Disclaimer:Transformers belongs to Hasbro, Takara, etc . The only thing in this that belongs to me is Arcee's sister.
Raf was browsing on the conspiracy website with his laptop and found a picture of Bumblebee in his robot form running through a small town titled 'Giant Alien sighting'.
"Removing Bumblebee and replacing him with…" Raf said as he removed the picture of Bumblebee and placed it in his Personal encrypted folder. He then pulled out another picture and placed it in the slot where the photo of Bumblebee once resided. The picture that replace Bumblebee was a GIF of a tap dancing monkey.
"The tap-dancing monkey strikes again," Jack said as he and Raf high-fived and Bumblebee beeped as he got up as he walked away.
"Bumblebee sightings on the world wide web are no laughing matter," Ratchet chided from the Cybertronian computed system.
"Seven, Eight, Nine," Miko counted as she and Bulkhead laid on their sides…doing Pilates.
"Why can't I drive from now on?" Bulkhead asked.
"Because your legs will atrophy if you choose not to use them," Ratchet answered, causing Bulkhead to moan in disappointment.
"One, Two, Three," Miko began counting again, despite Bulkhead's protests.
"Is that what I think it is?" Jack asked as he pointed at an image on the laptop titled 'Mystery meteor'.
"A Cybertronian escape pod?!" Raf said, confirming Jack's suspicions.
"Here in Earth's atmosphere?!" Ratchet said with disbelief.
Raf transferred the image onto the center monitor of the Cybertronian Computer System.
"Autobot or Decepticon?" Arcee inquired.
"Impossible to tell given the image resolution," Ratchet sighed.
"In any event, this merits investigation," Optimus proclaimed.
"Could be a trap," Arcee warned, "And we're down one bot."
"Should we reach out to Wheeljack?" Chromette suggested.
"I can hear you!" Bulkhead called from his position on the floor sitting cross-legged on the floor.
"I don't care if Bulkhead isn't combat ready! After that revenge stunt he pulled with Miko, Wheeljack can stay rogue!" Ratchet voiced his opinion.
"An Autobot may be in distress. Ratchet, bring your medical kit," Optimus instructed.
Using the Ground Bridge, Optimus, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Arcee and Chromette arrived at the forest area where the escape pod crash-landed. The area looked a lot like the mountain forest where Airachnid's ship crash-landed.
When they reached the pod, Arcee removed the dirt and other substances that were covering the insignia. When they did, they saw the red insignia stand out amongst the black and grey of the pod.
"It is of Decepticon origin," Optimus rumbled.
"And the 'Con inside blew his way out," Arcee surmised.
"Um, Optimus, we have trouble," Chromette said as she looked behind.
"What do you mean, Chromette?" Optimus asked.
"Let's just say that there are Insecticon and Vehicons approaching us," Chromette answered.
The rest of the Autobots turned around and saw Insecticons and Vehicons were shooting at them.
It was raining blaster fire as the Autobots and Decepticons shot at each other. The only ones that weren't opening fire on their enemies were the Insecticons, who typically prefer to get their servos dirty.
"All of those 'Cons came out of one pod?" Arcee said with disbelief.
"Humans refer to the phenomena as a 'clown car," Ratchet said as he transformed his servos into blades.
Meanwhile an Insecticon flew towards Optimus before transforming into its robot mode and tried attacking the Autobot leader only for Optimus to use his sword on the Insecticon before shooting the Insecticon in the spark chamber and shot another Insecticon approaching him in the Spark chamber as well.
Ratchet, however, wasn't as lucky as Optimus as he was thrown into a boulder by another Insecticon, who prepared to deliver the fatal blow to the medic. Ratchet's optics widened in horror as he prepared for the inevitable. Then suddenly Arcee punched the Insecticon, causing the Insecticon's beetle limbs to fall off, the Insecticon grabbed the blue femme, she kicked him in the arms as she struggled to escape the Insecticon's grasp and flew into air and jumped backwards landing next to Bumblebee and Chromette as they began shooting at the Insecticon and startled shooting at the Insecticon with them and a few seconds later the Insecticon fell down as he died.
