::Chapter Seven::

Bumblebee giggled as he zoomed into the Training Room, almost slamming into Jazz. The small, silver mech frowned."Man, 'Bee, what's going on?", he asked. Before he knew what was happening, Jazz felt his legs come together rapidly, and he fell to the floor."Oof! Wht the sl-!", he yelped. When he looked up, he noticed in horror that the sparkling was holding a long piece of rope that was atteched to his legs. Bumblebee laughed, his blue optics shining brightly. "Let's Playyyy!", he said through his speakers. Jazz's optics widened."Wh-What? 'Play?' 'Bee, are you glitching? Where is Ironhide? Wait, wait, HELP!HELP!HELP ME, ANYB-Mph!", he said as the little mechling gagged him. A few seconds later, Jazz was stuck on the floor, tied and gagged by the little mechling. Bumblebee chirped happily."All done!", he cooed.

Jazz only glared at him, his optics glowing slightly red."Iff swea, Bubelbeeth, Ivonhite if gotha swag you!", he managed to say throught the gag. Just then, Mudflap and Skids raced into the Training Room and closed the door behind them, their chassi moving quickly."Man, dat was close. I'm not goin' to get close to Prowlie anytime soon.", Skids wheezed to his twin. Mudflap grimaced."Yeah, no slag. We is so lucky he doesn't know what we was plannin', doh. He'd punish us big-time.", he added. Bumblebee chirped loudly, making both twins turn around suddenly. Then, they noticed Jazz." 'Bee, why is ol' Jazz strung up like that? And what you doin' here?", Skids asked, raising an optic ridge. Jazz saw an escape opportunity, and sent a comm, his optis spinning like crazy.

Jazz:: HELP! Bumblebee has totally glitched! He went all psycho on me for no reason!::

Skids:: And you didn't think on fightin' back? He's in a slaggin' sparkling's body, fo' Primus sake!::

Mudflap:: If I didn't know better, I'd say you was weak.::

Jazz:: Arghh! Whatever, man! Just get me outta here! And comm ol' Hide while you're at it!::

Mudflap:: Um...I think you is better off on your own...::

Skids:: Yeah, what he said.::

Mucflap:: Hey, dudhead, don't be copying me! Jus' 'cus I is smarter don't mean you have to pretend to be me::

Skids:: Dumbaft! I is the smarter one! And I is also the better looking one!::

Jazz:: You two seriously need to chill. And 'stead of arguing, you can help free me! Why are both of you so fraggin' thick-chipped?::

Oblivious to the silent conversation, Bumblebee had walked toward the training equipment, excitement coursing through his whole being. Yet, a small part of him was telling him he had to be rational and stop acting so immaturely. Quickly brushing the thought away, he grabbed a human-sized gun that had the safeties clicked off. With a mischevious glint, he aimed it at the wall and fired. Skids heard the noise and bought his head up from Jazz's mess."What the...HOLY PRIMUS! Bumblebee, put that down, man!", he yelled as he quickly left his twin in order to catch the mechling. Bumblebee giggled gleefully."Let's playyy!", he said again, holding it against the wall again and firing. This time, he blew a hole in the wall, just big enough for him to let him through. With another giggle, he quickly escaped Skids' grasp and slipped through the hole that lead into the hallway-only to run into one annoyed, blue femme.

Chromia tapped her foot as she looked down at the mech-turned-sparkling while trying not to pay attention to the maternal protocols that were flooding through her whole being."Bumblebee, did you make that hole in the wall?", she asked. Bumblebee shrugged and tried to look sorry. Chromia only scoffed."Sparkling,er, I mean Bumblebee, do not lie to me. I know you did it.", she said in harsh tone. Immediatly, Bumblebee whimpered and sniffed, his optics leaking fluids."I'm sorry...", he said softly. That was all it took for the femme to suddenly grab him and hold him close, her optics glowing brightly."Ohhh! I really can't stay mad at you for long! Argh! Sparklings and their adorable ways...I already know I'm going to spoil my sparklings rotten if I have any.", she cooed. As she raised the sparkling up in the air, Skids popped out of the hole, landing squarely in front of Chromia."OW! Frag, Mudflap! Don't push me dat hard either! And Jazz, stop playing Snake the Rope on the Bot by yourself!", he grumbled.

Chromia raised an optic ridge."Skids? What are you doing in there?", she asked frostily. Skids widened his optics and held up his hands in protest."Hey! I wasn't doin' nothin' wrong! I swear, it was all the little lughead's fault!", he retorted. The blue femme sighed."I really could care less, Skids. However, I would like to know what you were doing in the Training Room with Jazz and Mudflap.", she said again. Skids was about to reply, when a black Chevy Topkick peeled throught the hallway, stopping inches away from both femme and mech, and transforming into his bi-pedal mode. No sooner did his optics settle on Bumblebee that he snarled."BUMBLEBEE! Get over here, you little slagger!", he growled. Bumblebee twitched slightly as he heard his name. Reason finally returned to him, and he blinked, wondering why the frag he was up so high. Looking in front bought him face to face with Chromia, then Ironhide, who was already bringing out his cannons.

