Chapter 136 – Speed Demons Come in All Forms
(BPOV)
Bumblebee was bouncing around, he knew it. He knew he looked like a little youngling doing it. But he couldn't help it.
The races were next week, half an orn. He thought about it for a long moment and grinned, bouncing into the med-bay; see if his sister would do a full systems check on him.
He wanted to be at his absolute fastest!
Kae looked up at him and began laughing as he plonked his head on her workbench.
"Let me guess, you want a full tuneup?" she asked with a tolerant smile, just the way his big sister always did. Bee couldn't help but grin.
That was his big-sister.
"Pleeeaaassseeeee?" he asked gleefully.
Kae laughed and sat back on her bench, onlining her holoform.
"Well then get down here you great prat!" she called up to him cheerfully.
That was just cool.
Bee immediately transformed, idling toward his sister's holoform as she directed him to the lift. It was automatic for her, she drained his oil, changed his filter, filled it up and closed his system properly. Then she went back and took care of his coolants, his secondary lubricants.
"=Alright little-brother, rev it up!=" she told him cheerfully. In scout. He loved it when the Primes talked to him in scout. He brought his engine online and revved up gleefully, feeling the new lubricants working their way through his systems properly. That always felt awesome. Kae had his hood up still, she was listening to him intently.
"=Getting a bit of a hesitation in the third piston,=" she stated calmly, she reached into his systems and began gently tweaking his timing. Once she did he noted where it was going off.
"=My-=" he started.
"=Injector is a bit loose,=" Kae continued for him, the way she always did, even as she tightened it to just the right spot.
Bumblebee revved up until the pre-warnings began firing off. He checked his RPM and began hooting gleefully.
Fifteen thousand, the other cars couldn't even manage ten!
Oh he was gonna win! Not only was he gonna win he was gonna make the other cars cry. Kae was laughing at him.
"Just remember, keep it to the speeds that you can still sufficiently scan for obstacles," she admonished him with a smile.
"Warp factor two," Bumblebee played the soundbyte gleefully.
Kae lightly whacked his fender with her holoform's hand and wandered off, Bumblebee began idling toward the med-bay doors.
"And where do you think you're going?" Kae called out indignantly, carrying a bucket and her polisher toward where he'd been.
Bumblebee immediately let loose his own burbling chirp of glee, immediately plonking himself right back into his spot.
"You thought now that I'm a bot I'm not going to polish your armour anymore?" Kae asked in a mockingly hurt tone.
Bee brought his holoform online to catch hers in a hug.
"But it makes it just that more special to me," he stated earnestly. Kae kissed his cheeks and began wiping his armour down.
Not only was he gonna make the competition cry, he was gonna look damn good doing it. He began humming contentedly as his sister spoiled him the way she always had. She spent a long time making sure he looked just right, even repairing the almost microscopic nick in his paint.
He couldn't stop humming gleefully, singing with his sister as she maintained him. He had the bestest sister in the universe. And he was gonna go race and he was gonna make the competition cry. And then he would be able to come back here, and give his sister the trophy, because it was because of her that he was the fastest and best looking racer.
"There we go," Mikaela told him gently. "Did I miss anything?"
"Nope!" Bumblebee chirped gleefully, transforming and striding to his sister proper. He caught her in as big a hug as he could manage, and he couldn't stop grinning as she hugged him back, cuddling him.
"Right, we'll give your armour a touchup and your engines another once over just before race day," Kae told him teasingly.
Bee couldn't stop his gleeful chirp as he scampered off for his scout duty.
He loved his unit, he wanted to keep them safe. He loved his sister, he loved being a scout. Life was awesome!
He was still watching the website, waiting for the second the signup opened up.
Finally, finally it unlocked. Bumblebee instantly loaded the form and scanned the rules, driving back toward headquarters.
His processor stopped dead.
'All vehicles must have no more or less than one human occupant'
Human occupant. No less than one human occupant.