In front of them, in front of the trail of liquid Energon and the pod, multiple Vehicons were shooting at them as they were walking towards them. Optimus, Bumblebee, Arcee and Chromette started shooting at the group of Vehicons in front of the energon. Arcee and Chromette suddenly noticed extra blaster fire.
"Where's that extra blaster fire coming from?" Chromette asked before she and Arcee looked behind and saw an unknown Cybertronian with doors as wings like Bumblebee but was red, white and blue and had the patterns of a sports car rather than an Urbana 500 muscle car.
"Incoming!" Arcee cried as she and Bumblebee aimed their blasters at the Unknown Cybertronian.
"Wait! Sis, I think he's on our side," Chromette said.
"Why do you say that?" Arcee said with confusion.
"Down in front!" The unknown Cybertronian called back as he jumped over them and took down a Vehicon with his servo that was transformed into a blaster.
"So you were right, Chromette," Arcee said as she realized that her twin was correct as she saw the unknown Cybertronian firing at the Vehicons, "He's on our side."
An Insecticon flew towards the unknown Cybertronian, causing the unknown Cybertronian to leap backwards in front of Team Prime. A few seconds later, one of the blaster shots from the Unknown Cybertronian came into contact with the energon with the escape pod, igniting the energon.
"Fall back!" Optimus ordered as he saw the energon starting to ignite.
All six Autobots barely managed to find cover in time before the pod exploded. The force of the explosion left them barely able to stay on their feet. When the smoke cleared, they saw blue flames attacking the ground and what was left of the trees in the area. There were also no signs of the Vehicons and Insecticons that were attacking them before. It was safe to presume they were killed in the explosion.
"Whoo! Too hot for you, 'Cons?!" The unknown Cybertronian cried out in excitement after surveying the damage.
"Friend of yours?" Ratchet asked Bumblebee, who buzzed a reply telling him that he doesn't know who the unknown Cybertronian is.
"Never seen him before," Arcee spoke up.
"He doesn't look familiar," Chromette said.
"Torching That Energon leak, pretty good plan, right?" The unknown Cybertronian asked.
"Except that it wasn't your plan," Arcee pointed out, "It was a random shot that almost cried us to a crisp."
"Worked out didn't it " he retorted.
"You're right it did work out," Chromette told him.
"Thank you, fellow Autobot. Your valor is to be commended," Optimus said as he stepped forward, causing the unknown Autobot to stare at him with shock.
"I...don't believe it! You're Optimus Prime the unknown Autobot cried excitedly before turning to the others, "He's Optimus Prime!"
"We know," Arcee and Chromette both said at the same time.
"Yes. Yes," Ratchet muttered to the unknown Autobot, while Bumblebee beeped a response.
"What is your name, Soldier?" Optimus asked the unknown Autobot.
"Smokescreen, sir!" Smokescreen answered before saluting Optimus.
"Welcome to Earth, Smokescreen," Optimus said as he went to shake Smokescreen's servo.
"It's an honor to be here, especially with you," Smokescreen said, excitedly as he shook Optimus' servo.
"Now what?" Ratchet asked, causing everyone to look at him, "It's not like we can just bring him back to base."
"Wouldn't be the first time an ally turned out to be a plant," Arcee pointed out as she recalled the time when Wheeljack first came to Earth, when Starscream picked up the transmission from him when he the Autobots contacted his ship and He infiltrated their base with a Decepticon Shapeshifter named Makeshift who disguised himself as Wheeljack.
"Agreed, but I doubt that will happen again, Sis," Chromette told Arcee.
"I see you received your training from Cybertron's Elite Guard," Optimus observed, noticing the special red Autobot insignia with two stripes on either side near Smokescreen's arm rotor.
"True enough," Smokescreen shrugged casually back at Optimus, not really fazed by the honor, "Though, it wasn't much more than a boot camp by the time I joined. I never even got a proper graduation ceremony!"
"There was a war going on," Arcee stated dryly, very much with Ratchet on whether or not they should be quick to trust the young Autobot standing before him.
