Chapter 6: W.W.O.D.?

Bumblebee and Arcee were presenting their team with a brief presentation of the area where they found most of the Alchemor's stasis pods. "This map shows the area where we found stasis pods so far." Bumblebee said. "And we believe there's probably more outside the general area." Arcee said. "Hey, if you drew a line between the pod vocations-*glitch*-ovations-*glitch*-locations, it kinda looks like Megatron." Fixit said, getting off topic. "Here's that thing on his nose, and here's the-" Arcee cleared her throat, interrupting him. "Oh. Right." "FYI, we've seen Megatron up close and he doesn't even have a nose." Miko said. "Most Cybertronians don't." Raf said.

"The point is, now we have an idea on where to search for more pods." Bumblebee said. "Bee's right. The more pods we find, the better our chances of finding fugitives nearby to recapture." Arcee said. But Gears barely paid any attention since he was too focused on Sideswipe and Mirage in his way. "In this grid alone, there are probably-" Bumblebee tried to explain, but was interrupted by the sound of wrestling. Everyone turned around to see Gears pinning Sideswipe and Mirage down, having had enough of them blocking him. "Gears!" Strongarm exclaimed. "And that, funny bots, is what happens when someone even thinks about blocking me!" Gears exclaimed. "For a bot with arms, you fight dirty." Sideswipe said. "You said it, Sideswipe." Mirage said. Grimlock laughed at the scene. "Do it again, Gears! Do it again!" He laughed. "No! Gears, get off of them!" Strongarm exclaimed.

Bumblebee and Arcee broke up the fight. "Guys, please, we're just trying to get us better organized." Bumblebee said. "Yes. Can't we at least try to get along." Arcee said. "You got lucky. I was about to make my move." Sideswipe said. "My foot is about to move you 2 back to Cybertron!" Gears exclaimed. "Try it and get your optics slashed." Mirage warned, unveiling her right wrist blade. "Enough!" Bumblebee exclaimed, pushing them apart. "All of you, go to neutral corners. Now." Arcee ordered. Grimlock continued laughing as Team Bee walked away. "Well, that was…intense." Mariposa said as she and her siblings walked away, leaving Jack, Raf and Miko with Bumblebee and Arcee.

"Should I reschedule our map presentation for tomorrow?" Fixit asked as he made his way down. "We never gave Optimus trouble like this." Arcee said. "Yeah. We had our ups and downs, but Optimus always had us work it out." Jack said. "Really? What was his secret?" Fixit asked. "We're not sure. I guess we could try asking him." Bumblebee said as he and Arcee walked away. "Uh, how are they going to do that?" Miko asked. Jack just shrugged.

Bumblebee and Arcee walked up to a setup of mirrors they put together to try and contact Optimus. "Hello? Optimus?" Bumblebee called. "You there, Optimus?" Arcee asked. "We don't know if this is the way to reach you in whatever realm you're in, but the last time you appeared it was in a reflection, so…" Bumblebee started to say. "This is ridiculous." Arcee put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Bee. What we're trying to say is that we could use some advice, Optimus. Our team doesn't always listen to us and it's making us wonder if we're even cut out to be leaders." She explained. "And it's making us worried. If we can't figure out how to lead, it could lead to a-" Bumblebee tried to say, but then he spotted something in one of the mirrors. Sideswipe was climbing up a tower of pinball machines to ambush Gears from above while he was practicing on a punching dummy. But then, Sideswipe's weight started to tilt the tower. "A disaster." Bumblebee said. He and Arcee transformed and drove towards them. Sideswipe leapt off the tower as it was about to fall on an unsuspecting Gears. Bumblebee and Arcee transformed and pushed him out of the way before the pinball machines fell on them. "Bee! Arcee!" Jack cried as everyone ran over. "My 1978 Volcano Adventure machine!" Denny cried. Grimlock dug through the machines and freed Bumblebee and Arcee. Bumblebee had the dummy head stuck on his head. He pulled it off and spat out a pinball, scoring a high score on the machine. Katie smiled at that as she gave a thumb's up. "Scrap." Bumblebee grumbled. "Double scrap." Arcee grumbled.

