Chapter 21: T.M.I.
Miko and Bulkhead were watching a monster truck rally on TV. The vehicle drives over a ramp of cars and came down on another one.
"Hoo-ya!" The Japanese girl cheered.
Ratchet groaned in irritation. "Would you mind lowering the volume?"
"Hey, Ratchet! Check out the monster truck rally Miko took me last week."
"I compiled some highlights with my cellphone." Miko raised her phone.
"Innocent vehicles battling for the pleasure of human spectators?" Ratchet groaned. "Blood sport!"
"Yeah!" Miko and Bulkhead cheered in unison.
"You could be helping Optimus in the field right now."
"Aw, he doesn't need my help to search for some ancient thing-a-ma-bob."
"The 'thingamabob' to which you are referring happens to be of Cybertronian data cylinder." Ratchet pressed something on the computer controls which changed the Tv to showing the said cylinder.
"Hey!" Miko whined while Bulkhead groans.
"And there is no telling what vast intelligence it may hold. During the Golden Age, dozens of these cylinders were created, each containing the sum total of Cybertronian knowledge of any given subject..." Miko yawns in boredom. "...stellar catagorary, medicine, ancient mythology. When the war broke out, the cylinders were hidden throughout the galaxies to keep them as far as possible from Decepticon reach. Detecting one signal here, on Earth, is the opportunity of a -"
Miko groans, "TMI, dude."
"Switch it back! I want to see the hoedown showdown."
"Ratchet, Decepticon ambush. The cylinder is at risk. We require back up." Optimus suddenly stated through the comm-link.
"Backup is what I'm built for." Bulkhead stated before punching his fists and entering the portal to help his teammates on the field.
"Go bend some fenders, Bulk." Miko encouraged.
"I have an important mission for you, too, Miko."
"Really?" Miko asked in excitement before she was handed a broom making her to groan. She then sighs before doing her usual thing: going through the Ground bridge once Ratchet wasn't looking.
Ava just tackled another clone down before her antennas twitched of an incoming attack. She jumped up on the arm and smacked the Vehicon across the face with her hammer before hearing something coming through a Ground bridge. She looked that way and gasped when she saw Miko about to be crushed by a falling Vehicon that was punched by Bulkhead. Equipping her skates, she ran toward the older teenager and tackled her out of the way just in time and got some cover. Both girls peeked out and saw Bee fighting a Con and peeked around the other corner to see Optimus grab Knockout by the neck and punching him in the face.
"Autobots stand your ground. The artifact must not fall into enemy hands!" Optimus declared before he continued to fight, not noticing the two girls behind him.
The black-haired teen faced the Japanese girl. "Miko, what are you doing here?!" she demanded in a whisper.
"What does it look like, Ava?" Miko retorted, putting her hands on her hip before looking up and noticing the antennas on the teens head. "Uh, what are those?"
Ava glanced up to and saw what she pointed at. "Nevermind that now, we have to keep the artifact from falling into Decepticon hands." she stated before peaking from behind the rock and spotting the cylinder and notice Arcee made a run for it after knocking Breakdown down.
But Knockout intercepted her and tackled her before transforming and made a run for it. "Come to papa."
Suddenly, he was knocked out of the way by Bulkhead's fist. "Run to mommy."
Breakdown pounded the Wrecker's head and lifted him off the ground. "Say 'uncle.' Say it!"
Ava made a break for it and Miko followed behind her. The techno activated her scanners through her visor. "Ratchet," she cringed when something awful sounded against metal. "I'm with the cylinder. Can you bridge it out of here?"
"I'll reactivate arrival coordinates."
Ava and Miko peak out from behind the artifact and saw the portal not close enough. "Dude, could you open it any closer?" Miko asked.
"Miko? Where are you?"
"She's with me, Ratchet." Ava answered.
"Supply coordinates."
"Um...50 yards." Miko guessed.
"Precise coordinates."
Ava groans, "Just... lock on to my coordinates and..."
