21- T.M.I.
Warpath and May were watching a new kind of program: one in which pokémon use their moves to smash and destroy mountains of cars, in a similar way as monster trucks usually do. Now a Golurk smashed five lined up cars with a single Gyro Ball.
"Oh. That's gotta hurt." May observed.
"Yeah. Munch." Warpath yelled.
"Give it up for the baddest pokémon in the smashing smackdown!" The program announcer said to the audience.
"Would you mind lowering the volume?" Ratchet asked, since he was busy with his things.
"Yeah, some ones are busy doing things here." Clemont supported as he was working on his backpack.
"You guys should take a break for a while, like we do." May answered.
"Hey guys, check out the pokémon demolition derby I took May two days ago." Warpath suggested.
"At first, I found it not interesting, until Warpath convinced me to go. I even managed to take some highlights with my new phone." She added pulling her phone.
"Sincerely, I don't know how a program in which the pokémon simply destroy cars can be so entertainment." Clemont admitted.
"Innocent vehicles being obliterated by pokémon for the pleasure of human spectators?" Ratchet asked before shuddering. "Blood sport."
"Don't be exaggerated." May reassured.
"Yeah." Warpath supported.
"You could be helping Optimus in the field right now." Ratchet remarked.
"Oh, he doesn't need my help to search for some ancient educational thing-a-ma-bob." Warpath scoffed.
"Thing-a-ma-bob? What kind of word is that?"
"The thing-a-ma-bob to which he refers, Clemont, happens to be a Cybertronian data cylinder." Ratchet corrected before he pressed a button, changing the program for the cylinder's schematics.
"Hey!" Warpath objected as May groaned.
"A data cylinder? You mean some kind of great information stocker?" Clemont asked with interest.
"Exactly. And there is no telling what vast intelligence it may hold. During the golden age dozens of these cylinders were created, each containing the sum total of Cybertronian knowledge on any given subject." Ratchet explained as Clemont listened with great attention, unlike Warpath, who was getting bored. "Stellar cartography, medicine, ancient mythology. When war broke out, the cylinders were hidden throughout the galaxies to keep them as far as possible from Decepticon reach. Detecting one signal here, on Earth, is the opportunity of a…"
"Aw, T.M.I.!" Warpath interrupted.
"What?" Ratchet asked in confusion.
"Earth translation, too much information." May added.
"Switch it back! I want to see the pokémon smackdown!" Warpath demanded.
"Ratchet, Decepticon ambush! The cylinder is at risk, we require backup!" Elita shouted suddenly through the com-link.
"Backup is what I'm built for." Warpath smirked before crushing his fists and went to the ground bridge.
"Go get them, Warpath." May cheered while her Autobot guardian went through the portal.
"May, I could also get an assist here."
"With what, Clemont?" She asked before he showed that he was going to help Ratchet by cleaning with a mop. "Oh, right." She said as she was about to help him, but suddenly she stopped at remembering something. "Oh no, I forgot to send at least one of my pokémon to assist Warpath."
Seeing that the ground bridge was still open, she ran through it. May emerged from the vortex at Remoraid Mountain, on Johto, and found herself in middle of a huge battle: Optimus was battling Knock Out, Elita was battling a Vehicon tank, both Arcee and Moonracer were battling Breakdown and Bumblebee, Sideswipe and Hot Rod were fighting a lot of Vehicons. The same as Warpath, who punched hard a Vehicon tank after was hit by a grenade of Wheeljack, and was about to fall over May. But she ran and rolled out of the way and hid behind a rock, where she could saw the entire rumble. Optimus managed to block Knock Out's attacks before grabbing him by the neck and punching him hard, sending him flying backwards.
"Autobots, stand your ground. The artifact must not fall into enemy hands!" Optimus instructed before starting a fight with a Decepticon leaper.
May saw the data cylinder right in front of her, and Arcee running right for it. But Knock Out tackled her before crushing her with his vehicle form before changing again and ran at the cylinder.
"Come to papa."
Fortunately, Wheeljack pushed him out of the way.
"Run to mommy."
But then Breakdown hit him from behind with both fists before grabbing his head.
"Say uncle. Say it!"
May took the chance and ran next to the cylinder before pulling out her phone.
"Ratchet, come in."
"May? This is an emergency channel, we need to keep it open for the Autobot…"
"Wait! Where are you?" Clemont suddenly asked.
