It was the middle of the night, and the Autobots were tracking down an AllSpark fragment, but they had had no luck so far.
"This is a waste of time," Bumblebee boredly sighed as they drove through the Detroit streets, "We're never going to find that AllSpark fragment."
"The signal was coming from this sector," said Optimus, "And if we can track it, so can the Decepticons." Just then, several cars zoomed past them.
"What's their hurry?" Ratchet grumbled. Several camerabots flew above them and followed the cars.
"They could cause an accident going at that speed," said Elita.
"Whatever they're doing, it looks as if it's been recorded," said Moonracer noting the camerabots line about them.
"Hey, I know those cars," said Bulkhead, "They're Street Demons! Me and Sari watch them race on TV all the time."
"Amateurs," said Bumblebee, "I'll show them a real street demon!" Bumblebee then went after the cars and easily overtook them. "One side, gentleman… Fastest thing on wheels driving through…"
Then suddenly, racing down the road was a blue racecar, and it quickly began to overtake the Street Demons. It accidentally collided with two racecars, or perhaps it was deliberate. Either way caused and to spin out of control, and one slammed into the railings while another was flipped onto its side. Arriving at the scene, the Autobots stopped and transformed to robot mode to assist.
The blue racecar then suddenly overtook Bumblebee.
"So, you want to drag, do you?" Bumblebee challenged.
"Not now. Those drivers need help," Optimus called over the comlink.
"But I can catch this guy…!" Bumblebee protested. The blue racer then quickly revved away in a cloud of smoke, then he stopped and said."…I think?"
Meanwhile, Optimus sprayed foam onto a flaming car. Prowl walked to the driver's window.
"Think calm thoughts," he told her.
"And don't move!" Ratchet advised.
Prowl revealed his shuriken and slashed the car's roof in half, and Ratchet used his magnets to lift her out of the car. Bulkhead went over to the other car. He put his claw on it, pushed the car back right-side-up and then peeled the roof off like an orange.
"Hey," Bulkhead greeted, "Can I have your autograph? It's for my friend, Sari." The blonde racer groaned painfully in response then Bulkhead tapped his helm. "Uh, I think this one needs to see a repair shop."
"You mean a hospital?" Optimus corrected.
"You mean a prison ward!" said Captain Fanzone, arriving on the scene, "Matter of fact, I'm arresting both of these rocket jockeys!" The female racer was then put in a police car, with the blonde racer being placed in an ambulance. "I've been after them for weeks. They're part of an underground racing circuit."
"They race in tunnels?" Bulkhead asked curiously.
"Ugh, 'underground' as in 'illegal' as in they race in the streets and don't care who gets hurt."
"That's not what Sari told me."
"What purpose does this 'street race' hold?" Optimus asked.
"What else? They get a couple of million pay-per-view customers for their pirate broadcast, then it's ka-ching ka-ching! Big bucks!" Fanzone explained. They then turned to see Bumblebee drove up and transformed to robot mode before dropping to the ground, exhausted. "Tried to nail a blue car, did you?"
"How'd you know?" Bumblebee breathed.
Once they were back at the plant, Bumblebee pulled out his old boosters. "But we've got to find that blue racer!" he said, "If I could just use my old turbo boosters."
"Not a chance!" Ratchet barked, "Last time you used those things, you nearly flattened Sari and Prime!"
"It's not fair! Nothing on Earth is faster than me! Unless he's not from Earth. Think about it! Only a Decepticon could be that fast!
"Perhaps, but then why didn't he attack us? Why did he just run a couple of organics off the road?" Prowl questioned.
"And in any case, we can't have you causing any more accidents with your turbo boosters," Optimus said.
"And besides, our efforts should be more focused on the AllSpark fragment," said Elita, who was sitting at the monitors. "Which seem to have disappeared again?"
"Seems to show up in different locations each and every night, but it's not as if it has servos," Moonracer frowned.
Bulkhead, meanwhile, was having a stern talk with Sari.
"You lied to me," Bulkhead stared Sari down after stepping in front of her TV, "You knew those Street Demon racers were illegal."
"So? It's not costing us anything," Sari shrugged.
"How does pay-per-view not cost anything?" Bulkhead squinted angrily.
"Ugh, fine, I pirated the signal. Big deal. You said it yourself; those races are illegal."
"So if they break the law, that means it's okay for you to do it too?"
"Lighten up, Bulkhead," Bumblebee walked in and sat down on the couch, "We're supposed to be the fun bots around here. Remember?"
