Quick Note: I just want to apologize for ending the last chapter a little bit short because I was really tired while writing it last night. I promise to write my chapters a little better and not so late at night. Now that's out of way, on with the story.
Chapter 8: Infestation on a Saturday
Darby House Saturday Morning:
Yay it was finally Saturday and that means spending a whole day and the weekend at the Autobot base. Not only am I excited about that, but I am also excited about being able to take off my bandages from my hands after the dry ice incident. And to say the least my mother wasn't pleased with me and neither was Pem because they considered what I did was stupid and that I shouldn't have done it. Well for one thing there was a giant tornado in the room wreaking havoc and it was a portable machine with no plug so I didn't have a choice, but to grab the ice. Anyways I then walked out of my room to the bathroom to get ready and removed the bandages from my hands. After unwrapping them, I saw there might be some possible permanent scars, but that doesn't bother me since I always get scars from gymnastics. Leaving the bathroom I then went to go to eat breakfast and go to the garage to meet Arcee and Jack and leave for the base. Opening the door to the garage I saw that Jack was there, but no Arcee.
"Hey Jack! Do you have any idea where Arcee is?" I asked confused looking at the mostly empty garage.
Jack just shrugged his shoulders and said, "I have got the slightest clue, but I'm guessing she got called to go on a mission. But I'm willing to bet that one of the bots will come to pick us up. "
We then heard honking and that was our cue to leave. I left mom a note so she wouldn't worry and headed outside to meet Jack. When we got outside we saw that both Bumblebee and Bulkhead were there waiting for us. Jack and I then looked at each other and laughed.
"You were somewhat right Jack about one of them coming for us, but we got more than we bargained for!" I said while trying to contain my laughter. Then I saw Miko wave to me and Raf wave to Jack so that meant Jack and I were riding in two different vehicles. I then went over to Bulkhead and Miko and got in the passenger side seat. All of us then took off to the base.
Riding to the Autobot Base:
"Dude! I see that you got to take off your bandages from your hands! That's awesome cause now I can teach you how to play guitar!" Miko said as she punched my shoulder.
I just looked at her, "Morning to you too Miko! Teach me guitar? I'm not really that good of a player! Oh and morning Bulkhead!" I said while laughing.
"Hey Jordyn! How are your hands?" Bulkhead asked curiously.
"Good as new Bulk! I'm so glad that I get to write again its torture not being able too! It's like Miko not being able to play her guitar for a week." I said laughing as I looked towards Miko.
"Dude Jordyn it would be! Not being able to play my guitar for a week would be just plain torture!" She said with a look of horror on her face.
Bulkhead then laughed, "Yeah Miko wouldn't be the same without it right Jordyn?" He asked me even though the answer was obvious.
"Absolutely! Although Ratchet would be grateful if she couldn't play for a whole week!" I said with a smile on my face.
Miko then turned to me and said, "Oh let docbot be pissy for all I care! Besides the base is just too quiet without it! The silence drives me crazy!"
"It may drive you crazy, but to the rest of us, we like the silence. " I explained to her while she gave me weird look.
"Are you kidding me?! How can you guys stand the silence? It's too loud and it hurts my eardrums!"Miko then said as she leaned back into the seat.
I then looked at her and muttered to Bulkhead, "Yeah because she doesn't know how to be silent sometimes."
"What did you say?"Miko asked confused.
Bulkhead then laughed and I laughed along with him while Miko was giving us strange looks. Despite the looks we were getting, Bulkhead and I kept snickering much to Miko's confusion and she just waved it off probably thinking we were crazy and stared ahead at the road. All of us finally reached the last stretch of road to the Autobot base and I wondered what we could possibly do on a Saturday.
Autobot Base:
As soon as we got to base I saw Arcee and Optimus standing next to the Groundbridge probably ready to go on some sort of mission. I was then curious as to where they were going, but I'm sure they will tell us before they leave. Miko and I then got out of Bulkhead while he transformed and we turned to Ratchet.
