Chapter 3: Trust Exercises

The new Team Bee was out doing some trust exercises in the forest. They were performing trust falls. Strongarm and Sideswipe were already getting the hang of it. Unfortunately, it wasn't going well for Gears. "OUCH!" He exclaimed as he fell hard on his back. Mirage snickered as she was supposed to catch Gears as he fell. "Mirage, you were supposed to catch me! That's the whole point of a trust exercise!" Gears exclaimed. Suddenly, an ear-piercing sound whirled in his com-link, making him wince and groan. "Great! Now my com-unit is busted!" He exclaimed. Mirage just shrugged carelessly. "Well, maybe when it was Mirage's turn, you shouldn't have let her fall…3 times in a row!" Sideswipe exclaimed. "Yeah. Me and Sideswipe have already got our exercise down. Why can't you guys do the same?" Strongarm asked. "She was the one messing up!" Gears exclaimed, pointing right in Mirage's face. Mirage unsheathed her left wrist blade. "Close enough." She warned. "Maybe you should've paid more attention to how we were doing it." Strongarm said. "I'd rather do cleanup duty than do things your way." Gears said. "That can be arranged." Sideswipe said.

The 4 bots continued arguing endlessly. "Alright, knock it off! These trust exercises are important!" Bumblebee exclaimed, getting the team's attention. But as they turned to face their leader, they were shocked at what they saw. "Yeah, why can't you guys take anything seriously?" Grimlock asked, revealing to be carrying Bumblebee like a rescued princess. "Best not to ask." Arcee said as she walked up with Jack. The 4 bots just snickered from their leader's embarrassing position. "If we're going to work together to capture all of the escaped Decepticons, we have to learn to trust each other." Bumblebee said as Grimlock set him down. "Bee's right. Trusting each other is the key to a functional team." Arcee said. "Though it took a while for some of us to trust each other last time you were here." Jack said. Arcee blushed sheepishly at the memories. "Sideswipe and I already trust each other. That counts for something, right?" Strongarm asked. "Yeah. That you trust him to mess up." Gears said. "Watch it, Gear-head." Sideswipe warned. "But then again, I would trust both you and your sister to mess up double-time." Gears said. "Oh, that's it!" Mirage exclaimed. She pushed Gears and the 2 started fighting. Bumblebee and Arcee groaned at this as they face-palmed themselves. "Never had this much trouble last time." Jack said.

"Fixit to Bumblebee, Arcee, Jack, Strongarm, Sideswipe, Gears, Mirage and Grim-Grim-Grim-Grim-" Fixit called over the com-link, glitching on Grimlock's name. "Go ahead, Fixit." Bumblebee said. "Can you circle back to the Scrapyard? There's something I need to show you." Fixit said. "We're on our way, Fixit." Arcee said, ending the call. "Alright. Now, let's see if we can all make it back in one piece." Bumblebee said. "You ready to ride, partner?" Arcee asked. "Always." Jack said. Bumblebee transformed and drove off. Jack got on Arcee after she transformed before they both followed Bumblebee. "Race you back?" Sideswipe asked. "You're on." Strongarm said. They both transformed and raced after them. "See you back at the scrapyard, Gear-boy." Mirage said before she transformed and followed Strongarm and Sideswipe. Gears was not happy. "Don't feel bad. It's not easy being a model teammate like me." Grimlock said. "Keep out of my business, Decepticon!" Gears exclaimed rudely before he transformed and followed the others. Grimlock transformed and followed him. Just then, a wolf Cybertronian appeared at the area, picked up a pinch of dirt and sniffed it. "Autobots." He said.

(Intro):

Optimus Prime's spirit was in space before the scene switched to Team Bee transforming for battle. The scene switched again to introduced each member. Bumblebee, Arcee, Strongarm, Sideswipe, Gears, Mirage, Grimlock and Fixit. The scene switched to several different scenes in the show before switching to the whole team posing in front of Crown City as the title appears.