Which meant they'd probably known that he was gonna enter. They didn't want a bot in their races.
Bumblebee took off for headquarters, drove into the entrance bay and transformed. He fairly ran into the med-bay and hurled himself onto his sister, sobbing his optics out.
(MPOV)
I watched with a smile as Bee scampered off for his scout duty. My dear little-brother had been behaving himself impeccably for the past three months, he wanted to race that badly. He didn't know that the entire unit was quietly preparing to stand at the finish line to cheer him on. A race was a brilliant thing after all, and my little brother's enthusiasm had spurred everyone's efforts.
Even several of the soldiers were coming along.
I looked up and smiled as my Optimus strode in, settling down comfortably beside me as General Moreshower wandered in beside Will. He was looking rather longingly at my espresso machine.
"Coffee General?" I asked him teasingly.
"Please?" he asked with a grin.
I laughed and brought my holoform back online, walking to the machine and turning it on. I leaned against the counter and looked at him in amusement.
"Did you want to learn how to use this thing, or am I better off just making it for you?" I asked him with a smile.
"You always make it better than I could," Chris snorted. "To business?"
I looked up at my Optimus curiously.
"You are my second in command," Optimus rumbled with an innocent look. "I find it a relief to have your point of view."
"Flatterer," I told him with my own body, stretching slightly to kiss his jaw.
I listened calmly as they went over the week's issues.
"Last but not the least irritating," Chris stated amicably. "Any change on the weapons thing?"
"Nope," Optimus rumbled calmly.
"Logged as another reaming out aand, done," Chris Moreshower grinned as Lennox laughed beside him. I looked up in alarm as Bumblebee fairly ran into the med-bay.
Automatically, I held my arms out and pulled him close as he hurled himself onto me, sobbing his optics out.
"Bee? Oh Bee what happened baby brother?" I asked gently, rocking him as he cried.
Several minutes, and a gallon of tears.
"They... they don't want..." Bee began choking out. I rocked him as Optimus watched his scout worriedly.
"Bee?" I prompted him gently.
He burst out sobbing again and sent me the rules to the races. I scanned them and sighed.
"Is..." General Moreshower asked gently as I rocked my sobbing brother. Optimus scanned the rules as well and slid closer, winding his arms around us both.
"Bumblebee has been behaving himself impeccably for the past few months, waiting for the races next week," Optimus rumbled gently. "However he just received the entry form and rules, there is a paragraph stating that all cars need no less than one human occupant."
"They don't want a bot in their races!" my little brother howled miserably, burying himself into my chest plates and sobbing.
For the first time in a good while, I had absolutely no idea what to say about that.
"What does the paragraph say exactly?" General Moreshower asked curiously.
"All vehicles must have no more or less than one human occupant." Optimus rumbled sadly, rubbing my little brother's back gently.
"Oh! Shotgun!" Chris Moreshower howled.
"What? Oh no fair!" Will howled beside him. "I vote we draw straws, winner rides with Bee to fill in for the human occupant!"
"Nope, I called shotgun," Moreshower smirked.
"Fine. Next year, we draw straws," Will grumped, I looked down at him in amusement as he smirked regardless.
Bumblebee hiccoughed and stared at them in shock.
"You mean?" he chirped hopefully.
"At the human level I might have to carry your trophy around for you, but I'm definitely gonna make them put your name on it." Chris smirked at him. I beamed at the man.
Optimus was grinning.
"Our human allies are strong," he rumbled, smiling at his scout. "I have no doubt that you will drive with the utmost caution for pedestrians and your passenger. No faster than your scanners can process."
Bumblebee squirmed out of my arms and began howling, doing a dance.
"Warp factor two Captain!" he played the old soundbyte gleefully.
"So you're gonna come pick me up for the races?" Chris asked cheerfully, darting in to whack Bee's ankle. "You know, use my generalship for a warmup lap?"
