Mixed-Up

Chapter 2: The First Battle

They didn't have to wait long; mere seconds after the initial cry of "Autobots" the Autobots themselves entered, led by Sentinel Magnus. No matter what he was called now Optimus still recognized the stuck-up aft the second he walked in. Sentinel's armor was still blue-and-orange, the only differences being that he was now slightly bigger than Optimus remembered and he was carrying Ultra Magnus's hammer with considerable ease.

"Well if it isn't the Neutrals," Sentinel sneered, coming to a stop in front of Bumblebee, his soldiers stopping in front of the Decepticons.

"Well if it isn't the backstabbing murderous coward," Bumblebee taunted; his stance deceptively casual.

Optimus had to resist the urge to laugh out loud. Apparently Bumblebee hadn't changed that much in all the time that they were gone. Judging by the look of absolute fury on Sentinel's faceplate he hadn't changed that much either.

Sentinel let out a roar and, pulling out his sword, charged at Bumblebee and at that the battle began.

Despite the fact that she was a half-spider Black Arachnia fought exceptionally well, using either her robot or organic mode; whichever worked best for her. She captured Autobots in her webs, knocked them out with her venom, and even pulled out an energon blade that Optimus knew she hadn't had before.

Blitzwing had always been a good fighter, his only drawback being that he had three personalities that had the tendency to take over at the most inopportune times. Today, however, he was using that to his advantage; allowing Icy to freeze the floor then Random would skate across it and Hothead would use his fire to melt the ice, making the floor extremely slippery for all but the tank and his companions.

Skywarp and Starscream worked together, neither one far from the other's side as Skywarp warped his Creator from Autobot to Autobot just in time to deliver deadly blows and avoid getting hit.

But Bumblebee was the biggest surprise of all. While he had always been a fair fighter now he was unbeatable. He was now using his wheels to skate around the room instead of his pedes that he had used earlier. Not one but two energon blades had come out of his right arm while a cannon fired from his left, occasionally alternating between it and his stingers which had obviously been modified for the streams of electricity were much more powerful than they had been before the portal came through.

Watching the five, technically seven, bots fight the Autobots was, Optimus had to admit, painful and not just for the obvious reasons. It had taken Optimus several weeks before Bumblebee would even consent to think about following one of his orders let alone doing it yet here he was, fighting alongside their sworn enemies as flawlessly as if they had been fighting together all their lives instead of…well however long they had been. But seeing the cold, indifferent look on his faceplate as he ruthlessly cut down Autobots made Optimus wonder: just what else had changed and how long had they been gone anyway?

Of course Sentinel was different as well; other than the physical changes that Optimus had noted earlier there were some subtle changes too. His faceplate still had the trademark look of 'I'm better than you and I know it' but it too looked harsher than Optimus remembered. Battle scars covered his armor although they had obviously been painted over unlike the other bots. His sword and shield looked like they had been upgraded and how he managed to carry both of his weapons and Ultra Magnus's hammer and still get in some pretty good hits Optimus didn't know.

Earlier it had been unclear who would win the battle as both sides seemed to be holding their own but the Decepticons and Bumblebee now appeared to be tiring, their reflexes growing more sluggish by the minute as they narrowly avoided fatal blows. The end came when Sentinel raised the hammer then let it hit the concrete floor, sending all of the bots, except for him of course, flying across the room.

Optimus, Prowl, Bulkhead, and Ratchet all winced as Blitzwing crashed into the wall, leaving a massive dent then slid down it, landing on top of Starscream and Skywarp while Black Arachnia managed to grab hold of one of her webs, pulling herself up onto the ceiling where she hissed at the soldiers below her. Bumblebee had been thrown back as well; however, he threw his entire body backwards and landed on his wheels, one of the blades supporting him briefly before being pointed at his enemies once more. He might have remained standing but it came with a price; his right knee joint was turn almost in half while energon streamed from a cut across his chassis, dangerously close to his spark chamber.

"Do you surrender?" Sentinel asked haughtily yet still managing to sound bored.

"Yes," Bumblebee sighed, reluctantly sheathing his weapons and stretching his arms out, the Decepticons following suit, grumbling all the while.

"Take them back to Headquarters," Sentinel said and turned to go but froze when he caught sight of the four Autobots staring at him from across the room. "It can't be," he breathed. "It can't be them."

"I told you," Bumblebee said gleefully as one of the soldiers placed stasis cuffs on him. "I said they would be back but you didn't believe me, but here they are and they're gonna kick your aft."

"Shut him up," Sentinel ordered.

The bot cuffing Bumblebee hit him hard on his helm causing the minibot to slump to the floor, unconscious.

Bulkhead surged forward to protect his little buddy but was stopped by more soldiers who valiantly attempted to hold back the humongous bot but required additional assistance from the rest of their comrades who also thought it best to hold back the other three Autobots.

"Cuff them as well," Sentinel said then turned and walked out of the base.

A/N: 5 reviews.

A/N/N: Sorry it's so short but I figured that you would be fine.