31- Adventures in Bumblebee-sitting!
There was images of carousels, roller coasters, fair ferris wheels...all different kinds of attractions of an amusement park displayed on the TV screen.
"A place for family and friends to have fun." Max expressed with a sad tone.
"Fun, excitement; so close and yet so far." Bonnie added, also with a depressed tone.
"You know what I did for fun when I was the only conscious spot on my post? Nothing, and lot of it." Fixit suddenly said chuckling, but the little kids simply sighed. "That really didn't help, did it?"
"I don't get why we can't go to the amusement park. It is a nice day, too great to not enjoy it."
"Are you forgetting Max that it is supposed to be our turn in watch duty?" May recalled.
"Yeah, with all the Autobots out of the base and with Fixit just here, we are the only ones who can warn them in case something happens." Ash followed.
"And now that we know the Decepticons are determined to get control over legendary pokémon through dark energon, we have to be more alert than ever." Dawn ended.
"We know, we know. Protecting pokémon is important, as we didn't have enough with Team Rocket." Bonnie complained.
"But is not like we cannot ask Optimus permission to go once he returns." Max suggested.
"Maybe, but he, Ultra Magnus, Elita One, Blaster and Ratchet departed to discuss important issues with the pokémon rangers." Clemont informed as he and Tracey were feeding the pokémon.
"And they said they were going to be out for a while. Who knows when they will be back." Misty added.
That made both kids to groan in defeat as they lied on the coach without energy.
"Come on, cheer up you two. We can spend time by other ways than going to the amusement park." Ritchie encouraged.
"Like being aware of the team's progress: while they keep on their duty we can make use of the time to talk with them. So Arcee, what do you think about that dress I was referring to before?" Serena said, talking to the terminal.
"Sorry to interrupt the chat Serena, but we have spotted Cons near the coordinates Blaster tracked. We are right now at their trail."
That got everyone's attention. Meanwhile, just like Arcee reported, the team was following Stinger, Nightbird, Roadkill, Shatter and Dropkick through some plains. The reason: the Decepticons seemed to have discovered another unearthed relic or weapon and were trying to take it back to their ship. But the Autobots were coming close, forcing Stinger to drive backwards while he prepared some missiles to fire at their chasers. Seeing the missiles coming, Predaking roared, making everyone else to slow down and position themselves behind him, while he received the missiles. This was because he ended untouched thanks to his armor, preventing the Autobots from receiving any harm.
"Blast that Predacon. The Autobots believe themselves so lucky to have someone as tough as him on their side." Stinger cursed.
"Don't sweat it, pal. Because I believe with our new acquisition we may be able to put him on our side." Shatter reassured, with some kind of weapon on her rear seats.
The Autobots continued chasing the Decepticons, until one of them saw where they were leading them.
"Spread up, we'll trap them on that rock formation." Bumblebee instructed.
The team divided and took different routes in an attempt to go further their enemies. When the Decepticons reached the rock formation, they were forced to stop before a projectile could explode in front of them. Warpath managed to block their way out.
"Sorry Cons, but the path is close. If you wanna pass this toll route, you better pay it unless you wanna get Kablam!" Warpath demanded.
The Decepticons decided to search for another route, but each other was blocked by the rest of the team, ending surrounded.
"Give it up! There's no way out, we got you outnumbered and outmatched." Hot Rod pointed.
As he returned to robot form like the rest, Dropkick laughed. "Not for long."
Most of the Autobots got shocked at seeing the weapon he took from Shatter.
"By the Allspark." Moonracer expressed.
"No way." Wheeljack added.
"Is that?" Sideswipe said.
"Welcome back to our ranks, your majesty." Dropkick announced as he was about to fire the weapon at once certain member.
"Predaking, look out!" Bumblebee warned.
Predaking could only look with a face of confusion before the weapon fired a beam of electricity at him. But Bumblebee got in the way, receiving the impact. Next he just lied on the ground, like unconscious.
"Bee!" Smokescreen yelled.
"Scrap, he wasn't supposed to receive it." Dropkick cursed, right before he was hit by Warpath's hammer while the other Autobots fired at the Decepticons.
"The only thing that maters now is not ending worse than him!" Shatter said before changing to her flying alt form and getting away with Roadkill and Nightbird hooked to her.
Dropkick did the same with Stinger before following his partner.
"Blast, they got away with the weapon." Sideswipe cursed.
"And it got worse now that we know what it exactly is." Hot Rod added.
"Base, we require an emergency ground bridge. We have an Autobot down." Seaspray requested.
Moments later back at base, Fixit was checking Bumblebee's condition.
"Is Bumblebee gonna be okay?" Max asked concerned.
"It is too soon to jump into any conclusions." The Minibot answered.
"It's my fault, I was the one who was supposed to receive that shot. If only I was faster enough to react…"
"Predaking, it's not your fault. Many more would have done the same thing." Iris reassured him.
