AN: Whoo, third chapter!
My friend Strawwitch on Deviantart/Tumblr drew my Gijinka of Bumblebee! Please check them out, they're awesome.
Shameless advertisement: I take commissions for $10 every 1000 words.
Fushes: I can't really answer that. My friend is planning. If anything certain happens, I'll let you all know.
NecrorexSparda Juubi-No-Kishin: As far as I know, this is the first and only.
Hexalys: Thank you, sensei!
Hope you enjoy!
XXXXX
"Bumblebee and Bumblebee… this is gonna get confusing," Stated Cliffjumper as she looked between them, "I mean that name wise. Definitely not mistaking looks, though you guys could pass for siblings."
"Uh," Sari got everyone's attention and decided to ask, "What about Boybee and GirlBee… what?"
"I mean… just doesn't roll off the tongue," Said Bumblebee as he helped Ironhide move something into place.
"I mean, Bumblebee isn't bad, but there could be flashier names," Jack said and Bumblebee could help but look a little offended, "Uh, sorry."
The female version of Bumblebee looked around and thought for a moment before an idea hit her. She connected to radio transmissions and it said, "Golden… Bug… Gold-Bug!"
"What, that's what you wanna be called? How damaged is your helm?" Asked Cliffjumper, sounding concerned, though female Bumblebee glared at her and Ironhide nudged her with her elbow, "What?"
"Goldbug… I like the sound of it!" Said Sari, "Welcome to Earth, Goldbug!"
"Bumble-uh, Goldbug's suffered great internal damage to her helm. Her memory is no doubt corrupted hence this behavior. She'll require some extensive therapy to her brain modulator. But I don't have the resources for it," explained Ratchet as she let the now dubbed Goldbug back up and let her walk around.
"Ugh, fantastic," grumbled Cliffjumper, "so no racing?"
"Not even if she was stable," Deadpanned Prowl.
Cliffjumper clicked her tongue while Bumblebee turned to look at the humans. Jack… and Sari. More differences and similarities rolled into one. So this begged the question, what would be of Raf and Miko?
"Hey, boy-bee, you alright?" Suddenly asked Sari. Bumblebee had been staring and it obviously made the humans uncomfortable.
"Oh uh, sorry about that. Just, lost in thought," Bumblebee said as Ironhide walked to the center of the room with Optimus.
She held up the cube and said, "This is really it. A physical manifestation of the Allspark. Or at least, was."
That made everyone silent, the Cybertronians in utter awe, Bumblebee included. Jack and Sari looked at each other before Sari said, "We're not robot aliens. Info dump please?"
"The Allspark is what gave our kind life," Ironhide answered as she pointed to the center of her chest, "The reason for our Sparks."
"Like hearts?" Jack asked.
"They're more than organs that pump our life fuel. And this fragment could give that life to protoforms. Machines," Optimus pointed at Sari's key card and said, "The Allspark manifestation moved from this cube to your key card."
"Oh… that is so cool!" Shouted Sari.
"Uh, maybe not?" Jack said as Sari gave him a dull look, "Sari, we barely know what that means."
"What it means is the fragment chose you to bear its energies," Stated Optimus as Sari's eyes lit up with glee.
"You're joking," Prowl immediately cut it, "Optimus, this was clearly a fluke. We should simply take the key and be done with it."
"You are already my least favorite. Followed by her, I totally see you glaring," Sari told Prowl before pointing at Arcee who only continued to glare. Naturally, Sari glared back.
"Woah, take it easy," Jack said before flinching as Prowl and Arcee set their gazes on him. He turned to Sari and said, "Maybe Prowl is right."
"What, Jack no way, come on!" Complained Sari, jostling his arm.
"I mean Optimus does have a point, not like we can really use the Key Card," Bumblebee cut in.
Arcee immediately followed up with, "I think you're the last one who should be saying anything."
Had that been anyone else but an old teammate, Bumblebee would've had a snappy retort ready, at least internally, immediately. But from Arcee, that felt wrong and kind of hurt.
Optimus spoke again, "Whether we think Sari here should have it or not matter little. With the Decepticons having seen both her and Jack with us, they're officially at risk. And require our attention."
