Mixed-Up 2: Alternate Reality
Chapter 9: Optimus Prime vs. General Prime
It didn't take a genius to figure out that something very big was about to happen. Even the Autobots-turned-Decepticons that lived in the lowest level of the base felt the excitement in the air. Hook swore up and down that he could a battle coming despite Shadow Ninja arguing that Transformers couldn't smell.
"What do you think is going on?" Monster Wreck asked nervously.
"They're going to fight the Autobots," General Prime said, not looking up from the datapad he was perusing.
"But that means that they'll die!" Monster Wreck cried.
"More than likely," Hook agreed.
"But we gotta do something!" Monster Wreck argued. "We can't just let them die!"
"And why not?" General Prime demanded as he sat the datapad down.
"Well because they're us," the big, purple mech said softly.
"I must agree with him," Shadow Ninja said. "Even if they do have horrible paintjobs they are still us, or rather what we used to be."
"Used to be," General Prime said. "We're no longer Autobots. We are now Decepticons, or have you forgotten that?"
The other three Decepticons exchanged glances then Shadow Ninja said, "We haven't forgotten."
"Good," General Prime sounded slightly pleased then said, "I'm going for a walk." He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Once he was gone the others stood there, just looking at each other then made a beeline for the door, intent on saving…well, themselves.
"So, uh, how are we gonna find the Decepticons anyway?" Bulkhead asked.
"Well I guess that when the time comes they'll find us," Optimus answered a few seconds of rapid thinking after he realized that he hadn't thought about it.
They walked over the island until they reached the beach. Once there they stopped and just stood there, staring. Waiting for them was Bumblebee, holding Sentinel Prime's sword and shield. "Well don't just stand there," Bumblebee called. "If you want to destroy the Decepticons then you might want to hurry up."
The Autobots hurriedly walked over to Bumblebee and Optimus said, "I didn't think you were going to help us."
"Well I'm not," Bumblebee said. "I just want to get back at Starscream for lying to me, that's all."
Optimus nodded, feeling disappointed that Bumblebee wasn't going to help them because it was the right thing to do but reminded himself that this wasn't their Bumblebee. This Bumblebee belonged to four Decepticons who happened to look an awful lot like Optimus and his crew.
The five bots boarded the ship and cast off. All of them were silent, each other thinking about the battle that lay ahead. And, although none of them would ever admit it, they were worried about the outcome. When a bump signaled that they had reached the other side they all clambered out, taking care not to break or scratch anything.
"Just wait," Bumblebee told them. "The Decepticons will be here shortly."
"And why is that?" Prowl asked, crossing his arms.
Bumblebee smirked and said, "I told them I was bringing you back in and for them to meet me here."
"Prime," Ratchet whispered, "are we sure we can trust him?"
"Not really," Optimus whispered back, "but what other choice do we have?"
"You bots do realize that I can hear you, right?" Bumblebee asked, causing them to instantly fall silent.
As Bumblebee had predicted they didn't have to wait long; the Decepticons arriving just a few minutes later, Starscream in the lead.
"Nice to see you again so soon, Auto scum," Starscream sneered.
Bumblebee, who had had his head cocked to one said asked suddenly, "Where's Lugnut?"
Starscream and Blitzwing exchanged glances then the triple-changer casually said, "He vas the unfortunate victim of an accident as vas Lord Megatron. Starscream is our leader now and I am his second-in-command."
"Which one of you?" Bulkhead asked.
"Vhat?" Blitzwing looked confused.
"Well technically there are three of you," Bulkhead explained. "So I was just wondering which one of you is the second-in-command now."
"Hmm," Blitzwing frowned. "That's a very good point," he said thoughtfully. "Ve never thought about that."
Starscream glowered at Bulkhead who unconsciously shrank back. "I'm going to off-line each and every one of you," he said through gritted denta, 'but only after you tell me where you came from."
"Well you see," Ratchet said with a straight faceplate, "when two bots love each other very much…"
Starscream, whose faceplate had been steadily growing redder and redder, suddenly yelled, "Enough! Destroy them all," he ordered the Decepticons and charged.
