Me: Hey, bitches! I'm back with the final chapter of the second installment of the series.
Steve: And the last chapter couldn't have ended in a better way.
Violet: Except for the fact that I got shot in my friggin arm.
Steve: Oh get over that. You'll be fine.
Violet: I'll be fine?! That's all you have to say?!
Steve: Well, yeah.
Violet: I got shot in my damn arm, you asshole!
Trevor: Will the both of you shut up and let AK get on with this?! I've been looking forward to this chapter for a long time, and I'm not going to let you two ruin it for me! Is that understood?!
Steve & Violet: Yes.
Trevor: Good. Now AK, if you don't mind, the disclaimer.
Me: Right. I do not own, the incredibles, American Dad, or Transformers. That being said, enjoy the final chapter of the AutoKnights 2.
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The AutoKnights II: The American Knights
Chapter 9: The Patch Up & Goodbye
(Chesapeake Bay; AutoKnights Base Entrance area; 2:25 pm)
Thirty minutes had passed since the battle with Starscream ended and everyone, the Smith's and the AutoKnights, were all heading back to the base at the Chesapeake Bay. During the entire trip there, no one muttered a single word. Optimus Prime and Ratchet were the ones driving, while everyone else was hitching a ride. Ironhide was still holding on to her arm as the pain got worse from the shots she took from Starscream. There was no blood oddly. There were sparks flickering out of her sleeve though. When they reached the ramp entrance they stopped. Ironhide, Roger, and Haley all got out and Optimus transformed to human mode. Optimus then scanned his hand in the hidden wall scanner and the ramp started to angle down. He transformed back to vehicle mode and the three passengers got back in. Optimus went first while Ratchet followed behind. When they reached the Teletraan chamber, all the passengers in both vehicles got out and Optimus and Ratchet transformed to human mode. When Francine got a clear visual her son's face, she ran up to him and hugged him as hard as she could.
"Oh my god, Steve! Are you alright?! Did he hurt you?!" She asked frantically.
Ratchet was really getting tired of not being called his new name. "I told you, it's Ratchet right now. And no Mom, he didn't hurt me." Ratchet then smiled. "But I sure did kick his sorry metal ass."
"Oh please. Yeah right." Haley said not believing a word.
Optimus stepped in. "Oh he's telling the truth. He even saved our lives back there. And I saw him kick Starscream's ass myself."
Haley was now speechless.
"Now I want to know why you have so many freaking mods. Seriously you have more than me and Ironhide do combined. What's up with that?" Optimus said to Ratchet.
Ratchet then looked at himself and wondered. "I honestly don't know. Speaking of Ironhide, how's your arm doing?" he asked her.
Ironhide was still holding her arm. But now it looked almost as if she was wincing. "Not so good." Was all she could say.
"Let me look." Ratchet said as he walked over. He gently grabbed her arm and looked at it. "Well, like I said before, it won't be that hard to fix up. Come with me." He said as he led Ironhide over to a place in the base.
"Where are they going?" Haley asked.
Optimus looked over and shrugged "I don't know." They all followed.
Ratchet had brought Ironhide over to the medical station that was spotted earlier. The Smiths and Optimus stood behind him. "Could you get up on the table, please?" Ratchet asked.
Ironhide was confused, but she sat on the table anyways as Ratchet was transforming his right sleeve into yet another tool. This one was cone shaped and had a pointy needle end with sparks flickering out. Ironhide was now nervous.
"Uh, are you sure you know what you're doing?" she asked.
Ratchet looked up. "Don't ask me why and how, but somehow, yes. I know exactly what I'm doing and how to do what I'm doing. It's weird." He said.
Ironhide knew exactly how he felt. "Hey, I went through the same thing, remember? I told you about it." She said.
"Yeah, I remember. Now lets see what I can do about this." He said as he yet again grabbed her arm.
He tried to lift it as gently as he could. But as soon as he tried to, Ironhide was saying the word "Ow" over and over again in a fast pace. Ratchet let go.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was just trying to.."