"Optimus. May I respectfully remind you we're fighting a war. Not watching human children," Prowl told her, giving the humans a disapproving look.
"Where did this stick in mud get made at?" Muttered Sari, glaring back at her now.
"And what do you suggest, we just throw 'em back like nothing?" Ironhide growled at her. She continued, "You heard Optimus. They're in this too, whether we like it or not."
Below Prowl, Sari stuck her tongue out at her with a smug grin while Jack coughed into his hand and looked away.
"So are we gonna have to stick around here for the time being? We have lives outside this," said Jack, not thrilled with what he was hearing. His eyes briefly locked with Arcee's for a moment. Her eyes narrowed and the human found himself subconsciously scooting further away.
"Speak for yourself," Sari muttered again, folding her arms.
Optimus nodded and told him with a smirk, "Jack, I believe we have something that can be arranged…"
XXXXX
'This was all wrong,' that is what Bumblebee kept telling himself again and again on the drive back to Sari's home. His partner was supposed to be Raf and Jack's was supposed to be Arcee, not Cliffjumper, 'this is all wrong."
"Holy crap this is so cool! I'm riding around in a robot person! And an anomaly!" Sari gushed, "We're gonna do so much cool stuff! This whole day was so freaking awesome!"
'I guess we have our Miko… sorta,' Bumblebee thought to himself as he said, "You're taking all of this well."
"Heck yeah!" shouted Sari, "Honestly, I should be the one asking how you're doing."
"Huh?"
"I mean, being in pretty much an all girls club. Isn't that a little awkward?" Sari asked him, "Not to mention possibly being either crazy or from a different universe, which is even more cool if true."
"Which it is," Bumblebee pointed out.
"I'm just sorry for Jack though. Dude looked scared out of his mind. Thought I'd have to comfort him or something, which would be weird considering he's literally my new and first friend," Sari continued, looking out the window as she thought about it, "Not that comforting a friend or anything is weird… just not used to that. At all."
"Isn't he your babysitter?" Bumblebee asked her, "Aren't you like, eight?"
"Yeah, so?" Sari asked, clearly a little offended, "I'm crazy smart for age thanks to my genius dad."
"Uh, right, okay," Muttered Bumblebee. She was sort of like Raf. Emphasis on sort of. Still, Bumblebee wasn't the type to not be friendly. She made a new friend out of Jack, so why not him? He followed up with, "Well, I'm glad I don't frighten you."
"Well, you are pretty short for a giant robot. Like shorter than everyone else, even the horned robo-chick. It's kind of adorable," Sari told him with a giggle, "you're almost as adorable as Goldbug."
"Adorable?" Bumblebee questioned. That was honestly the first time he ever heard that. He was not a fan of being called adorable, "I prefer the term… lightweight. I'm a scout after all."
"An adorable scout," Cooed Sari, pinching his steering wheel. Bumblebee gave Sari a loud sigh as they came upon her home. After he dropped her off, he'd be heading back to the base. Before she stepped out of the car, she asked, "I'm not gonna lie though, getting caught in a robot war sounds cool… and scary."
"You're gonna be okay," Bumblebee immediately told her, "That's a promise."
Sari smiled at him and stepped out to go back inside. Sari couldn't see it, but Bumblebee was smiling back. Once she was back in, Bumblebee went back to home base.
As she went in, Isaac Sumdac, a portly indian man with a white streak in his hair, greeted her, "Sari sweetie, I was wondering where you were. How was the babysitter?"
"Can he come over again?" Sari immediately asked with a smile.
XXXXX
"So, uh… you comfy?" Cliffjumper asked him after a lengthy time of awkward silent driving.
Jack gave her a slightly choppy, "Yeah, I'm good."
"Good," Cliffjumper drawled out. Was she nervous? No. Shy? Not in her vocabulary. The problem was just… what could she say to a human kid her kind dragged into a war? Now she was watching over him. Sure, she didn't have to do it, but Arcee? Prowl? No way. And Ironhide would be busy getting Goldbug up to speed. Ratchet and Optimus were out of the question for obvious reasons.
"Hey," Jack broke her from her thoughts, "if we're gonna be under surveillance, protection, or whatever, what about the people around us?"