And with that the battle had officially begun.
It was quiet; a little too quiet. General Prime ignored the breathtaking scenery, or rather what was left of it, and stared down at the swirling water a good forty feet beneath the cliff he was standing on. He was not planning to jump off of it like many humans had but enjoyed the view. Standing here had, for some unknown reason, always helped him think. Today he had an awful lot to think about. While he had already decided to believe his Autobot self he was now faced with a new dilemma; hat was he going to do about it? Could he honestly live with himself if he condemned the Autobots to death? No he decided; he couldn't. He had enough trouble falling into recharge as it was; he couldn't afford any more deaths on his conscience, he would never be able to recharge again! Besides, he was no longer an Autobot, he was a Decepticon now. Suddenly General Prime straightened, his red optics gleaming. Of course, that was it! He was a Decepticon. He turned around and, after transforming, zoomed towards the docks where Starscream that they met Bumblebee.
"Aren't we there yet?" Monster Wreck whined.
"No!" Hook snapped.
"If you ask that question one more time I swear to Primus that I will come back there and chop you into so many pieces that no one will be able to put you together ever again," Shadow Ninja threatened.
Sensing that it wasn't an idle threat Monster Wreck fell silent, preferring to stay in one piece if at all possible. They remained that way until they reached the docks where they transformed and watched Starscream as he aimed at Prowl's spark chamber; a shot that would definitely off-line the black-and-gold bot. Before he could fire, however, Shadow Ninja withdrew a black shuriken and threw it, distracting the Seeker long enough for Prowl to jump out of the way. Furious, Starscream turned to yell at whoever had distracted him only to stare in shock when he realized who it was. "What…what are you bots doing here?" he stammered.
"We're taking you down," Shadow Ninja informed him. "What did you think we were doing?"
"Why?" Starscream demanded. "Why are you doing that?"
"Because," a new voice said as General Prime stepped into view, "we're Decepticons."
If Starscream had been dumbfounded before he was completely flabbergasted now, "And what does that have to do with anything?" he asked once he had regained his voice.
"Well basically it means that we're going to get back at you for lying to us," General Prime explained even as he pulled out his axe.
Making an executive decision Optimus stepped back and motioned for the others to do the same. "What are you doing?" Prowl hissed.
"This isn't our battle," Optimus said. "Its theirs," he pointed at the four Decepticons and Bumblebee who were closing in on the flier.
Due to their anger and hatred it didn't take long for them to off-line Starscream, his frame in several pieces. The remaining Decepticons, once they had seen what happened to their new leader, quickly surrendered, not wanting to suffer the same fate. After they had all been put in stasis cuffs Optimus walked over to General Prime and asked, "So what are you bots going to do now?"
General Prime shrugged and admitted, "I honestly don't know. Re-build the town I guess, maybe try to fix some burned bridges." He looked pointedly at Bumblebee when he said the last part of his sentence and Optimus smiled.
"That sounds like a good idea," he said, "a very good idea."
Bumblebee wandered over to where they were standing, Monster Wreck and Bulkhead in tow. "So are you bots going to leave now?" the black-and-yellow minibot asked.
"I don't even know how we got here in the first place," Optimus said, "so I definitely don't have any idea how to get home." Just as he finished speaking there was an ominous rumbling and a portal appeared. Optimus sighed, "So that's how we get home." He and the other three Autobots stepped towards it.
"Bye," Bumblebee waved at them as they were sucked into the portal.
After the portal had disappeared along with the Autobots General Prime looked around him, at Bumblebee and his three friends and decided that, just maybe, everything would be all right now.
A/N: 5 reviews.
A/N/N: When Optimus says that he doesn't know how they got there what he means is, he knows that the portal brought them there but he doesn't know why; the only portal he knows about transported them to the future so he's not entirely sure this one took them to a different dimension. No, I don't plan on explaining it; at least not in this story, maybe in another story.
A/N/N/N: In case anyone is interested Optimus and the others landed in the original TF: Animated universe.