"Yeah, Bee just acted like any Autobot." Smokey supported.
"It's not Bee's physical condition what should concern us, but his mental."
"What do you mean, Jackie?" Dawn asked.
"The Cons showed us what they retrieved, and it's not definitely flowers and colors."
"You said Bee was hit by some kind of electric shot from a weapon. Which kind are we talking about?" Tracey asked.
"The worst kind ever invented, a Corruptor." Seaspray revealed.
"Huh, a what?" Bonnie asked confused.
"It's a weapon designed to infect an enemy's circuit with a minus...tiffus…" Fixit glitched until Riolu hit him on the back, snapping him out. "...virus, which makes it to attack its own comrades, making it believe they are enemies."
"When the reports reached central command, Sentinel Prime deployed some of our best units to locate them and ensure their destruction, to prevent more use." Arcee narrated.
"Well it seems this one managed to slip away." Misty said.
"It must be the last one of its kind. If the Cons manage to analyze its schematics they will be able to replicate it." Hot Rod feared.
"We gotta tell this to Optimus and the others." Warpath suggested.
"First we should worry about Bumblebee's well-being. If this weapon acts like you say, we must be prepared if the worst happens." Predaking preferred.
"Bumblebee will never turn against us, not matter what tool they will use!"
"Nobody is saying that Max, they just mention it can happen." Serena calmed.
"Guess all we can do is wait until he wakes up." Sideswipe said.
"Hum, another matter we should discuss is about the chain of command. With the rank of lieutenant Bumblebee was the one in charge, so who comes after him?" Smokescreen changed.
"That's easy, that would be Arcee."
"Thanks for the promotion May, but that doesn't work anymore. That post belongs now to you, Hot."
"She's right, after all Optimus is teaching you how to act like a Prime." Ash supported.
"Prime candidate, not officially one yet. Besides, no one has agreed on that, neither Prime, Magnus or Elita, so it doesn't count." Hot Rod protested.
The whole group started to discuss about the void of leadership issue, until…
"Hey guys, Bee's awaking." Max announced.
"Remember, be careful. We don't know how he will react when he put optics on us." Hot Rod instructed.
"Kids, keep your distance." Predaking advised.
Bumblebee groaned as he started to get up.
"Bumblebee?" Warpath asked.
"Are you okay, pal?" Wheeljack followed.
"Do you know who we really are, don't you? We are your friends." Moon tried.
Bumblebee simply looked at them with a dizzy look. "It's...it's...it's a three wing sparkled armored Sharkticon!"
He pointed to a window with looks to the outside, but there was nothing there.
"Where?" Smokey simply said.
"A what?" Iris asked confused.
"Pika?" Pikachu asked confused as well.
"Piplup?" Piplup answered the same way.
Bumblebee started laughing. "Made you look. I've made...I've made...I've made you look." He said hardly while laughed, before transforming and driving out of the command center, leaving everyone without words.
"It doesn't seem like he thinks we are enemies." Ash finally said.
"Yeah, but Bee's acting a little…" Max started.
"Weird." Ritchie answered.
"Strange." Serena added.
"Funny." Bonnie suggested.
"Childish?" Arcee feared.
"It will have something to do with the impact he received." Clemont deduced.
"But that would not make sense. The Cyber Corruptor's supposed to turn the target against ally forces, not this." Seaspray recalled. "Unless…"
"Unless what?" Tracey asked.
"Unless the weapon is not working as it supposed to do. Fixit, try to compare the shot's energy readings with whatever registered in our database."
"On it." Fixit nodded as he returned to the terminal and checked the analysis's results. "The frequency matches with the corruptor's energy signature, but it seems altered."
"Maybe the weapon was found by Autobots but they were running out of time to destroy it." Moonracer deduced.
"So they sabotaged it instead to make it malfunction, which may explain Bee's weird behavior." Warpath ended.
"And is it bad, doctor?" May asked.
"Perhaps the shot impacted Bumblebee's brain and affected the lieutenant's maturity level?" Fixit suggested.
"You think?" Arcee said.
"So Bee has mentally turned into a kid?" Ritchie summarized, making everyone show a look which meant they thought the same.
"We better make sure he doesn't hurt himself. Spread out." Hot Rod commanded.
"We better go assist them too." Ash suggested.
And the group separated in search for the turned infant lieutenant, as a way to say it. Warpath, Wheeljack, May and Dawn went to check the storage room, but when they turned in the next hall they suddenly slipped up and ended sliding to the end of the room, where there was a full shelving from which lots of sacks fell over them. That originated a lot of dust, which after dissipating showed the group completely covered by it.
"Puff, at least it wasn't explosives what was on this section." Wheeljack sighed in relief.
