Chapter 5: A Controversial Expulsion
The next morning was bright, sunny, and warm. In her quarters, Whirl emerged from her stasis pod to the sun's rays shining warmly on her cheeks, as if the sun itself was sending its own personal "Morning, sleepyhead!" message to her.
"Good morning, Academy!" Whirl greeted.
Whirl then noticed that Wrangle was standing in the doorway with a friendly expression on his face. Whirl was surprised to see this.
"Oh, hi, Wrangle." she said. "What's up?"
"Not much." said Wrangle. "I just wanted to say "good morning" to my friend."
"Um, thanks." Whirl replied.
Of course, Whirl still had her doubts about Wrangle.
"My instincts are telling me that he's trying to hide something." Whirl said to herself.
Just then, Hot Shot came into the room and invited Whirl to come shoot some hoops with him on the basketball court, which Whirl happily accepted, and as Hot Shot and Whirl left, Wrangle was quick to notice they were holding hands as they went out to the court. A calculating smile appeared on his face.
"Enjoy your relationship while you still can, you two." Wrangle chuckled evilly. "It will not last much longer."
Outside, while she and Hot Shot were shooting hoops, Whirl was telling Hot Shot about something.
"I know you and the others said to give Wrangle a chance, but I still have a bit of a feeling he's up to something bad." Whirl confessed as she passed the ball to Hot Shot.
"Well, you're not alone anymore." Hot Shot replied as he shot the ball at the hoop. "Just this morning, Hoist and Medix came to me and said they're also starting to feel suspicious about Wrangle and the twins. Mom is too. Plus, you remember what I said, right?"
"About how you and the others have my back in case Wrangle does try something against me?" asked Whirl.
"Yep." nodded Hot Shot. "No matter what happens, I'll be by your side all the way."
"Thanks, Hot Shot." Whirl smiled. "You're cute when you care about me like that."
"Aw, shucks, Whirl..." Hot Shot said bashfully.
Just then, Heatwave came up to them. He looked concerned about something. Hot Shot and Whirl were quick to notice this.
"What is it, Dad?" asked Hot Shot.
"I just got a call from Optimus." Heatwave replied. "He wants everyone to meet him in the briefing room. He says it's urgent."
"How urgent?" asked Whirl.
"I think it would be best if you let Optimus explain." Heatwave pointed out. "Now let's go. We don't want to keep Optimus waiting."
With that, Hot Shot and Whirl followed Heatwave inside. Soon, all the other bots were assembled in the briefing room. Optimus, who was already there, and who sported a solemn expression, began to address them.
"Thank you all for coming." he said. "I have come here today to share some very alarming news."
"What is it?" asked Bumblebee.
"Last night, there was a break-in at the Iacon Vaults back on Cybertron." Optimus replied. "As for what was stolen...there is no easy way to say this, but...whoever broke into the vault stole the Matrix of Leadership."
It should go without saying that those last five words caused a wave of shock to wash over the bots.
"The Matrix of Leadership?!" gasped Blades. "But who?! And why?!"
"What's this "Matrix of Leadership"?" asked Hot Shot. "I've never heard of it before."
"Neither have I." agreed Medix. "But judging by the horrified expressions on everyone's faces, it seems to be something of high importance."
"You are correct, Medix." nodded Perceptor. "The Matrix of Leadership is a highly esteemed Cybertronian relic. Though, I believe Optimus might fare better in explaining it, as he has had the most experience with it."
"Thank you, Perceptor." said Optimus, who then turned to the Junior Rescue Bots. "The Matrix of Leadership, formed from Primus himself, grants the bearer the wisdom of all the past Primes. When it was bestowed upon me, its powers gave me the leadership skills I needed to lead the Autobots in the war against the Decepticons. After the war, once it was determined that the Decepticons no longer possessed a serious threat to our existence, it was decided between myself and the High Council to store the Matrix away in the Iacon Vaults."
Hot Shot and his friends were all astonished as they listened to Optimus' description of the Matrix.
"Wow." gasped Hot Shot. "That thing must be pretty valuable."
"I'll say." said Medix. "Something like that would make for quite a substantial profit on the black market."
"And that, Medix, is why it must be located as soon as possible." Optimus put in. "If the Matrix falls into the wrong hands, well, the less I say about what could happen, the better."