"Miss us docbot?" Miko asked in an eager tone of voice.
Ratchet then looked down at us, "Ugh shouldn't they be in school?" He said still not fully understanding our school schedule.
Miko then looked at him with an 'are you kidding face', "On a Saturday? We have the whole weekend off to spend with you!" She said to him as she walked by Optimus and Arcee up to the couch.
Jack then walked over to Arcee, "Wasn't expecting to carpool this morning what gives Arcee?" He said while looking up to her.
"Tag team Jack! It's my turn for exploration duty!" She explained to him while pointing to the bridge.
"Oh too bad! It's a beautiful day for a ride. I wouldn't want to make you feel guilty for keeping Jordyn and I indoors!" He said as a hint that we want to go.
Arcee then put her hands on her hips and said, "Arctic exploration duty!"
Jack the pointed to the other side of the base, "Indoors where it's warm!" He said gratefully he didn't have to go.
"Oh you gotta love Jack! So the Arctic huh? That sounds really fun!" I said sarcastically while walking up to Arcee and Optimus.
Arcee just smiled and looked at me, "It won't be too bad Jordyn and Ratchet won't let us be out there too long anyways. So I see that your mom finally let you take the bandages off your hands!" She said while looking and pointing at my hands.
"Yeah she did finally!" I said holding my hands up. "I thought she would never let me take them off. But they're good as new now!" I finished smiling at Arcee.
"It's good to see that you have recovered from your injuries Jordyn although it looks like you may have some scars. " Optimus said while looking down at me.
I turned to look at my hands and said, "Yeah knowing me I probably will, but I don't mind it though." Looking back at them I said, "Well as much as I don't want you guys to freeze to death out there, I shouldn't have to keep you guys from going on the mission so be careful out there!"
"Don't worry Jordyn we will be fine! See you later!" Arcee said with a smile and I waved back at her while going up to where Jack and Miko were. I heard Optimus talking to Raf for a minute before leaving to go to the Arctic with Arcee. The bridge then closed and all of kids when up to the human area where the couch and chair were along with the TV and video game was.
"So what do you guys want to do today?"Miko asked Bulkhead and Bumblebee who were currently standing behind us.
"BEEEP BEEP!" Bumblebee answered Miko while holding up his fingers like he was holding something.
Raf then translated for us, "Video game tournament! Last one standing wins!" Raf said excitedly with Bumblebee in agreement.
"Bulkhead! Bumblebee! Here now!" Ratchet then barked at the two bots who reluctantly obeyed and went over to Ratchet.
I then took a seat on the recliner while Miko grabbed the remote controls for the video games. I didn't feel like playing with Miko because of two things: One, I had to write a week's worth of journal entries since I was delayed by my hands and two, Miko isn't exactly the easiest person to play video games with. So I just sat down and started to write when Miko looked over to Jack waving the remote control in front of his face.
"Prepare to be destroyed!" She said to Jack who in turn didn't look interested in playing.
"Eh not really my thing Miko!" He said leaning back into the couch.
Miko then looked at Jack with an amused look on her face, "Oh really? Or you just afraid of losing to a girl?" Miko said taunting him.
I turned to look at Jack, "Oh come on Jack are you seriously gonna let Miko get away teasing you like that?" I asked Jack while laughing.
Jack then looked at Miko and snatched the controller, "Bring it!" He said with determination.
"No mercy!" Miko then said as they started the race. I then looked at Raf who seemed rather disappointed and I wasn't the only one who seemed to notice.
"Hey Raf you want to take on Miko for me?" Jack said thoughtfully to Raf as he handed him the controller.
Raf then looked at him and said, "Nah I got other things to do." Raf then got off the couch and started to walk away.
"Hey don't get lost out there Raf!" I said jokingly to him and he just smiled and continued to walk down the stairs to the hallway.