(Intro)

"Are you 2 alright?" Jack asked as Bumblebee and Arcee recovered. "We'll be fine, Jack. Not our first tumble, remember?" Arcee said. "How could I forget?" Jack chuckled. "Still, when Optimus told us to stop doing something, we stopped." Bumblebee said as Russell walked over. "Yeah. No matter how much we didn't want to." Arcee said. "Why?" Russell asked. "Because Optimus had this great commanding voice. It was…" Bumblebee said, before deciding to try something. "Strongarm! Sideswipe! Grimlock! Gears! Mirage!" He called with an Optimus-like voice, getting the team's attention and making them group up. "There is no time for this foolishness! We have a galaxy relying on us and a mission to complete!" He bellowed. After a moment of silence, the team actually started laughing hysterically. "Oh, I'm so sorry, sir, but…" Strongarm tried to say. "Nothing personal, but…" Gears tried to say. "That is the worst Starscream imitation ever!" Sideswipe exclaimed. The team continued to laugh as Bumblebee and Arcee were confused. "Starscream?" Bumblebee asked. "Oh, come on! That was nothing like old Screamy. I should know!" Miko said.

Just then, Fixit wheeled up to them. "I picked up a Decepticon signal. It appears to be coming from-" He started to say. "Crown City?" Denny guessed. "How do you know?" Fixit asked in surprise. "It's all over the news." Katie said.

The team gathered around the diner as the news played on the TV. "This afternoon on this woodland trail, hikers found a strange object which was then brought to the Crown City Museum of Natural History & Sciences. As imaginations run ramped, scientists are working to open the bizarre artifact. Sources tell us the object appears to be 'alien' to them. With another source speculating that there might be something or someone locked inside." The news reporter explained. As Denny turned off the TV, the team were not too thrilled by this. "Well, this is a problem." Mirage said. "What's everyone down about? They found a stasis pod for us. Let's just go to the museum and take it." Gears said. "Our goal is not to be seen by Earth's population, remember?" Strongarm asked strictly. "Still, we need that pod so the humans don't accidently free what's inside." Bumblebee said. "So, let's make an exception and just confiscate it! That pod is Cybertronian property!" Gears exclaimed. "Revealing ourselves to human authorities is not an option, Gears." Arcee said. "Wait. Why don't you guys do your Nebula Ranger thing and demand that they give you the pod? Surely, they'll listen to you." Sideswipe suggested. "I'm afraid it's not that simple, Sideswipe. Taking museum property is even out of our jurisdiction." Jack said as he explained. "So, what're we supposed to do?" Mirage asked. "No problem. Katie and I can pose as a dashing archeologist couple." Denny suggested, putting on a pair of glasses. "Yeah, we'll ask for a tour and once we're in, we'll the loading dock doors for you so you can grab the pod." Katie said. "Hmm. What do you think, Bee?" Arcee asked. "Sounds almost reasonable. Let's find a tarp to cover Grimlock for the trip into town." Bumblebee said before walking off with the team.

"This is gonna be a blast and a half!" Denny cheered as he and Katie walked over to the fridge where they keep a supply of disguises. "What should I wear?" Russell asked. "We don't know, Rusty. It could be dangerous." Denny said. "Your father's right. You'd have to promise to stay with us the whole time." Katie said. "Don't worry, Mom and Dad. You're both in charge, I'll do whatever you say." Russell said, taking a hat and putting it on. But then it fell over his eyes. "Though I might not wear the hat."

Later, at the museum, Denny and Katie met with the curators. "I'm Nevada Flieber, and this is my lovely wife, Wichita, famous archeologists." Denny introduced. "We discovered the Flingy Tribe in the lost city of Pantra." Katie said. "I'm surprised you don't recognize us." Denny said. The curators were unconvinced. "We're here with our intern-" Katie started to say. "International adventurer. I'm McPlank." Russell interrupted. Denny and Katie looked at their son in surprise. "We just got back from Madagascar where Professor Flieber, his wife and I recovered the Samurabi Idol." Russell explained. "Help you?! I wouldn't say-" Denny tried to argue, but Katie elbowed him. "Anyway, we're thinking about donating the idol to Crown City, which could mean a lot of publicity and ticket sales for your museum." Katie said. "So, we thought a tour-" "Of course. Right this way." One of the curators said as they got up and walked off. "You promised to follow our lead, McPlank!" Denny scolded. "Yes. From here on out, you do exactly that." Katie said. "Lead on." Russell said, allowing his parents to lead on.

