I Can See Clearly Now
One day on Cybertron, Perceptor was preparing for another busy day at Maccadam's Old Oil House.
"It is time." he announced. "Time to open this facility to the public."
Soon, the place was filled with thirsty bots. Among them were Bumblebee, Hot Rod, and their two new friends Backside and Cutback, to whom they introduced Perceptor and vice versa, and they told him the story of how he came to be the owner of Maccadam's.
"Whoa." gasped Backside. "That is one gnarly tale."
"Yeah." nodded Cutback in agreement.
Cutback then noticed something about Perceptor's optics.
"Hey, dude, like, what happened to your optics?" he asked.
"I blew them out while trying to free a friend from bondage." Perceptor replied.
Backside and Cutback grimaced.
"Like, ouch." Backside murmured.
"Have you ever considered, like, I dunno, getting it fixed?" asked Cutback.
"That will not be necessary." Perceptor denied.
"Told ya." Bumblebee murmured to Cutback.
"Now, unless you have anything else to say, how about some energon?" Perceptor offered.
The other four bots agreed, and soon, they were each enjoying a nice mug of energon.
"Wow." gasped Cutback. "This energon is good!"
"But not nearly as good as the energon back on Copacabana!" added Backside. "Um, no offense, dude."
"Don't worry, none taken." replied Perceptor.
After finishing their energon, Bumblebee, Hot Rod, Backside, and Cutback left, and Optimus Prime himself entered the building.
"Good tidings, Perceptor." Optimus greeted.
"Hello, Optimus." Perceptor replied as he poured Optimus a glass and gave it to him. "Lovely weather we're having, isn't it?"
"It is indeed." Optimus agreed as he sipped the energon. "Even more lovely than it ever was before."
Optimus' optics then fell upon Perceptor's damaged ones.
"Perceptor, you really should consider asking Ratchet to mend your optics." he told him.
Perceptor felt a little annoyed.
"Optimus, I have already said I'm not sure how many times already, I do not need my optics repaired." he argued. "I can see perfectly fine without them."
He tapped on the lens of his microscope arm to prove this point.
"I understand." nodded Optimus. "At least keep an open mind to it."
"Very well." said Perceptor.
Later that night, Perceptor was on his way home after closing up Maccadam's. As he walked to his residence, thoughts about his fellow Cybertronians' suggestions regarding getting his optics repaired plagued his brain module.
"I really wish they would stop asking me about getting my optics repaired." he said. "But then again, I do think it might be a good idea."
But little did Perceptor know about what was to come. The next day, he was once more tending bar at Maccadam's when Bumblebee and Hot Rod came in.
"Hey, Perceptor, check this out." said Bumblebee. "Hot Rod and I got three tickets to a Lobbing match."
"We were going to invite Windblade, but she declined." Hot Rod added. "So, we were wondering if you would like to come in her place."
"I'm not sure." Perceptor replied. "I'm not really into sports."
"Oh, come on." Bumblebee prodded. "It'll be fun."
"But who will watch over Maccadam's in my absence?" asked Perceptor.
"I can take over for you." said a familar voice.
It was Grimlock.
"You'd really do that?" Perceptor asked.
"Of course." replied Grimlock. "I mean, it would be an interesting experience. Just tell me what I need to do."
"There is really not a lot to it." said Perceptor. "Just serve the customers and try to break up any fights."
"Got it." nodded Grimlock.
Perceptor then turned to Bumblebee and Hot Rod.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" he asked. "Let's go to that match."
With that, after Perceptor informed the other patrons of the temporary change in management, he left with Bumblebee and Hot Rod, and soon arrived at the stadium that was hosting the Lobbing match. When they arrived, Wheeljack was waiting for them.
"Hey, Bee, Hot Rod." he greeted. "I see you brought Perceptor with you."
"I do think this would be sort of a nice change in scenery from serving drinks at Maccadam's." said Perceptor.
"I see." said Wheeljack. "Well, we better get inside if we're to find good seats."
Bumblebee, Hot Rod, and Perceptor agreed, and the three went into the stadium and soon found their seats.
"By the way, Perceptor, I must warn you about something." said Wheeljack. "Lobbing players tend to get a little..."crazy" if you know what I mean."
"How "crazy" are we supposing?" asked Perceptor.
Unfortunately, Perceptor would learn the hard way about what Wheeljack meant. In no time, the game began, and soon reached full swing. At some point, one of the players had the ball, and threw it toward's the other team's goal, but he threw it too hard and it ended up flying towards the crowd, and right for Perceptor, who was too busy watching the game to notice.
"PERCEPTOR, LOOK OUT!" Bumblebee shouted.
But it was too late. The ball hit Perceptor right in the lens of his microscope attachment, shattering the lens in the process.
"Perceptor, are you okay?" asked Hot Rod.
"Who said that?" replied Perceptor.
"I did." said Hot Rod. "It's me, Hot Rod."
"Where are you?" Perceptor demanded. "I can't see anything."
Bumblebee and Hot Rod looked at each other.
"We better get him to Ratchet." Bumblebee suggested.
"Ditto." agreed Hot Rod. "You coming, Wheeljack?"
"Nah, you go on ahead." replied Wheeljack. "I'll stay here."
"Alright." said Bumblebee. "Let us know who wins."
"Gotcha." winked Wheeljack.
With that, Bumblebee and Hot Rod escorted Perceptor from the stadium and took him to Ratchet's workshop at the Autobot base, where the Autobot medic wasted no time in repairing Perceptor's third optic.
"There you are, Perceptor." said Ratchet. "Good as new. Although, your vision may be a little blurry for a few minutes or so, but you'll be good after that."
"Thank you, Ratchet." replied Perceptor.
Then, Bumblebee and Hot Rod entered the room.
"How is he?" asked Bumblebee.
"Don't worry, he's gonna be fine." reassured Ratchet. "Of course, he may need to take it easy for a bit until his vision clears up."
Just then, Perceptor thought of something.
"Hey, Ratchet, you know how you offered to look at my optics to see if you can fix them?" he asked.
"Yeah?" replied Ratchet.
"Well, I think I've put that off for long enough." Perceptor replied.
Bumblebee and Hot Rod were ecstatic to hear this decision.
"Yes!" Bumblebee cheered.
"It's finally happening!" added Hot Rod.
"Great." smiled Ratchet.
Ratchet then turned to Bumblebee and Hot Rod.
"Excuse us, please." he told them.
"Sure." nodded Bumblebee.
Bumblebee and Hot Rod left, and once they were gone, Ratchet got to work in looking at Perceptor's optics.
"Yeah, I can fix these no problem." he determined.
After putting Perceptor back under stasis, Ratchet made a point of restoring Perceptor's optics, and soon, the task was completed, and Perceptor woke up. Once he was awake, Ratchet held up two fingers in front of him.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" he asked.
"Two." replied Perceptor.
Ratchet was very pleased to hear this.
"It looks like your optics are working fine already." he said. "However, I would recommend you take it easy for a few days, just to be on the safe side, and I'd like you to come back once every fourteen days for a check-up."
"Right." agreed Perceptor. "Thank you again, Ratchet."
"It was my pleasure." replied Ratchet.
Word quickly spread of Perceptor finally agreeing to get his optics repaired, and three days later, when Perceptor walked into Maccadam's, he received a hero's welcome and happily reclaimed his rightful spot as the owner and manager of Maccadam's Old Oil House.
"It's good to be back." he said as he poured out some energon. "And it's also good that I finally agreed to get my optics fixed. Now I can see even better than I have before."
The End