Hey everyone! I'm back with another chapter! So, I decided it would be best to go straight to Hard Knocks, but don't worry. We will get a SR/KO interaction very soon. Until then, I hope you like this chapter. P.S. Sorry for any grammatical errors.
Transformers Prime: The Medic's Assistant
Chapter 59: Hard Knocks
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Prime
(Autobot Base)
Optimus worked nonstop trying to decode the remaining Iacon Data Base Coordinates. The others were on standby as they watched their leader work.
"I'm gonna be a great warrior someday," Smokescreen said with a smile, "like Optimus."
"Welp, train hard and gain some wisdom along the way and I'm sure it will happen," Bulkhead said.
"Oh, it will," the recruit said as he turned around to face the others, "it's my destiny."
"Your destiny?" Bumblebee asked.
"How so?" Arcee asked.
"Well, one minute I'm on security detail at Iacon, the next I wake up on the other side of the galaxy to find myself under Optimus' command," Smokescreen explained, "I mean, what are the chances, right? I mean, things happen for a reason."
"We get it Smokescreen. You're special, we're happy to have you," Arcee said sarcastically.
"All I'm really saying is I've come a long way, and this is one opportunity I don't plan on messing up."
"Well, I think you'll be an awesome warrior," Stormracer told him with a smile.
"Thanks, Storm," Smokescreen said, "and who knows, maybe one day I'll get a cool sword as well."
Stormracer laughed. "Remember when we were little, and you brought that homemade tinfoil sword to the park to play Warriors?"
"Hey, I really liked that sword!"
"Yeah, and so did that big cyber dog. Saw you waving that sword around and chased you halfway down the street for it."
Bumblebee and Bulkhead laughed at that while Smokescreen looked embarrassed.
"Least I'm not the one who got caught in her own foam trap," the recruit pointed out with a smirk.
Stormracer laughed at that. "Hey, it would have worked if I'd remembered to mark where I'd put it."
"Autobots," Optimus said, gaining everyone's attention, "the next Iacon coordinates have been decoded." He looked at the medic. "Ratchet, ready the ground bridge."
"Last one to the Omega Key has to scrub the energon tanks for a week," Smokescreen said before rushing over to the bridge.
"Didn't know we were keeping score," Arcee said sarcastically.
"Go easy on him," Stormracer told her, "He's just pumped."
"Arcee, Bumblebee, prepare to roll out," Optimus said.
"Yes! Let's do this," Bumblebee bleeped before he and Arcee walked over.
"Wait, what about me?" Smokescreen asked.
Bulkhead scoffed at him.
"I mean, me and Bulkhead?" he added.
"The two of you will remain here in the event I am able to decode a subsequent data entry before the others return," Optimus explained before resuming his decoding.
"Optimus is right," Ratchet said, "considering the very fate of Cybertron is at stake, response time is critical." He activated the groundbridge for Arcee and Bumblebee who were ready to roll.
"Keep your engines idling, kid," Arcee told Smokescreen. She then looked at Bumblebee. "Come on, Bee. Destiny awaits," she said mockingly before they drove off.
Smokescreen watched them leave as Bulkhead walked over to him.
"We call it a pit stop," Bulkhead told the recruit before giving him a hard pat on the back, making him stagger forward with a grunt. "We'll get back in the race."
Smokescreen winced as his back hurt.
Not long after Arcee and Bumblebee left, Smokescreen started pacing off to the side, waiting for his leader to send him out.
Seeing her friend pacing back and forth, Stormracer walked over to him.
"I haven't seen you this eager since the try outs for the cube team," she said with a smirk.
Smokescreen stopped in place as he looked at her. "I still think I should be out there," he said, "they might need me. I bet I could get that relic just like that," he said the last part boastfully while snapping his fingers. "I did bring back the first one after all."
"Ego, thy name is Smokescreen," Stormracer joked.
"Hey!" he exclaimed as he put his servos on his hips, "I don't have an ego."
"Ego say what?"
"What?"
"Ha! Got ya!"
"Dang it!" he pouted.
Stormracer chuckled as she patted him on the shoulder. "Arcee and Bumblebee can handle themselves. You'll get the next one."
He vented. "Yeah, I guess." Checking to make sure no one was in hearing distance, he looked at her. "So... how do you think your con friend will handle us reviving Cybertron?" he asked quietly.
Stormracer's smile disappeared. Glancing around to make sure no one was listening, she looked back at him and vented. "I don't know," she quietly responded, "but I really hope he joins. He did say he prefers being on the winning team."
"Wow. The guy sure is a loyalist, isn't he?" he asked sarcastically.
"All I'm saying is this might convince him to leave Megatron," she said.
"You think the bots will just let him join?"
"Hey, Optimus is all about second chances," she said, "and I'm sure once the bots get to know Knock Out more, they'll warm up to him."
Just then Arcee's voice came in through the comm unit. "Ratchet, we need a bridge."