Outside, Team Bee arrived at the loading dock right on time. Strongarm was pulling a tarp-covered Grimlock on a trailer. Bumblebee sighed with excitement as most of the team transformed. "You are really going to appreciate Earth museums." He said. "Yeah. We learned some fascinating stuff in them the last time we were on Earth." Arcee said. Grimlock caught a breath of relief as he stuck his head out of the tarp. "Finally. That thing smells like Fixit's tread grease." He said, tossing the tarp. Unfortunately, it landed on Strongarm. "Somebody help me with this! Ew!" She exclaimed as she tried to get the tarp off her. "Hold on, Strongarm. I got you." Sideswipe said as he tried to help. But Strongarm's struggling flew the tarp over him too. They struggled to get the tarp off. "Okay, this is a little too close." Strongarm said. "That's not a bad thing, is it?" Sideswipe asked. "Uh, actually, it's quite comfortable." Strongarm said. Arcee shook her head with a smile as she and Bumblebee walked over, and pulled the tarp off, revealing Sideswipe and Strongarm hugging each other closely. "Awkward." Miko sang. "Really?" Bumblebee asked, playfully. Sideswipe and Strongarm pulled away from each other, chuckling and blushing hard.

Just then, Denny, Katie and Russell opened the dock bay door. "Welcome. You're just in time for the diversion." Denny said. He pulled a nearby fire alarm, causing everyone to evacuate the museum.

As they entered the museum, the team walked up to a display of cowboys. "What're these statues of humans being so happy about?" Grimlock asked. "Well, they're cowboys." Bumblebee said. "Cow what?" Mirage asked. "Cowboys. They were independent, carefree adventure seekers who transported equine and bovine mammals across this continent's western regions before it was settled." Raf explained. "It was an exciting time." Arcee said. "I understood exactly none of that." Grimlock said. "Neither did I." Gears said. "Me either. Let's go find the stasis pod." Sideswipe said. "I second that decision." Strongarm said. As the team started to walk off, Arcee decided to take a turn at trying to be Optimus. "Stop!" She bellowed while motioning her arms, making the team turn back to look at her. "What're you doing?" Bumblebee asked. "I think I know what you did wrong before. You were just doing Optimus' voice and not his body language." Arcee said. "By dividing our search efforts, we will be more officiant. Each of you shall choose a-" But then the team transformed and split up. Arcee sighed in disappointment. "You did your best, Cee." Jack said, putting a comforting hand on her leg. "So, what do we do now?" Brook asked. "Denny, Katie and Russell, you stay here. If anything goes wrong, evacuate by the loading docks." Bumblebee said as he took off. "Jack, split your team up and try to find the others." Arcee said as she followed. "Alright, you heard them, team. You know what to do." Jack said. The Nebula Rangers nodded and took off. "I'll bet Bee and Arcee wish their team was as crackerjack as the Nebula Rangers and we-" Denny started to say, but then saw that Russell was gone. "Russell? Where'd he run off to now?" Katie asked with worry.

Russell walked down the hallway. "They said McPlank couldn't find the treasure. But like McPlank always said, McPlank has his ways." He said to himself. He turned towards a room and found the stasis pod. "McPlank knew he should get help, but he also knew that the pod could burst open at any moment. McPlank had to reseal the pod himself." But before he could take a single step towards the pod, someone grabbed his shoulder. He jolted around to see that it was Mariposa. "Mariposa? But how'd you find me?" He asked. "My power is mana. Life energy. I can track you just about anywhere." Mariposa said. "Oh yeah." Russell said. "What are you even doing here? I thought your parents told you to stay with them." Mariposa said. "I did. But like McPlank always says, McPlank had to find the pod before it was too late." Russell said. "Boy, you're really full of it today, aren't you?" Mariposa said. Russell smiled nervously. "Well, that aside, at least you found the stasis pod. Let's reseal it and call the others before something else happens." Mariposa said. Suddenly, the top of the pod burst open. Mariposa conjured her mana shield, shielding her and Russell from the incoming broken pieces. When they looked up as the smoke cleared, there stood a giant bison Decepticon roaring with fury. "And what does McPlank have to say about this situation?" Mariposa asked. "McPlank was in big trouble this time." Russell said with worry.

As the Decepticon, named Terrashock, broke free, he noticed Russell and Mariposa on the ground. "What are you?" He asked. "Surprised." Russell said. "And scared." Mariposa added. "What is this place? Last I remember, my boss, Contrail, sent me to smash the stabilizers off a Bot who crossed him. And then I woke up in that tiny box." Terrashock said. He snarled and destroyed his stasis pod. "Nobody puts Terrashock in a tiny box!" He exclaimed. Just then, he started getting claustrophobic as Russell and Mariposa made for the exit. "Walls are closing in. Hard to breathe! Gotta get out. Gotta find Contrail!" He roared and began to charge towards the wall. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" Russell cried. "You're not going anywhere, Con!" Mariposa exclaimed. She tossed mana disks at Terrashock, but his tough armor just guarded him from the attack. She quickly conjured her mana shield as Terrashock blew through the wall and into the hallway, hitting his head on another wall. Russell peeked out from the rubble as Terrashock rubbed his head. "Which way's out?" He asked as he recovered. "Um, not sure, but-" Russell tried to say, but Mariposa interrupted. "The only place you're going is back into stasis." She said, her hands glowing with mana. "Russell? Mariposa? Is that you?" Sideswipe called. The 3 turned to see him, Mirage, Teresa and Annika standing down the hall. "Terrashock!" Mirage gasped. "Hey, one of you the Bot that Contrail sent me to wise up?" Terrashock asked. "Probably not." Sideswipe said in confusion. "Course, you're gonna say that. What do you think I am, stupid?" Terrashock asked. "Is that a trick question?" Teresa asked.