With a shrill yelp, he scrabbled to get off the blue femme, who dropped him in surprise. Falling to the ground with a thud!, he scrambled towards the wall and curled into what the humans called the fetal position, where he refused to raise his optics to Ironhide's. The black mech growled and raised an optic ridge."What the...? You are not going to get off that easily, sparkling. Now get yer aft over here!", he snarled. Bumblebee only whimpered in reply.

Bumblebee:: I...I don't know what came over me...::

Ironhide:: What in Primus' name are you talking about? You know what you did!::

Bumblebee:: I swear! I...I...I don't remember what...happe..ne...d...::

Ironhide:: Bumblebee? Hello? Bumblebee? Aw, pit.::

Quickly, the old mech scooped the sparkling up and cursed again when he confirmed his suspicions."Slaggit all! Chromia, comm Optimus ASAP. I think he entered stasis lock.", he said roughly to the blue femme. Chromia's optics widened and she swore."Pit! Forget comms, Ironhide, you head straight to Ratchet's medbay! I'll go look for Optimus myself.", she responded quickly while transforming into her alt mode, before quickly speeding away. Ironhide cursed again, and turned to face the twins."You two did something, I'm sure of it! I'll deal with both you aftheads later...", he growled. Skids gulped nervously, while Mudflap chuckled weakly."Ahhh...Gotta go. See ya later, 'Hide!", he said in a hurried tone. Skids bobbed his head in reply. Before he could say,"Now look her, aftheads", both twins were gone, their alt modes zooming down the hallway. Ironhide covered his face with a hand, a human gesture he used to show frustration."Frag. Ratch's is not gonna like seeing this...", he grumbled.

A few minutes later, in medbay, Ironhide was rubbing his helm, a sadly familiar dent prominent for all to see. He rolled his optics." I keep telling you, IT WASN'T MY SLAGGIN' FAULT!", he roared. Ratchet only glared at him, his hand holding a deadly wrench."I could care less if you didn't make him enter stasis, Ironhide. But the fact that you are his guardian means you are supposed to be watching him every astrosecond! You cannot let you optics deter from him once! Thus, this places you as responsible for his health and being.", he snapped back. The black mech looked ready to kill the medic, but he stopped when he heard footsteps outside. Ratchet snorted." I suppose you sent that femme of yours to fetch Optimus? You know we can comm each other, 'Hide. Why waste precious time?", he said sourly. Ironhide frowned."Bah! Being a medic really hasn't taught you anything, has it? It's better to tell Prime things like this in person.", he retorted.

Ratchet was about to reply, when the doors of the medbay opened, and a concerned Optimus entered, followed by a human boy. Ratchet motioned to a recharge berth."He only entered stasis lock, Optimus. Fortunately, he'll be up in no time.", he said curtly. Optimus said nothing. Beside him, Sam swallowed."W-w-what happened?", he asked tentively. The medic sighed."He entered stasis lock. Seems like he glitched, and his body couldn't handle the pressure. Don't worry, he'll wake up soon.", he replied gruffly. Sam smiled weakly."Guess I picked a bad day to visit the patient.", he said in an attempt to joke. Ironhide growled."I saw the minor twins and Jazz in the Training Room. I think they had something to do with this...", he said."No, they had nothing to do with it.", a voice replied. Confused, the mechs and the human turned around to face an upset Wheeljack. The civilian scientist shook his head."I read the scans you sent me, Ratchet. It seems like this type of glitch is present in Bumblebee, and can only be activated by an external stimulus.", he said softly. Optimus frowned."What do you mean, friend?", he asked.

Wheeljack sighed."It means that if the little one is stressed, the glitch activates, and he begins to process like a sparkling. It is a way of letting out steam, as the humans say it. Then, his older self, if you will, resurfaces, and he enters stasis lock. However, he does not have any memory of anything he might have done while thiking like a sparkling. It is a cycle, that, unfortunately, will repeat itself often.", he replied sadly. Ironhide raised an optic ridge."You mean to tell us that this is gonna be happening often?", he said. Wheeljack nodded."I'm afraid so. This only means we must hurry to find that reversing program, or this could become permanent.", he added.

Wow! Finally finished chapter seven! Thought it would take forever! But thanks to all of those who are reading this and enjoying it. I'm still kinda new to this, so please bear with me and correct me if I make any mistakes! Yes, I had to make 'Bee have some sort of problem, or else, this story would not be able to continue. And this little problem of his is integral to the storyline, so expect to see more childish acts from our dearly beloved Autobot! Remember, R and R!