I then turned back to writing in my journal and listened as Jack and Miko shouted at each other about the game. Smiling at them I went back to writing in my journal for awhile because I gotta lot of writing to do. Yeah it sounds like I'm obsessed with writing, but I want to become a writer and an English teacher when I'm older so why not practice now! I never let anyone see my journal or let anyone touch it because honestly I'm afraid everyone is going to laugh at what I have to say. I was brought out of my thoughts by Jack and Miko shouting.
"Ha in your face Miko!" Jack said victoriously as the lights then decided to go out for a second and then turn back on, "What the? Great power failure!" He said stopping his victory dance. I then put my journal away and got up from the chair.
"Oh and look it wiped out our game!" Miko said in mock disappointment. Jack on the other hand looked frustrated and a little disappointed.
"Aw but I was winning!" Jack then shouted as we followed Miko.
Miko then said, "Hmm bummer!" As she threw the controller back on the couch.
I then looked at Jack, "The one time you win and the power goes out. That really bites doesn't it Jack?" I said while smiling at him.
He just nodded his head and we walked over to where the bots were standing. They were in the middle of the room inspecting something related to the Groundbridge. Then Ratchet pulled a piece of machinery out of the floor and to me it looked like something has been chewing on it.
"Hmm we most definitely have a problem! But what could have caused this?" He asked the others curiously as the light went out and back on again.
"Or that!" Bulkhead said as we looked at the ceiling and back at Ratchet.
"Maybe something is wrong with the main grid. Let's hope it isn't a substation malfunction." Ratchet said as he examined the piece of metal in his hands.
"Hey guys look what I found!" Raf said as he entered the room carrying something in his hand.
"We're busy! AH!" Ratchet then shouted as he looked at Raf and jumped back.
Bulkhead then shouted as he jumped back, "WHOA! WHOA!" Then Bulkhead and Bumblebee pulled out their blasters aiming at what Raf had in his hand. Jack, Miko, and I then jumped in front of Raf, confused as to why the bots were acting so weird.
"Hey! Hey! What is with you guys?" Miko said to the rather skittish Autobots.
Bulkhead then shouted, "Scraplets! Scraplets!" While waving his blasters at us.
"What's a scraplet?" Raf asked jumping from behind us.
Ratchet looked down at us, "The most dangerous vermin ever to crawl the face of Cybertron!" He said in a grave tone of voice.
Jack and I then looked at each other and then at the scraplet and back up to the bots and said, "This? Are you kidding me?" This little robot had to be half a foot tall with a big head and eyes, but with tiny insect like legs.
"You guys are giant robots! Scrappy here is tiny!" Miko said comparing the bots to the scraplet.
"You have no idea what that tiny thing can do!" Bulkhead said in warning to the rest of us kids.
Raf then turned to look at the Scraplet, "Aww he wouldn't hurt anything!" He said as the scraplet then decided to wake up.
Then the strangest yet scariest thing happened! The scraplet then hopped out of Raf's arm and charged the Autobots flashing his rather sharp teeth. Bumblebee tried to blast it, but it was too quick and then started to eating through Bumblebee's armor on his leg and then his arm. He then threw it across the room and it started to charge Bee again when all of a sudden Raf started to smash the vermin into pieces. Jack and I then intervened grabbing the crowbar Raf had out of his hands.
"Whoa easy there killer!" Jack said calmly to Raf who took a deep breath and ran to Bumblebee.
"Whoa I didn't see that coming." Miko said in shock as she pointed to the now dead scraplet.
I turned to look at her and said, "Which part?" She looked at me, but before anyone could answer, Raf's voice rang out through the room.
"I'm sorry Bumblebee! Is he going to be okay?" Raf asked in concerned for his friend sitting on the ground.
"Only a mesh wound, he'll live. " Ratchet said as he looked at Raf. Thank goodness he was okay because it wasn't looking to good there for a second.