Terrashock pawed his hands against the floor and charged. "Move!" Mirage exclaimed, leaping out of the way. Teresa and Annika leapt out of the way too, but Sideswipe got bashed to the side, into a wall. "I am getting out of here, and I'll smash any Bot that gets in my way!" Terrashock exclaimed as he continued. Mirage, Russell, Mariposa, Teresa, and Annika rushed over to Sideswipe. "You okay, bro?" Mirage asked with worry. "I've had worse." Sideswipe said as he recovered. "What do we do?" Russell asked. "We get in his way." Sideswipe said. "He's right. We need to detain that crazy buffalo." Annika said. "Uh, I'm all for getting to slice and dice any Decepticon, but trust me. Terrashock is not someone you want to get in front of." Mirage said. "Mirage, like it or not, we need to catch this Con." Sideswipe said before he transformed. Russell and Mariposa hopped in. Mirage sighed before she transformed too. Teresa and Annika hopped in her. The 2 Autobots drove back towards the loading dock.

While waiting for the others by the loading dock with Bumblebee, Arcee, Jack, Miko and Raf, Denny and Katie shut off the fire alarm. "I wonder if they've found the stasis pod yet." Raf said. Just then, they heard Sideswipe and Mirage's motors approaching. "Sounds like we're about to find out." Miko said. Sideswipe and Mirage shot right out of the dock doors and transformed, letting Russell, Mariposa, Teresa and Annika out. "Sideswipe, you and Mirage make walking a bore." Russell said. "Speak for yourself." Teresa said, feeling dizzy from the transformation. "Are you all alright? What happened?" Jack asked. "Well, have you guys seen a metal buffalo come through here?" Russell asked. "Big head, small brain?" Sideswipe asked. "A metal buffalo?" Miko asked. "Fixit, have you been hearing this? Can you give us an ID?" Bumblebee asked through his com-link.

"Yes, sir. From the description, particularly the small brain part…" Fixit said. He activated his manifest and opened up Terrashock's mugshot and file. "…it sounds like Terrashock, a Buffaloid considered the most brutal enforcer on Cybertron."

"That's what was in the pod? Great." Bumblebee groaned. "What? Now we know what was in the pod. What's all the groaning for?" Miko asked. "Once a Buffaloid gets moving, it's nearly impossible to stop." Bumblebee explained. "And when a Buffaloid's moving, you don't want to get in front of it." Arcee said. "Now you tell us." Mariposa said. "I recognized Terrashock the minute I saw him. He was the enforcer to one of the biggest crime lords on Cybertron. Contrail." Mirage explained. "Contrail? We knew he had connections with the other Decepticon crime lords, but we could never get anything to put him away." Arcee said.

"Nice to see you, McPlank." Denny greeted sternly as he and Katie walked up to Russell. "I thought we were gonna stick together. Remember?" Katie asked. "Come on, Mom and Dad! I found the Decepticon!" Russell complained. "You were nearly flattened by it!" Mariposa said as she exclaimed. "We'll go find Terrashock." Sideswipe said as he and Mirage prepared to head back into the museum. "Team! Listen to me!" Bumblebee bellowed. Grimlock, Strongarm, Gears and the rest of the Nebula Rangers listened through their com-links. "This is Bumblebee, your team leader. If you find the fugitive, do not engage him. Instead, summon your teammates and bring the Decepticon to the museum's entrance grand hall where we can attack it together." Arcee, Jack, Miko and Raf were in awe at Bumblebee's inspiring Optimus speech. "Right." Sideswipe said. "We'll call if we find anything." Mirage said. They both transformed and drove off. "Uh, we'll go keep an eye on them." Mariposa said before she, Teresa and Annika followed. "See, I realized I wasn't doing the inspirational team stuff like Optimus would have, so…" Bumblebee chuckled. "It was a pretty good speech, Bee." Arcee said. "Thanks. Let's get to the museum entrance." Bumblebee said. As he walked off with Arcee, Miko and Raf following, Denny, Katie and Russell looked at each other in confusion. Jack shook his head, knowing why Bumblebee and Arcee were trying to do.