I covered my mouth as Bumblebee swooped down, gathering Chris into his hands and dancing around again.
Optimus and I watched somewhat worriedly until Chris punched his arms in the air, belting out 'we are the champions' right alongside my little brother.
Optimus looked down at me in amusement and I couldn't help but stretch slightly to press a gentle kiss to his lips.
::. Are we set still?.:: he rumbled over our private channel.
::. We are.:: I smiled at him.
(BPOV)
Race day. It was race day.
Bumblebee practically scrambled off of his berth, fully charged cells, he scampered carefully into the med-bay and grinned at his sister as she laughed at him.
But she still onlined her holoform.
"Get down here you brat," she laughed at him.
Best morning ever.
She checked his lubricants and coolants, and tightened his timing until his engine was purring perfectly. Then, then she polished his armour until he was gleaming.
He revved up gleefully and checked his chronometer.
"Sunstreaker and Sideswipe have your scout duty covered, they don't want you to scratch your paint for the races," his sister informed him with a laugh.
Bumblebee chirped a laugh and settled for driving circles around headquarters.
Major Lennox looked at him for a long moment as he waited for the humans to get out of the way.
"You know General Moreshower is waiting for you to pick him up right?" he asked with a grin, looking at his watch. "Or he will be in twenty minutes."
Bumblebee chirped and idled into the entrance bay.
"Knock 'em dead!" Ironhide called out to him with a broad grin, transforming in the bay. "Bring the hurt my nephew!"
"Sir yes sir!" Bumblebee chirped gleefully, he squealed his tires a little before driving up the ramp. A quick drive and he parked out front of the Pentagon.
General Moreshower was being followed by a few more humans.
"But sir!" one of the men protested.
"I'll be back in a few hours," the General snorted.
A disappointed group of humans watched as the General slipped into the driver's seat. Bee took off.
"So it's agreed, I sit here and pretend to drive while you take care of the vectors?" the man grinned.
"You, are the best ever!" Bumblebee chirped happily, speeding a bit along his favourite stretch of highway.
"Races start?"
"Half an hour," Bumblebee smirked. He revved his engine up just as he parked in the spot one of the humans directed him to.
The General got out and promptly began showing him off.
That felt awesome. The general got respect 'cause he was already a general.
But the general was bragging about him.
Awesome.
Bumblebee was almost bouncing on his tires as the General finally slipped back into his seat.
"All yours," he murmured, touching the ignition for a moment before laying an idle hand on Bee's steering wheel.
Bee couldn't hold back the vicious grin as he idled into his spot.
He chose the back.
"Really?" Chris murmured curiously.
"It's only fair, let them get a head-start," Bumblebee smirked.
They waited. The general was grinning.
Finally, finally the flag waved and the cars ahead of and beside him sped off.
Bumblebee took off at a modest pace.
"What!?" the general demanded.
"It's not enough to win, General," Bee told him airily. He smirked. "We're gonna make them cry."
Every car was now a half mile ahead of him.
Maximum overdrive.
Bee squealed his tires and took off.
The General was howling. Cheering him on.
The rear cars tried to block him.
Pff, Decepticons were harder to pass. Bumblebee squeezed through the inadvertently left opening and raced ahead. The lead car was struggling, Bee could smell the exhaust, he wasn't burning his fuel efficiently.
Sucker.
A burst of speed to make his non-sentient counterparts envious and Bee was in the lead. He scanned ahead of himself.
Oh scrap.
There was a person on the road. Crossing the road. Standing in the road!
Person standing in the middle of the road!
"Emergency Action!" Bumblebee barked out. He transformed, the general in one hand, the stranger in the other. Bee rolled, carefully deposited the pedestrian on the sidewalk with a field stabilizing him – not a scratch – and transformed again. General in the seat, he took off at high speed. Still in the lead.
The general was silent for a moment.
"You good?" Bee asked cheerfully.