"Don't worry. Sari is probably the most at risk," She noticed Jack grew more uncomfortable and hastily added, "not that that matters. The cons have no reason to look for anyone else besides you two. They're not big on other species' thoughts and socials, especially organics. It's just you two."
"Right," muttered Jack, messing with his collar absentmindedly. As for Jack, to say he was rattled was putting it lightly. What started out as a day of coming up lucky went to a nosedive of bad luck. Highschool drama sucked, sure, but this, a robot war? That probably wouldn't end after graduation… if there was a graduation. He sighed after they arrived and he exited the vehicle.
Cliffjumper said, "uh, see you tomorrow, kid."
"Yeah," Jack said before walking to his front door. Once he opened it, his mother greeted him.
Or rather, question him, "Jack… who was that driving you back home? That didn't look like the same car that picked you up or one of Mr. Sumdac's," His mother stared at Cliffjumper curiously as she drove off.
"Oh, it's one of the newer ones," Jack told her.
"Really? Looks old," She said, her brow furrowed.
"Yeah, old model, new parts," Jack told her.
"Well, I'm glad you're back home. Tell me, how does she like her babysitter?" June asked, teasingly pinching his cheek.
Jack rolled his eyes and moved her hand away, saying, "I think an impression was made."
XXXXX
"Failures and disappointments all of you," Starscream scowled at all three lined up Decepticons as she paced in front of them, "Not only were no Autobots scrapped, you let a huge signature slip through your clumsily, worthless digits. Pathetic!"
"Not our fault Optimus made an appearance," Barricade snarled back, getting very fed up with Starscream's attitude.
"You should've adapted to the situation, but what should I expect from such a failed officer?" Starscream told her before stepping closer, uncomfortably so, "tell me… do you have a problem with my leadership, Barricade?"
Barricade growled, but looked down submissively despite wanting to do more than chip the seeker's paint job.
Knockout and Breakdown were getting extremely nervous, glancing at each other as they got ready for the seeker to possibly carry out… punishments.
Suddenly, the tension was broken by the timely arrival of Soundwave and Starscream immediately turned towards her as the silent Decepticon activated a monitor.
"Soundwave, dear, what are you doing?" Starscream asked as she watched Soundwave pulled up coordinates, "Soundwave? What are you doing?" she repeated, clearly confused and greatly annoyed.
On the monitor came multiple locations on Earth, each brimming with large quantities of Energon that could be easily mined, larger than expected. Starscream's jaw nearly dropped until she quickly collected herself and said, "Finally, something beneficial! Now if only you monkey wrenches could be as useful."
Said three monkey wrenches glared, but said nothing.
Starscream turned back to Soundwave to say, "Prepare several groundbridges. Notify those aboard that several groups will be sent out to mine for Energon. And as for the rest of you," Starscream says as she turned to the group she was scolding, "you may return to your normal duties for now since I'm feeling charitable. But know failure will not go unpunished twice."
""Yes, lady Starscream."" They told her before walking off to get repairs before venting out their grievances in their own ways.
XXXXX
"Hmm…" Ratchet checked out Bumblebee's blaster, "a lower powered concussive laser blaster. An upgrade over old model machine gun weaponry. A good hit can take out a drone… but not much of a hit."
"These were standard where I came from," muttered Bumblebee, a tiny bit defensive.
"Wait, really? I assumed you downgraded," said Cliffjumper, rubbing the back of her head before she transformed her hand into her three barreled Glass Cannon, "We usually either get weapons augmented for us personally, or their modified… usually better than that though."
"If we had more materials, I could forge you something better or upgrade your current arsenal," Ratchet muttered as Ironhide, Optimus, Prowl, and even Goldbug were placing the final touches on the hideout, "there's a lot of better weaponry out there for a scout, even for us as scattered as we are."
"And now we have Starscream on our afts," Sighed out Ironhide before she took a seat on a container of Energon, "and with them knowing about Optimus… no telling what crafty scrap she might pull. It'll be worse if Starscream gets brave if she finds out exactly what we have."
"Isn't Starscream… inept in a frontal fight?" Asked Bumblebee, very curious about the whereabouts of an old enemy. Everyone stared at him with perplexed expressions and he said, "I take it as a no?"