"Yeah, thank Primus. But...what exactly is this?" Warpath wondered looking the dust over his body.
"Oh no, we know it." Dawn started.
"What?" Wheeljack asked.
"It's...it's...it's…" May said hardly as she looked like if she was about to sneeze, and ended doing it. "Itching powder."
"It seems Bee hasn't turned himself not just younger, but a little more playful." Warpath guessed.
And it wasn't just them: elsewhere, Predaking was also looking for him.
"Bumblebee. Young Bee, where are you?"
Suddenly, without warning, a cake was thrown right on his face, covering with pink cream. He heard Bumblebee laughing while he cleaned it from his face.
"You got served, your highness. Oh, and what did you get? Raspberry instant makeover! Oh, man." Young Bee expressed before leaving.
"How funny." Predaking just said, surprisingly calmer than expected.
Meanwhile, at the base's hangar, Ash, Ritchie, Hot Rod and Seaspray decided to check if Bee was there, but when they entered, an alarm sounded.
"What was that?!" Ritchie asked alarmed.
"Oh scrap, he didn't." Seaspray said.
"What?" Ash added.
"Everyone, brace yourselves." Hot Rod warned.
Suddenly, everything on the room, except starships, started to float in the air.
"Whoa, what's going on?" Ash asked.
"Oh great, I don't know how he found out, but Bumblebee must have manipulated the gravity controls and change it to zero gravity." Hot Rod suspected.
"Gravity controls, like in a space station?"
"Yeah, we use it to apply artificial gravity to our ships." Seaspray explained.
"How cool. We can float like if we are in the sea." Ritchie enjoyed.
"Glad you like it, because I don't know where Bee could hide it, and we need to turn it off if we want to stay with our feet back in the ground."
Bumblebee heard it from outside the room and couldn't avoid laugh at their misfortune. At the same time, the pokémon went to look in the energon process room, seeing the whole room from a ramp above it. Suddenly, the part of the ramp where they were opened and they felt to one of the processing tanks, but fortunately for them it hadn't energon. Instead, it contained paint, and Pikachu and Piplup ended in green and red colors. The other pokémon laughed, until more paint fell over Riolu, Fraxure and Sparky, leaving them with purple, orange and white skins, leaving Dedenne the only one laughing, until he was surprised when blue paint covered him completely, making the others laugh instead.
"Hahaha, you don't need to search for Shiny pokémon, you can make them yourself." Bee laughed, revealing to be the one who surprised them with the trap and paint.
"Pika pika." Pikachu expressed annoyed.
"Pi piplup, piplup, piplup, piplup." Piplup said continuously trying to get out of the tank.
Outside the base, on New Iacon's beach, Serena, Moonracer, Smokescreen and Misty were trying luck looking in an unusual place.
"Why do you think Bumblebee may be here?" Smokescreen asked.
"Bee's acting like a little child right now, so I supposed he may be looking for a place all kids like to go. And what better place for both relaxation and entertainment for both adults and children than a beach?" Moon answered.
"You got a point there. I always insisted my elder sisters to take me to the beach when I was little." Misty nodded.
"Well, I don't see Bumblebee anywhere, or any trail which shows he has been here." Serena observed.
Suddenly, both girls sensed the sand under their feet weakened before it collapsed, making them fall into a big hole in the sand.
"Serena, Misty, are you okay?" Smokescreen asked looking inside.
"Yeah, luckily the bottom is soft." Serena responded.
"A trap? Bumblebee made us fall into a trap?! He's gone too far too soon, imitating Team Rocket's old tricks." Misty complained.
"Hang in there, we will get you out." Moonracer told them.
But before they could react, they felt a sudden sinking of their feet, they looked down and them barely sink into the sand. They tried to get out, but they were stuck.
"I don't get it, the sand around here is hard like a rock. How did we ended like this?"
"Moon, I think Bee anticipated us." Smokey answered pointing to a shovel near them with a message written saying 'Got you!'
"Arg, of all possible random personalities, we had to get stuck with a prankster kid." She cursed trying to free herself, without success. "We are gonna need a hand to get out of here."
"This isn't covered in any part of the Elite Guard's instructions manual."
Tracey, Sideswipe and Iris were checking by a hall.
"Sideswipe, watch out!"
Tracey's warning came late as Sideswipe triggered a cable with his feet, making a catapult which was placed at the end of the hall activated.
"Take cover!" Iris shouted.
Both humans lied on the floor, but it was late for the young Autobot, who ended being surprised by a storm of screws which sent him at the other end of the hall.
"A screw catapult? From where did Bee take the idea of making that?" Iris demanded.
"Maybe from one episode of Pokémon World's Funniest Videos, a show Max and Bonnie watch sometimes." Tracey answered.
"Are you okay, Sideswipe?"
Sideswipe lied against the wall with the screws scattered around him. "Young Bee is an evil genius!"
