot they call Bumblebee." He said to himself.
Knockout decided to ram himself into Vince's car and drove up ahead.
"We got company!" Bumblebee began to beep in concern as he saw Knockout approaching.
"What was that, Bee?" Jack asked before he looked into the rear-view mirror to see Knockout catching up to them, "Wait, I know that car."
"Hold on tight!" Bumblebee warned as Jack yelped in surprise as Bumblebee took control and drove along the wall. Knockout copied the action as a gun popped out from the cap to the fuel tank. Bumblebee began to fire Knockout's shots as the 'Con was firing at him. Vince looked in surprise as he saw the two cars drive up the wall and off the tracks.
"What the-!" he responded as he saw Bumblebee not only go up the wall, but over it.
"Can you lose him, Bee?" Jack asked nervously.
"Oh course I can!" Bumblebee replied in response, almost sounding offended, not that Jack could understand him.
"What'd you say?... I hope that means 'yes.' Cause I'd rather not call base for back-up."
Jack had no time to relax though, because almost immediately, another car came into view, and it was a police car!
"Oh great!" Jack groaned, "It's bad enough we have this one chasing us but now we have police after us!"
"That's no police Jack!" Bumblebee exclaimed in horror as he recognized the car chasing them.
"What'd you say?" Jack asked in frustration. Sometimes he really wished that he had Raf to translate. He glanced in the rearview though and saw that the police car didn't pull Knockout over but as instead driving right beside them.
"Oh!" Jack said, finally understanding, "This is bad!"
"Ya think?!"
o~o
"I'm gonna beat ya!" Raf sneered as he tried to get Miko off the track.
"You wish," Miko scoffed.
"Come on, get her off!" Naruto cheered.
"You got it Raf!" Kiba whooped and Akamaru even threw in a howl.
"That's the spirit, Rafael!" Lee exclaimed with a toothy grin.
"No, push him off!" Tenten chanted.
"Girl power Miko!" Ino shouted.
"Both of you are in the springtime of youth! Give it all you've got!" Gai encouraged.
Miko, Rafael, Naruto, Kiba, Tenten, Ino, Lee, Gai, Bulkhead, Choji, and Shikamaru were currently watching Miko and Rafael battle it out on a racing game. Well, Choji, Shikamaru (still in his temporary wheelchair) and Bulkhead were watching. The others were shouting encouragements at the kids.
"Anyone seen Jack?" Arcee asked as she came in. Everyone froze.
"Pfft! No! Heh, heh." Ino lied unconvincingly, "Like why would we know where Jack is?"
"Ino," Sakura began as she walked in with the rest of the ninja, "I've known you for all my life. I know when you're lying."
"They're racing, aren't they?" Arcee assumed. From the narrowed expressions on Yamato, Kakashi, Gaara, and Iruka, they were thinking the exact same thing.
"Just this once." Rafael said, nervously.
"Bulkhead! Gai!" Iruka said reprimandingly, "Did you know about this?!"
"No…" Bulkhead lied.
"Nuh, uh." Gai shook his head.
However, the glares from Neji, Tenten, Temari, and several of the others were enough for them to come clean.
"...Maybe just a little…" Gai admitted for the both of them.
Kakashi sighed tiredly. He totally should have seen something like this happening with Gai around. For all they knew he probably encouraged Jack to do it!
They were interrupted by a transmission sent from Bumblebee. Rafael and Konohamaru ran to the computer and talked with Bumblebee.
"You're being chased by Knockout?" Raf asked.
"And… wait who's Barricade?" Konohamaru asked. For some reason, Konohamaru could understand Bumblebee as well.
"Barricade?!" Arcee and Bulkhead asked in unison.
"Sounds like Decepticons." Miko commented.
"Sounds like the Decepticon that came with Breakdown," Sakura explained before she did a pounding motion with her fists, "Been waiting for a rematch."
"We'll need to be careful," Yamato said, "We may know Knockout, but this Barricade that has come into the picture could be trouble."
"Right." Kakashi nodded before addressing the yellow camaro, "Bumblebee, don't engage, your top priority right now is to keep Jack safe."
"Not until I get my hands on him," Arcee hissed.
"Okay," Kiba said, "is anyone else freaked out right now?"
o~o
Bumblebee continued to drive along the highway with Knockout and Barricade close behind him. He knew that Arcee would have his spark if he got Jack hurt. Understanding his orders from Kakashi, Bumblebee decided not to engage and pull off a 'dirty' trick by spilling oil onto the road. The plan worked as Knockout and Barricade slipped and slid on the oil, struggling to stay in control.
"Slick!" Jack commented with a smirk.
Bumblebee didn't answer as he took a sharp turn and went over the side of a small passage way before hiding under a bridge. They both frozen, not even daring to breathe as Knockout and Barricade zoomed across the bridge.