Optimus was the first to speak up, "Starscream has a penchant for self worship… but she is far from inept. She's Megatron's second in command for a reason."
Considering the way Optimus answered him, Bumblebee gulped, "So, she's not a cowardly push over?"
"Maybe your Starscream was… this one a genuine threat. Crafty and I heard a few Decepticons dare question her to her face. Not just because of her rank either," Explained Ironhide.
"So she really isn't one to run from a fight?" Asked Bumblebee, quirking a brow.
"I hear she's one of the first in, last out," Answered Cliffjumper with a shrug before giving him a cocky smile, "Rumors though. She just hasn't met me yet."
"You really need to cool it on the cockiness," Ironhide said in a dull tone, "it's bound to get you killed."
Bumblebee internally made a vow to make sure that would not happen. Not if he could do something about it. She would not end up the way her counterpart did.
"Talk about… over… confidence," laughed Goldbug through her radio before Cliffjumper playfully nudged her arm.
"Yeah, yeah, don't talk like you're better," Cliffjumper retorted with a wave of her hand, "I wonder just how much of your memory is corrupted."
"Scrap if she isn't right though," Bumblebee chuckled out, remembering how his Cliffjumper was.
"Everyone's got a problem with the awesome bots," Cliffjumper sighed with exasperation.
"Is that what you call it?" asked a new voice, "I know for a fact your veins pump with Energon and pure liquid ego. Definitely more the latter."
"Teletraan-1 is back up and running," Ironhide proclaimed, "good to have ya back up, old girl."
"Yeah, fantastic," muttered Cliffjumper sarcastically.
"Is it necessary for our service system to have a personality?" Arcee asked as she folded her arms.
"Someone has to make up for your lack of one. Same officer killjoy over there," Teletraan-1 retorted as a digital face appeared at the corner of the screen.
"Awfully mouthy for an immobile tool," Retorted Arcee, staring down at Teletraan-1's screen.
"Okay that's new… and oddly entertaining," Bumblebee said as he looked at the system, resisting the urge to laugh so that Arcee wouldn't glare his skid plates off.
"Woah!? How long was I out? When we'd start makin' 'em built like that?" Asked the computer with both surprise and interest.
"We found and his story is that he came from another universe," Answered Optimus, "Rather hard tale to believe, but considering his mental stability and display of character, it's hard to call it a lie."
"Sounds like illogical ship scrap… but I believe it," Teletraan-1 casually replied, "Nice to meet you… uh," even their system was at a loss for words.
"Bumblebee. And I'm a mech."
XXXXX
A new day in this new world. Bumblebee took a deep inhale as Cliffjumper came by his side and bumped against his shoulder, "You're not getting a performance scare are you?"
"What, me? Never. Just coming to my full terms with the whole… where I am. You know, that sort of deal," Bumblebee explained as Ratchet got the groundbridge up for them.
"Don't tell me you're feelin' self conscious. Can't have that slowing you down before we possibly throw down," Cliffjumper told him with a smirk, "just take your mind off it. A simple chassis difference shouldn't bug you so much."
"This issue is definitely beyond that," Bumblebee told her. Since he wasn't being blasted at and being bombarded with loads more information, it was truly jarring for Bumblee to just… notice how much they resembled human women and their clothes reflected clothing. Cybertronian femmes weren't an issue, nor were human women, but Femmes looking like human women and him looking like a human male. That was beyond strange to think about, especially how that even came to be.
Didn't help to think he would be the only one either. You truly never know what you have until it's gone.
Truly, this was a new divide.
"Alright, sparklings, get going and no dangerous stunts, reconnaissance only," Prowl told them, her order's emphasis mostly focusing on Cliffjumper, "Am I understood?"
""Yes, ma'am,"" Both Autobots told her. She nodded and they immediately drove off, immediately finding themselves within a jungle. The rain was pouring down, a small muddy river flowing beneath their tires.
Cliffjumper was the first to say as she transformed back, "Oh man, here? Not gonna lie, this place is as gross as it is interesting."
Bumblebee followed her lead and poked at some foliage. He took his mind off the oddness and said to her, "Really, this stuff rubs you the wrong way?"