Once the groundbridge was activated, Arcee and Bumblebee weakly made their way inside with cracks all over their armor.
"Oh my gosh!" Stormracer exclaimed as she, Smokescreen, and Ratchet rushed over to them, "are you two okay?!"
"What happened?" Ratchet asked as he, Stormracer, and Smokescreen helped them to medbay.
"Knock Out was there," Arcee said as Stormracer helped her walk, "and he brought a relic with him. Some weapon that uses soundwaves."
"That sounds like the Resonance Blaster," Smokescreen said as he helped Bumblebee on one side and Ratchet on the other.
Stormracer's optics widened as she looked at the damage done to her friends. "Knock Out did this?"
"You sound surprised," Arcee said, "he was waiting for us just to attack."
"Next time I see him, I'm going to peel off his paint job," Bumblebee bleeped angrily as Ratchet made him sit down on the med berth.
Stormracer helped Arcee sit before stepping away. Once Arcee was settled, Smokescreen leaned towards the teal femme.
"Still think they'll warm up to him?" he whispered.
Stormracer only vented. Still, she frowned at what Knock Out did to her friends.
Soon Ratchet had Bumblebee in the cryo chamber while Stormracer tended to Arcee's injuries. The others stood by and watched as Optimus approached the medbay.
"I'm sorry Optimus," Arcee apologized to the Prime, "Knock Out was there, waiting for us. Seems the cons are improving their decoding skills."
"And it seems that with two keys already separated, no one currently possesses the means to revive Cybertron," Ratchet pointed out.
"While our quest to restore our planet reached a stalemate, securing the remaining keys is still the most prudent course of action," Optimus said.
"Man, it must have been crazy with Knock Out going all sonic," Smokescreen said, "Aw, I wish I'd been there." He started throwing punches, "I would have-"
"Would what?" Arcee asked with a frown, "recovered the key like you did the first one?"
"Maybe?" he responded, "I mean, who knows. I just want us to be firing at all cylinders. You know, now that the Star Sabers gone. And I have a pretty good track record so far."
His words angered Arcee as she forced herself up.
Stormracer tried to stop her. "Arcee, you need to si-"
"I'm fine," the two-wheeler argued as she walked away.
Smokescreen watched her walk passed him before Bulkhead approached him.
"Look kid," Bulkhead said, "Arcee and Bumblebee are no slouches. And Optimus managed just fine for eons without the big sword. Of course you wouldn't know about that. You've been locked in stasis the whole time we've been fighting this war."
"Exactly," Smokescreen said, "and I'm ready to make up for lost time."
"When Optimus says you're ready," Bulkhead told him, "You've gotta be in this for the long haul." He looked at Optimus back at the computer. "Slow and steady wins the race."
Stormracer walked over to the recruit. "We know you mean well, but just be careful with what you say, okay, Smoke?"
Smokescreen nodded.
It wasn't long before Optimus decoded the next entry. "The next coordinates are ready," he told everyone.
"There remains one set left to decode," Ratchet said before activating the groundbridge.
"On it, boss," Bulkhead said as he walked over to the bridge.
"I'm gonna bring back that key," Smokescreen said excitedly as he followed behind while throwing some punches. Though once he saw Arcee giving him a look, he changed his tune and walked normally with his head down.
Arcee looked at the wrecker. 'Uh, Bulk? Forgetting something?" she asked before holding up the signal tracer.
"Heh," Bulkhead said sheepishly as he walked over to her. He went to take the tracer before Arcee grabbed his servo and pulled him in closer. "Make sure you keep an eye on destiny's child, okay?"
The two looked at the recruit who was excitedly shadow boxing.
"Compared to watching Miko? Piece of cake," Bulkhead said.
The two soon departed, leaving the others to wait.
Stormracer walked over to Arcee. "Please don't take what Smokescreen says personally," the teal femme said, "sometimes he says things without thinking. He means well. He just has a lot to learn still."
Arcee frowned. "For his sake, he better learn quick."
Stormracer didn't respond as she let out a vent.
While they waited, Ratchet and Stormracer continue patching up Arcee and Bumblebee. By the time they were done, Bulkhead's voice came in through the comm unit. "Ratchet, we need a bridge."
Soon the wrecker and recruit returned through the groundbridge. But they returned empty handed. Bulkhead explained what had happened while Smokescreen sadly shared his side of the story.
"Smokescreen was sucker punched from behind," Bulkhead said, "could have happened to any one of us."
"But it didn't," Smokescreen said sadly, "because it happened to me. I was the one who blew it. Some great warrior I'm turning out to be."
"You still don't get it, do you?" Arcee asked with a frown. "A couple victories aren't going to make you a legend, and not every mission ends in success. Not for me, not for Bumblebee, and not even for Optimus. We've gained relics, and we've lost some. We've also lost friends. We've even lost a world. But this is one time we get a do over. We have a chance to bring back Cybertron, and everyone in this room needs to be in sync. This isn't about you, or your destiny."