"THAT WAS SO COOL!" the general finally bellowed.
The two of them were howling with laughter as Bee whizzed through the next stretch. He tuned into the commentary and laughed as the humans howled about him being in the race. They were going on and on about the human he'd just saved.
Because they'd seen it. Camera point. Sweet!
The human had gone walking in the middle of the road.
He'd stopped a major accident and that person gettin' squished.
And he was still in the lead.
One more mile, he turned a corner and almost screeched to a halt.
His unit. His entire unit was standing transformed at the finish line.
"Bring the hurt Bee!" his Uncle Ironhide bellowed at him.
Bee threw on every ounce of speed he had, the General thrown back into his seat and howling.
He passed that finish line at top speed, his unit cheering him on.
Best. Day. Ever.
He'd transformed once, the gig was up. So he transformed, the General hooting and cheering in his hand.
Humans were running toward them, people shouting angrily.
"Let me down," the general murmured with a frown. "You won that race fair and square, and you let 'em have a head-start to boot. This battle is mine."
Bumblebee looked down at the general in shock.
Moreshower nodded to him and Bumblebee set him down.
"What's the problem here?" the General asked sternly, walking to stand in front of the bots with his arms crossed.
"What the fuck is an alien doing in our races!?" one of the other drivers demanded. He sounded completely furious.
"Winning," the general stated calmly. "After giving you a head-start."
"Well what name do we put on the trophy?" another asked, several humans turned to yell at him instead. Bumblebee recognized him finally, one of the race organizers.
"Listen up!" the Major shouted, the people went quiet.
"Bumblebee followed the race rules to the letter," the general barked sternly. "Specifically, there was no more or less than one human occupant riding with him. Simply because it was him driving, keeping his speed down to the point that he was fully capable of processing his scans of the forward areas you might say that he was the safest driver in the race. His name will go on the trophy."
"Why the hell aren't you having your own races?" another demanded sternly.
"We had our own races," Optimus rumbled far more sternly. Nobody could beat his Prime in vocal extremes. "however, being as our planet has been destroyed by war, I cannot enter my scout into our own races, there is no one left to race. But that does not mean that I will allow the younglings under my care to lose out on the experiences and games I matured with."
"Well then why aren't you just racing among yourselves?" the driver demanded angrily.
"Bin there, done that one hundred and forty eight times," Ironhide rumbled with a smirk.
Bumblebee looked around himself, quite ready to cry. His entire unit was standing around him, behind him.
"What is it little-brother?" Mikaela murmured, kneeling down and gently cupping his cheek.
"I'm sorry that I don't getta give you the trophy big-sister," Bumblebee stated softly. "I only wanted to give it to you anyway."
"What need have we of trophies?" his sister asked with a gentle laugh, winding her arms around him. "I have you."
Bumblebee grinned, then looked down at the car that had come in second.
"Trophy's all yours," he smirked. He turned around and looked at Ratchet in shock.
The Medic had innocently pulled a trophy out of his subspace, the very thing showing every indication of having been a group effort in it's creation.
Because those welds were clearly Ratchet's work, but that chrome work could only have come from Sunstreaker and Sideswipe! They'd worked together for him!? It was gorgeous!
"That one's kinda puny anyway," Ratchet smirked, nodding to the trophy in the human's hands. The humans looked kinda awestruck at the size of his trophy.
"Race you to the pentagon?" Bumblebee asked innocently, looking down at the General.
"You wanna clear the racetrack?" the general smirked at the organizer.
"No flying," Sides smirked at Kae.
Big-sister smirked right back at the predator and folded into the same configuration as her mate. Ratchet handed Bee his trophy, which he subspaced, folding back into his alt-form.
A flag man ran into the middle of the road as the unit lined up, engines roaring. His Primes flanked him, giving him a few inches forward.
When the flag waved, even Ratchet squealed his tires.
Best. Day. Ever.