She gasped when she saw a blast hit the cylinder so she ducked behind the cylinder. Then she got an idea and equipped her hammer before running back and charging. Miko widened her eyes and rolled out of the way just in time before Ava hit the cylinder with her hammer with all her strength, but it didn't budge as she fell on her aft. Something must have triggered it because it activated the cylinder and was about to fire. Noticing the red glow, Optimus turned around and widened his optics. That's when Bulkhead noticed his charge as he was tackling his nemesis and smacked him out of the way.
Bulkhead jumped on the ground and that's when the cylinder fired all of its data into Bulkhead's processor.
"Bulk!" Ava and Miko shouted in unison before running to his side and placing their hands on the side of his processor.
"You really to one for the team, Bulkhead - my team." Knockout said when he picked up the cylinder and entered the Ground bridge with Breakdown following suit, leaving the remaining Vehicons to transform and flee.
The Autobots regrouped around Bulkhead who stood up.
"Bulkhead are you-"
"Fine. And even smart." Bulkhead stated which made Miko's eyes to gleam with excitement while Ava placed her hammer on her shoulder with one hand on hip and grinned.
"I helped lose that thing, I want to help find it." Bulkhead complained while Ratchet scanned his vitals. "I need to get back in the field with Optimus." He stood up but Ratchet pushed him back down.
"Eh, eh, you're under my watch now. Optimus' orders. And running a full vital scan of your neural net would be a wiser use of your time."
Bulkhead pulled the plug. "Come on, doc. There's nothing up there to scan."
"He seems fine to me." Miko observed.
Ratchet sighs, "Well, you might as well make yourself useful. You can help me come tidy up."
Miko groaned, "He's mad with power!"
Bulkhead laughs, "That's Ratchet. No vector squared all right."
"What?!" Miko and Ava asked in unison, confused.
"Hey, we got any paint around here?" Bulkhead asked.
Both girls looked at each other getting more confused by the minute, well mostly just Ava. "Art project? Cool!" Miko cheered the idea.
"What do you mean, it's empty?" Megatron asked.
"Lord Megatron, these cylinders are not unlike batteries. The data is stored within them as a form of energy. It scanned fully charged - that is how we located to begin with - but now -"
"Dead battery." Breakdown finished.
"Did you drop it you one-eyed oaf?!"
"No, master. I wasn't gonna touch the thing after it put the zap on Bulkhead."
"Hey, you think..."
"I know. And I must find out what that vessel contained. When it comes to secrets of the ancients, knowledge can be power."
"Seriously, Ratch, you need to see what Bulk's painting in here."
"Yes I'm sure one hasn't truly loved until one has beheld Bulkhead's take on Still Life with Lug nuts."
The two head over to where Bulkhead is painting. "See? Did I tell you or what?"
"The differential of one-third cubed 'R' is RDRR." Bulkhead mumbled in gibberish language.
"That is not art. It's science." Ratchet went back to his terminal and explained why Bulkhead is painting some sort of science formula. "This hot spot you see here - is information, data, living energy."
"Hold on. It's alive, it's on fire, and it's in Bulkhead's brain?"
"Chill, Miko. The data's inhibiting only a fraction of my brain, infinitesimal by standard neural net densities. Wait, how do I know all that?"
"Based on what we witnessed during our skirmish, the living data must have been programmed to eject when it sensed unauthorized access."
"A security measure." Ratchet added.
"It would have jettisoned heavenward, lost to the stars."
"Except my fat engine blocked got in the way."
"Every 'Con there made a grab for it, but the cylinder doesn't go off until Ava touches it?"
"The cylinders originated from Cybertron's Golden age, predating the Autobot/Decepticon division."
"So, it wouldn't consider any native of Cybertron to be a threat."
"Only alien life forms, such as humans." Ratchet said looking to the techno who hugged one of her arms.
"So what now?"
"Are we staring at genius or gibberish?" Arcee asked, pointing to the wall.
"I do not wish to falsely rally anyone's hopes, but these equations appear to be the formula for a synthetic energon."