"I know you were. But this hurts like hell. Can't you just do your stuff with it here?" Ironhide interrupted.
Ratchet sighed. "I guess. Now be still." He said as he put his left middle and index fingers on the left lens of his glasses.
He then looked as if he was pinching the lens a little. Then a scope identical to the one he had on his right lens earlier slid down the lens and telescoped.
"Okay. Let's do this." Ratchet said as he moved his right hand closer to Ironhide's wounded arm.
When the needle seemed to be close enough, it started to flash brightly as it was making some weird sound effect. It sounded like he was welding something. Actually, that is exactly what he was doing. He was welding all the broken parts in Ironhide's arm back together again. After a few minutes of doing this, Ratchet stepped back and looked at Ironhide.
"Okay. NOW how does it feel?" he asked.
Ironhide afraid to move her arm, still did so to test whatever Ratchet did. And to her surprise, and everyone else's, she did move it with no pain at all.
"It feels great!" She said.
"Good. Now all I have to do is give it a little calibration and it will be as good as new. Hold it up." He said.
Ironhide was now smiling as she held her now painless arm out in front of her. Ratchet then transformed his right sleeve again. The spark emitting needle slid down into it as another one came out. This one was slightly glowing red. A small keypad appeared on the top of the sleeve and Ratchet pushed some buttons. He then pointed the needle at the arm and fired a very thin red laser that looked like a laser pointer at her arm. The laser didn't hurt her at all. He just ran the laser over the wrist where she was shot and then turned it off.
"There you go. All done." Ratchet said.
Ironhide jumped off the table and walked away to an open space.
"What are you doing?" Optimus asked.
"Checking to see if I can transform again." She said in response.
Ironhide then transformed into her vehicle mode. And she had no trouble whatsoever doing so. She then transformed back to human mode. She brought up her arm and successfully brought out her functional cannon. She whirled just to make sure it was OK. She then put the cannon away and then looked at Steve.
"Thank you." She said.
Ratchet rubbed the back of his head. "Don't mention it."
Optimus was smiling. "Great job, you two. Power down." He said.
The three knights brought up their hands and closed their eyes concentrating. They all started to glow in the same color of their suits. Then the suits turned into their liquid metal form and slid up their bodies and shrunk on their right ring fingers. The suits were rings again and the knights had become Trevor, Violet, and Steve again. When they were finished, the three stood together as the rest of the company stood in their own group two feet away.
Stan approached them. "The three of you have done something for all of us today that we will never forget. This will surely boost your popularity around the globe. You know that right?"
Trevor, Violet, and Steve looked at each other, then back to Stan and nodded.
Then Stan smiled. "Well, that's good. The people of this world deserve to recognize the faces of those who are willing to put their own lives on the line to protect this world from whatever force. Even if it means going into battle head on with giant robots. I am very proud of all of you." Stan looked at Steve. "Especially you, son."
Steve smiled back. "Thanks Dad." He said.
"I am too Steve." Trevor said. "I never thought you would ever be able to redeem yourself after you had that party down here, but I guess I was wrong. And I'm damn happy I was."
Stan stopped listening after he heard about the party. "He did what?!"
Violet tried to calm him down. "Its okay, Stan. It doesn't matter anymore since it's his house too now." She said.
Stan did calm down but was still a little mad. Violet turned back and faced Steve. "But why did you do it?" she asked.
"I thought you forgave me." Steve said.
"Oh we do. I just want o know. Why did you do it?" she asked again.
Steve hanged his head down and began to explain. "All my life, I've never had a knack for fitting in at social life. When I started high school, it just got worse. I tired to be friendly towards some of the popular people, but in return, they labeled me as "lame" and the torture began. I was stuffed in lockers for no good reason at all except for the fact that it amuses them. I tried to be more like them, but that only made things worse. I guess I thought that doing something like this would finally get me accepted into their group. I just wanted to prove to them that I can be just as cool as they could. But that never will happen for me."
