Chapter 13: Plan 2B

Sly woke up the next morning, still somewhat haunted by his extremely horrific nightmare. He went into the main room of the base where most of the Autobots were.

Sly: Hey guys. Just asking, is there like a Therapist Bot I can talk to? I feel like I really need one right now and maybe speak to them privately.

Wheeljack: Ratchet can probably talk to you. He's an amazing doctor!

Ratchet: Oh! Um, yeah….. I sure am!

Ratchet in reality wasn't THAT kind of doctor. He's a Medical doctor for Autobots, not a professional therapist for Raccoons, but at the same time he felt like Wheeljack unintentionally cornered him into the situation and didn't want to look like a fraud. He took Sly into a room, where the Cooper described his most horrific nightmare and was a bit shocked by all the horrific details, but anything else Sly told him, he just gave the most basic therapist-like responses. "Mm-hmm" "Fascinating. Tell me more" "Interesting"

Despite the Doc Bot's really apparent lack in therapist experience, which Sly could sort of tell, he felt a lot better describing his nightmare to anyone and felt a confidence boost in him.

Back in the main room.

Bentley: Optimus, I have questions about the Allspark. We have been hunting for the fragments, but what would happen if all of them were back together?

Optimus: It is unlikely all of the shards scattered across Earth will all be together ever again, but what the Allspark as a whole could do was give life to entire planets. Legends say that it first gave life to Cybertron.

Bentley: But can Cybertron live without it?

Optimus: Possibly, but the powerful artifact that gave life to us is what resulted in the two factions still at war to this day. One wants peace and freedom, the other wants absolute power. The fragments can give life to single allies at a time. The more botpower for a faction, the more likely chance they'll come out victorious.

Murray: Alright, so what's the plan for today?

Optimus: Sly has pinpointed the next possible location of a fragment. An abandoned mine in Tennessee near where the outlaw known as "Kid Cooper" used to live. I am assigning Bumblebee and Ironhide to accompany you on your mission, Cooper gang.

Sly: Don't you ever go on missions, Prime?

Optimus: As leader, I stay at base unless one of my soldiers is in absolute danger or there is a major Decepticon attack somewhere in the world where I must lead my team into battle.

Murray sees Coopercus pose with his new weapons.

Murray: Hey Coop. You coming with us?

Coopercus: Would love to, but I want to try out my new abilities. The Autobots have offered to train me in their ways of combat.

Murray: Oh…. okay….

Murray had been the main driver and keeper of the Cooper Van for many years, caring so much about it and when it came to life, he immediately saw him as like a son. He would love Coopercus to stay with him and his gang, but still knows it should be his right to choose them or his people when the time comes. The thought makes him depressed.

Sly on the other hand, didn't really care for Coopercus when he came to life, as he had and still has been focused on his top priority of saving Carmelita, but after the young bot saved him yesterday, the kid has quickly grown on him.

Wheeljack opens the Spacebridge portal to Tennessee. Bumblebee and Ironhide are told by Prime to Transform and Roll out. Bentley and Murray get into Ironhide, while Sly gets into Bumblebee. The group then head through the portal to Tennessee.

Driving through the state, the Cooper Gang notices all the change it has gone through since they last saw it… in 1884.

Bentley: I have been researching old state legends and myths of what could possibly have been the Allspark mutation. The one I'm speculating happened in 1886, a while after we visited Kid Cooper in our time travel escapade. The legend goes that a Stagecoach mysteriously came to life with the appearance of a monster and started attacking a town but there was limited photography back then nor the type of people around the area who could write and record very accurate information, which is why it's considered a legend.

Murray: Stagecoaches are made of wood, right? Then why didn't they just, y'know, burn the thing to the ground?

Bentley: Apparently that is exactly what they did.

Bumblebee notices Sly is feeling down, so he tries to lighten him up a bit.

Bumblebee: Hey Sly. So there was this time, when Decepticons ripped my voicebox out, so for a while I had to commute and talk with whatever was on the radio.

Sly: (unenthused) Oh. Cool.

Bumblebee: Mind if I play some tunes?

Sly: Yeah sure. Go ahead.

The song Bee plays is "Hit me with your best shot" by Pat Bentar

"Well your the real tough cookie with the long history of breaking little hearts like the one in me"

"Hit me with your best shot. Why don't you hit me with your best shot? Hit me with your best shot. Fire away."

Sly feels like the song reflects his relationship with Carmelita, specifically when she chases him.

Sly: Bee, could you play something else?

Bumblebee: Sure.

The next song Bee plays is "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol

"In the Midnight Hour, she cried more, more, more, more. With a Rebel Yell she cried more, more, more"

"She don't like Slavery, she won't sit and beg but when I'm tired and lonely, she gives me head."

Sly starts to get a bit aggravated as if the song knows about his sex life with a certain someone.

Sly: Bee, Please try another.

Bumblebee: Ummm…. alright..

"Like a Prayer" by Madonna

"When you call my name, It's like a little prayer"

"I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there."

Sly is getting slightly more aggravated.

Sly: Another!

Bumblebee: Alright! Jeez!.

"Where do broken hearts go" by Whitney Houston

"Where do broken hearts go? Can they find their way home?"

"Back to the open arms of a love that's waiting there?"

The Cooper is at his breaking point, thinking that Bumblebee is subtly taunting him at his obsession with his current priority that at this point has been very apparent to the Autobots.

Sly: (Yelling) Y'know what Bumblebee, Just shut up!

Bee turns off his radio and doesn't speak for a minute. Sly immediately regrets what he just did.

Sly: (sighs) I'm sorry Bee. It's just…I….

Bumblebee: I know… I chose some pretty bad songs in the moment. I know what you're going through.