"Hey! All I ever wanted was to be a soldier. To serve the Autobot cause. But what I got was security detail at Iacon," Smokescreen grumbled.
"The Hall of Records of all places?" Ratchet said in surprise before turning to His leader, "Optimus do you not find this highly suspicious?"
"Smokescreen, what was your assignment inside the Hall?" Optimus inquired.
"Guarding Alpha Trion during what turned out to be the final days of the war," Smokescreen answered.
"You served under the master archivist?" Optimus said in amazement.
"I wasn't thrilled at first. Watching the back of an old bot instead of kicking 'Con tailpipe!" Smokescreen grumbled as he founded his fists together before getting a look from Optimus. "Sorry, but the Big A turned out to be a great teacher and a true friend. I mean he was the one who petitioned halogen in the high council alongside Sentinel Zeta Prime to make you the next Prime."
"Rafael, activate the Ground Bridge," Optimus instructed over the commlink, convinced enough.
"That's it?" Arcee said in disbelief, "That's all you need to hear before inviting him to the party?"
"If my former mentor shared this information, it is because he considered Smokescreen a trusted ally," Optimus explained.
"Optimus does have a point, Sis," Chromette said agreeing with her leader, despite the looks of doubt her sister and Ratchet were giving her, "Just trust me on this."
That was all that was said before they brought Smokescreen back to the base. Immediately after bringing him back and the necessary introductions were made, Miko ambushed the poor guy very much like she did with Bulkhead when she first found out the secret and Wheeljack when he arrived the first time around.
"We haven't had someone new here since Wheeljack! What's your story, Smoke? Where did you come from? How did you get here? How many blasters are you packing?!" Miko asked eagerly, leaving Smokescreen confused.
"So these are the life forms we're supposed to protect?" Smokescreen asked before turning to Ratchet, "Are they all like this?"
"Fortunately not. But I, too, share Miko's fascination on how you came to arrive on Earth," Ratchet admitted.
"In a Decepticon escape pod," Arcee added.
"Sis, that was probably his only way to reach earth," Chromette suggested.
"Still got trust issues, huh? Tough crowd!" Smokescreen remarked as he looked at Arcee before answering one of Miko's question and satisfying Ratchet's fascination, "The main press of combat operations were at least 20 klicks from the Hall of Records. So things had been pretty quiet. But the situation went downhill fast.
The 'Cons launched a massive surge that wiped out the last line of defenses surrounding Iacon. I was the only thing left to hold them back. And let me tell you, I was pumped. I mean, this was my chance to see real action for the first time, to prove myself. Until everything went back.
'Cons took me prisoner and dumped me onto a transport ship. But I managed to give the guard the slip and hopped in an escape pod. Apparently, it was a long distance pod, because it knocked me into stasis. Next thing I knew, I'm hitting solid ground. Hard."
"The Decepticon warship must have picked up the escape pod's beacon and guided it to Earth," Ratchet surmised.
"Which would explain Smokescreen's welcoming committee," Arcee added.
"That does make sense," Chromette agreed, "Anyone wanna bet that those 'Cons were disappointed not to find one of their own inside."
"I think you're right, Sis," Arcee said agreeing with Chromette.
"Smokescreen, do you know of Alpha Trion's fate after the fall of Iacon?" Optimus inquired.
"I wish I did. But that was the last I ever saw of him," Smokescreen sighed sadly. "That's it, my life story. Not exactly the glory. I envisioned for myself...until now. Being here with Optimus Prime, I knew I was destined for great," Smokescreen cried happily after a few seconds of not speaking, "I mean, now that you have help, how hard can it be to end this war?"
Smokescreen heard a groan and a growl, causing him to turn around immediately. When he did, he saw Bulkhead limping towards the main room. His left was dragging across the floor, which immediately told him that he was severely attacked during a battle and he was struggling to recover from the injuries. Immediately, he began to regret his last question of ignorance.
"Take a good look, Newbie. This is how hard," Bulkhead snarled.
"Smokescreen, I would suggest that you take the time to get acclimated to your new surroundings. A tour of the base would be an excellent start," Optimus suggested.