"Arcee, you have made your point," Optimus said.
"Optimus, he needs to hear this," Arcee told him before looking back at Smokescreen, "You might actually become a great warrior someday, and I sincerely hope that you do, but greatness begins and ends with putting the team first. Not your personal score card."
"There's nothing that I wouldn't do for you guys," Smokescreen said.
"Then stop trying to be a hero, and start being an Autobot."
"Okay, Arcee, that's enough," Stormracer intervened, "he gets it."
"You know what, maybe I'm just not good enough," Smokescreen said with a frown. He then transformed and drove off towards the exit.
"Smokescreen, wait!" Stormracer called out, only to be ignored. She then turned to Arcee and frowned. "I know he can be full of himself, but you didn't have to talk to him like that! He already feels bad about losing the Omega Key!"
"And what was I supposed to tell him?" Arcee asked as she frowned back, "Everything's fine, you're better than all of us?"
"He doesn't think he's better than anyone! He cares about the team! But you had to tell him off and say he wasn't an Autobot! You didn't have to be so hard on him!" Stormracer then stormed towards the corridor.
"Stormracer, where are you going?" Optimus asked.
"I'm going after Smokescreen," she said before transforming and driving away. She heard her name being called but she ignored it. Soon as she made it outside, she drove straight down the road. Ratchet tried calling her commlink, but she ended up turning it off. She had to find Smokescreen.
The femme turned on her scanners to try and locate her friend. Once she got a lock on him, she accelerated and made a turn down the road. It didn't take long for her to see him speeding way ahead of her.
"Hey, Smoke, wait up!" she shouted as she gained speed.
Smokescreen looked through his rearview mirror to see the teal car catching up to him. "Storm?"
Stormracer drove up beside him. "You okay?"
Smokescreen vented. "I just wanted to prove I could be a great warrior."
"I know," she said, "Arcee shouldn't have talked down to you like that." She vented, "but... she did make some good points."
"That I'm not an autobot?"
"You are an autobot," she told him, "I still believe one day you will be a great warrior, but great warriors aren't great because they try to be the greatest. It takes way more than that."
"I just wanted to be like Optimus. Instead, I messed up," he said sadly.
"Hey, even great warriors have their losses. That includes Optimus. But what makes him great is that he always gets back up and keeps fighting no matter the odds. And what makes him even more awesome, is that he always puts others before him. Great warriors don't fight for glory. They fight for those around them and learn from their mistakes. You have a good spark, Smoke. That's how I know you'll be great. Just... don't let it get to your head, okay?"
Smokescreen looked at her and smiled in his alt mode. "When did you become so wise?"
"When you've been on Team Prime as long as I have, you learn a few things," she said as she smirked in her alt mode.
Just then they both heard a sound coming from the sky. Looking through their side mirrors, they saw a birdlike figure heading towards them.
"Laserbeak?" Stormracer said in confusion.
The surveillance drone began shooting at the two Autobots, making them swerve to avoid getting hit. Laserbeak swooped at them before flying upwards.
Stormracer and Smokescreen both transformed as they saw Laserbeak coming back around.
"What's he doing here?" Stormracer asked.
Smokescreen frowned as he activated his blaster. "Don't know. But he picked the wrong day to mess with us." Smokescreen went to shoot before a sonic blast hit him from the side. He grunted as the blast sent him flying away.
"Smokescreen!" Stormracer called out before she was hit herself. She grunted from the attack as she flew forward and landed on the ground near Smokescreen. She groaned as she felt herself going unconscious. The last thing she saw was Soundwave standing there with the Resonance Blaster.
Soundwave lowered his weapon as he looked at the two autobots. Just then he heard a sound as a green light appeared from the side, making him look to see a groundbridge portal opening.
Optimus, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Arcee leaped out with their weapons out and ready as the portal closed behind them. They looked over to see Soundwave opening a ground bridge portal of his own as he dragged both Smokescreen and Stormracer behind him.
"Smokescreen, Stormracer!" Optimus said as they ran over to stop the Decepticon.
Soundwave paid no attention to the bots as he entered the portal with his prisoners.
"NO!" Bulkhead exclaimed.
The portal disappeared seconds before they could reach them. All of them deactivated their weapons as they stood there dreading about what was going to happen to their friends. None of them even noticed Laserbeak as the drone flew off high above them.
Dun dun DAAAAAAAAAH! Yeah, I had Stormracer captured as well. I did say she and Knock Out would have another interaction very soon lol. Also, she and Smokescreen get to cause some havoc on the Nemesis lol. There might even be a flashback of Stormracer and Smokescreen as kids getting into some trouble. You'll just have to wait and see.
Next chapter will definitely be a lot longer so it may take me a while to have it up. Until then, all of you take care. God bless!