Before we begin, there will be a little hint at what's to come. One of the characters I will include, I'm going to be cheating with the design. Also, there WILL be human antagonists (this is 1984, guess who the bad humans are), as well as more humans, Autobots, and Decepticons joining the main cast. Plus I got this weird message that kept saying, "all shall be one" or something. Anyways, as usual, Hasbro owns everything that is Transformers yadda yadda yadda, now let's ROLL OUT!
We now return to The Transformers!
Chapter 3: More Than Meets the Eye Part 3
Previously, the transformers had just arrived on planet Earth, and not all was going exactly to plan. Most of the Autobots have either gone missing or rendered unfit to fight, which prompts the Decepticons to make their next move. Fortunately, a stowaway aboard the Ark might be their saving grace. The Autobot stowaway known as Sunstreaker located Bumblebee, and they were headed towards the Ark, only for the Decepticons to find them.
Will Bumblebee and Sunstreaker be able to defeat Menasor? Is this the end for Optimus Prime and the Autobots? Stick around for the answer!
As it turned out, Thundercracker wasn't kidding when he said he was continuing the mission. Although he and the other Decepticons were busy following Bumblebee's signal, he managed to find the Ark without it.
"Uh oh, looks like we got some company," Wheeljack said as he was looking at the radar computer.
"Can't you fix the medical equipment any faster," Red Alert asked, beginning to fidget with impatience. They needed to get this done quickly, who knows how much time they had.
"You can't rush perfection!" the inventor quipped back, not bothering to look at the med-bot.
"But you sure can rush imperfection."
"We need someone to drive them off," Ratchet ordered, "I have to stay here and keep Optimus alive."
"RED ALERT," Wheeljack suggested.
"NO," Ratchet snapped, "we are NOT losing Red Alert as well."
"But I gotta stay behind too to fix the systems," Wheeljack argued, "plus I'm a fixer, not a fighter."
"The tools are only as good as the bot holding them," Ratchet stated. Now, this presented a problem. Either they send Red Alert out there (of which would either make Prime mad at them, or get them all killed anyway), Wheeljack could go out and TRY to fight them off, or they could stay there and accept their fate.
"All right, I'll do it," Wheeljack reluctantly agreed, as he grabbed a gun and headed out.
After a minute or so, the two medics saw laser fire and Wheeljack's arm, followed by him falling to the ground.
"RED ALERT," the doc bot shouted as he saw her fleeing at the sight of Wheeljack's demise before he too was shot.
"Thundercracker, take care of the last one," Starscream commanded. He searched all over the Ark until he found her in the energon storage room, holding a cube in one hand, and holding a gun pointing at it with the other.
"Give me the energon, and I won't hurt you."
She replied by only slowly shaking her head.
"You don't want to do this!"
Her hand was shaking violently, ready to pull the trigger and blow the whole ship up.
Then, he suddenly had an idea. "I found two of your friends, they're alive!"
"LIAR! YOU KILLED THEM, JUST LIKE YOU KILLED WHEELJACK AND RATCHET!"
"I didn't KILL anyone! I don't even have the energy to."
Her eyes then widened, and she lowered her gun.
"Okay, between you and me, I HATE being a soldier, and I'm only doing this just to save myself." Thundercracker drawled, gesturing with his gun as he spoke.
"Really? How do I know you aren't lying? How do I know you aren't trying to make me lower my guard so you can kill me? HOW CAN I EVEN TRUST YOU!" She was right, how CAN he even be trusted?
"Don't you see, this is EXACTLY why I hate being a soldier! I hate that nobody trusts me, I hate that I have to a job I'm only BUILT for, and I hate that everyone else around me is a TOTAL MORON!" Then for some reason, she felt a strange feeling that felt like she was angry at herself, yet another that sort of understood him.
"Tell you what, let's make a deal."
-000-
"Starscream, I terminated the Autobot and got an energon cube. Although, this is the only one they had onboard."
"For once, you did something right," Starscream commemorated, "now give it to me so I-"
Suddenly, Thundercracker pointed his gun at him, the barrel inches from his faces.
"THIS is for MEGATRON!" He all but screamed, a digit coming to rest on the bang-bang switch.
"I'm with what's-his-face on this one," Sunstorm added, "sorry."
"I knew you were a traitor," Starscream growled.
"You're the traitor for wanting this last energon cube for yourself!"