"Hey, don't laugh," Cliffjumper told him with a light scowl, "I handle this better than a lot of other bots do."
"Oh do you, now?" Bumblebee asked cheekily before throwing fallen leaves on her and laughing as she flinched, "Hehehaha, really!?"
"Hey, that's not funny!" Cliffjumper growled at him. Then she started having to hold back on the laughter, "Don't do that again."
"May I remind you two, you're on a mission?" Prowl's stern voice came over on the comms, "get to that signal, now."
"Right, Prowl," said Cliffjumper before she transformer and Bumblebee followed her lead, "can't keep it cool for a moment with that bot."
"I bet," mumbled Bumblebee, "I'm more so surprised you didn't have anyone else come with you."
Cliffjumper chortled, "I usually drive alone. If I did partner up -"
"It would be with Arcee?" Bumblebee guessed eagerly, hoping for some of that familiar team spirit he had before.
"Uh, no, definitely not her. At all," Cliffjumper immediately told him, slight discomfort in her voice, "you don't know her like we do. Arcee is the deadly, silent, best left alone type of Autobot most Cybertronians don't screw with. She's colder than Pluto to everyone save for Prowl."
"That is more far than I expected and hoped," the mech muttered, really disheartened to hear his old friend like this here. He had to wonder what made her like that considering how she was after Tailgate and Cliffjumper.
"Don't worry about it, dude," the "road" was becoming less obvious as they were heading deep into the foliage, "plenty of other stuff to worry about here, especially with you possibly being capture material."
If Bumblebee could roll his eyes, he would, "Yeah, that makes it better."
XXXXX
"Make sure those drones get everything set up properly and efficiently," Blitzwing nodded at Starscream's command over the comms, "Not one drop of Energon is to be lost, enforcer."
"As you wish, lady Starscream," Blitzwing cut off the comms and turned to the drones moving in on the cave below with their mining equipment and defenses, her visor red, "Everything better be up and running in a less than a breems or I'll melt you down the spot, you malcontent cogs!"
The drones immediately picked up the pace. Knowing Blitzwing, it was either that, being beaten to death, frozen, or somehow a gruesome combination of all three.
The enforcer's visor was blue again and she sighed to herself, "oh, how I wish poor Barricade could have joined me. None of these clods could ever hold up a good conversation worth their cheap, manufactured sparks," she bemoaned, keeping a watchful eye over the drones.
From farther away, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper watched on, the latter recording what was happening, Prowl speaking on the intercoms, "Blitzwing… they're making their move on any large Energon sources."
"And look at all that good Energon, going to waste on cons," CliffJumper shut off her comms, "Unless of course we decide to pull a little sabotage. Better Energon be totally wasted than wasted on them right?"
"You have a plan of attack?" Bumblebee asked her and she winked back at him.
"I'm an assassin," that was new for Bumblebee to hear… but as he thought about it, such a thing wasn't out of the realm of possibility for Cliffjumper, even with his style. Anyway, she asked, "Depends though, can I get you get my back on this?"
Now, the more cool headed of Team Prime would've said "no, reconnaissance only" and Bumblebee has matured over the years, so naturally he responded with a cool, "I'm all for it, what's the plan?"
There weren't too many drones and believed he had a good grip on Blitzwing. Not to mention they had the advantage of surprise. If they had the option to slow down the cons, even a little, now was the time to strike.
And maybe, just maybe, Bumblebee wanted to show off some of his skill to this Optimus Prime and the others. He wished Bulkhead was there to see this. He would've totally said yes too.
"A few well placed shots outta be good, then we can start picking them off," Cliffjumper's eyes looked onto the cons, analyzing the scenery around, and she chuckled to herself, "I can get myself to a nice vantage point on the other side to get the drop on them. A simple and effective ambush. we can meet south of here if we lose each other."
"Sounds like my kind of fun. I'll be on the opposite end and waiting for your signal," Bumblebee replied to her, giving the femme a thumbs up. Cliffjumper went on the move and Bumblebee slowly went into position, keeping his ears and ears open on every con he could, especially their big bad triple changing boss woman.