As the Team Bee returned to the Scrapyard, Fixit brought up a diagram of the surrounding area. "Search instruments have located a cluster of fugitive signals near here and appears to be intact stasis pods as well." Fixit explained. "Some easy captures would be nice." Bumblebee said. "Considering the trouble we had capturing Underbite, I could go for something easy." Arcee said. "Oh, and dealing with Megatron's forces was marked as 'easy' for you?" Jack asked. "Not my point." Arcee said. Just then, Fixit picked up a distress call. "Mayday! Mayday!" A man with a Russian accent called. "We're intercepting an Earth-based radio signal." Fixit said. "This is Captain Oil Tanker Winword, off coast of Crown City! We are under attack by what appears to be a shark! But it's bigger than any I've seen! And it looks to be made of metal!" The captain reported. "Decepticon." Strongarm said. "My crew has evacuated to the lifeboats! Please, send assistance immediately!" The captain reported. "The Alchemor's prisoner manifest lists a Sharkticon aboard." Fixit said. "Oh yeah. I think I remember that Con. But I don't exactly remember his name." Mirage said. "Here are your capture devices. And they will work this time." Fixit said, tossing Bumblebee and Arcee their Decepticon Hunters. "Are you sure?" Bumblebee asked. "Not really." Fixit said. "That reassuring." Arcee groaned.

"Denny, Katie, do you have a boat Arcee, Grimlock, Mirage, Jack and I can tow to the water?" Bumblebee asked. "Take your pick." Denny said, gesturing to his collection of speedboats. "Well, that's…well organized." Arcee said. "Wait. You 2, the convicts and the human?" Gears asked in disbelief. "Grimlock proved to us earlier that he can be trusted in a field that requires teamwork." Bumblebee said. "And Jack and I have been through so much together. I trust him in the field." Arcee said. "And what about Mirage? She hasn't shown any traits of teamwork or trust." Gears said. Bumblebee looked at Mirage. "Which is why she's coming with us. So that she can prove that she can be trusted in the field." He said. "Thank you, Lieutenant. I promise you won't regret it." Mirage said. "And what about us, Lieutenants?" Strongarm asked. "You 2 and Gears go check out those fugitive signals together." Bumblebee instructed before leaving. "Contact us if you need back up." Arcee said before following. "Good luck." Mirage said before following. "Yeah. And work on that teamwork." Grimlock said before following. "Alright. Where are the pods located?" Sideswipe asked. "The stasis pods are at grid 4O-23-Vector-76-50. Oh, and bring me back something, will you? A rock or a soil sample." Fixit said. "Let's roll." Sideswipe said as he transformed and drove out. Strongarm and Gears transformed and followed. "Have a great mission! Soil sample!" Fixit called.

Meanwhile, Bumblebee's group made it to the coast and were driving the boat towards the oil tanker. Jack was on the wheel while Bumblebee was running the motor. "Where'd you learn to drive a boat?" Grimlock asked. "Arcee and I have spent a lot of time on this planet, remember?" Bumblebee asked. "Uh, Bee, I think you and Grimlock are positioned wrong." Arcee said. Bumblebee and Grimlock were sitting on the back of the boat and the nose was pointing right into the sky. "I'll say they are." Jack said. They soon reached the tanker and climbed onboard. Once aboard, they looked around and saw no signs of civilians or their Sharkticon. "No humans or Sharkticon in sight." Bumblebee said. "I guess the crew was evacuated in time before we got here." Jack said. "Too bad. I was hoping for some punching." Grimlock said. "You always like punching, Grim. I prefer slicing." Mirage said, showing off her blades. Bumblebee, Arcee and Jack stared out into the ocean. "Wow. Just look at that view of the ocean." Arcee said. "Earth's bodies of water are incredible, guys." Bumblebee said. "Yeah. And very beautiful too. I have a friend who loves the ocean and swims in it, and sometimes surfs on it." Jack said. "Uh, how so?" Mirage asked in confusion. "Well, they're filled with more kinds of life than you can imagine." Bumblebee said. Just then, something rammed into the tanker. Everyone looked over the edge and saw a giant shark shadow moving under the water. "Looks like we found our Sharkticon." Jack said. "I can't wait to punch some water life!" Grimlock exclaimed with excitement.