"Sure thing!" Miko said eagerly, earning a sigh of Sadness from Bulkhead, "I mean, Jack here offers a very informative tour."
Smokescreen glanced at Jack who smiled at him in return.
"This is what humans call the Information Superhighway?!" Starscream scoffed in disbelief as he used the computers to explore the internet, "A trillion megabytes of data and none of it's useful?!"
Even though he wouldn't admit it, he found the tap dancing monkey that Raf used to replace the picture of Bumblebee on the conspiracy website highly amusing.
"Though some oddly engrossing," Starscream chuckled before noticing an odd picture with red crystals, "What is this? Ignorant life forms have no idea what they've uncovered! Red Energon! If I can possess its power, not only will I be stronger! But also, faster! Significantly faster!"
"Phase shifter. Spark extractor. Immobilizer," Jack began kicking off the list of the Iacon relics they possessed as they walked past their storage vaults. "This is where we store the Cybertronian relics that we find buried on Earth. And talk about a small universe. Because most of them came from…"
"The Iacon Hall of Records," Smokescreen finished as he looked into the vault with the phase shifter, "I remember these. …Whoa! What kind of relic is she?!"
Jack froze, immediately knowing whom Smokescreen was talking about. He didn't need to turn around to figure out that Smokescreen found the vault where they were storing Airachnid, still enclosed in the stasis pod.
"The kind you don't wanna mess with," Jack snarled.
"If you wanted to replace me, you should have called Wheeljack," Bulkhead told Optimus as he pouted like a little kid as he sat on the floor with his arms crossed, "I pile have lived with that."
"No one is replacing you, Bulkhead," Arcee said reassuring the Wrecker, "For one thing Smokescreen's too green."
"Well, Bulk's as green as they get," Miko smirked from the catwalk behind Bulkhead.
"What Arcee means is Smokescreen still has a great deal to learn," Ratchet corrected.
"Yeah, we would never replace you, Bulkhead," Chromette said, "Why would you think we would replace you? Well, other than your injury due to the Tox-En exposure."
"And once you got him trained, then what, huh?!" Bulkhead snapped, "He's in, I'm a doorstop!"
"Bulkhead, your place with us is not in jeopardy, but there is no dispute that we have long required additional firepower. It is essential that our team learns to work with our new recruit. Not against him," Optimus proclaimed.
"Better hope the hot shot's blasters are as big as his mouth," Bulkhead grumbled, "How hard can it be."
"Hey, everyone!" Raf called from his position by the computers, "Check this out!"
"Don't tell me it's another Bumblebee sight-" Ratchet started till he saw the image Raf transferred onto one of the Cybertronian Computer system monitors and was in disbelief at what he saw, "Oh my…"
"Red Energon," Optimus rumbled.
"Here?! On Earth?!" Ratchet cried in surprise.
"What's Red Energon?" Raf asked.
"An extremely rare and volatile form of Energon. Refined into fuel, it provides the power of hyper speed," Ratchet clarifies.
"We must have Agent Fowler clear the dig site of all human presence in the event we are not the only ones to have discovered its location," Optimus proclaimed.
"Now you're talking!" Smokescreen cheered as he and Jack walked into the room and pounded his fists together, "Let's scramble up some 'Con circuits!"
"Given your limited field experience, I believe further training is required before you're battle ready," Optimus decreed, something that Smokescreen didn't want to hear.
"Optimus, with all due respect…" Smokescreen began to protest.
"Furthermore, we Autobots live on this planet as Robots in Disguise. You will need to obtain an Earth-based vehicle mode," Optimus told him.
"In order to maintain a low profile," Arcee explained, "If that's possible for you."
"If you're talking wheels, bring them on!" Smokescreen cried happily.
"THE RED ENERGON IS MINE, HUMANS!" Starscream cried as he jumped through a Ground Bridge portal, the Apex Armor in his servo, "For you are powerless in the face of the mighty Star-! What?! Where is it?!"
In his rant upon entrance from the Ground Bridge portal, Starscream had neglected to search the area. It took him a while to realize the following.
There were no humans. The site was clear of the workers and the equipment they used to unearth what Starscream was looking for. Not even markers to say that the area was closed off or so they'd know where to find the dig site.