"I'm next to the thing you were referring to before." May answered.
"You mean…the data cylinder?"
"Yes. Can you bridge it out of here?"
"I'll reactivate arrival coordinates." Ratchet answered.
May saw the ground bridge opening; the bad thing was that it was little far from her.
"Eh guys, can you open it a little closer?"
"Supply coordinates." Ratchet asked.
"Um…50 meters?"
"Precise coordinates!" Ratchet specified.
A close shot forced May to cover. She decided to try to move the cylinder herself, but it was too heavy for her, no matter how hard she pushed.
"Come on out!" She said calling her Venusaur. "Help me move the cylinder to the ground bridge."
"Saur." The pokémon nodded before the two started to push the cylinder.
Suddenly, something else happened: the cylinder started to make a strange sound and the red opening started to glow.
"Uh-oh."
That caught some of the fighters' attention, including Warpath, who spotted his friend while he was still helping Wheeljack fight Breakdown.
"May?"
The cylinder was finishing its charge, so May closed her eyes while Venusaur covered her with her Vine Whip.
"No!" Warpath yelled running at them, but a Decepticon tank hit him in the back, making him fall in front of the cylinder.
Next, a red beam of energy came out of the cylinder and hit Warpath's head, making him go down.
"Warpath!" May yelled running next to him.
Knock Out took the chance and took the cylinder. "You really took one for the team, Warpath. My team."
With the artifact secured, Knock Out and Breakdown disappeared in a Decepticon ground bridge while the remaining Vehicons transformed into their aerial alt forms and flew away. The Autobots reunited with the two of them.
"Warpath, are you…?" Optimus started.
"Fine." He interrupted. "Didn't even smart."
May sighed in relief to see her friend was fine. Moments later, the two of them were back at base. Warpath was being checked by Ratchet.
"I helped lose that thing, I wanna help find it. I need to get back in the field with Optimus." Warpath said getting up, only to be stopped by Ratchet.
"Dat dat, you're under my watch now. Optimus's orders. And running a full scan of your neural net would be a wiser use of your time." Ratchet declared.
Warpath pulled out a cable connected to his head. "Come on doc, there's nothing up there to scan."
"He seems fine to me." Clemont supported.
Ratchet groaned in defeat. "Well, if you insist on making yourself useful you can help Clemont and May tidy up." He said handing him the mop.
"And now he acts like he's the boss." May objected.
Warpath laughed. "That's Ratchet, no vector squared all right."
"Huh?" May asked confused.
"What do you just say?" Clemont asked impressed.
"Hey, we got any paint around here?" Warpath asked checking the mop.
"Why? Do you feel inspired to make a drawing?" May supported.
Meanwhile, inside the Nemesis, Galvatron wasn't exactly happy when Knock Out and Breakdown brought him the cylinder.
"What do you mean its empty?" Galvatron asked.
"Lord Galvatron, these cylinders are not unlike batteries." Knock Out explained showing some cylinder's images. "The data is stored within them as a form of energy. It scanned fully charged, that's how we located it to begin with. But now…" Knock Out touched it a little, making sparks to come out.
"Dead battery." Breakdown summarized.
"Did you drop it, you one-eyed oaf?" Galvatron accused.
"No master. I wasn't gonna touch the thing after it put a zap on Warpath."
"Hey, you think…" Knock Out realized.
"I know." Galvatron agreed. "And I must find out what that vessel contained. When it comes to the secrets of the ancients, knowledge can be power."
Meanwhile, at the Autobot base…
"Seriously Ratchet, you need to see what Warpath is painting in here." May insisted.
"She's right about this. I'm not sure what he's painting, but I don't think is a common designing." Clemont supported.
"Yes. I'm sure one hasn't truly lived until one is beheld Warpath's take on "still life with lug nuts"." Ratchet said sarcastically as he followed them.
"See? What we told you?" May pointed.
"The differential of 1/3 cubed is RDRR." Warpath said as he painted some weird pictures with the mop.
"That is not art, it's science." Ratchet recognized.
Moments later, Ratchet was showing an image of Warpath's brain to everyone.
"This hotspot you see here it's information. Data. Living energy." Ratchet showed.
"Hold on. It's alive, it's active and it's in Warpath's brain?"
"Chill, May. The data is only inhabiting a fraction of my brain, infinitesimal by standard neural net densities. Wait, how do I know all that?"