Meanwhile, Strongarm, Sideswipe and Gears weren't having any luck with trying to locate the stasis pods. "Gears, are you sure we're going the right way?" Strongarm asked. "Yeah, this seems opposite of the right way to me." Sideswipe said. "Please. You 2 wouldn't know the right way if it hit you in the optics. Especially you, Sideswipe." Gears said. As they stopped, Strongarm and Sideswipe transformed. "Why do you always have to treat Sideswipe like that? Aren't you ever gonna treat him like our equal?" Strongarm asked. "Just as he, as well as you, learn to take me seriously." Gears said as he transformed. "I think we should split up, cover more ground." Sideswipe suggested. "Good call, Sideswipe. Com us if you find something." Strongarm said. "Same to you." Sideswipe said. "Wait! We can't split up! Our orders were to simply stay together!" Gears exclaimed as Strongarm and Sideswipe walked up in separate directions. "Sideswipe?! Strongarm!" He tried calling them on his com-link, but he received the same noise from earlier due to it still being busted. "Oh, stupid com-unit." He groaned.

Meanwhile, the Sharkticon came around and bashed into the tanker again. The team almost wobbled around from the bash. Grimlock peeked over and saw that the Sharkticon was close enough. "Excuse me." He said with a salute. "Grimlock, no!" Bumblebee exclaimed. But Grimlock leapt off the boat, transformed into his T-Rex mode and landed on top of the Sharkticon. "This isn't teamwork!" Arcee exclaimed. "Well, so much for that." Mirage said. Bumblebee and Arcee brought out their Decepticon Hunters and tried to make them work. "Come on! Come on!" Bumblebee exclaimed. "How does this thing even work?!" Arcee exclaimed. Just then, the Sharkticon bashed into the tanker again, causing the Decepticon Hunters to fall out of their hands. Mirage lost her balance, stumbled over the edge and fell over. "Mirage!" Arcee cried as Mirage fell in the water. "Jack, get to safety!" Bumblebee exclaimed. Jack ran towards the end of the ship. "Wooo! Yeah! Come on! That's all you got?!" Grimlock exclaimed as the Sharkticon tried to shake him off. "Release me, surface creature! I do not wish your vile stench to cling to my exterior!" The Sharkticon exclaimed. He finally managed to throw Grimlock off his back. Grimlock, not being able to swim and being made of metal, sunk to the bottom. "Grimlock!" Bumblebee cried. "Bee, we gotta get our Decepticon Hunters!" Arcee exclaimed. As the 2 bots started heading for their weapons, the Sharkticon leapt out of the water, transformed and landed in front of them, breaking the Decepticon Hunters. "Kinda wish we had a bigger bot." Bumblebee said as the Sharkticon stood over them.

Meanwhile, Gears was still searching for any signs of Decepticon fugitives and the stasis pods. "Who does that punk thing he is? And of all the nerve for Strongarm, the best of all of us cadets, to just agree with him on splitting up. Honestly." He grumbled. Just then, he transformed and came across a bunch of stasis pods. As he investigated, he heard twigs snapping nearby. He drew his blaster and went to investigate. He saw the wolf Decepticon in front of another stasis pod. "Prepare for freedom, brother." The Decepticon said as he prepared to open the pod. "Paws in the air, Con! Now!" Gears exclaimed, getting the Decepticon's attention. "Hello, brother. Did you fall out of the sky too? I'm so glad we found each other." The Decepticon said. "Decepticon fugitive…I can't believe I'm doing this…by Cybertronian legal code, section 305, you are hereby-" Gears tried to say. "Of course. You're confused. I wasn't a prisoner on that ship. I was a guard." The Decepticon lied. "Guard? Fixit never said anything about a guard being on the Alchemor." Gears said. "Fixit. Yes. Well, he wouldn't have known. I was in stasis also. My pod programed to wake me in case of a riot." The Decepticon lied. "Then why do you have a Decepticon logo?" Gears asked. The Decepticon chuckled. "You're very well trained, asking excellent questions. The logo is meant to confuse the other…" He suddenly attacked, swatting Gears' blaster away. "This is Gears! I'm under attack!" Gears called into his com-link, hoping to get through to the scrapyard as he tried to fight off the Decepticon. "My location is-" The Decepticon managed to overpower him and send him flying into a boulder, knocking him out. The Decepticon chuckled as he approached the unconscious Autobot.