Oh. And the Red Energon was gone.
Smokescreen and Jack were lying on their stomachs on top of a cliff, making sure they were hidden overlooking the main highway in Jasper, Nevada. Jack had made it his mission to make sure Smokescreen obtains his vehicle form so when he leaves the base, he's disguised. However, he was having trouble finding a suitable form, turning down virtually every type of vehicle Jack would point out.
"Nope," Smokescreen shook his head at a white car that had driven past, not liking how simple it looked.
"How about that one?" Jack suggested as he pointed to a slow-moving old fashioned pickup truck.
"It's more Ratchet's speed, don't you think?" Smokescreen shook his head.
"Cement Truck?" Jack offered as he saw a Cement Truck driving on the highway.
"Yeah, if I were a Constructicon," Smokescreen scoffed, "Seriously this is the best your planet has to offer?"
"No, but this is Jasper," Jack answered.
"I feel for you," Smokescreen said before they continued to scope the highway for his Earth-based vehicle mode.
Optimus, Bumblebee, Arcee and Chromette raced through the Ground Bridge portal as they arrived at a cargo port. They knew that the Red Energon wasn't where the photo was taken. They had managed to trace the Red Energon to somewhere at the port.
They eventually found the Red Energon. It wasn't somewhere on the ground. It was hanging right above them. All packed up and lifted by a crane to be placed in a freight container to be shipped away.
"Fowler couldn't have a crane operator lower the thing?" Arcee said in disbelief.
"They probably didn't have time to do so, Sis," Chromette told Arcee.
"Or The humans must have been preparing to transfer a meteor to a cargo ship when they received his evacuation order," Optimus reasoned.
"That could be the reason as well," Chromette said.
"Run along home, Autobots!" Starscream smirked at them, causing them to transform their servos into weapons instantly, "That Red Energon has my name written all over it!"
With those words said, he placed the emblem on his chest and allowed himself to be enveloped in the safety and protection of the Apex Armor. For Optimus, it provided them with the trouble they were going to have defeating the Decepticon rogue. But it also taunted him about his failure during the relic hunt.
"And I am more than willing to fight for it," Starscream sneered.
"Secure the Red Energon and have Ratchet bridge it back to base," Optimus instructed Bumblebee, Arcee and Chromette as he prepared to fight Starscream.
When Bumblebee, Arcee and Chromette ran off to obey their leader's instructions, the battle between Optimus and Starscream began. As Starscream approached the Autobot leader, Optimus began opening fire on the Decepticon rogue. When Starscream was close enough, he resorted to hand-to-hand combat, realizing his firepower would be useless. Starscream was quick to gain the upper hand over Optimus, which was shown by him throwing the Autobot leader into a series of freight boxes.
"Don't tell me you've already forgotten our last encounter, Prime!" Starscream taunted with a smirk.
"Keep moving, Bee," Arcee instructed Bumblebee, who had stopped to glance at the battle below.
"She's right, we need to keep moving," Chromette said, agreeing with her sister.
When Starscream turned to face the freight crane, he noticed Bumblebee, Arcee and Chromette climbing up it, intending to take the Red Energon and deliver it back to base while he was distracted battling Optimus. Slowly, but dangerously, he approached the crane, thinking of a plan that would stop them and possibly destroy them.
"Optimus, is something wrong?" Ratchet asked Optimus worriedly over the commlink.
"Starscream has come for the Red Energon. And I fear he will not be deterred at his quest," Optimus answered over the comlink.
"Starscream?!" Smokescreen repeated in disbelief as he and Jack walked into the main room of the base, "I've heard stories about that stiletto-heeled creep back on Cybertron! Send me in, doc!"
"When Optimus requires backup, he will ask for it," Ratchet immediately objected.
"Aw come on! I've got my v-mode and everything! I'm suited up and ready to roll!" Smokescreen protested.
"What part of further training did you not understand?!" Ratchet snapped before resuming his work on the commlink and the Ground Bridge.
"The higher you climb, the higher you fall!" Starscream tormented as he chased Bumblebee, Arcee and Chromette up the freight crane.