"Now do you believe me? All Scraplets do is dismantle machinery and eat anything metal especially living metal!" Bulkhead as he was pointing to himself.
Jack then joined the conversation, "Well bug squashed game over right?" He said hopeful.
"No! When it comes to scraplets there is never just one and I fear I know how they got in here!" Ratchet said as he was heading to another room. When we went in the room, I saw a huge pod that looks like it has been ripped open from the inside.
"It's a trap! A scraplet trap!" Ratchet said as he examined the pod.
"Uh an empty scraplet trap!" Bulkhead said with fear in his voice.
Ratchet the explained, "Most likely ejected into space eons ago where the sub zero temperatures kept them in stasis."
"Until we brought the thaw!" Jack then said as he approached the pod.
"Now they're wide awake and ready to brunch!" Miko said fearfully to us.
Raf then joined the conversation, "So how many are there?" He asked a little timid to Ratchet.
"Thousands! With the power malfunctions and Groundbridge damage! Is sure signs that their infestation is well underway!" Ratchet said with a grave tone of voice.
"So how long do you think until they completely destroy the base?" I said in a serious tone of voice.
Ratchet then turned to me, "I don't know the exact time, but I can guess that within a matter of hours!" He said while looking at all of us. That didn't make the situation any better, but it gave us a time frame of how long we have to fix the problem. Well we hope that we can fix the problem.
As we were making our way back to the main room we then heard Optimus voice come over the monitors, but we couldn't make out what he was saying over the static. Ratchet tried to regain control over the comm. system, but then the monitors went blank and we lost the communication.
"The scraplets have gotten into the comm. link system! If we don't eradicate these creatures immediately, they will turn the whole base into a scrapheap!" Ratchet said with urgency.
Bulkhead on the other hand was all for leaving the base, "Well I say we bug out of her and let them keep it!" He said frantically with Bumblebee in agreement.
"Evacuation is not an option! If we don't get the Groundbridge back online stat Optimus and Arcee will perish for sure!" Ratchet said his voice demanding yet fearful.
"They will?!" Jack and I said with worry in our voice with thought of Arcee and Optimus freezing to death in the Arctic.
"Bulkhead you never run!" Miko said a little disappointed at her guardian.
Bulkhead then turned to her and began explaining, "Miko you've never seen a swarm of these things devour a bot I have! They pick you apart from the inside out starting out with the small juicy bits first. Fuse by fuse! Circuit by circuit! Until there is nothing left and I mean nothing! Not even your optics!"
Jack then decided to intervene, "You have to let us help!" He said in determination.
"We aren't made of metal!" Raf pointed out to the bots.
"We have a better chance of getting rid of them!" I said hopefully.
Miko then points to herself and said, "Yeah the scraplets can't hurt us!"
"Normally I would find your fleshiness to be your least engaging quality, but it would provide us an advantage under these extremes." Ratchet said in agreement with us.
Jack then gave out orders to the rest of us, "Okay then all of us pair or group off with one human per bot or two! I'll watch your back while your fixing the Groundbridge."
"I will too!" I said to Jack and Ratchet who in turn looked relieved with the extra help.
"While we go on a bug hunt!" Miko then said to the other bots who looked none too pleased about going to look for scraplets.
Everyone then took off on their assigned tasks while Jack and I stayed with Ratchet who was immediately started to get to work on the Groundbridge. We remained in silence for the longest of time and now I understand what Miko was saying earlier about it being so loud that it hurts your eardrums. I kept thinking about how Optimus and Arcee were doing out there! No doubt freezing their afts out there in the sub zero temperatures and I was now more determined to get rid of the scraplets and bring them back home! Wow Jack was right I do act like mom when it comes to worrying about others especially the ones I consider family. I was then brought back out of thoughts to Jack finally speaking to Ratchet after several minutes of silence.
"So how's it going over there?" Jack asked a little anxiously.
"Yeah how's progress?" I said to Ratchet a little anxious as well and for a few moments he didn't answer.