Moment later most of the group were back at the gang's personal space, where most of them were giving the pokémon a wash to clean the paint, while Clemont and Fixit continued researching. Then Arcee joined them, but at putting eyes on her, Sideswipe couldn't help but laugh, the same as most of the gang.
"Arcee! What happened to you?"
"Easy Serena, it's just fire extinguisher foam. He placed it on an entrance and it got me." The female Autobot responded with her whole body covered.
"Well, at least you didn't spend more time than expected under the sun. And without sunscreen I wonder if I got burned somewhere." Misty replied.
"Arg, just tell us you have a way to fix Bumblebee." Predaking said.
"Unfortunately, according to the analysis, the sabotaging process prevented the corruptor's shots from work properly, but it also caused a side effect which prologues the duration of the effects." Fixit revealed.
"So as summarize, Bumblebee will remain altered so long as the corruptor's effects stays active on his body." Clemont summarized.
"Are you saying he could act like that for days, weeks, even months?!" Dawn asked altered.
"I don't think that long, because if that's the case I will make sure to hook him to a chair at the fourth day." Wheeljack promised.
"It's kind of when a human kid eats a lot of sugar. No wonder our parents forbid us to not go overboard with candy." May admitted.
"It seems we're all gonna have to babysit." Ash decided.
"Sit on a child? And how is this gonna help?" Seaspray asked confused.
Max laughed. "No, babysit means to watch over someone who can't watch over himself."
"Don't worry, I have experienced a few sugar jolts with Bonnie." Clemont reassured.
"You and me both, Max was not different when it came to sugar." May added.
"Sister." Max said embarrassed.
"It was that necessary to say, big brother?" Bonnie added.
"Trust us, with all of us, this will be easy." May ended.
"Hey guys, I'm king of the energon box mountain!" Bumblebee boasted standing on top of a pile of empty energon boxes.
"Bee, get down there before you get hurt!" Dawn exclaimed, until she realized something. "Oh no, I'm acting just like my mother."
"Welcome to maturity." Tracey joked.
At the end he ended falling from the top over the boxes, but he didn't ended injured, just with the head into a box, so he just opened it and laughed before leaving to look for more fun.
Sideswipe laughed at this sight. "I have to say this new Bumblebee is pretty awesome."
"Sweet Solus Prime, help us." Arcee begged.
"Cheer it up, guys. We just need to be a little optimistic." Serena encouraged.
"I wonder what Optimus would do in this situation." Smokescreen wondered.
Meanwhile, the Decepticons also figured out something was wrong with the recovered weapon.
"What do you mean it doesn't function correctly?"
"Exactly what you're hearing, general Xiaxus. It is supposed the effects of this weapon are instantaneous." Dropkick explained.
"Well, we have been waiting for hours and no rogue Autobot has called us or come reporting." Roadkill added.
"And after Shatter allowed me to take a deep look to the weapon I was able to verify something with it is wrong. As a specialist on sabotage I can also recognize a familiar touch when I see it." Stinger supported.
"The weapon's subsystems must have been manipulated, causing its resulting properties to be unpredictable." Shockblast theorized.
"Whatever it is we may be able to fix once we bring it back." Dropkick suggested.
"No. If there's an Autobot trick behind all this, attempting to correct it on enemy territory must be what it is designed for, a mean of transport for something way more harmful, like a informatic virus or an explosive. You will have to repair it out there, I will not let it get aboard until it's just like it was forged." Darkscream explained.
"That's gonna be a challenge, without the proper materials or infrastructure." Shatter started.
"Hem, what about that place?" Nightbird suggested pointing to an amusement park nearby. "It seems full of enough materials, and infrastructure for me."
"Shatter?" Stinger asked.
"Hum, it may be enough. You three return to the Nemesis, Dropkick and I can take it from here."
"What, why?" Nightbird questioned.
"We are faster alone, and we have experience together on infiltrating guarded territories and operate behind enemy lines. We will have what we need in no time."
"Okay, but don't blame us by saying we left you if things turn ugly." Roadkill accepted before she and the others departed.
While the two Decepticons headed for the park, back in the Autobot base at night…
"Bumblebee, why don't you come out so we can all play together?" Hot Rod said, looking for the rejuvenated Autobot, until he stepped on something: a bath full of something sticky. "Argh, get off, get off! Guys, a little help here?!"
"What's wrong with your foot?" Moonracer asked.
"Help me get this thing off!"
Smokescreen, Moon and Predaking pulled together, trying to release their pal from the bath, while Sideswipe laughed.
"What's our little devil last work of art?" Warpath asked.
"Rubber cement. Classic." Sideswipe answered laughing.
Finally, after lot of combined effort, they managed to get that off Hot Rod, who fell backwards. But now Predaking was the one with it stuck on his hand.
