Note: I'm back! It's been a while and I'm sorry, but this chapter feels all the better for it. Trust me.
Reviews!:
Game-Watch: Yeah, it felt rushed, but Clint is a trained assassin (I'm pretty sure) and Smokescreen is a clueless bean. PS: I have delivered.
childofgod80809: As a dad, I do believe Clint can sniff out the children. Smokescreen is in good hands.
Enjoy the next chapter you've been waiting a while for!
Bulkhead winced as the rookie dreamily followed Clint out of the sparring room. "I hope he's okay," he heard Bruce say from below.
"He'll be alright. After all, we've been through worse. Right, Bulk?" Arcee said as she tapped him with her elbow.
"You're not going to let me live that down, are you?" Bulkhead asked, aware of what she was getting at.
"Never."
"What are you two talking about?" Natasha asked.
"When we first came to Earth, I walked into a bunch of power lines," Bulkhead said as he rubbed the neck of his neck, a habit he'd picked up from the humans.
"Yeah. Never knew he could dance like that," Arcee jested. Bumblebee chittered in what was obviously laughter.
It was Bruce's turn to wince. He looked at his partner. "That sounded like it hurt."
"Eh. It was really tingly though." This sent Bee into a fit of laughter that shorted out his already broken voicebox. His static coughs brought down the mood.
"Bumblebee, go see Ratchet," Optimus said, gently pushing the scout toward the doorway.
(Aw-skzzt-www! I wa-skzzt-o nex-skzzt,) Bee whined, the static making it hard to understand him.
"Don't worry, scout. We'll get our turn soon," Thor assured him as he followed him to the medbay
"So, wanna go next?" Bulkhead asked his partner.
Bruce chuckled nervously and replied, "Look, I'd be excited to do this too if I were you but I don't think I'd be able to keep the Other Guy in line."
"It may be hard to believe, but I'm tougher than I look. I'll be okay. They'll be okay," Bulkhead said, gesturing towards the others in the room.
"Are you sure?"
"Don't worry about coming back, Bruce. We'll be here for you," Natasha said.
"Show them how it's done," Steve added.
Finally smiling, Bruce said, "Thanks for the support guys, but now I'm not angry anymore."
"Why do you need to be angry?" asked Bulkhead.
"It's how I turn into the Other Guy. But I'm sure he'll come out if you hit me."
The green mech looked confused for a moment before his optics widened in understanding. "Wait, you mean-"
"Sure. Hit me." Bruce walked to the middle of the room. Bulkhead looked to Optimus for guidance about hitting a seemingly defenseless human. When he nodded, Bulkhead geared up to hit him when...
"So, are your parents big green monsters too? Or is it just you?"
"Miko!"
Bruce stood still, processing the girl's questions.
"...big green monsters...just you..."
"just you"
He was supposed to be over this. His dad was dead. It didn't matter anymore. He knew he was different. He-
Bruce couldn't even finish that sentence before the Hulk took over. His clothes shredded at the seams as he grew in size and strength. He gave an almighty roar as he jumped at Bulkhead, taking the mech by surprise.
The Wrecker held Hulk by his wrists as best as he could without crushing them and yelled, "Miko! Get back!" Miko did this, but not before snapping a picture of the two.
Bulkhead and Hulk grappled back and forth for what seemed like a while at the time, though it only lasted for about ten minutes. It started to get serious when Hulk tore off a piece of his opponent's armor to get to the vulnerable protoform underneath.
Arcee started and moved to break them up, but Optimus held his arm in front of her. She looked at him incredulously. "This is a test of capability. It is not over."
Natasha, however, didn't care for what Optimus had to say, Prime or not. She got right in between the two and motioned for Bulkhead to back off. Still confused and unwilling to actually harm Hulk, he complied. Natasha slowly walked toward Hulk until he growled at her, hands open and empty.
"Come on, Bruce, I know you're in there," she said. "There's no need to fight."
"HULK SMASH!"
"You don't need to, Big Guy. It's fine. You know what, I bet the sun's gettin' real low right about now. I always heard the sunsets were pretty around here. You wanna watch one?"
Hulk came closer on his own, slowly stretching out one of his massive hands to touch Natasha's hands. They were both silent as she let him slide his hand in hers. Suddenly, he stumbled backwards, his green, muscular form shrinking back into the man he was, if now shirtless. Bruce laid on the ground for a few seconds soaking in his regained control and slowly sat up.
"You okay, Bruce?" Bulkhead asked, the worry evident in his voice.
"I'm okay now," Bruce replied, cracking a smile. "Let's say we let those two pick who's going next on their own.
"Agreed. And Miko?"
"That was so cool! What do you do after you rip your shirt? How did she calm you down? How did you take down Bulk? Have you ever lifted a car?"
"Miko," Bulkhead repeated, interrupting her barrage of questions.
"Yeah, Bulk?"
"No music on the way to school for a week."
"Aww!" she groaned. "But you love it too!"
"I'll live."
x x x x x
Now on top of the roof, Bulkhead and Bruce sat quietly watching the sun set over the horizon. It still had a long way to go, but it was nice seeing the sky bloom with reds, yellows, pinks, and oranges. However, it was still quite awkward considering what had just happened.
Bulkhead reset his vocalizer before attempting to break the ice. "You know, I've never really seen the sunsets here."
"Really?" Bruce asked. "If I lived here, I'd watch them every day. Unwind after a long day, you know?"
"I feel ya."
Neither had anything to contribite after that.
"Look, I get if you don't like me because I turn into a big, green rage monster when I get angry, so you don't have to try to get along with me or anything," Bruce blurted out.
"I don't not like you," Bulkhead said. "I think it's kinda cool that you can do that."
"Really?" Bruce asked.
"Sure. I may not be a science person like Ratchet, but I do know that radiation is harmful to humans. The fact that you're still alive means you're strong."
"So if I stuck my head in a microwave, could I be strong too?" said a voice from behind them. They turned to see Miko walking toward them.
"Miko," Bulkhead started.
"Before you say anything, I just want to say that I'm sorry for asking so many questions," Miko apologized, swiping at the ground with her feet. Sometimes I get a little in over my head-"
"Sometimes?" Bulkhead asked skeptically.
"Okay, usually," she admitted.
"A little?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. The point is, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I get that I'm too curious sometimes."
"Hey, don't worry about it," Bruce said, waving her over to sit with them. "Curiosity is the reason I started turning into the Other Guy in the first place."
"Really?" she asked.
"Yep." Bruce looked around as if checking to see if anyone else was watching them. "And if you're interested in listening to nerd speak, I can tell you how I did it," he said with a smile.
Miko's eyes lit up. "Awesome!" she exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air in excitement. "What about you Bulk?"
"It'll probably go right over my helm," he said. "But maybe I'll learn something too."
Note: I know I thought this chapter turned out better than the others. Anyway, I'm gonna take a break from the good guys to focus on the bad guys! Specifically our two scouts who we left off getting tortured. They're fine, but I wanna see if I can add to the story.
After the scout break, we'll see Optimus and Cap followed by Bee and Thor. That'll leave Arcee. Unless you want to change the order.
Well, leave a review and I'll get back to you. Byeeeeee!