More than meets the eye (16/12/2007)
Author's notes
For simplicity's sake, whenever I refer to Bumblebee as Kotaro, it means that Bumblebee is in human form. His speech pattern will not be in bold and italics as well. Similarly if I refer to Bumblebee as Bumblebee, it means that he is in Autobot form and his speech pattern will change accordingly.
I'm not sure if I'll explain this in later chapters for those of you wondering, while Bumblebee is a typically cursed guy, he will have some techniques to mitigate Ranma's unfortunate situations. For one thing, you're more likely to be splashed by cold water than hot water outside so more often than not, he will be in human form. And when he changes to and from human/Autobot forms, he has a nifty little device that will fold his clothes and unfold his clothes when he changes forms, preventing Ryoga and Mousse's constant predicament of being changed outside and ending up stark naked in public.
And if you think Bumblebee has a severe weakness to cold water, well, according to his tech spec, his yellow armour absorbs solar energy. I imagine that in Autobot mode, when situation warrants it, he can use his conserved solar energy to heat up his armour so that the moment cold water splashes on him, it is becomes hot water and so, he will remain in Autobot form in case he is attacked at rainy weather.
The only problem is that this means he can never have a hot bath with Kasumi…. GAAAAAAAHH! I'm being a hentai! Forgive me.
Chapter 34: Reunion
Kasumi had heard of the term starstruck but she never really believed in it until she finished her second kiss with the now human Bumblebee. She was literally dazed with a stupid look in her eyes as she gazed absentmindedly away from him. Then she saw something that made her eyes widened and a joyful smile split her face. Bumblebee looked at her questioningly but all Kasumi could do was point her finger outside the hangar. The human Autobot looked outside then his jaw dropped as he looked where Kasumi was pointing.
Standing outside the hangar with umbrellas, was Ranma, Akane, Ukyo, Ryoga, Elder Colgone, Shampoo, and Mousse. All of them were grinning like loons. As one they all said:
"Mission Complete. Operation Make Kasumi Smile, Accomplished," they said mechanically, sounding oddly like Soundwave. Then they all started cheering.
"Way to go Kasumi!" Ranma shouted.
"Talk about a fine looking stud!" Ukyo remarked loudly, eyeing Kotaro's tux.
"It's about time!" Ryoga cried.
"Joy to the world, the Saviour's come….." Akane sang.
"Hooray for Nice girl!" Shampoo shouted.
"Booya!" Mousse added.
"If you won't take him Kasumi, I willingly offer myself as a replacement," the last remark was from Cologne, who licked her lips while looking at him, making Kotaro shudder involuntarily.
"Elder Cologne, you knew….." Kasumi said indignantly as it finally dawned on her where Bumblebee had been hiding all this while.
The old crone cackled. "Old habits die hard Kasumi, and I just love scheming and plotting. Do not blame Bumblebee for not revealing himself to you, truth be told I was curious how you would handle his loss, whether or not you would remain faithful to him to the day you die. Let me tell you I spent many sleepless nights myself when I concluded that you would. You've met a fine lady Bumblebee, or rather Minami Kotaro. You better take care of her well or face the wrath of the Amazons."
Kotaro smiled. "I swear by Kasumi's God that I will do so, for the rest of her life."
"You had better, old friend. Or you're coming back to Cybertron as a sardine can."
All were shocked as they heard the deep voice of someone they never thought they would never see again. Then part of the junkyard fence broke down as something huge crashed through it. That something was a Peterbilt Carrier painted red in colour but strangely without the blue flame pattern that Kasumi knew so well.
But the Carrier was not the only one who entered the junk yard. At various parts of the junkyard, the walls fell down as several vehicles ploughed through them. A red Volvo XC90 and an ambulance followed the Peterbilt Carrier from the entrance it made. To her delight, she heard the exotic vroom of one, no, two sports cars and saw a silver Nissan Fairlady and a pink Porche 911 Turbo enter the junkyard. Then she heard the roar of mighty engines as a green Hummer, a dark green Isuzu D-Max pickup truck and a grey Mitsubishi Pajero 4X4 ride over a large pile of scrap metal, using their all-terrain travelling abilities to dramatically drive over it then come to a halt in front of the hangar. At the same time, the rain stopped dropping on the junkyard as an orange energy shield appeared overhead and sheltered the entire yard.
She looked at Bumblebee and saw that he was no less astonished then she was. The Peterbilt carrier drove until he was only three feet away from her. And then it transformed.