"We better ask the humans for something to dissolve this."
"Good choice, Smokey." Moon supported as they left.
Sideswipe stopped laughed. "It's hard to be leader, huh? That's why I leave it to the highlights."
Hot Rod groaned in annoyance. "If I'm going to keep taking these insanities for a little more, I'm going to become crazy!"
"Besides, we still have to ensure Cons can't fix that nightmare of weapon they got. Or make sure no one else ends with a head full of glitches." Wheeljack reminded.
"Very true. Sideswipe, would you, Warpath, Seaspray and Wheeljack make sure Bee doesn't hurt himself?"
"No problem, we'll compare notes on advanced pranking."
"I'll make sure baby Bee doesn't trash with the ships, that would be just what we need for when the commanders return." Wheeljack said heading for the hangar.
"Okay, meanwhile we'll see if we can track down the Decepticons where we missed them. Arcee, Moon, Smokey, Predaking, come with me." Hot Rod instructed.
Meanwhile, the gang and Fixit were in the command center when Sideswipe returned in vehicle form and transformed.
"Hey Sideswipe, any luck?" Ritchie asked.
"No, but young Bee is my kind of Bot."
"Watch out with the floor!" Misty warned.
Sideswipe almost stepped on a spilled liquid. He stepped aside, but then Bee arrived in vehicle form and passed over the liquid, splashing it over Sideswipe. He turned around and performed it again before leaving laughing. The gang also laughed.
"How do you feel to been in presence of another Bot of your kind?" Iris asked.
Sideswipe cleaned his face. "We need to get that Bot to sit still and be quiet. Now!"
"Well, good luck convincing him to stop."
"Tracey has a point. Lieutenant Bumblebee currently has the energy and attitude of an Earth child younger than most of our friends. Mostly around Max and Bonnie's age." Fixit recalled.
"Okay, so how we older babysitters get our younger siblings to sit still?" Clemont mediated.
"Oh, I know just the thing." May responded.
Moments later the gang and Sideswipe were on their spot watching TV.
"Boy, this movie is fantastic." Ritchie started, speaking loud enough so it could reach Bumblebee.
"I cannot stop watching it." Iris continued.
"It's a shame Bumblebee is not here with us, because I'm sure he would enjoy it a lot." Ash added.
"Even pokémon seem to like it." Max added.
"Here he comes." Serena whispered.
And it worked: Bumblebee ended taking the bait and joining watching the movie.
"Whoa, it worked." Warpath said.
"Nice work everybody. Mission accomplished." Tracey congratulated as everyone fist-pumped.
Meanwhile, the others returned to the last place they engaged the Decepticons.
"At least the Cons' trail isn't hard to follow." Arcee said spotting some vehicles tracks.
"Probably they didn't thought about covering it after what happened." Moon sensed.
"These ones still has a strong smell, it hasn't been that long since they moved." Predaking reporting checking some.
"It seems they headed to that amusement park. Surely not in search of some fun and enjoyment." Hot Rod deduced.
"Either way, a place like that is like a maze without a proper map. We should get some human hand to guide us inside."
"Good idea, Smokey. Call base for that."
Back there, almost all the gang got bored of the movie and fell asleep, Serena with Ash and surprisingly Ritchie with Dawn, while Bumblebee continued watching the movie with enthusiasm. Suddenly, Iris heard some noises coming from her tummy.
"I guess I'll need to appease my hunger a little. I'll get some popcorn." She said getting up.
"I'll come with you, in case we require some drinks." Misty joined.
"And some coffee too." Tracey added following them.
"So, what do you think?" May asked turning to Sideswipe, who for their surprise was dropping tears of oil.
"It's a decent movie." The young Autobot confessed.
"Aw, I didn't know you were the sensitive type, Sideswipe."
"I have to go dry my optics, I seem to be...leaking lubricant."
"Go wash your face, we'll take it from here." Clemont insisted.
In that moment Clemont noticed his Pokétch buzzing, so he answered the call silently. Once he did he murmured it to May, who nodded, and started to head out.
"Where are you two going? The movie isn't over yet." Bonnie caught.
"Were you going together for a private moment?" Max invented with a repulsive look.
"No, not that." Clemont started, although he and May ended blushing at the thought. He approached the youngest children and murmured them. "Hot Rod has called for our assistance."
"It appears they have tracked the Decepticons to an amusement park and they want our help to move around." May continued.
"An amuse…!?" Bonnie started, but her elder brother covered her mouth while he looked at Bee, still focused on the film, to make her understand. "Oh right."
"But that's not fair, we wanna go there too. Can we accompany you, please?"
"Please big brother, we promise to hide at the least sign of danger." Bonnie swore.
Both elder siblings looked each other, sighed and nodded. They passed silently to the ground bridge to not alert Bee.