Meanwhile, Terrashock ran past a caveman exhibit. But then he stopped at the notice of a buffalo animatronic and walked back to it. "What're you doing here? Did Contrail send you? He said I was his only enforcer." He said, thinking the animatronic was another Buffaloid sent by Contrail. Strongarm, Gears, Shawn and Nalu. "Alright. We better contact the others." Nalu said. "No way. No need to call the rest of the team for this genius." Gears said. "Gears, Lt. Bumblebee clearly said not to-" Strongarm tried to say. "Like I ever listen to what he says." Gears said as he started walking over to Terrashock. "Gears! No!" Shawn exclaimed quietly. "Ain't nobody stealing my job!" Terrashock snarled. He bashed the animatronic and stomped on it, destroying it. "And that's a 13-O5, destruction of private property, added to your rap sheet. Hands above your head before I blow it off, Con." Gears said as he drew his blaster. Terrashock turned around and walked towards Gears as he started blasting. But the blasts had no effect on his armor. Terrashock flipped Gears over his head. "Stop right there, Decepticon!" Strongarm exclaimed as she ran over, drawing her blaster. Terrashock just roared and charged towards her, head-butting her into the wall. "You heat him up, I'll cool him down." Nalu said. "Good plan." Shawn said. They ran over, getting Terrashock's attention. "Time to heat you up, Decepticon!" Shawn exclaimed as he fired a fire stream from his hands. Terrashock braced himself, enduring the heat building into his armor. "Now to cool you off!" Nalu exclaimed, firing a stream of water from his hands. The water started cooling off Terrashock's armor. "Any minute now, your metal's gonna crack like an egg." Shawn said as he and Nalu continued their attack. But Terrashock pushed through the attack, much to their shock, and bashed Shawn and Nalu into the wall. "Ow. I didn't realize Buffaloids had such tough armor." Nalu groaned as Terrashock walked away.

Terrashock found himself in the museum's planetarium with a holographic projector in the middle. He walked up to the projector, thinking it was a transmitter. "Transmitter. Terrashock to Contrail. You there, Boss?" He asked as he activated the projector. But the projector showed its many star patterns, disorienting him. Just then, Grimlock, Liana, Dominick, Brook and Henry appeared behind him and surprised him. "Need a hand?" Grimlock asked. "Uh, shouldn't we contact the rest of the team first?" Brook asked. "That is what Bumblebee said we should do." Dominick said. "No need for a team when you're a strong, breathtaking Dinobot." Grimlock said. "Grimlock, don't!" Liana cried. But Grimlock just roared and charged towards Terrashock as he charged right back. They bashed heads against each other, but Grimlock got the most pain out of it. He wobbled a bit before he felt on top of the projector, damaging it and electrocuting himself. "Grimlock!" The 4 Gonzalezes cried. Terrashock turned his attention to them and snorted in their faces. "Alright, Bull-Face, you wanna rumble? Let's rumble." Dominick said. He motioned his hands and 2 stone golems rose out from the floor, scaring Terrashock a bit. Brook rubbed his hands together, generating electricity. Liana started singing, creating musical energy around her. Henry levitated himself. "What…are you?" Terrashock asked. "We're special." Brook said. Henry starts levitating around Terrashock, trying to make him dizzy. Dominick covered his arms in rock and charged towards Terrashock with his golems. All 3 of them started punching Terrashock hard while Henry continued confusing him. But then, Terrashock managed to regain his thoughts, grabbed the golems and slammed them into Dominick. "Dom!" Henry cried. Terrashock grabbed him and threw him into the wall. "Henry!" Liana cried. "Oh, that's it!" Brook exclaimed. He fired a large bolt of electricity and Liana released a strong sonic scream. Terrashock put up his guard as the 2 beams combined and struck him, slowing pushing him. "Don't let up, sis! We're wearing him down!" Brook exclaimed. But Terrashock, proving to be a really tough Decepticon, pushed through the beams and knocked them back at Liana and Brook, knocking them out.