Just then, Wrangle thought of something, and after exchanging nods between himself and the twins, he raised his hand. Optimus immediately noticed.
"What is it, Wrangle?" he asked.
"We saw the Matrix earlier!" said Wrangle.
Optimus could not believe his audio receptors.
"You did?" he asked. "Oh, thank the Primes. Where is it?"
"We'll show you." replied Wrangle.
Wrangle and the twins led Optimus and the other bots to Whirl's quarters.
"It's in there." said Wrangle as he pointed to the door.
"Are you sure?" Optimus asked.
Wrangle nodded confidently, and after Optimus used the door controls to open the door, he went inside the room. As the others watched Optimus go in, anxiety manifested Whirl.
"My quarters?!" her mind panicked. "This can't be!"
Inside, Optimus looked all over Whirl's quarters for the Matrix, but wasn't having much luck so far.
"I do not see it in here." Optimus confessed.
"Oh, it's in there, alright." Wrangle reassured. "Just keep looking!"
Whirl was studying Wrangle's behavior, and noticed the snide smile on his face.
"What is he playing at?" asked Whirl.
Optimus soon decided to try looking in Whirl's closet, and lo and behold, there was the Matrix. Optimus gasped when he saw it.
"It...it can't be!" he said to himself. "It can't!"
Optimus then picked up the Matrix and carried it out of Whirl's quarters. Everyone was even more shocked than before when they saw Optimus with the Matrix.
"It seems that Wrangle was right." said Optimus. "The Matrix was indeed in this room."
"Which means she's the one who stole it!" Wrangle then said, pointing directly at Whirl.
"What?!" Whirl shrieked. "But...but...how?!"
"Are you sure Whirl was the thief?" Optimus asked Wrangle.
"I sure am." said Wrangle. "Caught her with it with my own two optics. I've been wanting to report this, but I just couldn't think of how."
"You don't need to worry about that anymore, Wrangle." said Heatwave. "We'll take it from here."
Heatwave then looked at Whirl with a hint of anger in his optics.
"Whirl, the other senior bots and I would like to see you in the Judgement Room." Heatwave said. "The rest of you may go."
Whirl reluctantly agreed, and so, while she followed Heatwave and the other senior bots away from her quarters, Hot Shot, Hoist, Medix, Wedge, Slash, Brushfire, Laserbeak, and the other Dinobots (minus Grimlock, since he went with Heatwave's group) went in the other direction while Optimus went back to Cybertron to return the Matrix back to its rightful home. However, the only ones who stayed behind were Wrangle and the twins.
"The last pieces are about to be put in place." Wrangle told his minions. "Soon, I will finally have my revenge."
"And then what?" asked Ripple.
"Then, Ripple, Whirl will finally learn what it's liked to be mocked by your peers for something you've done, as I once was." replied Wrangle.
Wrangle laughed evilly after delivering this.
"It's only a matter of time." he grinned.
Meanwhile, Whirl was in another one of Secundus' rooms. This one was set up to look like a courtroom-type setting. Before Whirl was a large horseshoe-shaped table that Heatwave sat in the center of. Seated to Heatwave's left were Quickshadow, Ratchet, Perceptor, and Salvo, the Academy's counselor and Hot Shot's former guardian. To Heatwave's right sat Chase, Boulder, Blades, and Bumblebee. Grimlock just stood in a corner. There was a chair in front of the central curve of the table that Whirl was seated in. Heatwave was the first to speak.
"Junior Rescue Bot Whirl, you sit in this room today accused of stealing the Matrix of Leadership." he boomed. "How do you plead?"
"Not guilty." said Whirl. "I would never take something that doesn't belong to me without asking. That's considered theft."
"There is evidence to the contrary." Perceptor pointed out. "The Matrix was found in your quarters. Can you explain this?"
"Well, I can't argue where the Matrix was found." said Whirl. "But that doesn't mean I stole it! I was in my stasis pod all night!"
"Then how else do you suppose the Matrix wound up in your quarters?" Boulder then asked.
It didn't take too long for Whirl to figure out a possibility.
"It's Wrangle!" she said. "He must have put the Matrix in my quarters to get me in trouble!"
"How do you know it was Wrangle?" asked Ratchet. "There isn't anything to prove he ever did anything wrong."