Meanwhile, Strongarm and Sideswipe returned to the scrapyard. They transformed as Russell and Fixit ran up to them. "Where's Gears? He isn't back yet?" Strongarm asked. "We didn't find any stasis pods. Hopefully, Gears had better luck." Sideswipe. "Guys!" Russell exclaimed. "What's wrong?" Strongarm asked. "Gears called in. It sounded like he was in trouble, but it was too hard to hear." Russell explained. "Then his com stopped functioning and I can't track him." Fixit said. "You guys split up, didn't you?" Russell asked. "It was my idea. I hoped at least one of us would have better luck with finding the pods." Sideswipe said with regret. "I will notify Bumblebee and Arcee immediately." Fixit said. "No! We'll handle it." Strongarm said. "It's our fault anyway." Sideswipe said.

Meanwhile, the Sharkticon tried to punch Bumblebee and Arcee, but they jumped back and dodged it. "You have forced me to walk on 2 legs like some foul land dweller. How DARE YOU!" The Sharkticon exclaimed as he charged for the 2 Autobots. But Bumblebee and Arcee managed to flip him over into a bunch of crates of lifejackets. "Didn't realize it was an issue." Bumblebee said. "I didn't realize you were a land racist, Con." Arcee said. As the Sharkticon forced his way out of the crate mess, Bumblebee and Arcee drew their blasters and fired at him. But the Sharkticon blocked the blasts with one of the crates. "Listen, Sharkticon-" Bumblebee tried to say. "My name is Hammerstrike, Cybertron's most feared pirate. And soon, the ruler of all this planet's seas." The Sharkticon, Hammerstrike, boasted. "Okay. Whatever." Arcee said. "Look, surrender now or when our partners return, you'll probably take a beating and a slashing. Then surrender." Bumblebee said. Hammerstrike just threw a crate and a couple of lifejackets at the 2 bots. Bumblebee and Arcee ducked down to dodge the crate. But as they came back up, the lifejackets knocked their blasters out of their hands. "Surrender to the likes of you? I would never be able to show my fins in the Gorgeon Depths again!" Hammerstrike exclaimed as he tried to slash at the 2 Autobots. Bumblebee and Arcee managed to dodge his attacks and kick him down. "Well, I'm sure that'll really leave a big hole in your social calendar, but we're still bringing you in!" Arcee exclaimed. "Anytime now, you 2." Bumblebee said as he looked over the edge.

Unfortunately, Grimlock and Mirage were stuck down at the bottom. Grimlock tried to swim back up, but he was too heavy and not a very strong swimmer. Mirage injured her leg during her stumble, so she couldn't muster the strength to swim back up. As they stared up at the tanker, a fish swam right up to them. "What're you looking at?" Grimlock asked. The fish just bubbled at them before swimming away.

Hammerstrike swung his tail at Bumblebee and Arcee, but they managed to catch it. "Release me! You are not fit to touch my tail!" Hammerstrike exclaimed. Bumblebee and Arcee lifted him up and slammed him onto the deck before retrieving their blasters. "Looks like you took a beating after all." Bumblebee said. "Pity there wasn't any slashing though." Arcee said. Suddenly, sirens started wailing. Bumblebee and Arcee turned to see a squad of coastguard boats heading towards the tanker. Hammerstrike saw his chance. He swept his tail under their legs and knocked them down before picking them up. "Even in your element, I am your superior. Do not pursue me or I shall prove it again." He warned before smelling his contaminated scent. "Now your ground stench will be on me for weeks." He tossed the Autobots down, leapt off the boat and transformed as he dove back into the water, swimming away. "What happened? Where's the Sharkticon?" Jack asked as he came out from hiding. "He's gone for now. We better leave too before the coastguards get here." Arcee said. "Grimlock! Mirage! Can you hear me? Can you get to shore?" Bumblebee asked through his com-link.