"This is our lucky day!" Bee exclaimed happy.
"We hit the mother lode?" Arcee asked in excitement.
"Miko, do you understand what this means?"
"Um..."
"Energon provides our fuel, our amo, our life force! With the natural stuff in such short supply here on Earth, this could solve a whole lot of problems."
"Such as providing us with the edge to turn the tide of the war."
"Or handing us the key of revitalizing Cybertron." Ratchet added, dreaming to return to his home world.
"We got the goods and all Megatron got was an empty bucket." Ava said smirking.
"How often do I get to use my noggin to save the day?" Bulkhead asked and got back to painting the formula.
"Aren't you done yet?" Miko whined in boredom.
"Gotta admit. It's weid seeing Bulkhead in braniac mode." Arcee remarked.
"You got that right."
When Bulkhead finished another piece of the formula, Arcee took the board and took it to Ratchet.
"Break time! How about a lightning round of 'TNT Street Racer Seven?'" Miko proposed. Bulkhead just continued to pain the formula which made Miko to groan.
Bee helped Arcee haul the board to where the others were. "Got another round for you to log, Ratchet." The femme announced.
But the medic ignored her as he continued to scan Bulkhead's brain. "This is Bulkhead's neural net as you saw it earlier. This can was recorded just minutes ago. It is as I feared. The data seems to be activately and aggressively rewriting Bulkhead's neural net. I had hoped he was purging the data, but it seems to be merely transcribing it as it..."
"Consumes his mind." Optimus finished.
"From all indications, by the time Bulkhead completes the formula, his own thoughts, his memories could be wiped clean."
"But what if we stopped him from completing the formula?" Ava asked, leaning against the railing.
"You assume we possess a means of stopping him. I don't exactly have instant access to the wisdom of the ancients."
"I will not allow another one of our own to be sacrificed, no matter the cost."
"If the living data transmitted itself from the cylinder, perhaps we could somehow coax it back inside."
"How are we supposed to get back from the Decepticons?" Ava asked.
"Megatron will bring to us."
Bulkhead continues to paint the formula and hasn't stopped. Miko walked over to her speakers and heard him say something about amplified. So, she smirked as she plugged in a chord to the speakers.
"You want amplified?"
"Providing preceptor paradox is nothing of the kind." Miko strummed a note on her guitar which made the Wrecker to drop the mop and cover his audio receptors. "What is that?" the green mech demanded.
"Metal. You love this song."
"I'm trying to concentrate."
Miko groaned, "You're starting to sound just like Ratchet."
Bulkhead stared at her confused. "Who?"
Miko ran to where the medic was working. "Ratch, I think Bulk's loosing his mind." The mech paused as his optics widened. Miko noticed his reaction. "You...already now."
"Miko, we didn't want to frighten you. But rest assured, Optimus has a plan."
"Optimus isn't Bulkhead's doctor. I just need to now, when Bulk's done spitting out that formula, he'll go back to being regular old Bulkhead, right?"
Ratchet averted his gaze to the floor while Miko just closed her eyes.
"Lord Megatron, we've detected a familiar energy profile." Knockout informed.
"The data?" Megatron assumed.
"Bulkhead must have left the shielded radiua of their base. Breakdown and I -
"Fail me again?" Megatron interrupted and landed with four Vehicons when they reached the scource. "Optimus. You're certainly not the Autobot I expected to find here. But let me guess. You rigged a transponder to mimic the frequency of the data I seek."
"Megatron, I have a proposal." Optimus announced as he stepped forward.
The Vehicons aimed their blaster at the Prime but Megatron raised his servo to lower their weapons, and they did. "I'm...listening."
"Surrender the cylinder, and I will return it to you fully restored."
"This trinket right here. And, pray tell, what trifles did it hold that you're so anxious to give away."
"Accept my terms, and you will find out."
Megatron growls lowly.
"Do you remember the time you watched Wheeljack lob his only grenade into the Decepticon heat exchanger?" Miko asked as she tried to get her guardian to remember while Bulkhead continues to paint the formula.