"Water, our most precious resource." An automated voice said as Terrashock entered an audio-visual presentation about water. "Better. Must've made it outside somehow." Terrashock said, thinking he made it outside. He charged towards the river, but hit his head on the wall which the presentation was being projected on. "But in an instant, water can also become…a monster." The automated voice said as the presentation presented a giant wave. "WORSE!" Terrashock cried, thinking the wave was coming right at him. Sideswipe, Mirage, Mariposa, Teresa and Annika spied on him from the hallway. "There he is. We better call the others." Annika said. "No. We can take him. Gears will be so surprised, he'll probably apologize for being so cold to me and Mirage, which we will not accept." Sideswipe said as he prepared to engage Terrashock. But Mirage stopped him. "Don't. I know what Terrashock is capable of. Trust me on this, bro." She said. "Mirage, you worry too much." Sideswipe said, shrugging off his sister's warning and continued on. Terrashock turned around and snorted as Sideswipe charged towards him. Just then, Sideswipe leapt over Terrashock and landed on his head, grabbing his horns. Terrashock started riding around, trying to throw Sideswipe off. "Get off me!" He exclaimed. "Nah, I've been on my feet all day." Sideswipe said as he continued hanging on. "Hold on, Sideswipe! I'm coming!" Mirage exclaimed as she readied her blades and ran in to help her brother. But as she prepared to slice and dice, Terrashock bashed her aside and knocked her out as he continued trying to throw Sideswipe off. "Mirage!" Teresa cried. "Never mind her! Look!" Mariposa exclaimed as she pointed to something. Terrashock and Sideswipe were backing up towards a button on the wall. "Oh, no! That's the button that activates the audio-visual storms!" Annika exclaimed with worry. "No! Stop!" Mariposa exclaimed. But Terrashock slammed Sideswipe into the button, turning on the storm effects. Terrashock roared in terror as the thunder and lightning sounds scared and disoriented him. "Now's our chance! Get him!" Mariposa exclaimed. The 3 Gonzalezes ran towards Terrashock and used their powers. Mariposa used her mana powers to tie down his arms. "What's going on here?" Terrashock said in shock. Teresa summoned vines from the ground and wrapped them around Terrashock's body. Annika fired her ice beam and froze Terrashock's legs in place. "We got you now, bull-face." Teresa said. Just then, the thunder and lightning effects went off again. Terrashock roared in fear and broke free of their powers. "We gotta stop him! Annika, freeze the floor!" Mariposa exclaimed. "I can't! That could cause him to burst through every wall and bring down the museum!" Annika exclaimed. "Oh. Right." Mariposa said, face-palming herself. Terrashock charged at them, knocked them aside and bashed through the wall.

Meanwhile, Bumblebee, Arcee, Jack, Miko, Raf, Denny, Katie and Russell waited in the entrance hallway. "Anyone seen the rest of the team?" Bumblebee asked. "I swear those Bots just don't know how to follow orders." Arcee said. "You'd think with the Gonzalez Nonuplets with them, those Bots would learn to call for help." Miko said. "Maybe the team's just not into your 'I'm gonna lead like Optimus' plan." Russell said. "I just don't know what else we can do." Bumblebee said. "It's like we're not even trying to be Optimus." Arcee said. Just then, before anyone could say anything, Terrashock appeared on top of the stairs. "Finally." He snarled as he found the entrance. "It's just us then." Bumblebee said as he, Arcee, Jack, Raf and Miko took their stance between Terrashock and the entrance. "End of the line, Decepticon." Arcee said as she and Bumblebee drew their blasters. Jack, Miko and Raf readied their powers. Terrashock roared and charged. Denny, Katie and Russell took over as Bumblebee, Arcee started firing from their blasters, followed by Jack firing his cosmic blasts. Miko punched the floor and fired a chi pulse. Raf used his psychic powers to telekinetically grab chunks of rocks that were scattered from Terrashock destroying a stone head, and throw them. But Terrashock endured every blast and hit. "Uh oh! Take cover!" Jack exclaimed as he, Miko and Raf got out of the way. Denny, Katie and Russell looked on with worry from behind the desk as Terrashock bashed into Bumblebee and Arcee.

Bumblebee and Arcee were blown out through the entrance. But as Terrashock stepped into the light, he looked at the buildings, feeling himself on unfamiliar grounds. The people started screaming at the sight of him. Terrashock transformed into an armored truck and drove off. Bumblebee and Arcee started to recover, finding themselves exposed.

The people slowly started backing away from the 2 Autobots. "It's okay, folks." Denny said as he, Katie and Russell came out, wearing museum worker jackets. "Nothing to see here." Russell said. "The museum's been working on new animatronics to give lessons on history." Katie explained as Denny took out a remote. "Hey, big guys, what's the density of Mercury?" Denny asked. Bumblebee and Arcee looked between Denny and the crowd before playing along. "The density of Mercury is…uh…bzzzt! Error! Bzzzt! Error!" Bumblebee said, acting like an actual robot. "The density of Mercury is…uh…bzzzt! Unable to confirm! Bzzzt! Unable to confirm!" Arcee said, doing the same. Jack, Raf and Miko snickered as they watched from inside. The 2 Autobots robot-walked back inside the museum with Denny and Katie following. "Still working out the bugs, obviously. The museum's almost ready to reopen. See you inside soon." Russell said before following his parents.