No matter how many times she witnessed the transformations, she could never get tired of seeing it, especially the majestic and awe-inspiring one of a massive Peterbilt Carrier into a thirty foot humanoid robot. She watched as the 'nose' of the Peterbilt carrier separate into two long parts that eventually became arms. The wheels and their joining parts transformed into legs and then the window panes of the truck became its chest. The top part of the truck split wider and out of it, a blue head popped out, blue eyes shining brightly, his mouth still covered by a powerful mouth plate armour before it folded aside into its cheeks to reveal a mouth.
The other vehicles also transformed and Kasumi saw that they were a mixture of the original group of Autobots and the later batch as well. The Volvo XC90 transformed into Elita One, as regal and majestic as her mate beside her. The ambulance became Ratchet again, his kind face split in a wide smile. The silver Nissan Fairlady and pink Porche transformed into Jazz and Arcee respectively, the former standing on his hands and head as his lower body transformed, before he coolly flipped unto his feet. The Hummer, Pajero and D-Max transformed into Hound, Trailbreaker and Kup respectively who all looked like they were going to burst into tears any moment.
All of them, humans and Autobots stood silent for a while. Kasumi could hardly believe her eyes. It wasn't just one wish that had come true this night, it was two.
"Optimus Prime?" she whispered.
"Kasumi," the mighty Autobot leader's mouth curled into a smile and he started laughing. Kasumi cried tears of joy and rushed towards him, not caring if the Autobot leader was wet and she was wearing her finest gown. The Autobot leader knelt on one knee, stretched out both hands, caught Kasumi gently in both then with a gentleness that belied his huge size, hugged her close to his chest. Tears flowed freely for the both of them as Kasumi was reunited with her best friend, which she also liked to regard as a surrogate father to her.
Jazz and Arcee started sniffing. "That's it. Earth's Hollywood officially stinks. Casablanca and Gone with the Wind definitely lose hands down to this," Arcee cried.
"Aw come on, I still think Beauty and the Beast is the best one Disney has to offer. Now that one made me cry, especially when the Beast died and then he changed with all the golden sparkle and stuff," Jazz remembered fondly. He stopped wiping his eyes for a while to give Arcee an Autobot sized handkerchief. Then he disgustingly wiped his nose on his left arm.
"Ewwwwwww, that's disgusting Jazz!" Arcee stood further away from Jazz.
"Well excuse me princess, in case you don't remember, we were at war? I don't think learning the niceties of society was important compared surviving Decepticon punks trying to scrap us!" Jazz retorted.
Arcee rolled her eyes. "You know what? Even Brawl has more charm than you. I don't know why I'm bothering with you."
Jazz grinned. "When can I say? I've always been a stud….." as an answer to that, Arcee, who was standing a little behind the silver Autobot, kicked Jazz between his legs causing him to double over in pain, his irises comically narrowing and he gripped his groin. He wheezed and groaned as he sank to his knees.
"Males, they always seem to think with their loins instead of their heads," Arcee said.
Jazz could only wheeze in pain.
Jazz and Arcee weren't the only ones sniffing. Leaning against each other while still standing like the three musketeers, were the old Autobot veterans, Kup, Ratchet and Trailbreaker. The three Autobots had also reached into a compartment in their hips, each extracting a fabric that was as large as a table cloth and promptly blew their noses making a noise that would have rivalled Optimus' truck horn.
"POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM! WAAAAAAAAH! OUR LITTLE BUMBLEBEE AND KASUMI HAS GROWN UP!" the three wailed, sounding remarkably like Tendo Soun, even their tears gushed out in torrents but instead of annoyance, Kasumi only felt her happiness amplified by yet another set of fatherly figures.
Meanwhile, Elita was conversing with Cologne. "You have my thanks Elder Cologne, for helping bring about this happy occasion. And providing the means for the greatest of our number to be with his true love. The Autobots are in your debt," Elita said.
"Be our friends, noble Elita. That's all we would ever ask of you," Cologne replied.
After a while, she and Optimus broke their embrace and she gazed into the Autobot's eyes again. Many questions raced through her mind, not least was why Optimus Prime had returned with a majority of his Autobots. But one question mattered the most.
"Please Optimus Prime, are you here to stay? Will you ever leave us again?" she asked earnestly.
"Forever and ever, till the day we die Kasumi. We owe you our lives and will serve you and your family forever. If you would have us as your family that is, and share your home with us," Optimus replied as he drew Kasumi closer to his face
Kasumi smiled happily then to everyone's shock, kissed Optimus on his cheek. The Autobot leader actually blushed and looked anxiously at his mate, who said nothing but smile.
"Optimus….. you came back,"she turned and saw Kotaro approach Optimus Prime. "But how… why….."