"Based on what we witnessed during our skirmish, the living data must have been programmed to eject when it sensed unauthorized access." Optimus deduced.
"A security measure." Ratchet supposed.
"It would have jettisoned heavenward, lost to the stars." Elita continued.
"Except my fat engine block got in the way." Warpath came in.
"Every Con there made a grab for it, but the cylinder doesn't go off until May and Venusaur touches it?" Wheeljack reminded.
"The cylinders originated from Cybertron's golden age, predating the Autobot-Decepticon division." Ratchet pointed.
"So it wouldn't consider any native of Cybertron to be a threat." Clemont theorized.
"Only alien life forms. Such as humans and pokémon."
"So, what about Warpath's paintings?" Hot Rod asked.
"Are we staring a genius or gibberish?" Arcee added.
"I do not wish to falsely rally anyone's hopes, but these equations appear to be the formula for a synthetic energon." Ratchet declared.
"(Really? That's great!)"
"Whoa. We hit the motherload?!" Moonracer asked excited.
"May, do you understand what this means?" Warpath asked her.
"Mm, not really."
"Energon provides our fuel, our ammo, our life force. With the natural stuff in such short supply here on Earth this could solve a whole lot of problems."
"Such as providing us with the edge we need to turn the tide of this war." Optimus realized.
"Or hanging us the key to revitalizing Cybertron." Elita added.
"We got the goods and all Galvatron got was an empty bucket." Sideswipe celebrated.
"How often do I get to use my noggin to save the day?" Warpath asked ironically.
Warpath continued painting the synthetic energon formula in some metal murals the Autobots put him to paint.
"Aren't you done yet?" May asked impatiently.
"Got to admit: it's weird seeing Warpath in brainiac mode." Hot Rod confessed.
"(I never expected to see him as a smart Bot.)"
Once Warpath finished fulling the mural with equations, Moonracer took it.
"Okay, time for a break. How about a little training with my pokémon?" May suggested, but Warpath simply continued painting as he mumbled the equation, so she groaned in disappointment.
"Got another round free to log, Ratchet!" Moon announced.
But Ratchet was busy with Optimus, Elita and Clemont in another issue.
"This is Warpath's neural net as you saw it earlier." Ratchet showed on the screen. "This scan was recorded just minutes ago."
The image showed the energy spreading across Warpath's brain.
"I don't know what this means, but I have the feeling that it cannot be good." Clemont deduced.
"And you are right. It is as I feared: the data seems to be actively and aggressively, rewriting Warpath's neural net. I had hoped he was purging the data, but it seems to be merely transcribing it as it…"
"Consumes his mind." Optimus finished.
"From all indications, by the time Warpath completes the formula, his own thoughts, his memories…could be wiped clean." Ratchet theorized.
"But if we stop him, goodbye synthetic energon." Sideswipe reminded.
"We cannot leave that happen, even if that means losing the complete formula in exchange for our pal's life." Clemont defended.
"You assume we possess a means of stopping him. I don't exactly have instant access to the wisdom of the ancients." Ratchet pointed.
"I will not allow another one of our own to be sacrificed, no matter the cost." Optimus decided.
"If the living data transmitted itself from the cylinder, perhaps we could somehow coax it back inside." Elita suggested.
"And that way save Warpath's mind and still have the formula." Clemont ended.
"How are we supposed to get it back from the Decepticons?" Sideswipe asked.
"Galvatron will bring it to us." Optimus answered.
Warpath was painting another set of equations when May thought on a way to catch his attention.
"Ready, Blaziken?" She asked to her pokémon.
"Blaziken." He nodded before launching an Overheat attack.
Warpath felt it on his back, catching his attention. "What is that?"
"One of Blaziken's moves. You know you always have to be alert when he strikes first." May explained.
"I'm trying to concentrate."
That made her groan. "You're starting to sound just like Ratchet."
"Who?"
That answer started to worry May, that much that he went to Ratchet and Clemont.
"Ratchet, Clemont, I think Warpath's losing his mind." May told them, but the surprised look on their face made her realize. "You already know."
"Yes May, but we didn't tell you because we didn't want to frighten you." Clemont explained.
"But rest assured, Optimus has a plan." Ratchet reassured.
"Optimus isn't Warpath's doctor. I just need to know, when Warpath's done spitting out that formula, he'll go back to being old regular Warpath, right?"
