Mixed-Up
Chapter 5: Escape
A/N: When I said Ratchet drooled I didn't mean literally! Normally he doesn't get to fix anything exciting other than the occasional missing limb or two. So what I thought you guys would understand was 'Ratchet was ecstatic to see a real case.' Sorry for any confusion.
Although Optimus had expected more clarification after Bumblebee's statement he received none for Bumblebee fell into recharge shortly afterwards, the Decepticons following suit. Even though his companions had also fallen into recharge Optimus stayed awake for a long while, staring up at the ceiling as tumultuous thoughts ran through his processor; keeping him wide awake and thinking long into the night. It was nearing two a.m. before Optimus finally fell into a fitful recharge, images of Sentinel Magnus and Bumblebee fighting with a portal, much like the one that had stolen them, in the background, swirling ominously.
When Optimus awoke it was early, the sun just now rising. Wondering what had awakened him, he un-shuttered his optics and glanced around the room. Seeing nothing except for some recharging bots and Starscream's arm crawling on the floor he re-shuttered his optics only for them to fly back open a second later. He sat straight up and stared in disbelief at Starscream's left arm which was now making its way to the keypad on the front of the flier's cell.
"What are you doing?" Optimus asked; his voice no louder than a whisper.
"Trying to escape," Starscream whispered back.
"I can see that. What I meant was; how is your arm doing that?"
Starscream looked confused momentarily then said, "Oh, that. I rewired it so that it no longer has to be attached to my frame for me to use it," he explained.
"That's actually pretty brilliant," Optimus whispered; admiration filling his voice.
"Thanks."
Silence fell between the two bots; neither one of them knowing what to say for they were sworn enemies who apparently had a common friend in Bumblebee. It is difficult to say how long this silence would have lasted; possibly forever if Skywarp hadn't woken up to see his Creator's unattached arm entering a code on a keypad and let out a loud shriek, waking the others up.
"Hush, Skywarp," Starscream hissed. "Do you want the guards to come in before I have a chance to get us out of here?"
"Sorry," Skywarp whimpered. "I forgot that you fixed your arm to do that."
"What's going on?" Bumblebee moaned as he came on-line and blinked at them sluggishly.
"Breaking out," Starscream replied then scowled at his arm as it entered yet another incorrect code.
"It looks more like trying to break out to me," Black Arachnia laughed as she began to make a web, the silvery strands reflecting the pink glow of the energon bars.
Before Starscream could come up with a retort Bumblebee said, "Okay it's time to escape. The first bot that gets out of their cell doesn't have to do any chores this week. The last bot who escapes has to clean the entire base from top to bottom. On your mark, get set, go!"
While the Decepticons immediately began re-doubling their efforts to escape Optimus and the other three Autobots stared at Bumblebee in disbelief. "You can't be serious," Optimus said when he had finally found his voice again. "We're in prison and we're going to be executed this morning and you're having them compete to see who's the fastest?"
"They work much better if they're competing against each other," Bumblebee replied calmly as his right servo turned into several thin metal tools which he stuck into the back of the keypad on their cell.
As Bumblebee played with the keypad Optimus watched in amusement as Starscream kept entering incorrect codes much to his clone's dismay. Blitzwing was firing ice at his keypad while Black Arachnia was in the process of tying her spider web to her keypad and once that was done she began to tug at the web with all of the strength in her robotic body.
Suddenly the bars around their cell were deactivated and Optimus looked at Bumblebee with a newfound respect in his optics. "I win," Bumblebee sang as he moved to stand in the hallway, the four Autobots hurriedly following on the off chance that the bars were reactivated. A loud clang announced that Blitzwing had completely broken off his keypad after freezing it and then hitting it until it fell off, thus deactivating his cell as well. Black Arachnia had pulled at the keypad with her web until she had successfully pulled it into the energon bars which shorting it out, leaving her free to join the others. Starscream and Skywarp were the last to escape after trying over one hundred different codes before finally guessing the correct combination.