Later, Bumblebee's group returned to the scrapyard. As Bumblebee and Arcee transformed, they noticed that the place was practically empty. "Where is everyone?" Bumblebee asked. "Oh! Well, let's see. Denny and Katie Clay went out for supplies, Cadet Strongarm, Cadet Gears and Sideswipe are still out on alignment-*glitch*-advisement-*glitch*-assignment, and I'm not sure where young Russell is." Fixit explained. "So, how did your mission go?" He asked. Grimlock and Mirage walked past the command center, completely soaked. Mirage was walked with a limp due to her injury. "Well, Grimlock and Mirage got a bath out of it." Bumblebee said. "I'm gonna treat Mirage's injury." Arcee said, walking over to Mirage. "I'm gonna make a call." Jack said, walking away as he pulled out his phone. "We need to know more about Sharkticons so we can predict where this one might go next." Bumblebee said. "Let me see. Saliam removal, scar data, self-repairing actualizers." Fixit said as he typed in the command center. "Speaking of saliam removal, did I ever tell you about the time I got my head stuck in a-" "Focus." Bumblebee said. Fixit opened the database and sorted through the mugshots. "Um, Shadowcasters. Oh! Sharkticons!" He pulled up Hammerstrike's mugshot and file. "The database says Sharkticons live in highly viscus fluid environments and swim at high speeds and have multiple rows of sharp teeth." "Yeah, we noticed." Arcee said as she fixed Mirage's injury. "Okay. So, Hammerstrike wants to control this planet's oceans, but why would he start by attacking an oil tanker? Unless he wasn't initiating his campaign just yet." Bumblebee said. "I ran a scan on that oil tanker and discovered that it had huge amounts of crude oil inside, big enough to render the ocean into viscus fluids." Arcee explained. "He was trying to recreate his home environment!" Bumblebee realized. "And after failing to do so with the oil tanker, he needs to find another source." Arcee deduced. "Alright, run a search. See if there are any other nearby sources of crude oil." Bumblebee said. "Oh! There's a shore-shore-shore-shore-shoreline refinery within just a couple miles of here." Fixit said. "Human personal?" Bumblebee asked. "Uh-uh. Fully automated." Fixit said. As Arcee finished fixing Mirage's injury, Bumblebee gestured for them and Grimlock to follow. Before following, Jack was finishing his phone call. "Alright. See you all shortly." He said, ending the call and hanging up before following. "Sorry about before." Grimlock said as he transformed. "Everyone makes mistakes, Grimlock. But keep in mind, just because you've taken the first step, doesn't mean you've won the race." Bumblebee said. "Okay. How many steps are there?" Grimlock asked out of misunderstanding. Bumblebee and Arcee sighed.

Meanwhile, Strongarm and Sideswipe, accompanied by Russell, arrived back in the forest to look for Gears, stopping in front of an old ranger station. "Where are we?" Sideswipe asked. "An old ranger station. See? Glow-in-the-dark paint." Russell said, pointing to a stack of paint cans by the station. "Rangers use it to mark off-limit areas during hunting season." "But no sign of Gears." Strongarm said. "I don't know whether to say if that's good or bad." Sideswipe said. "Or both. Gears can be a handful sometimes." Strongarm said. Just then, Russell noticed an old truck with a chain pulley. The ground under it was covered in skid marks. He got out of Sideswipe and went to investigate. "Somebody's been here recently. This chain's snapped clean. And from the skid marks, it looks like this truck was yanked around…by something big." He deduced before getting back into Sideswipe as he started to continue with Strongarm following. "I don't think it'll matter if we find Gears. He'll still treat me like scrap." Sideswipe said. "Easy, Sideswipe. I'm a rough and tumble bot who always goes by the book, but I still give you a chance." Strongarm said. "My parents always said 'you want respect, you have to give respect.' One of you just has to take the first step. That's all." Russell said. "Thanks, guys. I'll remember that." Sideswipe said.