Ratchet didn't answer, so May closed her eyes in pain as Clemont put a hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her. Meanwhile Galvatron was in the Nemesis's bridge when Knock Out and Breakdown approached him.
"Lord Galvatron, we've detected a familiar energy profile." Knock Out announced.
"The data?" Galvatron asked.
"Warpath must have left the shielding radius of their base. Breakdown and I will…"
"Fail me again?"
It was already night when Galvatron and a squadron of Decepticon air troopers flew and changed to robot form, landing in an open area of Oldale Ruins, Hoenn. And there were already some ones waiting.
"Optimus, you're certainly not the Autobot I expected to find here. But let me guess, you rigged a transponder to mimic the frequency of the data I seek."
"Galvatron, I have a proposal."
The Decepticon soldiers aimed their weapons at Optimus, but Galvatron ordered them to not fire.
"I'm…listening."
"Surrender the cylinder and I will return it to you fully restored." Optimus offered.
"This trinket right here?" Galvatron said showing the cylinder at hand. "And pray tell: what trifles did it hold that you are so anxious to give away?"
"Accept my terms and you will find out."
Meanwhile, May was trying to see if Warpath still remembered his past experiences.
"Do you remember the many times you used your chest cannon to obliterate Decepticons while you battled?" May asked.
"Me, fighting?" He said confused.
"Do you even know who I am?"
"Of course. You are…" Warpath started, but wasn't able to finish.
Instead, he finished painting the equations of the mural, which Ratchet took once he did.
"Keep them coming, Warpath." Ratchet said leaving.
Then an idea came to May: she typed some buttons of the main terminal, opening the ground bridge, and took the mop Warpath was using to paint.
"Come on, you wanna finish your formula, don't you?" May encouraged near the portal.
Back with the Autobots and Decepticons…
"Do you accept my proposal?" Optimus asked.
"Lord Galvatron." Knock Out called through the com-link.
"Give me a moment." Galvatron requested as he walked away.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Knock Out asked.
"It's complicated."
"Well, Breakdown and I may have located the bogey, fully charged."
"Proceed."
"Just one hitch: we don't have the cylinder."
"Then bring me the head of Warpath."
May used the ground bridge to bring Warpath to the derby arena where they went together.
"Look, this is where you took me to see that pokémon demolition derby. Remember when we snuck in here after the show?" May asked.
"Mass times the fusion rate square is constant." Warpath simply said as he continued painting on a wall.
"Is any of this ringing a bell?"
"Bell curve? No no no, that wouldn't factor in."
"How about our special morning trainings? Watching the Access Pokémon Contest news with me? Helping me with my homework? Trick question! You know I don't go to school, right?"
Warpath didn't listen.
"Okay, don't worry about the past. We still can make new memories together." May proposed.
Warpath continued speaking the formula as he painted it. Seeing that her friend was not even trying to listen, May started to feel sad.
"Warpath, I know somewhere inside you always remember me. And I just want you to know I'll never forget you." May expressed hugging Warpath's foot.
"Booo hooo! I'm shedding lubricant!" A voice said sarcastically.
May saw Breakdown and Knock Out at the other side of the arena.
"Follow me right now, or these guys are gonna…steal the formula!" May called.
That really caught Warpath's attention. "My equations."
"Come on, follow me!" May signaled as she ran, making Warpath to follow her.
"Not like someone like Warpath to run from a fight." Breakdown remarked before he and Knock Out jumped into the stadium.
"I'm afraid our friend has had a little too much to think." Knock Out deduced before contacting with his leader. "Lord Galvatron, we are good."
"Optimus, upon careful consideration, if you want the cylinder, you'll have to take it." Galvatron answered.
That was the signal for the Decepticon soldiers to attack the Autobots, who fired their weapons. At the same time, Knock Out and Breakdown reached to where some monster trucks for the show were storage.
"Okay then, fun and games." Knock Out said as he and Breakdown separated and started to look for them. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."
May was hidden next to Warpath, who was in his tank form. She was trying to ask for help with her phone, but she only received static.
"Urg, the Cons are scrambling the signal."
"If the trisector of the polygon is an integral of the subset." Warpath suddenly said.
"Shhh, quiet. And whatever you do, keep still. I'm gonna see if I can get far enough to call for backup."
