Chapter 21

Agent Fowler was frowning before he even reached Autobot base. This was partly because of the briefing he'd just received. (All three kids, kidnapped by that shiny red sports car!) Partly it was because the way General Bryce had prefaced his call.

"We need you to get over to Autobot base and make sure they don't interfere."

Make sure they don't interfere? Fowler thought as he parked his car. The Autobots loved those kids; they'd do anything to protect them and bring them home safely. If they were "interfering", it was probably because they thought they had a better strategy for rescuing them. And since they'd been fighting 'Cons like Knock Out for millions of years, they were probably right. Fowler just hoped he could make the General see that . . .

"Alright, 'Bots," Fowler said as he strode in. "We all know the situation. You've got a 'Con gone crazy, but we're not gonna panic. We're gonna stop that walking scrapheap, no matter what it takes!"

He paused, suddenly aware that the Autobots were glaring at him. Even June had her arms crossed and a thundercloud of an expression on her face.

"Or," Agent Fowler said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, "You could brief me on the situation."

Knock Out had made two major geographical mistakes within the span of a few hours.

The first was to assume that that typing "New York" into Ratchet's ground bridge controls would open a bridge to New York City. Only after finding himself on a highway with nary a skyscraper in sight had he remembered that there was more to the state than Manhattan.

The second was to assume that "upstate New York" referred to all the parts of the state that weren't Long Island.

Knock Out was, in fact, in western New York, heading towards Rochester.

Or at least he had been heading that way. Currently he was pulled over on the side of the road to allow Miko to retrieve her cell phone off the highway Knock Out had a feeling that the Autobots would not have approved, and he himself felt uneasy about sending an organic onto a major roadway; with the number of cars whizzing by, it seemed far more dangerous than visiting the Nemesis. But they needed that phone.

"Back!" Miko announced, opening the passenger side door and slamming it after she hopped in. Nothing about this process was pleasant for Knock Out, who gave a full framed shudder. He swore he could feel organic fingerprints on his chrome.

"Next time ASK before you grub all over my door handles," he snapped, "Did you get the phone?"

"Well, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is yes, I got it. The bad news is . . ." She held up a tangle of plastic casing, held together by a few strands of wire. "We aren't gonna be calling anyone on it. Here ya go, Raf, you get to dissect it after all." She tossed the remains into the back seat.

"Oh well, they can't say we didn't try," Knock Out said, pulling back onto Interstate 90. "What's that sign say? Read it, one of you."

Raf adjusted his glasses. "Um. Rochester, 22 miles. New York City, 355 miles."

"Geez. How long is that going to take?" Jack asked.

"Abooout five or six hours," Raf said.

Knock Out's engine lowered in a growl. "Well, isn't that just grand."

Bumblebee and Smokescreen were in favor of heading through the ground bridge immediately, but as Ratchet pointed out, they didn't know exactly where Knock Out was. "Upstate New York" was a big area.

"We should go over what he said first," the medic insisted, "and see if we can narrow down his location."

So Agent Fowler fished the check stub with the list of missing items on it out of his pocket and started a new list as Ratchet replayed the message.

It started out promising:

I'm in upstate New York.
Bridge over and I'll fill you in.
Too complicated to explain over the comm.
I'll tell you how to find me.

But after the static storm had hit, there was just a word or a phrase here and there.

Knock Out
Aston Martin
swift
just like it sounds

"We're wasting our time," Bumblebee whined, pacing.

"Calm down, Bee," Wheeljack said. "If Knock Out was talkin' about fast Aston Martins . . . then it's gotta be somethin' about racing."

Bulkhead nodded enthusiastically. "Hey, yeah! Like, maybe he figured he can win a bunch of money on the track and get vehicles that way!"

"Racing tracks in New York? Is that a . . . thing . . . there?" June said dubiously.

"It could be an illegal race," Optimus Prime said. "We know he has engaged in those before."

"Maybe he meant he was going to get some Aston Martins after the race, with the prize money," Arcee offered.

"Let's check Google . . . aha!" Agent Fowler said. "Yep, there's one, count it, one Aston Martin dealership in New York." He lowered his phone and raised his eyebrows. "But get this—it's in New York City."

"Not upstate," June said.

Bumblebee began to take more of an interest in the conversation. "He once told me he found street races by just driving around looking for them. He might try that."