Meanwhile, Gears started to recover and woke up to find the wolf Decepticon staring right at him, chuckling. "You still don't understand. I want to help you. I'm sorry I lied. I didn't know if I could trust you. Yes, I am a Decepticon. But I've changed." The Decepticon said. "Into a kidnapping Decepticon?" Gears asked. "I apologize for the things I've done. But I can never go back to Cybertron. I'd be locked up again just way you wanted to jail me before I could explain anything." The Decepticon said. "I was…just doing my job, okay? That's how it works." Gears said. "But on this planet, I can begin anew with fellow prisoners who feel the same…in peace. Now is that so wrong?" The Decepticon asked. Gears remained silent, not buying this sob story. Unknown to them, Strongarm, Sideswipe and Russell found them and watched them from some nearby bushes. "I don't trust this Con. He must mistake peace for conquest." Sideswipe whispered. "So, what do we do now?" Russell asked. "We can't just rush in. That Con looks tough enough to take us both on." Strongarm whispered. Sideswipe thought for a second, until he was hit with an idea. "Russell, go get that glow-in-the-dark paint and a crowbar." He whispered. "On it." Russell whispered before taking off. "What's your plan?" Strongarm asked. "We're gonna turn ourselves into criminals." Sideswipe whispered.

Meanwhile, Bumblebee's group arrived at the shoreline refinery. Mirage sliced open the wall and Grimlock widened it for the others. "Okay, we're in. What's next, Lieutenants?" Mirage asked. "We split up. Just for now." Bumblebee whispered. "Jack, this could get rough. You get somewhere safe." Arcee whispered. "Right." Jack whispered before heading off. "Okay. Now if any of you find Hammerstrike, what do you do?" Bumblebee asked. "Start punching." Grimlock whispered boastfully. "And slicing." Mirage whispered. Bumblebee and Arcee gave them serious looks. "Call you, then start punching." Grimlock whispered. "And slicing." Mirage whispered. "Good enough." Arcee whispered. Just then, there was a banging noise. The Autobots rushed over to investigate. Hammerstrike was pounding on the pipes, trying to break them open and release the oil. "Forced to walk the land twice in one day. Thank the covens that others can't see me now." He said as the Autobots snuck up behind him. But then, he caught sight of them as they charged towards him. "What?!" He exclaimed in shock as the Autobots bashed into him and slammed him into the wall. Unfortunately, one of the pipes burst open as they did this. "Look out! Oil spill!" Jack cried from his hiding spot. The oil flowed underneath the Autobots, making them start slipping. Hammerstrike, however, started sliding on the oil like a professional ice skater.

Meanwhile, Gears was still in the Decepticon's grasp. "Look, giving you a second chance isn't up to me. I'm only a cadet. My superior officers would have to be the ones to do so." He explained. "I would love to meet your superior officers. And the rest of your squadron. How many of you are there? Where is your base?" The Decepticon asked. "Just over by the…" Gears started to answer, but then he stopped himself, sensing a scheme. "Wait a minute. How do I know this isn't a trick?" He asked. "I see you found an Autobot." Sideswipe's voice said. The Decepticon turned around as Sideswipe and Strongarm revealed themselves in the forest's shadows. They both had fake Decepticon insignias on their chassis to cover their original ones. "Can we get in on a little payback?" Sideswipe asked.

"Greetings, brother and sister. I'm Steeljaw. And you are?" The Decepticon, Steeljaw, asked. "I'm Grimbee. And this is my partner, Mircee." Sideswipe introduced. "Sup." Strongarm greeted. "I'm glad you're both free, Grimbee and Mircee. Step into the light at join me." Steeljaw said. "First things first. What happened to your mark, Steeljaw?" Strongarm asked, gesturing to Steeljaw's Decepticon insignia, which was slashed off. "I destroyed it. And it's tracking mechanism. The Autobots mustn't capture me before I've proven to them that I've reformed and want to live here now, peacefully. As I'm sure you 2 do too." Steeljaw said. Just then, Gears noticed Russell sneaking around Steeljaw with a crowbar. "Get out of here! Go!" He whispered. But Russell ignored him and started trying to break the lock on the chains with the crowbar. "Not exactly. We never want to give up our lives of crime." Sideswipe said. "Yeah, we hate the Autobots as much as any Decepticon." Strongarm said. "Especially hot-headed cadets." Sideswipe added. "Oh, cadets can be wonderful. If used properly." Steeljaw said. Strongarm almost glared at that. "Tell me more about yourselves. How were you 2 captured?" Steeljaw asked. "Well, let's see. Our memory's a bit fuzzy, but…" Strongarm said. "It was a dark and stormy night." Sideswipe started. But then, as Russell finally broke the lock, Steeljaw heard it with his wolf-like hearing and turned around, making Gears and Russell gasp.