"I think we lost them Bee." Jack sighed.
Their relief was short lived though when a pair of lights pulled up in front of him.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me!" he groaned.
"Darby!" Vince snarled as he pounded his fist into his palm.
Unfortunately, Knockout and Barricade also heard Vince, as they stopped. They immediately turned around and turned back.
"Vince, you have to get out of here!" Jack shouted desperately, "You win! Congratulations! Now go!"
Vince pounded Bumblebee's bumper, "No, no! Start and back up loser! We're finishing this race! Don't want to take it to the finish line? Fine! But we've got something to settle right here, right no-woah!"
Vince never got to finish his sentence as Knockout's clawed hand reached down and grabbed the redhead before tossing him into the air and having him land in his passenger seat with a grunt. Vince soon found himself wrapped tightly in Knockout's seatbelt before being zapped with an energon zapper, knocking him unconscious.
Knockout then switched off his ignition and drove off with Vince as his hostage. Just as Jack was about to run after him, he too found himself grabbed from behind, pulled into the police car, pinned down by seat belts as well. Fortunately, Jack managed to be knocked in the head on his way in, knocking him out, so as to be spared from the energon zapper.
"Scrap!" Bumblebee shouted, as he pulled up onto the road and drove after the two Decepticons.
o~o
"Breakdown," Knockout said excitedly, "You'll never guess what Barricade and I are packing! Two of Bumblebee's human friends. And when the Autobot attempts to stage a rescue…"
"He has a… breakdown!" Breakdown replied through the radio, before laughing maliciously.
"Both of you play around too much!" Barricade snarled, as he pulled up next to Knockout, "So shut up… or I'll kill you!"
"And you're just as fracious as ever, Barricade-"
"I said shut up!" this time, Knockout obliged to Barricade's wishes.
o~o
"Scrap! Scrap! Scrap!" Bumblebee chanted as Arcee and Bulkhead pulled up in front of him before transforming. Shino and Hinata jumped off of Arcee, and Team Kakashi exited Bulkhead. Akamaru and Kiba also joined them, the ninja dog easily able to keep up with the two 'Bots.
"Bumblebee!" Arcee exclaimed, "Where's Jack?!"
"Sorry Arcee! Barricade and Knockout took him and Vince!"
"They what?!"
"Let me guess," Sakura said, "those two Decepticons took them!"
"I'd understand why they'd take Jack, but what do they want with Vince?" Kiba asked.
"They probably mistook Vince as a friend of Jack's. To them, the more hostages the better." Arcee answered.
"Alright," Kakashi said, "Team Eight, your job is to locate those two, we'll follow your directions and engage them. Remember, Jack and Vince's safety is our top priority."
"Right!" everyone nodded.
Arcee transformed back into her vehicle mode as Hinata and Shino got back on. "You sure Akamaru can keep up with me Kiba?"
"Sure he can! Right boy!" he said with a grin. Akamaru barked in agreement.
o~o
"They should have called by now!" Rafael said with worry, "You think Bumblebee's okay?"
"I wouldn't worry about Bumblebee," Temari said with a reassuring smile, "he's with the other Autobots. Plus, Kakashi's there too. He'll take care of them."
"Indeed!" Lee said with a sparkling grin, "Perhaps they haven't contacted because they are giving those fiends a sound thrashing!"
The group then heard footsteps approaching and saw Optimus enter the room. Rafael gulped.
"Okay! We're screwed! We should just tell Optimus the truth!" Tenten said.
"No way! Absolutely not!" Miko protested, "We made a deal! Just act natural."
"Everyone," Optimus addressed to the rest of the ninja, "do any of you know where the others have gone?"
"Why no sir! We do not know!" Miko said in a completely fake robotic voice.
"Miko is correct! We do not know!" Rafael said anxiously.
"Yeah! Why would we know?" Konohamaru added with a nervous smile.
Choji, Lee, Guy, Ino, and Kankuro gave nervous smiles while Tenten, Temari, and Iruka smacked their faces and shook their heads. Neji, Hanabi, and Shikamaru just pinched the bridge of their nose. Gaara just raised an eyebrow. Everyone was still in shock that even Gaara agreed to keep this quiet.
This didn't seem to sway Optimus however, as he only raised an eyebrow and gave the group a suspicious look.
o~o
The small gang stopped at an intersection right as Knockout and Barricade zoomed by. They immediately followed after them.
"Hmmm," Knockout hummed as he looked in his side view mirror, "Bumblebee brought company."
"Be on guard everyone!" Arcee said as the two 'Cons turned sharply down another street, "It could be a trap."
"Alright," Kakashi nodded, "Remember, no lethal attacks until the hostages have been retrieved. Meaning no shooting."