Trevor and Violet were now feeling sympathy for the Steve character as he went on.
"I should never have done what I did. It was selfish of me to do something so stupid." He said as he slid his ring of his finger and held it in the pal of his hand. "Take this. I don't deserve to be called an AutoKnight." He said as he extended his open hand to them.
Trevor and Violet just looked at each other and smiled. Trevor then approached Steve who still had his hand out. Trevor brought up his hand to Steve's. Steve thought he was going to take the ring out of his hand. Instead, Trevor enclosed Steve's hand around the ring and stepped back.
"What?" Steve said.
"Steve, you deserve that ring." Trevor said.
"No I don't, Trevor. What I did was…"
"What you did was stupid, yes. But that doesn't matter anymore. Steve, that ring chose you to possess its power for a reason. I'm not sure what that reason is, but I'm sure it's a damn good one. We all make huge mistakes. None of us are proud of them. But we can't sit around our whole lives feeling sorry for ourselves. We have to move on. Understand?"
Steve looked at his hand and slowly smiled. "Yeah, I understand." He said as he slipped the ring back on.
Trevor was smiling too. "Welcome to the team…" He said as he extended his hand towards Steve. "Ratchet."
Steve smile grew bigger as he grabbed Trevor's hand and shook it. "Besides, you have me and Violet as friends now. You don't need to be with those jerks anymore." Violet watched from the side and nodded. She was smiling too. As were the rest of the Smith's.
"Does this mean when the next portal opens for you guys to go through, Steve will be going with you?" Francine asked.
Trevor looked at her. "Yes. We need his skills. And I'm sure he will be a great soldier."
Francine was not tickled by the fact that her son was being called a soldier. She was just a bout to say something until a loud voice came.
"INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM CYBERTRON COMMAND! INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM CYBERTRON COMMAND!" Said the automated voice.
"Teletraan 1, put transmission up on screen." Trevor said.
The screen flickered on and hot rod was shown staring at them.
"What's up, Hot Rod?" Violet greeted.
"I hope I'm not too late you two, but it appears Starscream will be arriving a bit earlier then anticipated." Hot Rod said not knowing about the events that recently transpired.
Trevor and Violet smiled at each other and tuned back to the screen. "Uh, Hot Rod, Starscream was already here." Trevor said.
Hot Rod looked surprised now. "He was?" he asked.
"Yeah. We already defeated him." Violet said.
"You did?" Hot Rod asked. "The two of you alone defeated Megatron's second in command?"
Trevor and Violet smiled at each other again and then looked at Steve. They pulled him up to right next to where they were standing and away from his family.
"Actually, the three of us did." Trevor proudly said.
"Three?" Hot Rod said confused.
"Yes. During the battle, the third AutoKnight ring was found by Steve here." Violet said pointing to Steve.
Steve held up his hand to the screen and showed Hot Rod the ring.
"Amazing. What name did he call out when he became one of you?" Hot Rod asked.
"Ratchet." Steve answered.
"Ah Ratchet. Boy this team is sure starting to remind me of the old days." Hot Rod said.
"Who was Ratchet back then, Hot Rod?" Trevor asked.
"Ratchet was the medical officer on the original Optimus Prime's main platoon. He sure did save a lot of lives." Hot Rod explained.
Now everyone was amazed at the rank Steve now had in the group. "That must be why he has so many mods. He needs them to do all of his doctor stuff." Violet said.
"That is correct." Hot Rod said. "Welcome Steve, to the ranks of the Autobot and AutoKnight cause."
"Thank you, Hot Rod." Steve said.
"You're welcome. Now, I have something else to tell you."
"What is it Rod?" Trevor asked.
"We have just discovered a new feature on the portable Teletraan device we gave you."
"What about it?" Violet asked.