Optimus Prime shook his head. "No Bumblebee, we came home. I must be getting old and senile. It took me until we were halfway to Cybertron before I realised that our place is no longer on Cybertron. It is here, on this planet known as Earth, we will build our new home. Without the Key we can never use the Matrix to create new life again. That right has forever been revoked because of our sins. A new destiny awaits all of us, and we will forge it together with our friends here on Earth."
"But where are the rest? Tracks, Blurr, Ironhide….. what about the Decepticons?" Kasumi asked.
"All on a mission to search for other missing Autobots. To tell them that our new home is here. As for the Decepticons, well, let's just say they have a lifetime of servitude before we can deem their debt to the Autobots fulfilled, and they will serve it under Ironhide's watchful eye," Elita One answered Kasumi's question.
Her joy knew no bounds now that the Autobots were really here to stay. She looked at everyone in the hangar then noticed something missing. There had been nine meteors earlier. But so far, there were only eight additional Autobots in the hangar: Optimus, Elita, Jazz, Arcee, Hound, Trailbreaker, Kup and Ratchet.
"Optimus, where is…….."
"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!" all heard a piercing shriek and at the next moment, Barricade's head came flying into the hangar. The head was moving and screaming obscenities, mostly at the Autobot that just entered the hangar. Three vicious claws jutted out of his right hand's knuckles while the other hand dragged the twitching but otherwise non-functional body of Barricade.
"Bastard! Hell spawn! Abomination! You don't deserve to exist! End your life and rid our galaxy of your filth! You faithless, thrice damned begotten spawn of mine!" Barricade's head screamed as the black and white figure of Prowl approached him then picked up his head and lifted it to eye level. His left hand dropped Barricade's body on the ground, took out his plasma pistol then aimed it at the gaping hole in Barricade's chest where his red Spark pulsed like a grotesque heart. Prowl's expression was totally unreadable but his finger was half pressing the pistol's trigger now.
Kasumi wanted to say something but Optimus put a huge finger on her lips to silence her.
Then he released the trigger and put it back into his hip holster. "You know what, father? You're not worth it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do other than killing you and myself," Prowl growled then he dropped the head to the ground face first then drove it into the ground by stepping on it, gagging the still screaming Barricade with mounds of dirt. He then turned to Kasumi and folded his arms, his sour face back in full force. Kasumi looked straight back at Prowl.
"If Bumblebee hadn't courted you, I would have. You showed me that there's more to this world than revenge and eternal damnation. You showed me joy with a single piece of Inari," his sour expression broke into a smile. "Problem is I don't think I can put off my depression for long without more Inari. But since you've quit cooking, well, I guess I'll just come back later and put myself and Barricade out of our misery………"
"Oh Prowl, you silly old humbug!" Kasumi cried then with a skill that could only come from her brief stint as a warrior, jumped from Optimus Prime's shoulder thirty feet in the air to Prowl's shoulder and then hugged his head, making Prowl grimace.
"Tears aren't going to make me happy. I said Inari. I-NA-RI. Or did your depression in the past three months affect your hearing?" Prowl said in a bored voice.
"PROWL! ARE YOU HITTING ON MY GIRL?!" Prowl looked around for the source of the voice and found a human male shaking his fist at him. A horrified look overcame his face.
"BY THE MATRIX, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?! YOU'RE THE UGLIEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN!"
Slap!
There were few things in the universe that could make Prowl feel fear. The physical contact of flesh against metal by a human female known as Tendo Kasumi was one of them. The other one was a death glare from said female capable of cowering even the mightiest of Decepticons, which Prowl was once a member.
"That's MY love you're talking about Prowl. Please do not let any unwholesome words come out of your mouth regarding my love unless it's meant to help us improve our lives. And just so you know, Bumblebee is very handsome as a human," Kasumi scolded.
"Yes Kasumi," Prowl said meekly, sounding oddly like Jazz when he was on the receiving end of Kasumi's wrath twice, once in Okinawa and the other at the Amazon village. Speaking of which, Jazz's visor was currently down and recording the episode with a sinister smile on his face.
"Oh, this is soooooo blackmail and home video material. The great and mighty sourpuss Prowl reduced to a sissy at the hands of Tendo Kasumi," he said gleefully. Then he yowled as Arcee grabbed his neck from behind and pushed his head into the ground.
"Shut it you pervert, they're having a TLC moment right now," Arcee said sternly.
"…….uncute tomboy," Jazz muttered even with his mouth full of dirt, which only made Arcee step on his head harder.
Kasumi shook her head. It appeared that Ranma's foot in mouth disease had passed on to Jazz. "Don't worry Arcee, I'm sure we'll have plenty of time educating Jazz on manners," she said cheerfully to Arcee. Only the way she said educating along with the look she gave Arcee gave Jazz the willies.