"I guess we're stuck cleaning again," Skywarp said, letting out a dismal sigh.
Starscream merely growled in reply.
"Come on," Bumblebee said, shooting the fliers an irritated glare. "We need to escape then you two can argue all you want while you're cleaning."
Some faint grumblings could be heard but for t he most part they kept quiet, obviously knowing better than to push their leader too far. While Optimus wasn't scared of Bumblebee he was slightly…cautious of this Bumblebee. This bot that didn't seem to have any trouble leading a group of Decepticons and breaking of the Autobot Headquarters; the bot that hadn't thought that they were real and probably still didn't.
"Get ready," Bumblebee ordered, pressing himself next to the wall.
"Ready for what?" Prowl asked suspiciously.
"You'll see," Bumblebee said with a mysterious smile.
Deciding that it might be better if they did what he said, Optimus and the others followed suit, pressing their frames tightly against the wall, trying to blend in. Prowl didn't bother but merely jumped to the top of the door frame and Black Arachnia joined him seconds later in spider mode.
A few minutes later the door opened and three guards entered, carrying several pairs of stasis cuffs. Bumblebee gave a slight nod and Black Arachnia dropped a web on one of the guards then jumped on top of him, sinking her fangs into his neck. Prowl quickly took care of the other two then placed them in stasis cuffs.
"I see you haven't lost your touch," was all Bumblebee said before calmly stepping over the downed guards and walking out of the room. They followed him and were relieved to see no guards standing outside the door. "The next door will have guards," Bumblebee warned them. "Once we get past them it should be a straight shot to the elevator."
"And after that?" Optimus inquired, raising an optic ridge.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Bumblebee decided.
"How'd I know he was going to say that?" Ratchet grumbled, his joints creaking in protest as he shifted positions.
"Stop that," Blitzwing chided. "You are vay too loud."
"Well excuse me," Ratchet snapped. "I'm old which gives me the right to make all the noise I want."
Before Blitzwing could reply Bumblebee sent both of them a dirty look and hissed, "Quiet you tow. It's bad enough having Starscream and his clone bicker without the two of you joining in. So either all of you shut up or else we're going to get caught."
An uneasy silence fell over the group and they eyed each other warily but kept following Bumblebee as they didn't want to make him more mad than he already was. It didn't take long for them to overpower the guards at the next door then they proceeded to the elevator where Bumblebee opened his spark chamber and pulled out a small device that Optimus recognized as being a bomb; a miniaturized version to be sure but a bomb nonetheless.
"What are you going to do with that?" Optimus demanded, then, "Since when did they get so small?"
"Use it," Bumblebee replied, shutting his chest plates "plus it's been twelve million years don't forget." Placing the bomb inside the elevator he pressed the button for the floor Sentinel's office was on and stepped out of the elevator before the doors shut. "Time to go," he announced, going over to one of the windows.
"Out the window?" Bulkhead gasped, his optics growing wider.
"Of course," Bumblebee said. "Seekers, start your engines!"
Immediately Starscream, Skywarp, and Blitzwing transformed, hovering just above the floor. Bumblebee climbed on Skywarp while Black Arachnia sat on Starscream. After a few seconds hesitation Optimus joined Black Arachnia, Prowl and Ratchet sat behind Bumblebee and Bulkhead climbed on top of Blitzwing.
As soon as their passengers were onboard the three Seekers took off, flying through the windows much to Bumblebee's please as the minibot shrieked, "Wahoo!" while one thought ran through Optimus's processor over and over: We're going to die.
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A/N/N/N: If you have any questions about anything please let me know and I will do my absolute best to answer them.
A/N/N/N/N: If any of you feel an urge to do some fan art or stories (such as: what did Bumblebee do while they were gone) you are more than welcome to do so just let me know and send me the link.
Also: I did an illustration of Bumblebee, the link can be found on my profile page.
A/N/N/N/N/N: The next chapter WILL be specifically to address certain issues like what happened to Megatron. So let me know if you have any questions and I will try to answer.
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