Meanwhile, back in the refinery, the Autobots continued slipping through the oil, not getting any traction in their foot work. Grimlock grabbed onto Bumblebee's arm and they started to spin around like dancing ice skaters. Arcee and Mirage grabbed on as they started spinning faster. "Guys! Let go!" Bumblebee exclaimed. The Autobots broke apart and slid into 4 different corners. Bumblebee slipped as he slid into another pipe. Grimlock slipped and crashed into some crates. Arcee slipped and crashed into a wall. Mirage slipped and crashed near some steps. As Bumblebee unsuccessfully tried to get up, Hammerstrike oil-skated right towards him. Bumblebee gasped as Hammerstrike was coming right towards him. Suddenly, a giant rock wall popped up in front of Hammerstrike. He tried to stop, but he slid right into it. The Autobots were surprised by this. Jack secretly smiled at this. They had arrived. "HEY!" A voice shouted. Everyone turned to the entrance and saw 3 suited heroes enter. "Get away from those Autobots!" The one dressed in earth element theme exclaimed. Hammerstrike just roared and started skating towards them. The rock guy fired rapid crystals from his hands, striking the Sharkticon hard. "What surface trickery is this?!" Hammerstrike exclaimed. A girl dressed in music theme with indigo wings flew over him. "It's a little something called the Sound of Music." She said before she unleashed a powerful wave of music from her hands, forcing him on his knees. "And it's time for you to chill out, Shark." A girl dressed in ice element theme said. She fired an ice beam from her hands and froze Hammerstrike on the spot. The Autobots were even more shocked at what they just saw. "I think you guys can take it from here." The rock guy said. "Um, thanks. But who are you guys?" Bumblebee asked. "We're the Nebula Rangers, Crown City's Greatest Protectors. I'm Songbird, these are Geo King and Ice Doll." The music girl said. "Well, it's nice to meet you." Bumblebee said. "Likewise." Geo King said. Grimlock looked all mopey. "What's wrong, Grimlock?" Bumblebee asked. "I didn't get to punch him." Grimlock whined. "Well, give him a good one. My ice isn't that easy to break." Ice Doll said. Grimlock gave the iced Sharkticon a good punch. "Feel better?" Arcee asked. "A little." Grimlock said. Suddenly, as Bumblebee wanted to thank the heroes again, they were gone, shocking him.

Meanwhile, back in the forest, Russell took a stance as Steeljaw walked up to him and Gears. "What are you? Besides strange." Steeljaw asked. "Look who's talking." Russell said before running in between Steeljaw's legs. "Don't go near him!" Sideswipe exclaimed. "Treachery. How like you Autobots." Steeljaw said, lunging towards the 2 Autobots. Sideswipe and Strongarm flipped over him. Gears wiggled out of the way as they landed. Sideswipe dared for the wolf Decepticon to come at them. Steeljaw roared and charged towards them. "I got another idea. Follow me." Sideswipe whispered as he and Strongarm started running away. As Russell ran to find cover, Steeljaw chased after Sideswipe and Strongarm, trying to slash them with his claws. But as they doubled back to Gears' holding place, Gears revealed himself to be unchained and gave a powerful kick, sending Steeljaw into a tree. Unfortunately, that caused the tree to break and timber over. Russell gasped as the tree was about to fall on top of him. Suddenly, a girl dressed like a nymph ran over and grabbed Russell before the tree fell on him. "Are you okay?" She asked as she set Russell down. Russell didn't answer. Instead, he was shocked. "I don't believe it! You're Nymph of the Nebula Rangers!" He exclaimed excitedly. "Yes. Yes, I am." Nymph said with a smile. "It's an honor to meet you. I'm a big fan of you and your team." Russell said, shaking her hand. "Always nice to meet a fan." Nymph said. Sideswipe, Strongarm and Gears walked up to them. "You okay, Russell?" Sideswipe asked. "Yeah, I'm fine." Russell said. They looked over at the tree, but Steeljaw was gone. "He got away." Strongarm said. "But I have a bad feeling we're gonna be seeing that Con again." Sideswipe said. "I hope so. I owe that Con a lot of payback." Gears said. "Hey, Nymph, I wanna say thanks again for-" Russell tried to say. But to his shock, as he turned around, Nymph was gone.