"Well, to be fair, I think Whirl might be onto something." Salvo then said. "I mean, Hoist and Medix did tell me about Wrangle and his friends behaving rather oddly."
Salvo then told the other senior bots about the gadgets Wrangle and the twins had asked Hoist to build for them and Medix's sighting of their "science project".
"I see." said Heatwave. "However, that still does not provide ample proof that neither Wrangle nor the twins were doing anything wrong. Yet, there may be something we are overlooking in this situation. Nevertheless, we still must consider every possibility, including the possibility that Whirl was indeed the one who stole the Matrix. I'm sorry, Whirl, but as of now, you are officially stripped of your current status as a Junior Rescue Bot and are expelled from the Academy."
Whirl was mortified at this announcement.
"What?!" she cried. "No! You can't do this!"
"I'm sorry, Whirl, but a decision has been made." Heatwave sighed as he stood up. "Please surrender your badge, then report to your quarters and gather your things."
Whirl sadly complied, then left the room. As Heatwave and the other senior bots watched Whirl leave, Bumblebee spoke up. He was not happy.
"Of all the bone-headed things I've seen and heard in my time on Earth, this takes the cake!" Bumblebee snapped. "I mean, seriously?! Automatically thinking Whirl was the thief just because of the Matrix being in her quarters?! What the hell is wrong with you guys?!"
"Whoa, Bee, take it easy!" protested Blades.
"Yeah, chill, Bee!" added Salvo. "Like Heatwave said, maybe there's something we're overlooking."
That did manage to get Bumblebee to calm down.
"Sorry about that." he said. "But still, I do think you were a little too hasty in deciding to expel Whirl."
"You're right, Bumblebee." agreed Heatwave. "In fact, I'm actually beginning to have second thoughts already."
Meanwhile, Hot Shot was with the other Junior Rescue Bots, Laserbeak, and the other Dinobots in the lounge. It had been a while since they had last seen Whirl and the senior bots, and Hot Shot was feeling rather nervous about what his father and the other senior bots were saying to her. The others were trying to comfort him.
"Don't worry, Hot Shot, everything's gonna be fine." said Swoop.
"Yeah, Swoop's right." said Slug. "I mean, maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe your dad and the others are just asking Whirl a few questions."
"I don't know, Slug..." sighed Hot Shot. "I just don't..."
"Forget that." said Medix. "I just realized something. Where are Wrangle and the twins? I don't recall seeing them follow us."
"Hey, you're right." said Wedge. "Where could they be? Why aren't they with us?"
"Maybe they just wanted some time to themselves." said Brushfire.
"I suppose so." shrugged Medix.
"But doesn't anybody else think it's strange how Wrangle was able to know where the Matrix was just like that?" asked Hoist.
"Huh, you may be onto something there, bud." Slash agreed.
Just then, Whirl came over. Hot Shot was ecastatic to see her.
"Whirl!" he cried happily as he hugged her.
"Hi, Hot Shot..." Whirl said sadly as she returned her hug. "And...goodbye, Hot Shot..."
Hot Shot was surprised at what Whirl just said.
"Goodbye?" he asked as he seperated himself from her. "What do you mean by that?"
It was then that Hot Shot noticed Whirl's Mul-T-Cog badge was missing. That immediately sent off a red flag in his head.
"Wait...does that mean...?" he asked worriedly.
Whirl nodded as she wiped away some oily tears that were beginning to form in her optics.
"I've...I've been...expelled..." she sniveled.
"WHAT?!" the other bots gasped.
Whirl nodded again.
"It's true!" she choked. "Heatwave and the others think I stole the Matrix!"
"Well, the Matrix was found in your quarters, so I don't think they're wrong." Medix pointed out. "I mean, if that isn't ample proof, I don't know what is."
"Yeah, Medix is right." agreed Wedge. "Plus, there's no evidence about Wrangle and the twins being the thieves."
Well, after both those comments were dropped, Whirl delivered a mighty slap to both Medix and Wedge's faces.
"Ow!" cried Medix.
"What the hell was that for?!" snapped Wedge.
Instead of responding verbally, Whirl just gave Medix and Wedge a cold stare through her developing tears and walked quickly away. Now it was Hot Shot and Brushfire's turns to be angry.