"We'll have more classic cowboy movie action after this word from our patronizer." The TV said.
"Boring." Bee complained before getting up and walk away.
"Alright Fixit, the humans have met us and we are ready to proceed into the amusement park." Smokescreen said by com-link.
"Roger that." The Minibot nodded, not aware that Bee was behind him and heard it.
"An amusement park. Sweet." Bumblebee expressed lowly heading for the portal still open.
Just then, Iris, Misty, Tracey and Sideswipe returned, and saw Bee was nowhere to be found.
"Scrap." Everyone cursed.
Meanwhile, the Autobots and humans stood on top of a hill in front of the park.
"Why the Decepticons would come to a place like this?" May wondered.
"Yeah, they don't look like the kind who likes roller coasters and childish rides." Max supported.
"My guest is the Cons are looking for spare parts in order to fix the corruptor weapon, and this place was the closest they had." Arcee deduced.
"Then we better find them before they achieve it." Hot Rod decided.
"You've said it." A familiar voice said, making everyone to turn and see Bumblebee behind everyone. "The party must be near, because Bumblebee is here."
"Hahaha, good one, Bee." Bonnie laughed.
"Bee?!" Max asked in disbelief.
"Hot Rod, everyone here reports that Bumblebee may have left New Iacon." Fixit informed by com-link
"That's confirmed, Fixit. And please tell the others...nice job." Hot Rod said sarcastically.
"You didn't tell me you were going to an amusement park. Be there without your best friend? Not cool, Max."
"I'm sorry Bee, but…"
"No time for apologies, we got a job to do." Smokescreen interrupted.
"Hey, do you think more of us could be in there looking for fun? Let's go see it."
Moon pulled from Bumblebee, stopping him. "We'll take care of this, kid. You better stay put."
"What? But I always wanted to go to the amusement park. Why can't I but they can? They are kids too." Bee protested pointing at the humans.
Arcee groaned. "Enough. As more we stay here discussing absurd matters, the closest the Cons are of achieving their goal. Predaking, sit on him if you have to."
"With pleasure." Predaking nodded changing to dragon form.
"What? Wait, Arcee was just kidding. No, no!" Bee begged, but Predaking ended doing it.
"Are you sure this isn't too much for him?" May wondered.
"He'll be fine, he's Bee." Moon reassured.
"Yeah, he has been through worse, when he was him." Smokescreen supported.
Meanwhile, inside the park, Shatter and Dropkick seemed to not have made much progress, since they were focused on avoid getting detected by the security guards.
"With those insects going back and forth there's no way we can search properly." Shatter complained.
"If only there's a way we can draw their attention and leave us in peace." Dropkick said.
Shatter looked around until she saw a fence with a herd of Mamoswine in, making her smirk. "Perhaps there is."
Moments later, the team was inside the park.
"Whoa, this place looks cool." Bonnie admired.
"It's a shame all rides are off. There's so many places I wanna get on." Max added.
Moon laughed. "Come on, you two, we haven't come here to play."
"Yeah, we need to keep our eyes and ears open. Who knows when it could happen something unexpected." Hot Rod reminded.
"Eh...like that?" Smokescreen said pointing at an incoming cloud of dust, which is the Mamoswine herd.
"Yeah, like that."
"Stampede!" May yelled.
Because of the close space and how fast the herd was approaching, the team had no option but to run away.
"This is not included on my list." Max said.
"Are we racing?!" Bumblebee suddenly asked, joining them.
"Bee?!" Hot Rod asked in disbelief.
"Actually, we're trying not to get trampled!" Arcee corrected.
"Awesome. Okay, can we race while we're doing that?" Bee proposed.
"Don't...count...with me. I'm having a hard time with just getting away!" Clemont said hardly.
"How did you get down here?!" Moon asked.
"Step aside!" Predaking warned before landing between them and the pokémon.
Predaking's arrival was very appreciated, because with just his mere presence and a roar, the herd turned where they came from.
"Wicked, pokémon and Predacons." Bumblebee expressed.
"Thanks Predaking, you are a life saver." May thanked.
"But how did Bumblebee get away from you?" Smokescreen asked.
"Never sit on a Bot while he transforms." Predaking answered while he showed them a part of his body. Whatever Bee left him was nothing pleasant to look, because the Autobots put faces of surprise, and May and Clemont put their hands on their little siblings' eyes to not watch it. "Not recommended."
"Those Mamoswine are still on the loose." Clemont pointed.
"We better secure them before they smash through the park or anyone gets hurt." Hot Rod decided.
"Oh cool, it get to hunt for pokémon."
"NO!" Everyone yelled at response for Bumblebee's extreme suggestion.
"It's more like...cowboys and pokémon." Max invented. "You can help us round up the Mamoswine and put them back in their pen."
"I love cowboys." Bee answered excited.
"We know." Arcee smiled.