This was checkmate, and Starscream knew it.
"Fine, we shall deliver the energon cube to Megatron."
"We shouldn't be wasting any more energy, especially if the Stunticons want to combine."
(Speaking of which, let's transition to one hour earlier.)
"Why won't you DIE already!" Slipstream shouted at Bumblebee.
Just as Thundercracker had said, they were low on energy, and couldn't afford to waste anymore. This was Menasor's biggest drawback (as well as every other combiner), it was an energy hog! At that very moment, the humans saw dark clouds rolling in.
"Sunstreaker," Isaac called out, "we have an idea!"
"Whatever it is, it better be quick and not ruin my paint job," she insisted, "I can't let Bumblebee die!"
"You see those clouds," Beth said, pointing up at the sky.
"Yeah, rain, which will ruin me! What about it?"
"Those are no ordinary rain clouds," Isaac continued, "those are thunderstorm clouds!"
"And...?"
"And, and that big robot is made of metal, right," Beth asked.
"Technically it's a different metal, so..."
"USE HIM AS A LIGHTNING ROD," Dex shouted. Acting quickly, Sunstreaker shot at the giant's shoulder joints, causing it to drop Bumblebee.
"What are you doing, CRUSH THEM," Slipstream ordered.
"Maybe you should use a weapon," Sunstreaker suggested.
Taking that advice, Menasor grabbed the nearest thing, which happened to be Skywarp's unconscious body, then it started to rain.
"What's going...," he muttered before realizing his predicament.
"Bee, wake up, you have to wake up," the female Autobot pleaded.
"HEY, PUT ME DOWN YA BIG LUG," Skywarp shouted, as he was raised. As planned, a bolt of lightning struck its arm (as well as Skywarp), with the rainwater aiding in the conductivity.
After the smoke cleared, the only thing left was a smouldering pile of charred Decepticons. At that very moment, Bumblebee slowly regained consciousness and stretched himself out.
"Note to self: never fight a combiner unarmed," he groaned.
The female Autobot sighed, "I'm glad you're still alive."
"Man, I hate to interrupt, but shouldn't we be going?" "I know where the Ark is, it's not too far from here. Let's go!"
XXXXXX
"Starscream, report," Megatron demanded.
"We wiped out the Autobots, and Thundercracker brought you some energon."
"How very generous of you, putting others before yourself, especially your leader..."
Just then, the Stunticons arrived all charred.
"Stupid Autobots defeating Menasor without weapons," Drag Strip grumbled.
"Tell me what happened."
"Y-y-you're not gonna l-l-like this," Breakdown stammered, "but the Autobots defeated us and ESCAPED!"
"This is all Motormaster's fault," Drag strip complained, "if he were better at leading us, then all the Autobots would've been DEAD by now!"
"To be honest, becoming Menasor was a bad idea," Dead End argued.
"This is YOUR fault too," Drag Strip continued, "your negative thinking caused Menasor to be WEAK, which gave them the advantage!"
"ENOUGH," Megatron yelled, having about all of this he could take. "Our next plan no longer requires the destruction of the Autobots. What it does require... is ingredients to conjure up energon to keep us going."
"But, where do we get the ingredients, boss?" Skywarp interrupted.
"This planet is rich in resources, which means we shall gather them, process them into energy, and then harness it. Then, we shall return home VICTORIOUS!"
XXXXXX
"Here we are, the Ark," Bumblebee announced.
"This is what you guys came in," Dex commented, "man, this is so trippy."
"Ditto," Beth and Isaac added. Then, they saw a figure moving in the shadows.
"Don't move," the two Autobots ordered.
"You're alive, Bumblebee," the shadowed figure asked. It was obvious who the voice belonged to, and Bumblebee decided to do the unthinkable: run up to the shadowed figure and hug it.
"What are you doing," Red Alert asked. "You guys were right, hugging IS supposed to be awkward."
"Tell me about it," Sunstreaker added, as she joined in on hugging her baby sister.
"It's a good kind of awkward," Isaac corrected, "you'll get used to it."
"So, what happened here," the yellow Autobot asked as he looked at the body of Wheeljack and Ratchet.
Red Alert could not tell him for some unknown reason, for she was feeling the same feeling when she was with Thundercracker.
"Are you all right?" he asked after a short pause.
"I don't know, I can't tell you because there is this... 'thing' inside me that's disappointed at me."