"I have rewired and recalibrated everything that was eaten, but the Groundbridge still won't receive power!" He said while punching the ground. Then all of a sudden we heard a noise coming from a vent in the wall. I then looked up and saw a bunch of scraplets crawling along the walls and gasped.
"Oh no! Jack look up there!" I whispered to him while he turned to look in the direction I was looking. Both of us froze hopefully the scraplets won't realize that we were there, but with no such luck the scraplets looked in our direction and started to fly towards Ratchet.
Shocked by the recent development Jack and I both screamed, "They fly?! You never said they could fly!" We watched as the scraplets fly over us and started to attack Ratchet.
"Ratchet!" Jack and I both shouted while charging at the scraplets and smashing them to the best of our abilities.
Jack and I waved our metal pipes in the air hoping to take out as many scraplets as we can. But there were too many to get all at once and Ratchet realized this and then shouted, "Jack! Jack! The fire extinguisher!" He then pointed at the wall next to him.
Jack then grabbed the fire extinguisher and started to spray all the scraplets that were attacking Ratchet while I was handling the ones flying around everywhere. We managed to subdue the scraplets for a short moment before Bulkhead and Bumblebee came running into room with multiple scraplet bites.
"Ratchet get the patch kit we're leaking Energon like-WHOA!" Bulkhead then shouted as he looked up to the ceiling.
There were tons of scraplets flying above us in swarms and dive bombing at the bots. Bee then proceeded to shoot at all of them while Bulkhead got out his wrecking ball intending to smash them. I on the other hand was smashing many scraplets with my metal pipe while Jack was spraying down Ratchet again.
Bulkhead then smashes a good group of them with his right arm wrecking ball while saying, "Eat this!"
I then turned around and said, "Bulkhead your hand!" I continued to smash them as Bulkhead realized the scraplets were eating at his other hand and he started to scream.
All four of us did the best we could to fight off the numerous amounts of scraplets, but we didn't give up on protecting our friends. We continued to smash, well in Jack's case spray, them down until the last ones remained. After about another ten minutes of continuous fighting, all of us managed to clear the room of all of the scraplets…hopefully.
"Did we get them all?" Jack asked with his answer being the distant sound of chewing echoing throughout the base.
"Nope there are still more, dang it!" I said frustrated as can be right now, but I didn't show it much.
Ratchet then spoke up, "These were only scouts!" I saw Bumblebee fall back lying on the ground and beeped in frustration.
"So do the rest of them know we're in here?" Bulkhead asked nervously to us.
"Not yet, but probably they will soon!" I said to him with my concern and worry rising.
Ratchet then pointed out, "And if allow ourselves to become our next meal, Arcee and Optimus will never make it home! We must get the Groundbridge operational."
"Then we could use it to send the scraplets anywhere on Earth!" Raf said hopefully.
"Why not back to the Arctic we already know they don't do cold." Jack said while holding up the fire extinguisher.
I nodded my head in agreement and said, "Yeah if the Arctic froze them once then it can do it again!"
"Suh-weet one stop shopping!" Miko said eagerly.
"Compare the scraplets body mass to sub zero conditions should freeze them on contact so think Ratchet think! If the Groundbridge is still down then there must be a breach in the Energon fuel line." He said like he had a light bulb go off in his head.
"Ugh if we weren't breaching then one of us could go over there and fix it." Bulkhead said his voice very tired.
"Where do we find it?" Jack and I then asked Ratchet.
"And how do we fix it?" Raf asked determined to get it done.
Ratchet then explained to us that it was just down the hallway behind the monitors and that the tools were in the storage room next to the Energon line. We all ran to the storage room and then to the Energon fuel line room where we were met by a bunch of scraplets.
"Remember we aren't made of metal!" Jack said calmly to us as we walked over the scraplets.
"Yeah so don't be afraid!" I said in the same calmness my brother had a few seconds ago.