Later, the 4 of them returned to the scrapyard. After Russell got out of Sideswipe, the 3 Autobots transformed. "Cadet Gears! You're alright!" Fixit exclaimed happily. "And why wouldn't he be?" Bumblebee's voice asked. The 5 turned around as Bumblebee's group returned with Hammerstrike, still on ice, just as Denny and Katie pulled in. "Hey. What'd we miss?" Denny asked. "I was…having a bit of a communications difficulty earlier, Lieutenants. Nothing serious." Gears said. "Anything to report?" Bumblebee asked. "We found some open pods and a Decepticon resembling an Earth wolf." Strongarm said. "Calls himself Steeljaw. He says he wants to live peacefully on this planet with like-minded Decepticons, but he got un-peaceful with us pretty quick." Sideswipe explained. "Wait. Steeljaw?! Here?! On Earth?!" Mirage asked in shock. "You know him?" Arcee asked. "I've heard stories, but never actually met him. He's sort of an alpha male kinda Con. About a couple years ago, I heard that he went into a power grab after Megatron vanished and started leading huge numbers of Decepticons." Mirage explained. "Can't wait to meet him. I'll go put this one away…gently." Grimlock said as he brought the frozen Hammerstrike over to the stasis pods. "If this Steeljaw is lying about going straight, we could be looking at another Decepticon army trying to take this planet." Arcee said. "It's all the more reason to wrap these fugitives up fast. We'll have Fixit prep a report on Steeljaw's background. He's now on the top of our most wanted list." Bumblebee said.

"Well, it's a good thing I called for backup then." Jack said. "Backup?" Arcee asked. Just then, 3 cars pulled into the scrapyard. "Hey, what's all this about?!" Denny exclaimed. As the cars powered down, a couple of familiar faces exited the first vehicle. "No way." Bumblebee said in disbelief. "It can't be!" Arcee said in shock. "Oh, but it is." Jack said. It was the Autobots' other 2 human friends, Rafael Esquivel and Miko Nakadai, now 3 years older. "Hi, Bumblebee." Raf greeted. "Long time no see, Bots." Miko said. "Raf. Miko. It's so good to see you guys." Bumblebee said. "And we didn't come alone. Come on out, guys!" Miko called. The 2 other vehicles opened their doors and revealed themselves. There were 4 girls and 5 boys, and they all looked identical. Grimlock got freaked out by this. "Who are these guys? And why do they all share the same faces? Are they clones?" Strongarm asked. "No. These are our friends. They're the Gonzalez Nonuplets." Miko introduced. "These are Mariposa, Shawn, Liana, Dominick, Teresa, Nalu, Annika, Brook and Henry." Raf introduced. "Jack, Raf and Miko told us about you. Nice to finally meet you." Mariposa said. "The pleasure is ours." Bumblebee said. "What are Non-up-ets?" Mirage asked. "Nonuplets are 9 sibling children born at the same time." Arcee explained. "Oh. That makes sense. I think." Mirage said. "It's actually kinda creepy." Grimlock said.

Gears walked over to Sideswipe and Strongarm. "Hey. I just wanted to say thanks for rescuing me from Steeljaw. You 2 and Russell really saved my tailpipe out there." He said. "No problem, Gears. You may be a bit of a hot-head. But you're still part of the team." Strongarm. "Yeah. Even if you're never gonna see me as an equal." Sideswipe said. "Don't get cocky, punk. You're okay when you're not putting your foot in my mouth." Gears said before walking away. Strongarm and Sideswipe shrugged.

WOW! Wasn't that magnificent? While performing trust exercises, the Bee Team come into contact with 2 escaped Decepticons, Hammerstrike and Steeljaw. The Bee Team splits up and managed to apprehend Hammerstrike, but Steeljaw escaped. And now Jack's called the team's old friends, Miko and Raf, along with some new friends, the Gonzalez Nonuplets, to the team for backup. But who were those Nebula Rangers that helped the Bee Team capture Hammerstrike and rescued Russell? Will the Bee Team ever capture Steeljaw? Leave a review if you'd like.

Special thanks to FoxyKhai0209 for the Nebula Rangers.