"Yeah, but we've still got to set a good example for her. She looks up to us."
"Well yeah, she looks up to everybody."
"Hey!" Sari exclaimed.
"Don't worry, big guy, I'll straighten the kid out," Bumblebee assured. Bulkhead hesitantly walked out. Bumblebee waited until he was sure Bulkhead had gone away. "Quick! Show me those races!"
"But what about—?"
"Well, duh, keep the volume down, so he doesn't come back." Sari shrugged, then turned the TV to the Street Demons' channel.
"G'day Detroit!" a man with a heavy Australian accent and a red racing suit greeted, "Master Disaster here with the hottest street racing action in all of Motor City!" The Street Demon logo flashed, followed by a montage of various past races with several dangerous stunts.
"Wait! Pause right there!" Bumblebee pointed. Sari paused. "Now rewind. Okay, stop. Right there!" He pointed at the blue racecar. "Has that blue racer been in all the races?"
"I guess," Sari shrugged.
"Can you figure out where those broadcasts came from?"
"Piece of cake," Sari picked up her AllSpark key.
"The broadcast came from a piece of cake?" Bumblebee frowned, looking confused.
"Never mind," Sari sighed.
Once Sari tracked down the location of the broadcast, Bumblebee made his way down there with his old turbo boosters attached to his back.
"This is where Sari said the signal was coming from," said Bumblebee as he looked down a nearby tunnel and saw glowing headlights. "Here they come." He moved out of the way and transformed to vehicle mode. "And here I go." The racecars zoomed past. Bumblebee activated his boosters and sped off after them. He drove up the slope of the wall and passed the racers.
Master Disaster watched the race's mobile command centre when he saw Bumblebee entering the race.
"What in the name of 'Enry Ford?" Master Disaster stared. "Where did that clown car come from?" Disaster clicked a button under his desk, which revealed a drawer with remote control inside of it. He walked outside, where he was met by the blue racer.
"Go show that budinsky that my races are by invitation only," he ordered and pulled out a device. "Now!"
He twisted the knob, and the blue racing car zoomed off.
"WOOHOO! I've now officially got the hang of these boosters!" Bumblebee cheered as he began passing the cars. However, just as he was getting the lead, the cars all backed out and parked on the side. Bumblebee then performed a handbrake turn to face them. "Okay! Why have you guys stopped?"
When the smoke finally cleared, he could see the blue racecar in the middle of the channel speeding towards him.
"Oh, he wants a little showdown, does he?" Bumblebee revved up, but it wouldn't move. He was stuck in a large puddle of oil. "Uh oh. Goodbye traction." The blue racer zoomed forward. "Hello, scrapheap!" Before the racecar could hit, Bumblebee went into reveres and got out of the puddle and sped off with the help of his boosters and the blue racer following close behind. "Hey! Back off, will you?" The racer drove up next to him and bashed into him.
"Nice! Let's 'it 'im again!" Disaster cheered. He started playing with the control. "Best deal o' my life when I foun' this baby."
The blue racecar was now chasing Bumblebee, who was still in reverse gear and then slammed into his front.
"So you want to play rough?" Bumblebee exclaimed and transformed into robot mode. "Try this on for size!"
Master Disaster's eyes widened upon seeing Bumblebee.
The blue racecar continued charging towards Bumblebee, who clenched his fist and swung his fist down. However, before it made contact, the blue racecar stopped in its tracks just a few feet in front of him.
"Oi! Don't move a muscle or piston or whatever you Autobots things move!" Master Disaster called. Bumblebee looked up to see Master Disaster and his trailer truck.
"You're Master Disaster! From TV!" Bumblebee told him.
"Ah, a loyal paying customer."
"Well, loyal anyway," Bumblebee said under his breath and played with his thumbs, "So what do you know about that blue racer who just kicked the slag out of me?"
"My star attraction. You'd say he doesn't make a move without me," said Disaster smugly.
"So you know him? The driver or is there a driver?"
"What do you mean? You can't have a car without a driver." He then remembered that he was talking to a driverless car. "Well, present company excepted. Anyway, forget about him. The next real race is at 2 AM under the elevated roadways near Dix and Verner. You in?"
"Will that blue buzz-bomb be there?"
"Will you show up if he is?"
"Slag, yeah."
"In that case, you can count on it!" Bumblebee transformed and drove off.
"Hope this isn't too hot," Bulkhead smiled and handed Sari a cup of hot cocoa. She blew on it when her cell phone rang. The caller ID said it was Bumblebee. "Aren't you gonna get that?"
