"Listen up, we've gotta approach with caution," Ratchet told the Autobots on the Auto-Rover, "Nanosec's carrying some unstable and very explosive Destronium."
"Destronium? Nanosec's a small time crook; what would he want with Destronium?" Optimus wondered.
"I don't know, but I've got a feeling that there's more to it than just money."
"You think that's what turned his hair white?" Bulkhead asked.
"Destronium doesn't do that. Only thing that's gonna do that is dye and age," Ratchet said.
"Age? That's it!" Bumblebee snapped his fingers. He snatched the turbo boosters and strapped it on his back. He opened the door, activated his boosters and motorized wheels, and leapt out. He hit the ground with a running start and skated off as a blur.
"Bumblebee! What do you think you're doing?!" Optimus demanded.
"Using my head! And my boosters!" he answered.
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Nanosec could see Sumdac Tower over the horizon, he was so close. Just then, Bumblebee skated next to him and using his boosters, kept up.
"You're slowing down old man. And now, you're going down!" Bumblebee shot a stinger blast at Nanosec, causing him to throw the container into the air. Bumblebee caught it and dashed off.
"Hey! Come back here with my pay day!" Nanosec followed close behind the yellow-jacketed speedster. Bumblebee led Nanosec all over town. Through streets, across highways, and up and down walls until eventually they ended up in Detroit Central Park. Bumblebee skidded to a halt and waited. Nanosec took a few more steps closer to Bumblebee and collapsed. Soon enough, the Auto-Rover arrived. The Autobots jogged out and circled around the fallen villain.
"What'd you do to him?" Sari asked.
"The suit didn't just make him look older. It made him turn older. The more he used it, the older he got," Bumblebee explained.
"So you ran him into his mid-hundreds?!" Bulkhead exclaimed.
"Oh yeah," Bumblebee's positivity dropped, "Oops."
"We'll discuss this later!" Ratchet removed his eyepiece and held up the Destronium, "This thing's gonna blow in about two minutes!"
"I can take it somewhere safe!" Bumblebee volunteered.
"No good. This thing's gotten so bad, the only safe place would be the upper atmosphere!"
"Bumblebee, those boosters are fast, but they can't fly," Optimus said. But Bumblebee had an idea.
"Maybe it can. With a little help…"
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"You do realize that this is probably your dumbest idea ever right?" Ratchet asked.
"Yeah, but it's all we've got," Bumblebee reminded.
"Well then, I've got something that might help." Ratchet ran to the Auto-Rover and came back carrying some chest armor. "Here put this on." Bumblebee slid the armor onto his chest. Ratchet pressed the Autobot symbol at the center.
"Okay, but I don't see how—Woah!" Bumblebee exclaimed when he saw layers of metal slid out and cover the rest of his body. The final piece to come was the helmet which slid right over his face and around his head. He and most of the others admired the armor.
"Ratchet, this is the coolest thing YOU HAVE EVER DONE! You even got it in my color scheme! And I thought you didn't care," Bumblebee smiled underneath the helmet.
"And you better not get a scratch on it," Ratchet growled.
"Right. Uh Prowl? A boost?" Prowl grabbed Bumblebee from behind. Prowl activated his jump jet boosters and they shot up. "Just hope these boosters work going up!" When they were far past the city's canopy of building tops, Prowl threw Bumblebee upward. Bumblebee charged his boosters and released them in a huge blast.
He shot upward like lightning. He went past clouds (which look much bigger than when you're on ground level), past jets, and was soon enough staring into the stars. Bumblebee threw the canister with all his might. He floated and watched as the explosion silently traveled outward and blew him backwards. The suit protected him from the boom, but Bumblebee was still knocked unconscious. He spiraled head-over-heels back down to Earth.
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The explosion could be seen from Detroit. The Autobots watched in worry as their yellow friend fell from the sky.
"He's not gonna make it," Sari whimpered.
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Bumblebee snapped awake. He suddenly realized that he was already past the clouds. He tried to activate his boosters to get control of his fall, but they didn't respond. He reached around his back and realized that the boosters must have been broken off. He could already feel the heat in the suit as the yellow and black turned red. But what was worse was when he realized that he could already see Detroit approaching.
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The Autobots finally managed to recognize one of the falling comets as their friend.
"Ratchet, we need to slow him down and cool him down! Stat!" Optimus shouted to Ratchet.
Ratchet activated his magnetizers and surrounded Bumblebee in the magnetic field. They managed to draw him closer to them while still slowing him down a bit. When he was close enough, Optimus shot a highly pressured stream of foam out of his gauntlets and Bumblebee. The foam managed to coat him and cool him down. Bumblebee landed safely in front of them. Bulkhead, Prowl, and Sari soon arrived.
"You alright little buddy?" Bulkhead placed his hand on Bumblebee's back. Bumblebee raised a finger then used it to press his Autobot symbol. The charred armor slid back into the chest piece, then Bumblebee's jelly legs gave and let him fall to the ground. Most of his clothes had burn marks, and Bumblebee looked like he'd been boiled alive, but he was okay.
"What…" he breathed, "a rush…"
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"It was double duty heroics today for the Autobots. Not only stopping the speed demon Nanosec, but also saving Detroit from catastrophe. The explosion could actually be seen from space as many witnesses report!" the anchorman said.
"How did this Nanosec person get my suit anyway?" Sumdac wondered.
"I believe it was an inside job," Megatron suggested.
"And for that matter, he stole Destronium from my lab. Just a day after I told you where it was. Not to mention, he knew my credit card number and PIN number!"
"I assure you; I had nothing to do with it."
"I want to believe you, but I can't help but be suspicious."
"It's possible that someone's hacked into your lab. And bugged us."
"And our Destronium conversation?"
"It's not too hard to listen in on someone when you've hacked into a vid-chat."
"But if that's true. Then who could it be?"
"I'm not sure, but I'll do everything in my power to help you find whoever it is."
"Yes, and I hope we find this man soon."
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"Looks like you found a good use for those turbo boosters after all kid," Ratchet smiled.
"And it looks like I'm gonna be on your med-table after all," Bumblebee chuckled.
"Nice work Autobots," Optimus congratulated, "Now let's roll on home." Optimus, Bulkhead, and Ratchet walked on board the Auto-Rover.
"Race you to the plant?" Prowl challenged.
"If it's all the same to you," Bumblebee sighed with a smile, "I think we'll walk." Prowl nodded and walked onto the rover which drove away. Sari looked a Bumblebee.
"You do realize that I'm not walking just because you said 'we' right?" she raised a brow.
"Yeah. Hop on." Sari jumped on his back. They then walked back to the plant together.