"It seems that whenever you find a ring, Teletraan's ability to detect rings grows stronger. So with every ring you find, the farther away Teletraan can pick up signals from." Hot Rod said.
"Well let's take a look." Trevor said as he walked towards the keyboard.
He pressed a few buttons and the screen with Hot Rod on it shrunk down into the bottom right hand corner. The rest of the screen showed a radar layout and it was picking up a new signal.
"We have a signal detected. It's the ring alright." Trevor said as he looked closer. "It appears that it's in…Japan."
Violet and Steve looked at each other with wide eyes. "Were going to Japan?" Steve asked.
"It appears so." Trevor said. "We better get going if were going to beat the Decepticons to it."
"You can't leave already!" Francine cried. "I'm not ready to say good-bye to my little boy!"
Stan tried to comfort his wife. "Honey, we talked about this remember? Steve has shown us that he can take care of himself. I'll miss him just as much as you will, but we have to let him go. It's time."
Francine was trying to calm down. "I guess. But this is just too hard! I never thought this would ever happen. I'm not ready for this!"
"It will be okay Mrs. Smith." Trevor cut in.
Francine looked up into Trevor's blue eyes. "I know you don't want to see him go away, but if he doesn't come with us, we might not be able to stop Megatron from taking over this world. We have to go. And he has to come with us. I will watch over him. As his leader I am obligated to do that. I will not let you down."
Francine was finally calming down. "You promise?" she asked.
"We promise." Violet answered.
"Don't worry about me Mom. I'll be back. And in one piece too." Steve said.
"You better or there will be hell to pay." Francine said.
"Hey I don't mean to interrupt but, are you guys ready?" a voice came.
Trevor and Violet recognized the voice, but no one else did.
"Hey Wheeljack!" Trevor said as he saw who was now on the screen.
Another robot had taken the place of Hot Rod. He had white armor plating with green and red stripes. He had a faceplate over his mouth and on both sides of his head were two panels that lit up when he talked. This was Wheeljack.
"Hello Trevor, Violet. I understand there is a third one of you now?" Wheeljack asked.
"Yep. He's right here." Trevor said pointing to Steve.
"Hi. I'm Steve." He said.
"I am Wheeljack. It is a pleasure to meet you. Now as I was saying before, are you guys ready to leave?"
"Not quite yet." Steve said.
He turned around to look at his family who were all looking at him with sad looking faces. Steve approached them one at a time. Stan was first.
"Well Dad, I guess I'll be seeing you later." Steve said.
Stan put a hand on his son's shoulder. "I have faith in you son. I know you will do great things with these two." Stan then hugged his son. "I'll miss you son."
Steve pulled away and nodded. He then moved on to who was next in line. It was Haley.
"Well Haley, you're finally getting a break from me. Enjoy it while you can, because I plan to make this mission over quick so I can come back." Steve said.
Haley was hanging her head. "Well, I promise when you come back, I'll try to be a better sister for you. I know I haven't really been the best one." Haley said.
Steve didn't say a word as Haley continued.
'There have been times when I didn't really care about you're well being. Like that time you tried to unleash a swarm of bees on me and Klaus but instead they went after you, and you dove in the pool cowering."
Trevor and Violet were trying to keep themselves from laughing.
"But I should have helped you. I…only wish I could have done things better."
Steve put his hand on her shoulder. "No, you're the best sister anyone could ever ask for. I only wish I could have been a better brother. You did things perfectly."
Haley looked up. "Really?"
"Really." Steve said. "I sure am gonna miss you, sis."
"Oh I'll miss you too." Haley said as she hugged her little brother.
Steve got loose and moved on to Roger. "Roger, try to not go on any adventures without me, okay?"
Roger smiled. "Steve, I promise, adventures won't be fun without you. I only wish I was going on this one with you."
"Oh that reminds me." Steve said.
"What?" Roger asked.
Steve pulled him closer. "You make any more bets against us, I'll kill you."
Roger's smile faded.
"That goes for me too." Trevor said raising his hand.