"How can you two be so stupid?!" yelled Hot Shot.
"Yeah, just because the Matrix was in Whirl's quarters, that doesn't mean she stole the bloody thing!" agreed Brushfire.
"And another thing, we all promised Whirl that we'd be by her side in case Wrangle tried something, yet you jackasses just toss her aside like yesterday's trash and label her as a thief!" barked Hot Shot.
"The evidence doesn't lie, Hot Shot!" Medix fired back.
"Plus, we didn't think it would be anything like this!" Wedge hollered.
"Then you two are nothing but a pair of mongrels!" Brushfire roared.
Poor Hoist, on the other hand, just sat on the floor and covered his audio receptors with his hands. He wasn't having any of this.
"I hate fights!" he whined. "Can't we discuss this without fighting over it?!"
The other Dinobots were quick to notice how upset Hoist was becoming, and Swoop immediately began trying to settle things down.
"Hey, come on, you guys, knock it off!" he said. "This isn't necessary! Plus, you're upsetting Hoist!"
Unfortunately, Swoop's words fell on deaf audio receptors, as Hot Shot and Brushfire were too busy arguing with Medix and Wedge over Whirl's guilt or innocence to hear him. He tried two more times to bring things under control, but it was no use.
"Ah, screw it." Swoop sighed.
Swoop then turned to his fellow Dinobots.
"I think we should get out of here." he suggested. "Before Hoist has a meltdown."
The other Dinobots agreed, and they escorted Hoist out of the area. Meanwhile, Whirl was in her quarters placing all her things into a bag. Among the things she was packing were some Kings of Peace posters, her karaoke microphone, and a photo of herself with her friends. On that particular picture, a red heart had been drawn around Hot Shot, and the words "Love you, H.S.!" were written next to it. Whirl sighed as she looked at it.
"I'm sorry to leave you, Hot Shot..." she said sadly as a few tears fell onto the photo.
Just then, the door opened and Chase entered. His face sported a sorrowful expression.
"Hello, Whirl." he said. "Are...are you ready to depart?"
Whirl just nodded as she placed the photo in her bag.
"Good." said Chase. "Everyone is waiting by the Space Bridge."
"Okay..." sighed Whirl. "Let's...let's just get this over with..."
With that, Chase and Whirl departed from Whirl's quarters and soon arrived at the Space Bridge, where all the other bots had gathered to see Whirl off. Hot Shot and Brushfire were standing well apart from Medix and Wedge. Boulder had already activated the portal to take Whirl to Cybertron. Even Wrangle and the twins were there. Before she stepped through the portal, Whirl was allowed to say one final goodbye to everyone.
"Goodbye, everybody." she said. "And thank you for all the memories I've had here. I've had lots of fun learning about Earth with you guys and getting to know everyone."
Whirl then went over to Hot Shot and hugged him.
"Hot Shot, you've been the best first boyfriend I've ever had." she said. "I don't think I'll ever meet another bot like you. You're one of the nicest bots I've ever met, even if you don't always think before you do things sometimes."
Hot Shot just chuckled softly. Whirl then went over to Chase.
"Chase, it's been an honor being your mentee and learning police stuff from you." she told Chase. "And, I've never told you this before, but I've always viewed you as a second father figure. In fact, when I'm here, you're pretty much the closest thing I have to a father."
Chase was surprised.
"I was not aware you thought of me that way." he said. "Still, you've been a great student. I have no doubt you'll make a fine police bot some day."
Whirl then went around giving compliments to the other bots. All, that is, except Medix, Wedge, Wrangle, and the twins, because she still had her suspicions about her former fellow Police Academy student and his two friends. Plus, she was still pretty upset with Medix and Wedge for not believing her. Once all goodbyes were given, she walked through the portal. As Hot Shot watched Whirl leave through the portal, he tried really hard not to cry.
"Goodbye...Whirl..." Hot Shot said with a sad wave of his hand.
Medix and Wedge, on the other hand, were confused and annoyed.
"Sheesh, why didn't she say anything to me?" asked Wedge. "You'd think she'd have at least one nice thing to say about me."
"Same with me." put in Medix. "I honestly was expecting her to say something about my intelligence."
Of course, Hot Shot knew why Whirl didn't say anything to them.