"Mom, Dad, that was a pretty good idea back there." Russell said as everyone walked through the museum. "Well, we had a pretty good teammate helping us make it work." Denny said. "You're father's right, Russell. Together, we make a great team." Katie said. "Strongarm, Sideswipe, Grimlock, Gears, Mirage, this is Bumblebee. The Decepticon is loose in the city. Arcee and I are heading to the loading docks and going after him. Bumblebee out." Bumblebee said through his com-link. "Why didn't you order them to meet you there? Isn't that what Optimus would've done?" Russell asked. "Of course, he would have. Optimus always puts his teamies and human lives before anything that involves conflict with the Cons." Miko explained. "Yeah. He would've done the same in your place. Wouldn't he, guys?" Raf asked. "Probably." Bumblebee said. "But we might never know." Arcee said. Jack could tell that the 2 Bots were really sad when they said that.

"Bumblebee. Arcee." Optimus' voice spoke in thin air. Bumblebee and Arcee turned to an elevator door where Optimus' image appeared before them. "Optimus, we tried to call you." Bumblebee said. "We were worried that you wouldn't respond." Arcee said. "I am permitted to make contact only when the Primes believe your needs to be dire. I hope you 2 are making progress." Optimus said. "Actually, now's not a great time for us to talk, Optimus." Bumblebee said. "A Deception is free in a populated area." Arcee said. Denny, Katie, Russell, Jack, Miko and Raf stared at them in confusion, thinking that Bumblebee and Arcee were talking to Optimus. "I see. You and your team will pursue and apprehend it, I assume?" Optimus asked. "Our team. We're not doing a very good job at leading them, Optimus, no matter how much we try to be like you." Bumblebee said sadly. "Yeah. We tried everything you did when you were leading us, but our team just blocks us out and go do their own things." Arcee said. "Perhaps that is the problem. Bumblebee, Arcee, you are not me." Optimus said. "You can say that again." Bumblebee muttered. "It hurts as much a second time." Arcee muttered. "You misunderstand. I only-" Optimus tried to say, but he disappeared. "Optimus? He just left." Bumblebee said. "I hope he's alright." Arcee said. "Me too." Raf said. "Yeah, I really miss the old Big Bot Boss." Miko said, sadly.

"Did he say anything before he went?" Denny asked. "That we're not him." Bumblebee said. "And he's right." Arcee said as they walked away sadly. Just then, Jack stepped in their way. "That's because you 2 aren't him." He said. Bumblebee and Arcee were confused. "Look, I know what Optimus was trying to say. I've dealt with problems like this myself when I was named leader of the Nebula Rangers. I decided to make my own way of leading the team." Jack explained. Miko and Raf nodded in agreement. "Jack's right. You 2 not being Optimus is a bad. You're both you. You've been so busy trying to give orders like someone else. What would you do if you just tried to lead like…you?" Russell asked. Bumblebee and Arcee put all this to thought as they walked back to the cowboy exhibit, thinking of a plan to use cowboy tactics to capture Terrashock.

Later, the team met back at the loading docks. "Sorry, lieutenants." Strongarm apologized. "We just had some bad luck." Sideswipe assured. "That thing has a really hard head." Grimlock said. "And a real short temper." Gears said. "And incredibly strong." Mirage said. "Even we were no match for him." Mariposa said. "Don't feel bad about it, team." Arcee said. "We're going after Terrashock. Together." Bumblebee said. "All of us." Jack said. "Sir, do you and Lt. Arcee have a plan?" Strongarm asked. "Terrashock is like an Earth buffalo. When no one's giving it orders, it feels lost and alone." Bumblebee started. "But if someone steers the buffalo…" Arcee continued. "The buffalo will go where you tell it to." Grimlock deduced. "So, if we steer Terrashock like an Earth buffalo…" Mirage started. "He'll go where we'll tell him to." Sideswipe continued. "Maybe even right into a stasis pod." Gears added. "Lieutenants, that's brilliant!" Strongarm cheered. "More than that, cadet. It's gonna be fun." Bumblebee said. "For us, at least." Arcee said. "So, what're we waiting for? Let's go herd us a Buffaloid!" Miko exclaimed. "Well said, Miko. Let's Rev Up and Roll Out!" Bumblebee ordered. The Autobots transformed, loaded their human friends inside them and drove off to find and catch Terrashock.