"Who?"
"Wheeljack!" Miko showed the Wrecker a picture of him and his friend. "You best bud?! Besides me, of course." Bulkhead didn't reply and turned his attention back to the formula. "Oh! Do you even know who I am?"
"Of course. You're..." Bulkhead stares at her as he tried to remember, but he just went straight to writing the formula. "Equivalent to the flattening of the oblate spheroid to the nth power internal energy of isolated 'E' remains constant."
Ratchet grabbed the board when he finished. "Keep them coming, Bulkhead."
Suddenly, Miko felt someone tapping on her shoulder so she turned around and saw Ava typing in a set of coordinates in her computer and the portal activated. She stood up and whispered something in Miko's ear before climbing down the ladder and grabbed the mop from Bulkhead's servo and ran toward the portal.
"Come on. You want to finish your formula, don't you?" Ava coaxed him, waving the mop around.
"Do you accept my proposal?" Optimus asked.
"Lord Megatron."
"Give me a moment." Megatron walked back to the troops.
"Did you find what you were looking for?"
"It's complicated."
"Well, Breakdown and I may have located the boogey, fully charged."
"Proceed."
"Just one hitch. We don't have the cylinder."
"Then bring me the head of Bulkhead."
Ava brought Bulkhead to the monster truck rally arena to make him to try gaining his memories back.
"Look, you and Miko love monster trucks! Ha, I remember Miko telling me that you guys snuck in after the show last week."
"Mass times the fusion rate square is constant." Bulkhead ignored her.
"Is any of this ringing a bell?"
"Bell curve? No, no, no. That wouldn't factor in."
Ava put her hands on her hips and glared at the Wrecker. "Okay, what about all the pranks we did when I was young? Or the time when I snuck out of the base to street race? Or maybe that one picture with Jack carrying me because I hurt my ankle?" Bulkhead continues to speak and paint the formula which Ava to sigh.
"Well, well. What do we have here?" a voice taunted which made Ava to gasp and turned around to see Breakdown and Knockout.
"If it isn't Optimus' little brat?" Knockout added.
Ava glared at them before pounding on the Wrecker's pede. "Follow me right now or these guys are gonna... steal the formula!"
This time Bulkhead looked down at her. "My equations?"
"Come on! Come on!" Ava beckoned as she ran with Bulkhead following suit.
"Not like Bulkhead to run from a fight." Breakdown remarked as Knockout jumped down.
"I'm afraid our friend had a little too much to think." Knockout taunted before contacting his master. "Lord Megatron, we are in pursuit of the Autobot and Optimus' daughter."
"Optimus, upon careful consideration, if you want the cylinder, you'll have to take it." Megatron declared.
Both sides started to fire at each other while Knockout and Breakdown entered a parking lot full of monster trucks.
"Okay then, fun and games." Knockout observed, slightly irritated and the two partners separated to search for Bulkhead.
Ava pulled down her visor to try and contact Ratchet, but she only static which made her to groan. "The 'Cons are scrambling the signal." she observed.
"But the trisector of the polygon is an integral subset." Bulkhead mumbled about the formula.
"Shh, quiet! And whatever you do, keep still. I'm gonna see if I can get far enough to call for backup." Ava announced before quietly sneaking through the maze of cars.
She stopped herself from running to hide underneath another car when she spotted Knockout just a few inches away from him spotting her. Knockout knelt down and looked underneath both trucks and found nothing then walked away. Ava peeked out from her hiding spot and sighed quietly before jumping down and started to find a spot to contact Ratchet. Her antennas twitched when something smashed against metal.
"Bulkhead. Is that you?" Breakdown called as he bent forward and broke the front window making the pieces fall to the ground. It was then that Breakdown caught a glimpse of Prime's daughter and chased after her. He picked up the truck she went under and threw it away, but not before his partner called his name.
"Breakdown, remember what happened last night you went up against her?" Knockout warned his partner.