Jazz extracted his head out of the ground and spitted out the dirt. "Well what are we waiting for? The night is young and so are we! What do you say Arcee? Shall we paint the town with our colours?"
The pink Autobot rolled her eyes. "If only your lines were as good as your fighting skills. Just shut up and take me out, end of story."
Optimus laughed. "For the first time in ages, Jazz is right. Autobots, let us rejoice in our new home tonight! Transform, and roll out!" The Autobot leader handed Kasumi back to Bumblebee and suddenly the air was thick with the sound of transformation as most of the Autobots transformed into their vehicle modes, then the Nerima Wrecking Crew boarded them, Ranma and Akane excitedly going into Jazz's Nissan Fairlady while the Amazons went into Elita's huge SUV.
Kasumi noticed that Prowl, Ukyo and Ryoga seemed to be conversing quietly among themselves and looked quizzically at them. "Coming Prowl?"
The police car Autobot looked back at Kasumi with a grim smile. "In a minute. Enjoy your night Kasumi, I'll just tie up some loose ends before joining you.
There was something in Prowl's voice that Kasumi didn't like and she didn't want to guess what the three of them were up to.
"Just don't do anything I wouldn't do alright?" Kasumi sighed.
She suddenly found herself gently held by Bumblebee's Autobot hand. She looked back at the yellow Autobot lovingly.
"You know Kasumi, the prom isn't over yet. May I ask you out to the Furinkan High School Prom as your date?" Bumblebee asked shyly.
Kasumi wondered how she could still blush furiously after having just engaged in a passionate kiss with him. She smiled and put her hands on Bumblebee's cheeks. "Yes Bumblebee, I would like that very much."
He then transformed into his car mode, which now resembled the Chevrolet Camaro Concept car that Barricade just trashed, and opened the driver's seat to Kasumi. "Ride with me Kasumi, for my pleasure."
Kasumi stepped into the Camaro and admired the interior design, which she grudgingly admitted was an upgrade from his old Prince and Cellica design. She then said, "Only if you let me drive you my love." Then to Bumblebee's shock and amusement, she took control of Bumblebee and drove him, speeding with the wild abandon of someone who had not driven in ages.
The Autobot convoy followed Bumblebee. Only when all had left the junkyard did Prowl, Ryoga and Ukyo turned their attention to the object of their discussion. Prowl flexed his fingers then dug his hand into the ground, pulling the shouting and cursing head of Barricade out of the dirt.
"ASSHOLE! SCRAPHEAD! SPINELESS SON OF A ……..!" Barricade screamed before Ryoga took a large piece of scrap metal from the tank wreckage and whacked his head with it.
"Shut it you overgrown calculator!" Ryoga shouted. Then he, Ukyo and Prowl grinned evilly. "We wouldn't want you anymore damaged than you are already when you meet your jailor."
"Yeah honey, you should be glad that SOMEBODY in this world is going to adore you very very much," Ukyo said with a sinister smile.
Despite being one of the more sadistic Decepticons as well as a ferocious fighter in his own right, Barricade felt his circuits run cold at their evil grins and voices. "What are you going to do to me?"
"Why, shower you with love and adoration of course," he said as he, Ukyo and Ryoga began to laugh wickedly. Barricade wanted to scream but that was when Prowl dealt a crushing blow which rattled his internal processors and forced him into temporary stasis.
To be continued………….
Author's notes
Whew, finally. I honestly never thought I would get this story ended. Apologies for the delay guys, I was going back and forth on whether I should redo the whole Autobots transforming in the junkyard scene due to just having obtained the special edition DVD of Transformers 2007. In the end, I did it since it was one of the few scenes that Michael Bay actually did perfectly.
Updated 4/1/2008Whoops, not the last chapter yet guys. Rejoice, I still got some writing left in me for this story. Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year everyone.
To be honestly, the chapter seems short and cheesy. Somehow, Arcee and Jazz hitting each other didn't come out right in my mind, as in canon Transformers, nothing of the sort happened. But like I said, I didn't want to leave Jazz single and a virgin for the rest of his life. Especially not after the unjust treatment heaped upon him by Michael Bay. Still, I leave the chapter's quality to your reviews.
As for the Camaro that Barricade just trashed, well, Bumblebee had to scan his new form from somewhere doesn't he? By the way, Barricade's fate would probably be an Omake after the epilogues. He he, here's a clue: what did Ranma and Ryoga had to learn to do at one point in order to court Akane? Oh wait, was it to defend Ranma's honour? Either way it's a sport that both never did before and had to spend some time practising. Omake will probably be my Christmas present to all of you.
Thanks for your support guys. Again, it is my fervent wish to hear from all of you. Take care and God bless you all.