Meanwhile, Terrashock was driving through the streets on search for his boss. "CONTRAIL!" He roared. Team Bee was right behind him in their pursuit. "Our cover." Strongarm said. "Forget our cover. We'll deal with that after we capture Terrashock." Bumblebee said. "So, what do we do, boss?" Mirage asked. "Just do like we do. Yee-haw! Yippee ki-yay!" Bumblebee hollered while speeding up. "Yee-haw! Yippie ki-yay!" Arcee hollered as she followed. "Yee-haw! Yippee ki-yay!" Sideswipe hollered. "Yee-haw! Yippee ki-yay!" Mirage hollered. "Yee-haw! Zippy highway!" Strongarm hollered, getting it wrong. "Uh, yee-haw, Yippee…ki-yay?" Gears said in confusion. As they caught up with Terrashock, Bumblebee slammed into him. Terrashock transformed and rushed over to the other street. "Our turn, Jack." Arcee said. "Alright. Let's herd this bad Bull-Bot." Jack said. They drove over to the next street and got on Terrashock's left side. Jack blasted him with a cosmic blast, strong enough to steer him back onto the other street. The others drove up to continue the job. "Hyah!" Sideswipe yelled, bashing Terrashock from the left. "Hyah!" Strongarm shouted as she blocked him on the right. "Woo-hoo!" Russell cheered. "We got him!" Katie cheered. "Box him in, Strongarm!" Denny cheered. Gears and Mirage closed in behind Terrashock. "Hyah!" Grimlock exclaimed as he smacked Terrashock's rear with his tail. "Yee-haw!" Strongarm cheered. "Hooey!" Sideswiped cheered. "We got him now!" Annika cheered.

"Bee, up ahead!" Raf exclaimed, pointing up ahead. There was a scaffolding holding up a whole overpass, and it was too low for Terrashock. "If he hits that scaffolding, the whole overpass might come down." Bumblebee said. "We gotta steer him away from the overpass." Jack said. "We're too close. There's no time." Strongarm said. "So, what do we do?" Brook asked. "We have this." Bumblebee said. He, Arcee, Jack, Miko and Raf drove out in front of Terrashock as he pulled away from the others. As they were closing in on the scaffolding, Bumblebee opened his doors, backed up and tripped Terrashock's arms. "Our turn, Jack." Arcee said as she and Jack leapt up and bounced off Terrashock, sending him skidding off a turn-a-bout. Terrashock bumped his head on the turn and a wall before stopping. Team Bee stopped just above him. People in traffic got out of their vehicles and watched as Grimlock took off his tarp and prepared to finish of Terrashock. "Cannonball!" He called as he leapt over the side and landed on top of Terrashock, knocking him out. "Cowboy Grimlock. I like the sound of that." He said. "No way Bee, Arcee and their team can keep their cover after this." Denny said with worry. "No kidding. Not only did Terrashock transform in the middle of traffic, Grimlock also revealed himself to finish the capture." Katie said. "Like McPlank always says: McPlank has his ways." Russell said. "What's your plan, honey?" Katie asked. "Strongarm, you got a speaker?" Russell asked. "Blue button." Strongarm said. Russell pushed the button and turned on the speaker. "If you like that action, folks, come on over to the Stunt Car and Truck Festival at Witchaholma County. Bring the kids." He said through the speaker. "Where's Witchaholma County?" One of the witnesses asked.

Later, as Team Bee were bringing Terrashock back to the Scrapyard, Denny was making car noises. "That was a blast and a half! Don't you guys think?" Denny asked excitedly. "Blast and a half!" Russell cheered. "Just like old times!" Katie cheered. "So, what do cowboys do after a successful mission?" Grimlock asked. "Just what we're doing, Grimlock. Ride off into the sunset. Together." Bumblebee said. "Hi-ho, Autobots! Away!" Arcee cheered as she and Jack sped ahead. "Hey! No head starts!" Miko exclaimed. "Whoo-hoo!" Sideswipe cheered. "Yippee ki-yay!" Strongarm hollered. "Yee-Haw!" Grimlock cheered. "Ride 'em, Autobots!" Gears cheered. "Haha!" Mirage cheered. They continued doing all that as the sun set on another glorious day.

Well, that was quite the roundup, eh? Bumblebee and Arcee were having trouble with the team following their orders. And everything got more complicated when a Buffaloid Decepticon named Terrashock escaped from his stasis pod in the museum. But together, Team Bee figured out the perfect plan to herd Terrashock on the streets and subdue him for capture. But what other challenges will Team Bee face? Will there be other disputes between teammates? Leave a review if you'd like.