Eventually, Bumblebee, Arcee and Chromette managed to reach the top of the crane. While Arcee and Chromette decided to go after the Red Energon, Bumblebee decided to attempt an attack. Since he hadn't battled Starscream with the Apex Armor before, he had no idea that as long as Starscream wore that armor, he wouldn't be able to attack him by any conventional means.
"Autobots! Such slow learners!" Starscream cackled.
"Optimus! What is your status?" Ratchet inquired, through the commlink, earning no response.
"Ratchet, they need me! I can do this!" Bulkhead begged as he limped towards the medic.
"Arcee?" tried as he ignored Bulkhead, earning static in response, "Chromette? Bumblebee?"
"Did you hear what I said?!" Bulkhead demanded.
"I heard, and I'm ignoring you! This might be your opportunity after all, Smokescreen!" Ratchet remarked, only to notice that the new recruit was missing, "Where is Smokescreen?"
"That's the one," Smokescreen proclaimed as he opened the vault that housed the phase shifter.
"You there! What in the name of the Allspark do you think you're doing?!" Ratchet demanded as he approached the new recruit.
As Arcee and Chromette raced ahead to obtain the red Energon, Bumblebee fought Starscream. Unfortunately, Bumblebee is still to realize that Starscream was invincible against blaster fire. Starscream easily walking up to Bumblebee and knocking him over the edge of the walkway showed this. Fortunately for the young scout, he managed to land on the second level and wasn't harmed.
"Time to unload some more dead weight," Starscream smirked as he reached down towards Arcee and Chromette.
"Sis behind you!" Chromette Warned as she saw Starscream reaching towards the blue femme.
When Arcee looked up, she saw that Chromette was right as she saw Starscream, who grew wise to what was about to happen. Looking up as well, he and Chromette saw Optimus climbing up towards the top of the crane. Starscream's fight or flight instincts failed him as Optimus jumped down and punched the Decepticon rogue. Starscream let out a yell of surprise as he found himself falling. Immediately, he reached up for something to grab.
And that something was the crate containing the Red Energon that he tore open.
His greed trumped common sense as he reached up to take the whole lot. However, he was able to grab only half of the crystal supply and he fell to the ground.
"NO!" Starscream screamed.
With Starscream out of the way, Optimus grabbed the rope and began pulling the crate up. Arcee and Chromette both immediately went forward to help, knowing that it wasn't an easy task.
Suddenly, the crane began to shake as though it was close to collapsing. Immediately, Optimus, Arcee and Chromette froze, fearing that moving would shift the tides. Looking down, they saw Starscream holding onto the base on the crane. For Optimus, Arcee and Chromette, it didn't take long to figure out what Starscream was trying to do.
"Watch your step Autobots!" Starscream crackled.
Starscream's cackles echoed around the pier as he began to lift the crane. Optimus, Bumblebee, Arcee and Chromette struggled to maintain their footing as the crane began to topple.
"Huh?!" Starscream said with confusion as he turned his helm and saw a Ground Bridge portal open nearby and a white, red and blue McLaren MP4-12C with the double 38 on both of the doors.
"Apparently, no one defined 'low profile' for him," Arcee muttered to Chromette and Bumblebee as she knew that the car that raced through the portal was Smokescreen.
"He just probably wanted a fast vehicle mode," Chromette said, argued with what her sister said to which Arcee just brushed off.
Smokescreen skidded to a stop before transforming into his robot form and Starscream let go of the crane and turned around to face the new recruit, "So, the Autobots have a new recruit?"
"And you must be Starscream," Smokescreen said looking at the rogue Decepticon, "I thought you'd be taller.
"This will not end well," Arcee remarked.
"You said it," Chromette said, agreeing with Arcee.
"Smokescreen, stand down," Optimus called out in warning, "You are no match for Starscream's Apex Armor."
"Any last words, Smokescreen?" Starscream asked the new recruit, using his name after learning it from Optimus.
"Just four," Smokescreen shrugged casually, "Kiss your armor goodbye."