"We'll break into teams," Optimus said, looking around the group. "Agent Fowler, Ultra Magnus, I ask that you locate General Bryce and ensure that he acts with proper restraint. June, Arcee, and Ratchet, you will seek out the car dealership in New York City in case Knock Out turns up there. Bumblebee, you will remain here to monitor the situation. The rest of us will search upstate New York—"

"WHAT?" Bumblebee's shriek reached pitches so high that it almost sounded like the electronic screeches he'd made before his voice box was repaired. "No! Optimus—no! I don't want to sit on my aft while everyone else is helping!"

"You will be helping by remaining here. Someone must be ready to activate the ground bridge at a moment's notice."

"Why can't Ratchet stay behind like usual?"

"Ratchet's sirens can quickly clear a path through traffic. A boon in a busy city," Optimus explained. "Have no fear, we will use every resource to locate Knock Out. Whether he's happy to be located or not."

"He'd be a lot happier to see me than you," Bumblebee snapped.

Optimus hid his wince.

"Bumblebee!" Ratchet half-gasped, half-growled. Optimus silenced him with a small gesture.

"That is true," Optimus said levelly. "Out of all of us, you are closest to Knock Out. That is precisely why I am leaving you here. Out of all of us, you are the most likely to be able to convince him that the situation is dire and that he should return to base."

Bumblebee's big blue optics flickered in a blink. After a moment he said, "All right. I'll do it. And . . ." His optics lowered. "Sorry."

The Autobot leader just smiled, resting his hand on the smaller bot's shoulder for a moment. "While you monitor the situation from our base, the rest of us will be combing this area." He tapped a few buttons on the console; a portion of New York was highlighted in blue.

It did not include Rochester.

"The subject undergoes a noticeable shift in mass during transformation, so corner him as a car if you can," General Bryce said, pacing back and forth in front of his operatives. Behind him, a wireframe mock-up of Knock Out revolved slowly on a projection screen. "Remember, we want him intact, but we want him down. Get those kids out of the way and hit hard and fast. We've all seen the damage these robots can inflict."

The general's eyes narrowed slightly as he saw Agent Fowler slip into the back of the room. "All right," Bryce said abruptly. "You've all been briefed. Move out."

He walked over to Fowler, who was frowning at the animation still turning and turning on the screen. "Ah, Bill! How'd things go with the Autobots? I'm sure they want to get their little friends back before they get hurt. We're just about to fly our men—men and women I should say these days, ha ha—out."

Bryce had planned out which routes his agents would search.

They did not include Rochester either.

"Oh, oh, oh! Take the off-ramp, Jack, there's something we gotta check out!" Miko almost turned around in her seat, pointing at something already behind them.

"Uh, not really my choice," the boy said, gesturing towards a steering wheel that was moving on its own.

"What's so enthralling that we need to get off the highway?" Knock Out said. "I want to get past this city before rush hour starts." He had just passed the sign, 'Welcome to Rochester'.

"Duuude, there's a Goodwill back there!"

"A what?"

"A thrift shop," Raf explained. "People donate used stuff to them, and they sell it."

"Yeah, we could pick up, like, clothes! And props!"

"Miko," Jack said, crossing his arms, "I think we have more important things to do than—aaand the car is taking the off-ramp."

"Color me intrigued. And your current ensemble is lackluster, Jack."

"My 'ensemble' isn't lackluster, it's sensible!" He looked down at his monochrome shirt and worn jeans. Simple. Pragmatic. Comfortable.

"Boring," Knock Out said as he parked in front of the Goodwill, which had pumpkins painted on its plate-glass windows. "Remember who you're representing. Miko—make him fabulous."

"You got it, arch-nemesis!"

"But I don't want to be—" The rest of his complaint was lost as Miko pulled him out of the car, Raf tagging along behind them.

A little over an hour later, they were back. Jack looked shell-shocked, the other two looked cheerful.

"Okay, my new mission in life? Bring Halloween to Japan." Miko staggered forward, unable to see around the stack of colorful clothing and accessories in her arms.

"You don't have Halloween over there?" Raf helped her load everything into the back of the Aston Martin as the trunk popped open of its own accord.

"Eh, we've got Obon in the summer, it's about ghosts and stuff, but it's not . . ." She paused, a hand on her hip. "It's not crazy enough."

"I'm sure you make up for that," Jack muttered, arms tightly crossed. "For example, you're crazy if you think I'm wearing any of that."

"Whaaat? You're gonna look awesome!" Miko pushed a pair of rhinestone-stuffed dark glasses over his eyes, then looped a feather boa around his neck.

"Much better already," Knock Out said approvingly.

"You do look . . . brighter?" Raf said.

Jack just groaned.