May moved between the monster trucks, trying to remain hidden from the two Decepticons. Knock Out looked under the vehicles in search of May, but she managed to hidden herself in its below part. Breakdown, instead, was hitting the vehicles with his hammer, seeing if they reacted, or only for fun.
"Warpath, are you in there?" Breakdown asked crashing another vehicle with his finger before using his hammer.
Breakdown spotted May when he sneaked under the vehicles again, so he went after her. He grabbed the vehicle he though he will find him and threw it away, but he found anything.
"Breakdown, forget the human. Games are only fun to play when you're winning." Knock Out said as he activated the scanner for a better search.
May was still trying to get a signal, but Knock Out found Warpath first when he looked that his scanner beeped faster when he spotted near a tank.
"I think I'm warm." Knock Out saw.
Seeing he found him, Warpath changed to robot form.
"Ian three divided by the square-root of the propulsion factor equals." He said as he used the mop on Knock Out's chest, leaving a drawing.
"You…painted…my paintjob! Prepare for surgery!" Knock Out declared mad.
Then, Breakdown ran to Warpath and punched him hard on the face, knocking him out. May saw when Knock Out grabbed Warpath's neck and changed his hand for a buzz saw.
"Heads, you lose." Knock Out declared as he was about to cut his head off.
"No!" She shouted.
Optimus and the Autobots managed to take down all the Decepticon soldiers.
"Well, in that case, no one gets it." Galvatron said as he crushed the cylinder and dropped its remains.
Next, he changed to vehicle form and flew away.
"Optimus, Warpath and May have abandoned base. I have their ground bridge coordinates." Ratchet called.
"Bridge us back, immediately."
Decided to stop them, May, with a crowbar in hand, mounted on her Blaziken and charged at them. Blaziken tried to hit Knock Out with Blaze Kick, but the Decepticon blocked it with his other hand, making May and her pokémon to land on Warpath. That caused the same reaction as with the cylinder. Next, Warpath's optics turned red and fired two energy beams to the sky.
"Not again!" Breakdown said alarmed.
"Get down!" Knock Out advised.
"I did it again?" May asked to herself.
Once the beams were no more, May walked to Warpath worried.
"Warpath?"
Knock Out scanned Warpath with his scanner. "Dead battery. Galvatron will peel our paint for losing that data."
"So we're gonna have to peel you." Breakdown said to May as Knock Out pulled out his buzz saw.
Blaziken stood in front of her and launched Overheat at them. Of course, Knock Out, as always, decided to cover himself to protect his paintjob while Breakdown simply covered his face from the flames. Fortunately, a ground bridge appeared behind them and the rest of the Autobots came through it.
"Or peel out of here." Knock Out corrected.
Breakdown smashed a wall before he and Knock Out changed to vehicle form and left. Once they were gone, the Autobots could see May was crying on Warpath.
"Warpath."
The Autobots took Warpath back to base, where Ratchet ran another read of his brain.
"The data has been fully expelled, but Warpath remains completely unresponsive." Ratchet analyzed.
"Because the energy took Warpath's mind with it. Heavenward, lost to the stars. It's my fault you'll never know the rest of the formula, and it's my fault Warpath's gone forever." May said sobbing.
"May, your quick thinking prevented the formula from falling into Decepticon hands." Optimus comforted.
"If anyone would have backed that play its Warpath." Elita added.
"I'm sure he would have done the same thing in your place." Clemont supported putting a hand on her shoulder, right before she gave him a hug.
"It's simply too early to know the extent of his condition. Something as simple as a familiar sight, or smell, or hearing, perhaps even a feeling could trigger Warpath's awakening." Ratchet informed.
By hearing that, May thought of something that could help Warpath wake up: she called out Blaziken again.
"Blaziken, I need you to use Blaze Kick on Warpath's chest. Trust me, is to help him." She instructed.
Blaziken performed it just as May asked him. The sound echoed throughout the base as May looked over to Warpath, still unconscious. She hung her head sadly as she allowed Clemont to give her another conforming hug, when suddenly the terminal started to register some activity as Warpath started to open his eyes slowly and groan, waking up.
"Warpath?" May called.
"Ow! No fair! I wasn't ready. Tell Blaziken to not surprise me with sneak attacks when we suppose to train." Warpath started before looking at his friend. "May."
That made her smile seeing that her friend was back.