"Can I be the cowboy that rides a dragon?"
"No." Predaking objected.
"Sure." Everyone else nodded.
For Predaking's misfortune, now he was going to be Bumblebee's horse saddle.
"YEEEHAAA! Come on, Predacon!" Bee cheered while he and Predaking led the pokémon herd back to their place.
"Looking good, you two!" May encouraged.
"You have to admit this is something no one sees everyday." Smokey admitted.
"He, you should have seen Optimus riding a Dinobot." Arcee said.
"Wait, what?!"
Finally they ended their duty and Bee got off Predaking. "That was...awesome."
Predaking returned to robot form. "You aren't the one getting Autobot heels dug into your sags."
"Tracking two Decepticon signals near your position." Fixit reported from base.
"If there are only two they gotta be Shatter and Dropkick." Arcee supposed.
"Okay team, keep very quiet so we can surprise them. Humans, stay close to us." Hot Rod instructed.
Suddenly, all the lights, speakers and rides turned on.
"Whoa, this looks much better with lights on." Max admired.
"They must have turned everything on to distract us." Clemont deduced.
"I don't think it was the Decepticons who did that." Predaking corrected looking at something which surprised everyone.
Bumblebee used two bumper cars as roller skates to skate around.
"He can't just stay still and quiet, can't he?" Arcee complained.
"At least he's not bothering us. While Bumblebee is distracted let's find those Decepticons." Hot Rod decided.
But they weren't aware that the Decepticons spotted them too.
"They just don't give up, don't they?" Dropkick complained.
"If they came looking for the ride of their lifetime, that's exactly what we'll give them." Shatter reassured him.
The team continued their search until they found something suspicious: a spillover of energon on one of the rides, so they got closer to check it. But that was just what the Decepticons wanted, because once everyone was on the ride, Dropkick turned it on, making the whole structure to start spinning at a high speed, it was a ride where people was supposed to remain still while it moved.
"Hehehe, enjoy the ride." The Decepticon said, moving one of the levers up.
That increased the ride's speed and made the structure to move, making the humans and Bots to lie against it.
"Nice move, partner. Now we will be able to look for replacements without interference." Shatter congratulated.
They both entered the place full of elastic beds.
"I think I swore seeing that yellow scout with them as well." Dropkick recalled.
"If that's the case, where he might be?"
Suddenly Bumblebee jumped next to them, causing them to almost lose their balance.
"What was that?" Dropkick demanded.
And once again, this time bouncing right in front of them.
"Isn't this the best place ever?" He asked before keep jumping around.
"Why is B-127 acting like that?" Dropkick asked in disbelief.
"The corruptor's effects, it must have make him dumb." Shatter theorized. "No doubt this is not the same Autobot who took down the comms antenna."
As they discussed, Bee's last jump catapulted them in the air. Bee's continuous bouncing caused both Decepticons to lose balance and bounce without control. On the other hand, with the rest of the team into the spinning rotary ride, Max and Bonnie didn't look scared or affected in any bad way, instead they looked like if they were enjoying it, and surprisingly Predaking too, screaming in excitement. But the others weren't taking it too well.
"I...can't...take it...anymore."
"Moon! We have to get out here somehow!"
"Smokey, the phase shifter! Use it!" Arcee requested.
The young Autobot tried to reach it to turn it on. "I can't! This thing spins too fast that I can't move my arm enough!"
"Then...we will have to...turn it off...by force." Hot Rod chose activating his weapons.
Hot Rod waited for the perfect chance and fired, hitting the ride's controls. That turned off the attraction, allowing everyone to get off. Smokey and Hot Rod helped Arcee and Moonracer, while the humans and Predaking had no problem.
"That….was...the most amazing thing I've ever experienced." Predaking admitted.
"You've said it. It was way more exciting even than the roller coaster." Max supported.
"I haven't had this much fun for a while. Let's go again." Bonnie asked.
"No please." Clemont begged, looking very dizzy. "I… had...enough emotion for a week."
"If this how popular rides work, then I prefer more calm ones instead. Something more relaxing and easy to enjoy, and stand." May added.
"Weaklings." Max, Bonnie and Predaking opined.
"Oh great, and now we have lost Bee too." Arcee realized.
Suddenly they heard some familiar screams.
"I guess he's over that way." Smokescreen deduced.
Back with Bee, the bouncing he caused continued preventing the Decepticons from doing anything.
He laughed like if they were just playing. "Let's see who can reach the ceiling." And he jumped right above them.
"Ha, you fool! You just positioned yourself right where I wanted. Let's see what happens when you receive a second dose." Dropkick said preparing to fire the corruptor again.
Just in that moment the others arrived.
"Bee, look out!" Max warned.