"What?" she asked and started to try to click it off, "Oh, uh no. See, I've got this weird cell phone contract. Can't take any calls after six o'clock. Really gotta switch." In her attempt to turn off the phone, she accidentally accepted the call.
"Sari? Bumblebee. You should have been here! I couldn't beat the blue racer even with my turbo boosters! Oh, and uh, keep Bulkhead busy for another hour," said Bumblebee. Sari looked up at Bulkhead, who glared angrily at her. "Sari? You there?"
"Sari? You there?" Bumblebee asked over the comlink.
He then came to a stop when he saw Blitzwing zooming overhead. Bumblebee quickly began to follow him, taking know that he was heading back towards the racetrack. Once there, Blitzwing landed and transformed into robot mode, almost exactly where he encountered the blue racer. Bumblebee transformed to robot mode and hid behind a pillar to spy on him.
"Blitzwing to Megatron. Ze AllSpark fragment signal has disappeared. Again," Blitzwing reported.
"Rubbish," Megatron retorted, "AllSpark fragments don't 'disappear'. Keep searching!"
"An AllSpark fragment?" Bumblebee overheard, "Bet that blue racer's behind this." Bumblebee then transformed to vehicle mode and drove off to the base.
"Sari!" Bumblebee ran into the base and up to Sari, "You'll never believe what happened! I'm going to be in the next race! But you still got to keep Bulkhead distracted until I—" Bumblebee turned to see Bulkhead looming behind him.
"I'm really disappointed in you two," Bulkhead frowned.
"Oh, lighten up, Bulkhead! Sometimes you got to bend the rules!"
"This isn't bending; it's shredding!"
"But what if I told you that I'm positive that blue racer is a Decepticon. And that Blitzwing is nosing around the race track looking for an AllSpark fragment. And I bet I can find it too! But only if I run in tonight's race."
"Pleeeease?" Sari begged.
"Well, okay," Bulkhead said reluctantly, "But only if you promise you won't go on some wild grease chase without me."
"I promise," Bumblebee smiled. Bulkhead nodded and walked away.
Sari then noticed that Bumblebee had crossed his fingers behind his back. "Where'd you learn that?"
"From you."
"All right, so who's running this racket?" Fanzone questioned the blonde racer, who now sported a cast around his arm.
"'Ey, I get paid real good to be in dese races," the racer retorted, temporary forgetting that his arm was in a sling and winced. "Why should I tell you, eh?"
"Because with all the charges I got against you," Fanzone got up close to his face, "the next time you go racing, you'll be usin' a walker!"
"I can't name names. But if you just so happen to be in the vicinity of Dix and Verner tonight at two. Not that you'll ever get there in time."
"Eh, relax," Fanzone walked towards the door and slid his keycard, "I know lots of shortcuts." He started to walk out but instead walked into the door with a loud "smack". Then the door opened. "This is why I hate machines."
It was almost 2 AM, and Bumblebee was sneaking out of the plant, not wanting to encounter Bulkhead.
"You're not leaving without me, are you?" Sari frowned.
Bumblebee turned to Sari, who looked at and disapprovingly. "It's too dangerous."
"Well, what about that stuff you said about bending the rules?"
"Uh, yeah. I did say that. But…you still can't go. And you got to promise you won't tell Bulkhead."
"Oh, I promise," Sari lifted a pair of crossed fingers.
"Ugh. Okay fine. Come on."
"What's the matter? Don't you trust me?"
"Yeah, like I trust myself," Bumblebee muttered.
Unbeknownst to them; Bulkhead had anticipated this and had been hiding behind the couch the entire time. His head emerged from behind the couch with a large frown on his face.
At Dix and Verner, all the races had gathered on the track, and Master Disaster was walking down the track.
"We got lots of new subscribers for tonight's race. Guess good news travels fast," Disaster greeted, "Just like you. Ha!"
"Ugh, he's even sleazier in person," Sari snorted.
"Shh!" Bumblebee lightly tapped black tinted glass that hid Sari in the sidecar, "Look who just rolled in." The blue racer drove in and parked next to Bumblebee. "You don't fool me, Decepticon," said Bumblebee under his breath.
"Hey, I'm picking up an AllSpark fragment," said Sari as her key floated towards Disaster's trailer, "But not from him. I'm going to check it out." Sari opened his door, slid out, and crept to the trailer.