Suddenly, the blue mech felt his servo, where she cut him, burn. "What are you saying, we just forget about her?"
"For now. Don't worry, we'll get our fair share of hurting her when Megatron decides he wants to capture her." Knockout added before pressing a button on his scanner. "Besides, games are only fun to play..." The Decepticon medic smirked when the scanner turned red. "...when you're winning." The 'Con walked to where the scanner directed him to while Ava attempted to contact but received the same thing. "I think I'm warm."
Then Bulkhead transformed and spoke about the formula as he painted Knockout's finish which made the medic to growl dangerously.
"You painted my paint job! Prepare for surgery!" Knockout declared.
Bulkhead then heard running footsteps approaching him and he didn't moved when Breakdown hit him square in the face with his hammer. Ava felt the ground shake a little and heard metal hitting against metal. She stepped out in the open and saw Bulkhead unconscious with Knockout and Breakdown above him.
"Heads - you lose." Knockout said with a smirk as he moved his saw towards Bulkhead's neck.
"No!" Ava screamed.
Meanwhile, the Autobots finished killing all the Vehicons.
"Well, in that case, no one gets it!" Megatron declared before crushing the artifact and flew away.
"Optimus! Bulkhead and Ava have abandoned base. I have their ground bridge coordinates."
"Bridge us back, immediately." Optimus ordered with a little fear for his daughter.
At the same time, Ava stared in horror as she watched Knockout about to cut Bulkhead's head off. Thinking quickly, Ava equipped her hammer and ran towards the Decepticon medic. The 'Con noticed the attack and moved his pede just in time which made Ava to hit Bulkhead's head. Suddenly, Bulkhead's optics opened and the data shot straight into the sky.
"Ah, not again!" Breakdown cursed.
"Get down!" Knockout and his partner got to the floor.
Ava gasped and took a few steps back. "I did it again?" The red beams were gone into outer space. "Bulkhead?" The techno asked, concerned before Knockout scanned the Wrecker.
"Dead battery. Megatron will peel our paint for losing that data."
"So we're gonna have to peel you." Breakdown added while Knockout moved his saw toward Prime's daughter.
Then, a portal appeared and everyone saw the other Autobots have arrived.
"Or peel out of here." Knockout transformed into the Aston Martin and fled with Breakdown following suit.
The other Autobots watched the two 'Cons before they heard a familiar voice. "Bulkhead." Ava's voice cracked, but didn't cry because she was not one of those people to cry. The Autobots regrouped around the Wrecker and the techno.
Moments later, everyone returned to the base and Ratchet explained after getting the results from Bulkhead's processor.
"The data has been fully expelled. But Bulkhead remains completely unresponsive."
"Because the energy took Bulkhead's mind with it, heavenward, lost to the stars." Ava stated sadly. Miko placed a comforting hand on the teens shoulder. "It's all my fault that we lost the opportunity to winning this war, and losing someone else with it."
"Ava, your quick thinking prevented the formula from falling into Decepticon hands."
"If anyone would have backed that play, it's Bulkhead."
"It's simply to early to know the exist of his condition. Something as simple as a familiar sight or smell, perhaps even a sound, could trigger Bulkhead's awakening."
Ava gasped when she got the gist and whispered something in Miko's ear. Miko's eyes widened and ran over to the speakers. She pulled a chord and turned the volume up before playing a note. The sound echoed throughout the base and both girls looked over to see their guardian still unconscious. Miko hung her head sadly before everyone heard groaning and both girls looked up and saw their guardian slowly waking up.
Bulkhead slowly sat up before mimicking the tunes of the song and pretending he was playing a guitar. "I love that song!" he exclaimed before spotting his two favorite humans. "Ava, Miko."
Suddenly, Ava jumped over the railing and into the Wreckers hands, hugging him. She broke the hug and glared at him. "Don't ever do that again."
The Wrecker laughed, "I would never leave my little sis without saying goodbye." he swore.
"I'll hold you to that."
"I know, kid. I know." Bulkhead looked to his charge and smiled which Miko smiled back.