Chapter 8: Forgive And Forget

With that decision in mind, Hot Shot left his quarters and went in search of Hoist.

"If I know Hoist, he's probably in his workshop cooking up a new invention or tinkering with something." he said.

But when Hot Shot came to Hoist's workshop, there was nobody there.

"That's odd." said Hot Shot. "I could have sworn he'd be in here."

It didn't take long for Hot Shot to come up with another possible idea for where Hoist may be.

"Maybe he's in his quarters." he said.

Hot Shot then went to Hoist's quarters and rang the door buzzer. But there was no response, so he tried two more times. Still, no answer. It seemed as if Hoist was in the room, and either he was too busy to answer or didn't even want to answer. Hot Shot assumed the first one.

"Okay, Hoist, I'm coming in." said Hot Shot.

With that, Hot Shot opened the door with the door controls, but like in the workshop, there was no sign of Hoist being in the room, or any other bot for that matter.

"Gee, where is Hoist?" Hot Shot pondered. "He must be here somewhere!"

"Looking for something, Hot Shot?" asked a familiar voice.

It was Salvo.

"Hey, Salvo." said Hot Shot. "I'm looking for Hoist. Have you seen him?"

"As a matter of fact, I have." nodded Salvo. "He's outside with Boulder and Ratchet."

"Oh, okay." said Hot Shot. "Thanks, Salvo."

Salvo winked in response, and Hot Shot went outside, and sure enough, he found Hoist, who was helping Boulder and Ratchet plant some saplings on the Academy grounds.

"Hey, Hoist!" called Hot Shot as he ran over.

Hoist, Boulder, and Ratchet noticed Hot Shot.

"Hot Shot?" asked Hoist curiously. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." replied Hot Shot. "I just want to talk to you.

Hoist was surprised.

"But what about you not wanting to talk to me anymore?" he asked. "Aren't you still upset with me because what happened?"

"Not anymore." said Hot Shot.

"What do you mean?" puzzled Hoist.

Hot Shot took a deep breath.

"Hoist, I am so sorry for the way I've been treating you." he sighed. "I was just so upset over what happened that I let my feelings control my actions. It was very wrong of me to treat you like that, and I shouldn't have done it. I know you didn't mean for this whole thing to happen. I'm also sorry I refused your help with fixing the Dimension Bridge like you offered."

Hoist smiled at those words.

"Apologies accepted." he said. "And I'm sorry too for what happened in the first place."

"Don't worry about it." said Hot Shot. "I'm the one who took it so personally, not you."

"True." agreed Hoist.

"And one more thing, Hoist." Hot Shot went on. "Can you please help me fix the Dimension Bridge? I can't do it alone."

Hoist laughed.

"Of course!" he grinned.

Hoist then looked at Boulder and Ratchet.

"Will you help us too?" Hoist asked.

"Sure." replied Ratchet.

"Absolutely." nodded Boulder. "But first, we should finish planting these saplings."

Hoist, Hot Shot, and Ratchet agreed, and after they finished planting the saplings, they went inside to the room where the Dimension Bridge was, and when they saw what had happened to it, they were shocked, especially Hoist.

"What the scrud happened in here?" asked Hoist.

"I'll tell you." said Hot Shot.

Hot Shot then explained to the three other bots what happened when he tried to fix the Dimension Bridge himself. Initially, Hoist was a little bit angry that Hot Shot had messed around with one of his inventions and ended up ruining it in the process, but that quickly wore off when Hot Shot said it was an accident, which Hoist understood right away.

"Looks like we'll need some new parts." said Boulder as they assessed the state of the machine. "Because these ones are pretty much fried."

"I'm sure I've got lots of the parts we may need for it in my lab on Cybertron." added Ratchet.

At that moment, another thought struck Hot Shot's mind.

"Hey, maybe Fixit would like to help as well." he said.

"Good idea, Hot Shot." said Hoist. "I'll call him and ask."

"And I'll head on over to Cybertron and see if I have those parts we need." said Ratchet.

With that, while Ratchet SpaceBridged to Cybertron, Hoist made the call to Fixit all the way in Crown City, and he agreed to come to the Academy via the Ground Bridge to assist in the repairs.

"Alright, thanks, bud." said Hoist.

"No problem." replied Fixit. "Any time."

With that, the two ended their call.

"Well, Fixit said he'll swing by and help." said Hoist.

"Great." smiled Hot Shot. "Boy, I can't wait to get started on the repairs."

But then, right as soon as Hot Shot said that, Ratchet returned, looking kind of disappointed.

"Okay, I've got good news and bad news." he said.

"What's the good news?" asked Hot Shot.

"I think I'll start with the bad news first." replied Ratchet. "The bad news is that I don't have the right parts we need to fix the Dimension Bridge. But the good news is that I can order some more, but it may take a while for them to arrive."

"What do you mean by "a while"?" prodded Hot Shot.

"About three or five terracycles at the most." said Ratchet. "I'm sorry, but it's the only option we have."

Hot Shot was upset, but knew that Ratchet was right.

"Okay." he sighed. "I guess I can wait."

Hot Shot then left the room in sadness. Hoist, Boulder, and Ratchet watched him leave.

"Poor Hot Shot." Hoist frowned.

End of Chapter 8