But Bee was so immersed on his own world that he didn't realize the danger that it was going to fall upon him. Max checked the place very fast and got lucky to find a paint canister next to him, so he grabbed and threw it against the Decepticon. The paint surprised him, making him drop the weapon, which fired itself after bouncing and touch the ceiling. But this time the shot hit Dropkick, which caused him to fall like with Bumblebee.
"No! You fools!" Shatter said about to grab the corruptor, but Moonracer reacted first and retrieved it with her whip of electricity, passing it to Predaking, who crushed it with his hand.
"Sorry Cons, weapon out of order." Hot Rod announced victorious.
"This isn't over." Shatter swore grabbing her partner. "We'll make sure you pay for this humiliation, specially you, B-127."
She changed to her flying alt form with her partner attached to her and flew away.
"Uff, guess we will no need to worry about losing our minds anymore." Smokescreen sighed in relief.
"Good reaction Max. You have saved the day." Arcee complemented.
"No bad, for a little hero." May added.
"What matters is that Bumblebee is okay." Max said.
"Hum, well well...I would not say it that way." Bonnie recalled pointing at him.
"Oh, major coolness." Bee expressed before looking to one of the weird mirrors which make a distorted reflection.
"Unbelievable. How can he still be so energized?" Moon asked.
"If only we can ensure he stays on a place until the corruptor's effects are off…" Hot Rod started, until he thought on something. "Hey, I got an idea."
Moments later, Bumblebee was completely tied against the top of a ride by chains. However, he didn't seem bothered by it.
"You said this ride was awesome! When does it get awesome?!" Bumblebee asked.
"Seems pretty awesome to me." Clemont joked.
"Hey, I think I...maybe you can't but I think I can see New Iacon from up here!"
Time continued to pass without changes.
"I'm still waiting on the awesome!"
Finally sun started to rise. Bumblebee looked at it with a face like if he managed to wake up from a long sleep.
He groaned, until he saw the situation he was. "What's with the restrains? Is this one of Sideswipe's ideas for a prank? Oh, why does my head feels so heavy?"
"Bee's back." Max announced.
"Yeah, that sounds like him." Hot nodded.
Moments later everyone returned back to base.
"So let me get this right: the corruptor hit me, it made me act weird, and still you managed to stop the Decepticons from getting away with the weapon and destroy it?" Bumblebee asked.
"Actually, you did most of the job." Smokescreen corrected.
"And you did surprise them indeed." Max added.
"I don't know about you, but I'm definitely prefer to stay away from any fair, carnival or amusement park for a while." Clemont expressed, still a little affected.
"You and me both." May added.
"Don't worry you two, I'm sure there are still places to have fun without much adrenaline. Like pools, for example." Bonnie said.
"No way. I think I will choose a spa."
"Me too, for relax." Clemont supported.
"I wish I could remember what happened during my wild period." Bumblebee wished.
"Don't know if you will, but Hot did a well job of filling your stabilizers while you were...unleashed." Wheeljack revealed.
"You did? Well, thanks a lot, old friend."
"You're welcome Bee. Just...make sure it doesn't happen on a more frequent way from now on. I'm still not ready to act like a leader, unlike Optimus." Hot Rod appreciated.
"So, are you not going to report him or Prime or the others that we messed up when we were supposed to watch over him?" Ritchie asked.
"I guess what happens on Bumblebee-land stays there."
"Bee, watch out for…!" Ash warned, but too late.
"Rubber cement. He, classic."
"You said one of the Cons received a similar hit like Bee. I wonder how are they dealing with it now." Dawn recalled.
Speaking about that, on the Nemesis…
"Certainly I can't believe this. You assured us you two were enough to handle the whole issue, and you returned with this." Roadkill said in disbelief while she and the other Decepticons saw Dropkick running from one side to another, hiding behind some terminals, borders, even Vehicons.
"It appears the corruptor's altered effects had resulted on this kind of behavior alteration. But since it functionality works the same the effects should disappear after the virus is no longer active." Shockblast informed.
"Well, in case you can speed it up, mister expert, I suggest you to find it out sooner. I had enough with this crazy weirdo touching all things in the lab and hiding my buffer just for fun!" Knock Out protested.
"Talking about the elite." Quake mocked while he, Stinger, Nightbird, the Seekers, even the Insecticons laughed at this.
Darkscream simply groaned. "Just warn us once he's done acting like a Velocitronian racer."
"Shatter, you know him better, right? Have an idea what could keep him busy?" Spacestream asked.
"Hey, she has a point. Shatter, it's your partner, so you handle him. I'm not rewarded enough to babysit." Knock Out ended.
"Hey Shatter, come on. Let's play tag, you can't catch me." Junior Dropkick challenged before passing two Vehicons, who looked at her confused.
Shatter, seeing anyone was about to help her with her partner, sighed in desperation: it was going to be a long and busy day for her. And she wasn't trained for this kind of situation.