Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End
Chapter 10: Flashbacks: The Accident
Bumblebee made his way through the streets to where his ship was docked, for once not feeling the usual rush of adrenaline he got right before a mission. For some reason he felt…nervous, something he was not accustomed to feeling as he considered it a weakness, a hindrance much like friends. Both often interfered with one's desired performance or caused one to do stupid things, such as what he was about to do.
He entered his ship and made his way to the control room where he started the engines, half-hoping they wouldn't. The engines, however, came to life almost immediately with a powerful roar. He entered the coordinates into his navigational system, then sat back and waited. The trip took about thirty minutes thanks to his super-fast engines but it felt as if only a moment had passed since he took off.
Once there Bumblebee exited the ship and just stood, optics sweeping the area to determine what threats there were. On the other side of the hill made out of rocks was an unidentified minibot. Bumblebee's optics narrowed as his gaze covered the rest of the planet but, seeing no other threat (at least none that his x-ray vision could find) began making his way to where the currently unidentified bot was.
Wasp tried to contain his gleeful grin but was unable. He was about to get his revenge on the bot who had testified against him and nothing was going to stop him. He heard the sound of engines and his grin grew wider if that was even possible. He tensed, his frame quivering with excitement as he heard the sound of someone drawing closer and closer, not paying any attention to the fact that the steps were far too light to belong to his prey. Soon the figure reached the rock wall and came around it. Wasp raised his weapon only to lower it almost immediately. "You're not Bulkhead!" he accused.
"No I'm not," the yellow minibot agreed, looking slightly amused. "I figured you were the one who sent Bulkhead that note so I figured it would be better if I came instead."
"I didn't think he was that much of a coward," Wasp commented, raising an optic ridge.
"Actually I drugged him," the other bot admitted.
"With what?" Wasp asked, trying not to look surprised.
The yellow minibot rattled off the name causing Wasp's jaw to fall open in shock. Only medics and assassins knew about that particular drug and as there were no markings identifying him as a medic Wasp was forced to come to only one conclusion; he was facing another assassin.
His optics narrowed and he began to raise the EMP he held in his servos only for the other bot to leap forward, throwing Wasp to the ground. The two bots rolled around on the rocks, both of them ignoring the dents that were forming in their frames as they battled for dominance, paying the EMP that had been thrown to the side no mind.
Eventually Bumblebee wound up flat on his back, Wasp on top. The yellow bot tried pushing Wasp off but to no avail. Suddenly Bumblebee stopped struggling and lay completely still. Wasp chuckled and was just about to blast the seemingly unconscious mech when Bumblebee sat up, pushing Wasp at the same time causing the green minibot to fall off while his yellow counterpart stood up and fell into a classic fighting post, fists held high.
Wasp laughed and followed suit, the two minibots circling each other, eyeing their opponent warily. Wanting to test the other mech's skills Wasp threw the first punch; a blow to the faceplate which was blocked easily. "Very good," Wasp said. "I'm impressed. What's your name?"
"Bumblebee," the yellow minibot answered after a couple minutes of hesitation.
Wasp almost blew a gasket right then and there. There was no smuggler or assassin who hadn't heard of Bumblebee although none had met him and lived to tell the tale…except for a very strange smuggler named Jazz. But Bumblebee was rumored to be the coldest, most ruthless assassin that ever lived. There were those who said that he was worse than Megatron.
"I've heard of you," he said cautiously. "There are lots of stories floatin around out there. Now if they're all true I can't help but wonder: what is a killer like you doing protecting a bot like Bulkhead? I know it's not for the credits 'cuz he certainly doesn't have any. He's too clumsy and stupid to be of any use to you so why? There is absolutely no reason why unless…" his voice trailed off as he stared thoughtfully at Bumblebee then slowly he began to grin then burst out laughing.
"Unless what?" Bumblebee asked suspiciously.
"You actually care about him don't you? That's why you're here; to protect your friend."
"He's not my friend!" Bumblebee yelled then threw a punch aimed for Wasp's chassis. The green minibot blocked it then retaliated with a vicious kick to Bumblebee's interfacing equipment that sent him sprawling.
"You know you're not as tough as I thought you would be," Wasp frowned. "It's quite disappointing actually."
"You ain't seen nothin yet," Bumblebee growled as he stood back up.
"For a loser you sure are persistent," Wasp commented.
The next twenty minutes were spent battling each other, splitting their time between rolling on the ground and throwing well-placed punches and kicks. It is quite possible that Bumblebee would have won had he not backed up and tripped on a rock, falling to the ground. He lay there, stunned. As he lay there he turned to look at Wasp who was a few feet away then blinked when the green minibot morphed into Bulkhead. Images flashed before his optics, memories that hadn't happened yet playing for him to see. He saw himself sitting on Bulkhead's shoulder strut with Jazz sitting next to them and across the table from them were three unfamiliar bot; one was red-and-blue, one was slender with black-and-gold paint while the third had the red-and-white markings of a medic. They all looked so happy yet watching them made Bumblebee feel rather sad.
He blinked again and discovered that while he had been daydreaming Wasp had retrieved the EMP (now slightly dented) and was standing directly in front of him. Bumblebee wasn't very surprised that Wasp had an EMP; he himself had gotten one from Lockdown who had 'acquired' it from some medibot named Ratchet. "Are you going to kill me now?" Bumblebee asked, his voice surprisingly calm even as he calculated the chances of him being able to overpower his opponent.
"I have to," Wasp explained. "You know that."
"Yes I do," Bumblebee sighed, rising to his pedes so that he was now facing his soon-to-be killer.
"Before I do off-line you just tell me one thing; is your friend worth dying for?"
Bumblebee frowned and looked past Wasp, memories of the past few days and that first fateful meeting running through his processor. Bulkhead had once said that Bumblebee had saved his life. What he didn't know was that he had it backwards. Bumblebee had been on the fast track of life, out of control and heading for a cliff but Bulkhead had saved him; pulled Bumblebee to safety. Was it worth it? Was Bulkhead really worth dying for? So Bumblebee raised his head and said, "Yes." He didn't flinch when the full force of the EMP hit him, nor did he cry out. His last thought was, Thank you, Bulkhead, then everything went black.
A/N: 15 reviews, will accept 10.
A/N/N: This chapter is the main reason why I made Wasp out to be an assassin because I knew that he was going to overpower Bumblebee and therefore needed to have Bumblebee's skills.