With those words said, the phase shifter on Smokescreen's wrist activated. Starscream gaped in horror as he realized what was going to happen. Despite knowing what was to come, he didn't stop Smokescreen from charging at him, knowing that with the phase shifter activated, he would just go right through him.
As Smokescreen charged toward Starscream, he jumped up and kicked, going right through the Apex Armor, but not Starscream. Starscream cried in surprise and horror as Smokescreen literally kicked him out of the Apex Armor.
Well, when Smokescreen said that he should kiss his armor goodbye, he wasn't kidding.
"A phase shifter?!" Starscream gasped in disbelief as he sat up and gaped at the Autobot's newest recruit.
"Now that was a plan!" Smokescreen exclaimed happily as the still standing Apex Armor fell to the floor.
"You aren't the only one sporting a wrist-mounted device!" Starscream said as he aimed his missile at the crane Optimus, Bumblebee, Arcee and Chromette were standing on, "Think fast!"
Starscream then fired his missile at the walkway Optimus, Bumblebee, Arcee and Chromette were standing on. Neither of them moved to escape almost certain death. They only stood there with optics widened in horror.
Smokescreen could only way he in horror as the missile crashed into its target and engulfed it in a fiery explosion. The worst thing was: he couldn't stop it.
"No!" Smokescreen cried as he shielded himself from the falling debris. As approached the other debris from the crane, he looked up and saw Optimus standing on top of the crane, pulling Bumblebee back up and saw that Optimus, Bumblebee, Arcee and Chromette were safe.
Smokescreen approached the abandoned Apex Armor. It didn't take him long to figure out that the Apex Armor was a relic evacuated from Iacon and that it belongs in the vaults back at the Autobot base.
"Well, there's one good thing that came out of this," Chromette shrugged.
As for Starscream, neither Autobot knew where he was. Eventually, they figured out that he did what he always did.
Rather then stick around and endure another battle with the Autobots, he took the Red Energon he managed to salvage and took off to return to the remains of the Harbinger.
"I told you I only needed to borrow it for a while," Smokescreen explained, before turning to Optimus to clarify when he noticed the leader's confusion, "Doc here thought I was trying to steal your relics."
"Only until you explained your plan, which I then sanctioned," Ratchet said as he took the Phase shifter from Smokescreen's servo before snapping at him, "It's called protocol!"
"Ratchet is correct. Standard procedure must be observed by every member of this team," Optimus reprimanded, glancing at Smokescreen, "However , I believe we must also commend Smokescreen. You have proven to be a quick study by choosing to place strategy above bravado."
"There's going to be no living with him now," Arcee sighed.
"If it weren't for him we wouldn't be here," Chromette argued.
"I'll give him that," Arcee said, knowing that her sister had a point, before glancing at Smokescreen, "But I'm still wary of you."
"While this may lack the pageantry of a proper Elite Guard ceremony, I wish to welcome you to Team Prime," Optimus proclaimed.
Smokescreen turned to face Arcee, Chromette, Bumblebee and Ratchet. They just stood there as if it was a proper ceremony rather than something that was done on the spot. But, he'd take that over nothing. Glancing at the humans, he saw Jack smile warmly, knowing fully well that the new recruit was having trouble keeping his happiness inside.
Hearing a grunt of pain and a sigh of sadness, Miko's smile disappeared as she turned around and saw Bulkhead holding onto the doorway for support, indicating that his pede was still giving him trouble.
"The newbie did alright," Bulkhead sighed sadly as he glanced at the Alex Armor.
"Don't worry, Bulk. He's got nothing on you!" Miko promised as she raced toward the person that she was in love with, causing him to walk away, "Seriously, once we get that leg of yours back in shape, old Smokey's gonna learn real quick who the top wrecking ball around here."
Bulkhead ignored her, still wallowing in a pool made of his sadness and doubt. Instead, he continued walking away, unable to stay in the room with them in there.
"Bulkhead?"
Next is The Human Factor and please favorite, follow and review. For the person who suggested that Chromette and Smokescreen should fall in love after the second show, did you mean the second episode with Smokescreen? I am also curious of when and how Jack should turn into a Cybertronian.