Mixed-Up 2: Alternate Reality
Chapter 7: Thinking
Silence. There had once been a time in Bumblebee's life when he would have done anything to avoid hearing that particular sound. These days, however, not only did he enjoy the sound of silence but he welcomed it with open arms. Although, he had to admit, silence did have certain drawbacks like allowing one to think about things that they normally wouldn't have. For example, he was currently thinking about his former friends that he had turned over to the Decepticons. After they had left he had felt hut; betrayed. His anger had taken over him and when Sentinel Prime, along with Jazz and the Jet twins had come to Earth so they could look for Optimus and the others the opportunity had been too good to pass up. He had gotten a great deal of pleasure from stripping Sentinel of his weapons and then turning him over to the Decepticons. Yes that had been most satisfying. He had thought that turning in his former teammates would be just as rewarding but it hadn't been. Instead he was left feeling rather empty. He didn't feel the least bit guilty but, just maybe, a little sad.
He rose from his position on the floor and walked over to one of the many shelves that were weighed down my mods. His servos moved over the many different items until they reached Sentinel Prime's sword and shield. He traced the designs o it then moved on and stopped when he reached their mods. As he stood there Bumblebee remembered. He remembered fights, pranks, battles, laughter, tears, screams…he remembered it all. Taking a step back he shook his head vehemently. No! He didn't want to remember! He didn't!
Meanwhile, at the Decepticon base, General Prime was also thinking about things that he didn't want to. To be more specific he was mulling over the words that his Autobot self had spoken. Was it possible that he had been telling the truth? Was Bumblebee really an innocent victim in all of this? Starscream could have planned this; what better way to eliminate the enemy than to pit themselves against each other? With the four of them thinking that Bumblebee had turned and them and Bumblebee thinking that they had left him none of them would have wanted anything to do with each other. It was a brilliant plan, he had to admit, and not only that but it was working quite effectively. A deep wedge had been driven between himself and his former allies but Starscream wasn't fully to blame. They hadn't been forced to believe the Decepticon but rather had chosen to. So this mess was no one's fault but their own.
To top it all off there was that little matter of the four Autobots sitting in the brig that happened to look just like him and his three friends. Something would have to be done about them, he decided and soon. He vented heavily and went back down the hallway, heading towards his quarters. He walked through the door and looked around; making sure that nothing was out of place. Shadow Ninja sat in front of the monitors casually tossing a black shuriken up and down in the air. He nodded to the ninja and was about to go searching for Monster Wreck when something caught his optic. "Shadow Ninja," he said slowly, "why is that camera turned off?" he asked; gesturing towards the camera that was the only one in the brig that worked.
"It's not working," Shadow Ninja replied, not stopping what he was doing.
"Then why didn't you fix it?"
"I didn't have the time."
General Prime raised an optic ridge and looked pointedly at the ninja who was towing a shuriken. "Yes I'm sure you were overwhelmed with work," he said sarcastically. "Monster Wreck released them, didn't he?"
There was a clang was the shuriken hit the floor. Shadow Ninja's mouth plates moved but nothing came out. His optics swept the room nervously as if trying to find an answer written on the walls.
General Prime sighed and said, "It's okay, Shadow. I figured that he would. I don't think he ever really believed that Bumblebee betrayed us."
"Do you agree with him?" Shadow Ninja asked softly.
General Prime was quiet for several seconds then he said, "Honestly? I don't know what to believe anymore."
Shadow Ninja merely nodded and leaned down to pick up his shuriken. He resumed tossing it up and down while General Prime retreated to his private recharge chamber. "Oh, Bumblebee," the ninja smiled, "even when we haven't seen you in ten thousand years you can still wreck havoc with the best of them!"
It was, Optimus decided, very difficult to make one's way through an unfamiliar forest that had virtually no trees without weapons while trying to stay clear of the Decepticons. Yes being an escaped prisoner was definitely not for the weak of spark. Behind him the sound of Ratchet grumbling floated to his sensitive audio sensors while Prowl made "ick" noises and Bulkhead tripped over holes in the ground. They were making good time to be certain but it was strangely quiet. Optimus was rather used to hearing a very loud, very annoying screechy voice asking "Are we there yet?" Primus, he missed Bumblebee. Who would've thought that he could ever miss the immature, loud-mouthed minibot? Certainly not hi but Bumblebee did have some good qualities; he was loyal to a fault, brave, and an extremely good friend.
"I hate organic planets," Ratchet grumbled. "Give me Megatron any day."
"So where too, boss-bot?" Bulkhead asked.
"First we need to go see Bumblebee and get out weapons back," Optimus replied.
"And after that?" Prowl raised an optic ridge.
"After that we're going to destroy the Decepticons," Optimus said determinedly.
"Great," Ratchet sighed. "We're going to get ourselves off-lined by Bumblebee before we can tell him that we're not really his friends. And how are we going to get our weapons from him anyway?"
Optimus frowned. "I hadn't thought about that," he admitted. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
"We're gonna get off-lined," Ratchet muttered as he followed Optimus.
A/N: 5 reviews.
A/N/N: Despite the fact that I haven't been getting 5 reviews per chapter I have still continued posting the other chapters. Now, I understand that all of you are busy with school and work so that's why I've been so lenient about the 5 reviews. I assume that when you guys have a chance you will review my others chapters to give me enough reviews. Thanks for continuing to read and everything. Don't forget you can do fan art whenever you want or write stories to go with any of my stories as long as you list my story as your inspiration and send me the link in a private message.