"It's called guilt," Bumblebee answered, "it's when you're mad at yourself for doing the wrong thing, especially if it's nothing. That's what the humans told me anyway."
"So why do you feel this way," Sunstreaker asked.
She then gave them their answer.
"Decepticons came in and shot up Ratchet and Wheeljack so I ran, then I gave one of them some energon so I wouldn't let those two die. That's why I couldn't tell you."
"What's the status on the ship," Sunstreaker asked. Then, they heard the groaning of a familiar voice. It was Wheeljack, and, just as Thundercracker said, he was still alive!
"The... ship... needs... p-p-power..."
"What do you mean 'it needs power'?"
"Maybe it needs a jump start," Dex suggested, "my dad always said, 'if it don't work, keep hitting it until it's hit enough, or if you hit it the right way'."
"But wouldn't that break it?" Red Alert asked.
"He said 'the RIGHT way'," Bumblebee corrected.
Beth looked at the other Autobots and asked,
"Who are your friends?"
Bumblebee and Sunstreaker both explained as they pointed to each of them.
"The white one missing an arm is Wheeljack, he usually makes things that don't work well."
"The other white one on the ground is Ratchet, he usually patches us up."
"So he's your doctor," Beth asked.
"Pretty much," the female yellow Autobot replied simply.
"The smaller red one is Ironhide," Bumblebee continued, "he uses guns to solve all his problems."
"The black one is Prowl, he uses his mind a little more than Ironhide."
"...And finally, the big red one is our leader: Optimus Prime."
"Hey, are they even alive?" Dex asked, tipping his head up to the much taller femme.
Red Alert answered, "they won't be soon if we don't get the power back up!"
"Maybe we need to jump-start it from the ship from the outside!"
"With what, an Earthquake?" Sunstreaker demanded snarkily.
"Maybe we can make our own," Isaac suggested.
"How?"
"Maybe there's a volcano around here or something. We could trigger an eruption by throwing explosives into the top of one!"
Sunstreaker hated the plan because it involved getting even dirtier, climbing a volcano, and causing an eruption; however, she knew Optimus was more important than her looks.
"So, where do we get explosives?"
Bumblebee then pointed to his arm.
"You have explosives in your... OH!"
"It's gonna take almost every grenade and rocket," he explained, "but I believe it WILL be enough."
...
"Hey, you guys there yet?" Isaac asked.
"We're nearly at the top," Bumblebee answered, "how are Optimus and the rest?"
"Everyone else is fine, but he seems to be close to flatlining," Red Alert advised.
When the pair reached the top, they threw in every explosive they could carry into the volcano and ran as fast as they could away from the epicenter.
"This had better work," Red Alert prayed.
"Cross your fingers, guys," Isaac suggested.
"How is that going to help us?"
"It makes it so good things are more likely to happen."
Just as planned, the explosives caused an eruption, which caused the area around them to shake.
At first, there was only dead silence.
"It didn't work, he's not gonna make it," Red Alert mumbled.
"Give it some time," Dex advised. Then, they heard a voice coming from the main computer.
"Teletraan 1, online," the computer announced, "main systems, online."
"I can't believe your nonsensical plan worked," Beth admitted to Isaac. Almost everything in the ship began to come alive again.
"What will you tell Prime and the others," Red Alert asked the other two Autobots.
Bumblebee thought to himself, then told her, "we'll tell him you were doing your job."
"I'm not sure if I'll be able to revive him without Ratchet, even WITH the medical equipment."
"Maybe I can help," Beth suggested.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Isaac argued, "you're STUDYING medical... whatever that course is called, and it's designed for humans."
"Not to mention we got class in two days," Dex added.
"Don't worry," she said, "maybe I'll learn something from this."
The transformers will return!
(Okay, these first chapters are supposed to be a homage to the first episodes of the original Transformers cartoon (except for the choice of characters, the kind of events that are unfolding, and some weirdness in writing). The day I started writing this chapter is also the day I published the chapter explaining the rules of writing this story. If you have anything positive to say about this story, tell me things you liked such as favorite part, favorite character/s, or even favorite chapter. If you have anything negative to say about the story, please explain why in good detail so that I, to the best of my abilities, can make it better hopefully. Also, expect some changes in continuity in this story's canon after this chapter. Thank you all, you have been a wonderful audience.)