"Me too." Violet said as she mimicked Trevor's movements.
"I'm sorry. I thought it was the smart bet at the time." Roger said defending himself.
"Right. And how much money in total did you lose?" Trevor asked.
Now Roger was upset. "About 200,000 dollars." He said.
"Where the hell are you going to get 200,000 dollars?" Stan asked.
"I don't know okay?" Roger said.
Steve just laughed as he looked down on Klaus and picked him up. "Klaus, you can have my room while I'm gone. Treat it well."
Klaus couldn't believe what Steve had just given him. "Thank you Steve. I wish the three of you the best of luck."
"Thanks." Steve said as he put the fish down.
Now he had to say goodbye to the one he knew would take it the hardest, his mother.
"Well…"
Before he could say anything else, Francine started to squeeze her son in a death hug and started crying.
"Please be careful, Steve! I couldn't stand it if something ever happened to you!" she cried.
"This looks familiar, doesn't it?" Trevor said playfully to Violet.
Violet only slapped Trevor's arm in the same playful manner.
"Take it easy Mom. I'll be fine. I swear." Steve said as he managed to loosen her death grip.
"Well, be sure you don't forget about us." Francine said softly.
Being done with saying goodbye to everyone, Steve walked back over to Violet's side. "Don't worry about that." He said.
The Smiths just nodded.
"When we get to Japan, what are we supposed to do?" Steve asked Wheeljack.
"Oh you won't have to worry about that." Wheeljack said. "When we figured out where the ring was, Hot Rod sent Grapple and Hoist through another space bridge to make another one for you exactly like this one. We will be transporting you to an area near it."
"Thanks Wheeljack." Trevor said. "Open up the bridge. And open up another one so these guys can get out." He said pointing to the Smiths.
"Will do." Wheeljack said before pressing a few buttons on his end.
Behind them, two bright white holes opened up in space right next to each other. The one on the left showed an image of the Chesapeake beach on the other side. The one on the right was just light all over.
"The one on the left will take Steve's family back outside. The one on the right will take the three of you to Odaiba Japan." Wheeljack explained.
"Odaiba? Never heard of it." Violet said.
"Well, that's where you're going. Oh an uh before the Smiths leave, I have to asked for their clearance cards back." Wheeljack said.
"Why?" Haley asked.
"Because our job here is done." Violet said.
"That's right." Trevor agreed. "As soon as we leave, we will no longer use this base anymore. So there is no reason for you guys to come down here either."
"Oh. Okay." Stan said as he pulled out his key.
The Smiths gave their keys to Trevor and then started to approach their bridge. When they were right in front of it, they stopped ant turned around.
"Good luck you guys." Stan said as he stood up straight.
He then brought his right hand over his forehead as he saluted the three heroes. They also stood in attention and saluted back. When they dropped their arms, Stan and his family walked into the bridge and it closed behind them. Now only Trevor, Violet, and Steve were the only ones there. Trevor walked over to where the portable Teletraan was plugged in and placed his hand on it.
"Thanks Wheeljack." Trevor said.
"No problem, Trevor." Wheeljack said.
That being said, Trevor then pulled Teletraan out of its adapter and the screen automatically flickered off and shut down the whole system. Trevor then rejoined his teammates standing in between them.
"You guys ready?" he asked.
"Yeah." They both replied.
Trevor nodded and at the same time, the trio of heroes walked towards their space bridge. They paused in front of it and turned around to look at the first of a long series of bases yet to come. They took a moment of silence and then turned around. They walked in the bridge. And a few short seconds after they entered, the space bridge got smaller until finally, it disappeared.
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Me: Well there you have it folks. Two out of a lot more stories to come.
Steve: That was a great ending AK.
Trevor: You're damn right it was, buddy.
Violet: Yep, so when are you going to start on the third one?"
Me: Very soon. Like I said, there's nothing to do around her, so I'll start up on three very soon. Until then, as always, peace bitches.