The group turned the corner to find a large melted hole in the fence. The ninja dismounted their rides and assumed battle positions as Bulkhead and Bumblebee transformed and activated their cannons. Arcee began climbing onto the water tower and watch from above to see where the duo was.
Knockout flashed his lights at the Autobots and ninja, blinding most of them. Shino however had on his sunglasses and wasn't affected by the light as much as the others. He sensed Breakdown approaching from behind and sent his insects in his direction. He knew they couldn't do much damage against the Decepticon, but at least it could distract him and buy time. It didn't last long. The ninja, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee dodged Breakdown's hammer as it hit the ground. Breakdown fired a missile at the ninja to distract them. He then used his hammer and smacked Bulkhead and Bumblebee.
While Vince was unconscious in Knockout's seat, Knockout looked around the area in search for someone.
"Where's the two-wheeler?" he asked himself.
Arcee then jumped on Knockout and began to punch dents into him.
"Hey!" the 'Con yelled, "Watch the paint, it's custom!"
Before Arcee could land another punch, there was the cocking of a gun. Everyone froze and looked in horror to see Barricade on the other end of the parking lot. He was holding a still unconscious Jack by the cuff of his shirt. He had a wound on his head from where he was knocked out that was bleeding profusely. Barricade's gun was aimed at his torso.
"Surrender now," Barricade spat, "or this boy won't live to see the light of day."
"You bastard!" Naruto shouted, voicing everyone's thoughts.
There was little to no movement in the lot for about five seconds, before something came barreling through the fence on the other side. Looking in the direction of commotion, the group saw what looked like a pickup truck come storming into the parking lot. From its back, a cannon was mounted and it fired at the arm Barricade was using to hold Jack up.
With a cry of surprise and pain, Barricade's arm went flying off, along with Jack. Acting quickly, Kakashi body flickered to Jack's position in the air, caught him, and body flickered back to Sakura, who immediately started medical ninjutsu on Jack's head.
"He should be fine." she reassured Arcee, when said 'Bot chanced a worried glance at her companion.
"Hey!" Bulkhead said with a huge smile, "I know that cannonfire!" Bumblebee seemed to chirp in happiness as well when he too recognized it.
In reply, the pickup truck began to shift and transformed into a Cybertronian of large built like Bulkhead only mostly black in color and he currently had large cannons as his hands.
"You," Barricade growled as he held his now useless arm.
"Feeling lucky today, punk?" the Autobot taunted as he charged his cannons to fire again.
Barricade gritted his dentas, "This isn't over." he seethed before transforming and driving off.
"Hmph!" the newcomer said, "Pity, I was hoping to show off my cannons."
"Ironhide!" Bulkhead exclaimed, "You old 'Con crusher! Where've you been all this time?"
"Interesting story I have to share, but right now I believe it would be best to deal with that piece of scrap."
Knockout hadn't moved from his spot since Ironhide arrived on the scene. But now that his cover had been blown, his tires screeched and he drove out with Arcee riding on top of him.
"Let's go!" Kakashi ordered, as he and the rest of the ninja ran after him, only leaving Sakura to tend to Jack.
Arcee managed to hold onto Knockout for a while, but eventually lost control and crashed to the ground. Naruto, not missing a beat, jumped and landed on Arcee's alt mode and the two dorve off after Knockout.
"Be careful Naruto," Hinata whispered quietly.
o~o
Breakdown wasn't having the best of times however. He could deal with Bulkhead on his own, but now that Bumblebee and Ironhide were backing him up, it was starting to get hairy.
"Uh, Breakdown, in case you're looking for me, things got messy. So I hit the road. One scream is enough for today."
Taking this as a golden opportunity, Ironhide readied his cannons and shot the ground at Breakdown's feet, sending him stumbling backwards. As he did so, Bulkhead got a light post and smacked him with it, sending him flying and crashing through a wall.
"Still got it," Ironhide smirked.
o~o
Arcee and Naruto were currently chasing Knockout down a dusty road. They were close to catching him, but Knockout added more pressure to the accelerator and drove farther away from them.
"Eat my dust." Knockout taunted.
A honking noise was heard and Naruto turned to see Optimus driving next to Knockout. With a nudge from Optimus, Knockout swerved out of control and landed in a ditch. He tried to drive himself out, but he was stuck.
"Optimus, Knockout has a hostage." Arcee informed her leader as he transformed and walked up to Knockout.
"Understood." Optimus said. He picked up Knockout from the ditch and lifted him in the air. Knockout screamed in pain as Optimus ripped the driver door. He carefully reached inside Knockout and pulled Vince out. Optimus threw Knockout aside and he transformed.
"Do you know how hard that is to replace?" Knockout screeched as he looked at his arm that was now missing a door.
Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and the rest of Team Kakashi and Kurenai arrived on the scene a few seconds later. Sakura was supporting a now conscious Jack across the shoulders.
Knockout knew he was outnumbered, so he transformed and drove off.
"Optimus, this is my fault," Jack began to explain even though his head still throbbing.
"We must get this boy to safety. Explanations can come later… from all of you." Optimus said angrily.
"Okay but we found into Ironhide!" Bulkhead protested hastily.
"Not the time Bulk!" Kiba snarled.
o~o
Vince began to gain conscious as the effects of the energon zapper wore off. His eyes adjusted to his surroundings as he saw he was in the passenger seat of another car. He turned to see that Jack was the one driving.
"How did-what happened?" Vince groaned as he sat up.
"Some guys jumped you under the bridge. They tossed you into their trunk. Must have been some kind of initiation," Jack lied.
"Really?" Vince asked.
"Yeah," Jack continued, "Found you by the side of the road. Had to call some friends over to see if you were okay."
Vince felt a tap on his shoulders and turned to see Sakura and Naruto in the backseat.
They arrived at the bridge where Vince left his car. Jack opened the passenger door and Vince got out of the car.
"Look. I gotta be honest. After what I saw tonight, I think racing isn't really my thing," Jack confessed.
"I hear you, Darby. Hard to win a race driving a pedal car!" Vince sneered.
Bumblebee pressed the pedal and drove off leaving a trail of dust behind them.
"Bulkhead was right, he is a jerk." Naruto commented.
o~o
"Knock Out! Was I not clear? You have defied my orders yet again!" Starscream yelled.
"My mistake, Commander Starscream. But I've learned my lesson… and paid the price," Knock Out grumbled as he looked at his damaged arm, "On the other hand, I did find Barricade." he added hastily, motioning to the 'Con beside him.
"It… is… LORD! And you have paid when I SAY you have paid," Starscream proclaimed as he held up his long, sharp, metallic claw, "Not to worry. Your punishment shall be merely… cosmetic."
"No! Not the finish! Anything but the finish!" Knockout begged. Breakdown cringed at the sound of screeching metal.
"NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO!"
o~o
The next day, Jack walked out of school to Arcee. As verbal punishment for last night, Optimus gave a lecture to everyone that if this ever happened again they would pay the price. As a physical punishment, he got smacked smacked in his already damaged head by a certain iron fan wielded by a rather sassy Sand kunoichi.
On the other hand, Optimus was rather pleased to see Ironhide. As it turned out, the pickup truck was the Autobot's old weapon specialist and an old friend of Optimus.
"Hey Jack. Do you still have time for that ride?" Sierra asked as she walked up to him.
"I'm sorry Sierra. I can't right now." Jack apologized.
"No problem. I guess I'll just see you around," Sierra shrugged sadly before walking away.
Arcee then slowly drove up next to Jack. "Hop on."
"Whoa, really?" Jack asked in surprise.
"Just. This. Once." Arcee emphasized.
Later on, Sierra felt the wind in her hair as Jack was driving around Jasper.
o~o
AN: YES! HALLELJUAH! I managed to update this weekend. I'm so sorry this took so long, but I had a really busy winter break and I also had exams a few weeks ago as well. Senior year you know?
Anyway, if guys have been reading my Story Ideas, you'll see I put another post up. It's called Akame ga Titan and it's going to be a crossover between Attack on Titan and Akame ga Kill. I put the summary in the chapter. Expect it up sometime this week.
Also, the next chapter should be up in a couple weeks. It's one of my favorite episodes, and one I've been looking forward to writing for a while. Keep your eyes open, it's going to be epic!
Responses:
Ito Uchiha: Thanks! Hope you like this one.
Darkwarp: Sounds good. I'll see what I can do.
DarkDragonWolf117: Here's the next chapter. And yeah, I'm looking forward to that as well.
TheDeathly-Z: You'll just have to wait and see.
Guest (Dec, 3): Maaaaaaayyyyyyybbbbbbbbeeee? ;P
Jose19: I had a feeling you'd be asking that question. Don't worry, I have it all worked out in my head. Just sit back and enjoy!
Masterclassdragon500: Thanks!
FriendofDragons: Well, there's Ironhide. Hope he turned out okay. He'll be having the live-action movie's personality so expect him to do some showing-off. As for Sasuke, I understand your feelings, but please forgive if I do put him in, not saying when, but he and Team Taka will make an appearance at some point. Happy New Year!
Guest (Dec 13): Hmmm... maybe, we'll see.
Songfern1128: I know! I hate those stories too, hope I'm doing okay with that. As for the love triangle... I don't really picture Kakashi or Gai with June. Thanks for the suggestion though.
vewtwo: You're welcome!
Guest (Dec 31): Interesting idea, but probably won't happen.