"You wanna know why she didn't say anything to you?!" he snapped at them in a broken voice. "It's because you guys refused to believe she was innocent and instead betrayed her by believing she was guilty! I hope you two idiots are happy with what you did, because now Whirl's expelled and I'll never get to see her again!"
"Now, Hot Shot, I don't think-." Medix began.
But Hot Shot was done playing games.
"MEDIX, SHUT THE HELL UP!" he cried out in a mixture of anguish and rage. "IF YOU GUYS ARE GONNA KEEP ON TALKING LIKE THAT ABOUT MY GIRL, THEN YOU TWO JUST LOST ME AS A FRIEND! I HATE YOU BOTH!"
Everyone was shocked at Hot Shot's behavior, especially Heatwave and Quickshadow.
"Okay, Hot Shot, that's enough." Heatwave said in a strict yet gentle voice as he placed his hand on Hot Shot's shoulder. "I would like you to go to your room and stay there for a little while. Don't worry, though, I'm not mad at you, and you're not being punished or anything like that, I just think you should have a chance to settle down, because I don't want you to fly too far off the handle here, alright?"
Hot Shot, knowing there was no use arguing with his father, just nodded in agreement and left for his quarters, still struggling to keep himself from crying. Quickshadow was rather concerned about her son.
"Shouldn't we check up on him?" she asked her husband. "I mean, he does look rather upset."
"You're right, and we will." agreed Heatwave. "But not before I had a little chat with Medix and Wedge."
"I'll handle them, Heatwave." said Ratchet. "Medix is my nephew, after all. You just go check on Hot Shot."
"Fair enough." shrugged Heatwave.
With that, Heatwave and Quickshadow left to check on their son as a furious Ratchet escorted his nephew and Wedge out of the room, followed by Brushfire, Chase, Boulder, Blades, Bumblebee, Salvo, Perceptor, Hoist, the Dinobots, and Laserbeak, leaving Wrangle and the twins alone. Wrangle had another evil look on his face as he watched the other bots depart.
"At last!" Wrangle cackled. "Revenge is mine!"
Meanwhile, Hot Shot made it back to his quarters, and the minute he closed the door behind him, he went over to his stasis pod and just dropped to his knees beside it. It was then that he finally started to cry. Of course, he was oblivious to the footsteps that came afterwards. The footsteps, obviously, belonged to Heatwave and Quickshadow, the latter of whom rang the door buzzer.
"Hot Shot?" she asked. "Are you in there?"
"Go away!" Hot Shot cried.
Heatwave and Quickshadow looked at each other in surprise at their son's reaction to the latter's question, then back at the door.
"Hot Shot, it's Dad." Heatwave then said.
"And Mum." added Quickshadow.
Hot Shot sighed.
"Come in..." he said.
Quickshadow opened the door with the door controls, and she and her husband entered the room. Both sat down on Hot Shot's stasis pod.
"Hey, buddy." said Heatwave. "Are you alright?"
Hot Shot just looked up at his father with a tear-stricken face. Heatwave could tell Hot Shot was in bad need of comfort.
"Oh, come here..." he said as he spread his arms out.
Hot Shot immediately hugged Heatwave while crying into the latter's chest. Heatwave just sat there with his arms around Hot Shot, patting his back on occasion while Quickshadow just put one arm around Hot Shot's shoulder.
"Easy, Hot Shot, easy." Heatwave said in a comforting voice. "I've got you now. It's okay."
"Just let it out, son." Quickshadow added. "We're right here."
Eventually, Hot Shot began to feel better, and Heatwave and Quickshadow decided it was now time to let Hot Shot have some time by himself.
"We'll check back in on you later, alright?" Heatwave told Hot Shot.
"Okay, Dad." Hot Shot nodded.
And so, Heatwave and his wife left, and Hot Shot decided a little music would help to soothe his soul, so he took out his phone, and soon found the website of a Christian radio station that he liked to listen to on occasion, and soon, his audio receptors were picking up the harmonies of "Cry Out To Jesus" by Third Day.
"This sounds perfect for how I'm feeling right now." Hot Shot smiled.
Hot Shot then closed his eyes and finally relaxed as he listened to the song, although he, along with everyone else that remained at the Academy right now, was totally unprepared for what lay ahead.
End Of Chapter 5