"Sari! Wait!" Bumblebee called, but she was already gone.
She opened the door to Disaster's trailer. Her key started pointing at a desk. She looked around until she found a small button underneath it. A small compartment opened, revealing a remote control. She picked it up, and the key started glowing hotter and pointing directly at the remote. Before examining it, she saw a shadow appear at the door's window. She hid underneath the desk just as Master Disaster entered the trailer. Before the door closed, she slid out.
"Okay, fellas! We're on in two minutes!" Disaster spoke into the microphone. He pressed the button for his secret compartment and found that his remote control was gone.
Sari rushed over to Bumblebee and banged on his door. "Quick, let me in!"
Bumblebee opened his car door just as Master Disaster exited his trailer, spotting Sari holding his device in her hand.
"OI! Give that back, ya little thief!" Disaster demanded.
"You stole something?" Bumblebee, exasperated as Sari jumped in, "
"Oh, like you're such a shining example, Mr Cross-My-Fingers!" Sari strapping on her seatbelt. "Just go!" Bumblebee activated his turbo boosters and then zoomed away. The racers he left behind exchanged several confused expressions and then concluded that the race had started and soon followed.
"OI! STOP! The race only starts when I say it starts!" Disaster called. He then ran inside the trailer, unaware that Bulkhead was watching from behind a pillar.
"What you get yourself into now, Bumblebee?" Bulkhead sighed, "Guess it's up to me to—gah!" Bulkhead was suddenly encased in ice.
"Chill out, Autobot," Blitzwing smiled before transforming into his jet form and going after the racers.
Sari opened the casing of the remote control, revealing an AllSpark fragment hiding within it.
"This is an AllSpark fragment!" Sari announced. "That's why Blitzwing was hanging around!"
"Not was. Is!" Bumblebee corrected, looking at Blitzwing in the rearview mirror.
Blitzwing fired his ice beam just as Bumblebee drove through the archway. The ice blocked off the rest of the racers leaving only Bumblebee and Blitzwing. Blitzwing began firing more shots from his ice beam at Bumblebee, who dodged them. Blitzwing fired a missile which iced over the entire ground. Bumblebee started to slip and slide. He then transformed to robot mode and managed to get into a standing position while still sliding, grabbed Sari, and threw her onto his shoulder. Sari started laughing excitedly. Bumblebee spun around and shot several stinger bolts at Blitzwing, who dodged them. When they got to the end of the ice, Bumblebee transformed.
"Woah!" Sari gasped, "That was fun! Let's do it again!"
Blitzwing fired two more missiles at them. Bumblebee entered a tunnel. The first missile went out quickly, but the second one hit closer. The ice spread out, freezing the surrounding air. Bumblebee barely managed to get out of the tunnel; the road then became more narrow, causing the low flying Blitzwing's wings to grind on the walls, causing him to cry out in pain.
"CURSE ZIS COMPACT CONCRETE!" Blitzwing growled as he transformed into his tank mode. He fired his heat cannon at the walls. He then blew apart a pillar that blocked his path. "HA! I VILL DESTROY ALL ZAT STANDS IN MY WAY!" Unfortunately, he had forgotten that the pillar had supported a roadway that came down upon him.
"I think we lost him," Sari sighed with relief.
"Turn left. Turn left," the GPS told Fanzone.
"Hey! If I wanted a backseat driver, I'd call my mother in law!" Fanzone barked. He made a left at the next intersection and drove right past Bumblebee riding through an irrigation channel.
"Hey! That's Fanzone's car!" Bumblebee noticed. He used his boosters to drive out of the channel and onto the main road, then caught up to Fanzone.
Blitzwing then began pulling himself out of the rubble and saw Bumblebee and Fanzone drive by. "Ooh, isn't that cute? Zey're twins!" His head spun around to his icy personality, and he used the monocle shaped scanner over his left eye to scan the vehicles. "Reader's indicate zat one of zem contains ze AllSpark fragment. I WILL DESTROY ZEM BOTH!" He then transformed into his jet mode and flew after them.
Once Bumblebee drove alongside Fanzone, he opened the car door.
"Jump!" Sari called.
"Why would I pull a boneheaded stunt like that?" Fanzone retorted. He looked back to see Blitzwing fire two missiles heading right for them. Fanzone jumped onto Bumblebee. Fanzone's car was then blown up by the missiles.
"Hey, ya know that's comin' outta my paycheck," said Fanzone, "How come you're interior so much cleaner than mine?"