We looked around everywhere for the breach until we heard a leaking noise, "There's the breach!" Jack and I then said as we ran over to the line.
"We have to work fast!" Jack said urgently to the rest of us.
"Here cover up the leak with this metal and Jack will weld it together! Oh and remember to close your eyes the light will be bright!" I said to others while we got to work on fixing it. We managed to get it fixed and then the scraplets then took off.
"They're getting ready to feed!" Raf shouted to the rest of us. We all then ran out of the room to tell the others that we fixed it. As soon as we got to the room we all then shouted for Ratchet to fire up the Groundbridge.
"Groundbridge activated!" Ratchet said while falling to the ground pulling the lever. And it actually worked!
Bulkhead the all of sudden got off the floor yelling, "Ready for the main course? Come and get it!" He then ran through the Groundbridge with all of the scraplets following.
For the next few minutes it seemed like an eternity for Bulkhead to come back with an almost completely frozen Arcee and Optimus. Thank goodness that they managed to brave the cold and stay alive! Ratchet and Bulkhead then managed to help Arcee lay down as well as Bumblebee so that they could get some rest and could be checked over. Ratchet was about to go into medical mode, but Jack and I decided that he needed to sit down and rest and that we could handle taking care of our guardians. He protested against this, but I gave him a look that mom would give to me whenever I would argue with her and he didn't argue much after that. He just sat there next to Optimus and gave us instructions on how everyone needed to be treated. While there were only two laptops to handle the stats on each bot, I managed to get the stats working on my tablet and it was helpful cause I had to move around to see if everyone was doing okay.
"Report bio circuitry status!" Ratchet then ordered Jack and I.
"Levels are rising!" Jack and I said while giving Ratchet a thumbs up.
Ratchet then looked pleased and said, "Excellent! Rafael keep a close eye on Bumblebee's electronic pulse monitor! Miko check Bulkheads interface patch!"
"Its steady Ratchet!" Raf then said happily to the medic.
"Looking good!" Miko said giving a thumbs up to Ratchet.
I then walked over to Arcee to see if she is okay and said, "Looks like it's your turn for recovery this time around." I laughed while looking down at my tablet.
"Yeah no kidding! I'm glad to be out that fragging Arctic! I kept wishing that I was near a tropical island!" Arcee said relieved yet still angry at being in the cold forever.
I looked at her and smile, "Yeah can't say that I blame you there! But it wasn't exactly a vacation spot here for awhile!" I said frowning while looking back at my tablet to check on stats.
"Yeah I can tell! Well I'm proud of you four anyways for helping us get back home and preventing the rest of them from getting eaten alive!" She said smiling at me and the rest of us.
I just looked up at her and gave out a small laugh, "Well your family to us! And we would do anything for our families!" I said while smiling at her.
Before Arcee could answer back we heard a loud, "AHHHHHHHHHH!" Coming from Miko at the other end of the med bay. Immediately I ran over there putting the tablet in my purse and grabbing a metal pipe and jumped in front of Miko.
"Scraplets!?" Jack and I then questioned Miko preparing to swing.
"SPIDER! Is it on me?" Miko then screeched while doing a little dance as she ran out of med bay screaming.
Bulkhead then looked in Miko's direction and said, "Did she just scream like a little girl?"
I then put my pipe down and nodded my head and said, "Yes, yes she did Bulkhead!" I started laughing and went to go look back at the stats. While checking on everybody I kept thinking about how similar we were to the bots not only do we freeze when it's cold, but scream like little girls when it comes to creatures that are tinier than us and Miko just proved that.
Well there you go another chapter down! I have to say this was a fun chapter to write and in the show I thought it was pretty funny when both Miko and Bulkhead screamed like little girls at creatures that were smaller than they were. In the next chapter we will see what happens when an old friend of Bulkhead's arrives to meet the team. Is he really who he says he is? Can he be trusted? Well like always keep reading and reviewing. See ya later.