Blitzwing was still in the heart of it barking out orders and cursing out her drones, "Hurry the frag up, the faster I'm out of this organic hell hole, the faster we can go on the merri-go-round to home base!" Her visor was back to blue once more after her tone shift and she silently watched the drones like a hawk, almost as if she was waiting for a mistake or trouble.
That was immensely unnerving to Bumblebee the way her emotions shifted like tides. She clearly had a personality disorder ranging from rage, calculated, and crazy, all unnerving. Those powers of her made her far more volatile. It made Bumblebee sort of feel bad for those drones.
He watched as the group's few mining drills were near the cave entrance, a small portion of Energon clusters near them. Bumblebee noticed a flash of light directly in his eyes and he turned to it. Cliffjumper was in position and ready to strike. He nodded and set his sights on an Energon cluster.
Both Autobots open fired, blowing up the clusters in their sights, toppling over two miners while taking out a few drones in their first few shots before getting on the move, continuing to flank them.
"Decepticons to battle!" Roared Blitzwing over the fire, pure rage on her face before ducking, narrowly avoiding fire from Cliffjumper's glass cannon. The con beside her wasn't so lucky, taking it to the chassis before toppling over as it crumbled like shattered glass.
Blitzwing recognized the laser fire from Bumblebee's ranged weaponry and immediately went after him, shoving a drone out of the way. With her like this, her ranged weaponry was naturally a scorching hot flamethrower. Sadly, her firepower's effectiveness was hampered thanks to the wet weather and foliage.
This worked in Bumblebee's favor as he stayed in cover, narrowly avoided Blitzwing's scorching fire along with drone lasers, and kept shooting the Decepticon drones. They would go down first, a good chunk were already down as it is from the start.
Suddenly, Cliffjumper's voice was heard over the constant barrage of gunfire as she jumped into the heart of the cons, "Let's make this fun!"
She landed on a drone who took a direct shot to the chassis, her fuel tank breaking in half before Cliffjumper grabbed her top half and threw her into another drone. This caused her to fire a stray shot at a nearby group of Energon clusters, making it explode, another brief flash of blue enveloping the scenery. Cliffjumper cheered and kept firing until drones got into range for close combat.
"Oh, scrap," Bumblebee got a chill up his spine and immediately bolted into the fray from his cover, firing his gun as he ran to back Cliffjumper, sliding under Blitzwing who intended to clothesline him, "Cliffjumper, handle the drones," Bumblebee backflips out of the way of her ice cannon, which was obviously much more effective in this weather, "I'll handle Miss-Multi-Mode here!"
"I'll split her open after I melt you down!" Blitzwing roared until quickly switching back, "Excuse the temper. You'll be brought back alive."
Blitzwing shielded her face from Bumblebee's lasers as she charged straight towards him.
XXXXX
Prowl growled as she looked at Bumblebee's and Cliffjumper's readings. Guessing from the way their Energon signals pumping at a high rate, they were no doubt in combat.
"Staring at it won't make them hurry back faster, Prowl," Ratchet sighed to her as she made sure Teletraan-1's systems were stable, "how are you feeling?"
"Cluttered, cramped, in a serious need of a makeover. But it definitely beats getting shot at," The computer answered.
"They should've been back by now, I told them so. If they found something more of interest, they should have told me," Prowl told her, her displeasure very clear.
"Battlefield has never been that simple, Prowl. War doesn't follow a simple function," Ratchet sagely told her.
"No, but soldiers should," Prowl said as she walked off for a brief moment, "keep me notified if you see anything drastically develop, Teletraan-1. I need a few klicks alone."
"Aye, aye, officer killjoy," the computer replied to Prowl's chagrin.
The Autobot walked off until she was out of ear shot of both medic and computer, contacting someone on a private channel, "Arcee, come in."
"I'm at the objective ma'am. The humans are currently back at the Sumdac residence. Nothing unusual," Arcee informed, cautiously hiding out in the distance from anyone's notice. She kept her sniper on Sari's room and monitored the readings.
"Good. Be ready for anything," Prowl told her.
"Yes, ma'am," Arcee replied. Prowl let out an exhale of relief upon hearing that.
Always good to have some form of order within this chaotic mess.