"Hm, maybe because it's not on fire!" Sari retorted.
Blitzwing fired a barrage of missiles. Bumblebee swirled around to dodge them and outrun them using his turbo boosters; he even used a support column on a bridge as cover. However, he even managed to use several buildings to blow up most of them and dodge the rest. But Blitzwing was still on their tail.
"He's still coming!" Fanzone warned.
"Maybe this can slow him down," Sari pulled out the remote control, opened a window, and aimed at Blitzwing. She messed with the dials causing Blitzwing to transform to robot mode and spin and move randomly.
"VAT IS HAPPENING? WHY CAN'T I CONTROL MYSELF?" Blitzwing gasped, "Not zat I ever could. AH, HAHA!"
"See?" Sari asked, looking back at Fanzone, "This is how Master Disaster fixed his races. By making the blue racer doing whatever he wanted."
"Dizzy! Not liking…ze dizzy!" Blitzwing spun around wildly.
"This makes bending the rules really easy," Sari smiled. However, a road bump caused her to drop the remote.
"Yeah, that's the problem with bending the rules," Fanzone said, "Dey usually snap right back in your face."
"And now to finish zis," Blitzwing scowled. He flew up behind Bumblebee and transformed into his jet mode, and he was almost within firing range when the blue racer jumped off an elevated roadway straight at him. "NEVER GIVE UP!" Blitzwing told himself. He flew straight for the racer. "Never surrender!" Then Blitzwing quickly made an "L" line and flew the other way. "Nevermind!" he yelled before he crashed into a building.
The blue racer landed on the ground and sped away. Bumblebee stopped and pulled Fanzone and Sari out.
"You guys stay back. I'll handle Blitzwing," said Bumblebee and drove off.
"A little warning next time!" Sari yelled and then noticed the remote control.
Blitzwing transformed into his robot mode and crashed through Master Disaster's trailer. He groaned as he pulled himself out of the wreckage, rubbing his head.
"Oh, lucky I landed on something soft," he sighed. He turned to see Bumblebee approaching. Bumblebee transformed to robot mode and aimed his stingers.
"All right, Blitzwing put up your hands!" Bumblebee ordered.
"My pleasure," said Blitzwing raising his hands.
Then his head shifted to his hotheaded personality, and he fired his shoulder cannon at the elevated roadway. Bumblebee ran out of the way but still fell under some rubble. The shockwave also freed the nearby Bulkhead from his icy prison. Bumblebee struggled to free himself from the wreckage and saw Blitzwing looming above him with his cannon ready to fire the lethal shot.
"Back off, oil breath!" Sari demanded. She then used the remote control to take control of Blitzwing. Blitzwing flew into the air and started to bend himself uncontrollably. "Oh yeah! Now we're having fun."
"Sarr-eeee!" Bumblebee shouted. Sari looked over and saw that Bumblebee was doing the same wild dance Blitzwing was. Bulkhead broke free of the remaining ice.
"Listen up, guys! Blitzwing's around here somewhere," Bulkhead told them, "And he's—doof!" Bumblebee then slammed right into him, knocking both of them down.
"Hehe. Oops," Sari apologised.
Blitzwing managed to regain control, transformed into his jet mode and promptly took off.
With all the fun and games now over, both Bumblebee and Bulkhead approached Sari.
"I told you to stay out of the way!" Bumblebee exasperated, "Where do you get the idea that you can just do whatever you want?"
"I can't imagine," said Bulkhead sarcastically.
Master Disaster tried to sneak away while no one was looking but ended up walking right into Captain Fanzone, who quickly gave him a pair of handcuffs.
"Mister, you've just been cancelled," Fanzone said.
They soon returned back to base, informing Optimus and the other Autobots about what happened.
"I think we can all agree that this device," Optimus began as he picked up the remote control, "and its AllSpark fragment are best kept in a safe place."
"And I promise that from now on, no one gets to bend the rules," Sari smiled.
"Um, yeah, and while we're on that subject," Bumblebee scratched the back of his head.
Bumblebee fired a stinger bolt at the small cable to the satellite.
"You're cutting off pirated satellite TV?" Sari gasped, "Why?"
"Cuz it's time I started setting a better example for you," Bumblebee smiled.
"Well, don't try too hard," Sari started walking off, "I might not recognise ya." When Sari was gone, he looked back to see the blue racer speeding down the roadway.
"HEY!" he called, "Thanks!" The blue racer soon disappeared in the city's outskirts. "Who is that guy?"