In the middle of the forest, an RV parked next to a gas station as a boy and his parents exited it. "Junior, you get the franks, we'll get the beans." The father said with a smile. "Let's make our eighth campout in eight nights something really special." He declared.
The boy gave a boring sigh as he texted on his phone. "Save me, hashtag, family vacation." He groaned with a dull look, but then a shrieking sound caught the family's attention as they turn and saw a Raven-like Cybertronian shrieking before grabbing the RV with its talons as the family looked on in shock as it flew away, which made the boy smiled as he look at his phone. "Sleeping in motel tonight! Hashtag, awesome!" The boy said in excitement while ignoring the fact the RV was taken by a Cybertronian.
Out on the road, Rodimus and Arcee were driving down the road, "This is Rodimus and Arcee, no sign of our Fugitive." Rodimus reported.
"To Bumblebee and Grimlock, no sign here as well." Bumblebee said as he and Grimlock were in another part of their sector.
"Beta team, leaving sector 8 to sector 9." Strongarm said as she, Sideswipe and Bulkhead were driving down their section. "Zero contact, optical or auditory."
Sideswipe gave a groan from this. "What Strongarm is trying to say is we got zots." He stated in annoyance.
"What I'm doing is using language appropriate for Cybertronian Law Enforcers on duty, which Bee, Rodimus, Acree, and I are." Strongarm complained. "Something I think you've all forgotten."
"Ease up, SA." Bulkhead told the cadet, "We're not on Cybertron, so those languages don't exactly work here, just try and lay down the rule book codenames for a while. Even I didn't even get what you were talking about."
"Fine." Strongarm said as she drove ahead.
"Who's been putting shrapnel in her intake valve lately?" Sideswipe questioned Strongarm's behavior.
"Ah, she's just homesick." Bulkhead told him, seeing what Strongarm is going through. "Being away from Cybertron and being away from home for so long can do that to ya. Trust me, me, Bee, and Acree had that experience when we were stuck on Earth during the war."
"Then why hasn't she just talked about it?" Sideswipe questioned.
"Since when does Strongarm talk about her feelings? You don't, don't ya?" Bulkhead questioned. "And remember Acree?"
"I see your point." Sideswipe admitted.
Back at the Scrapyard, Fixit, Denny and Russell were watching the monitors, "Our Fugitive's signal keeps, flopping copping," Fixit glitched before shaking his head, "Dropping out!" He then got a Decepticon symbol on the monitor, following after Sideswipe, Bulkhead and Strongarm, "Wait, it's back! And on the move."
With Bulkhead's group, they saw a shadow of the Decepticon Raven flying over them. "Alpha and Delta Team! Direct contact!" Strongarm called out.
"Party time!" Sideswipe cheered as he drove ahead of them while giving chase.
"Sideswipe! This is not a party! It's a pursuit!" Strongarm stated. "Regulation 134 section 2, an officer shall not initiate a high-speed chase without-"
"You wanna follow rules or the bad bot?" Sideswipe interrupted.
"On Cybertron, we did both." Strongarm countered.
"Well this ain't Cybertron. Here on Earth, you gotta act on the fly." Bulkhead told her. "Now Metal to the pedal!" He called as they sped up as the Decepticon Raven landed on a powerline and saw something sparky next to it as the three Autobots went into Bot Mode. "Huh, looks like birdy just found herself a perch."
"Strongarm, you know a rule for getting that thing down?" Sideswipe asked as the Raven looked at a piece of the power lines before looking at Sideswipe, who's paint sparkled.
"Shiny." The Decepticon Raven said before squawking and flying down at the three Autobots.
"Ah, scrap." Bulkhead muttered with his eyes widened.
Back at the Scrapyard, the doorbell rang, "The front gate." Denny said excitedly, "Please let it be someone wanting to sell a pristine eight track player." He hoped as he rushed off with Russell behind him.
"Mayday! Officers under attack!" Strongarm reported before she gave a grunt.
"Rodimus Prime, did you hear that?" Fixit asked.
"Heard it and on route." Rodimus told him.
With Denny and Russell, they were at the front door as Denny opened it to reveal a man with black hair, wearing a red and black striped shirt as he smiled. "Denny." He said, but Denny's expression changed to a glare as he pressed the button and closed the door again before the man quickly caught it. "Whoa! Hey! It's me, Larry LaRue." He said to him.
"Hello, Larry. What do you want?" Denny questioned with a firm tone with his arms crossed.
"Well, I'm out of the collecting biz and hosting a new reality Tv show, Scrap Mister's." Larry explained. "I searched through people's junk for hiding treasure. And I thought, who has more junk than my pal, Denny Clay."
"It's actually Vintage Memorabilia for-" Denny tried to say.
"You want to put my dad on TV?" Russell cut in with a smile.
"You betcha, little man." Larry said with a smile. "Your dad's scrap yard is legendary. Maybe I'll even buy something, for old times sake. Because I'm dy-My audience is dying to know." He then aimed his camera at Denny, who kept his glare. "What is in your collection, Scrap Meister Denny?"
"Well there's our magical, closing gate." Denny said sarcastically, pushing Larry out the door, "Good seeing ya, Larry." He said before closing the door on him as he walked off while Russell look at his father in surprise by what just happened.
With Bulkhead's group, they were still fighting the Raven Decepticon as she then tackled Sideswipe on the ground with her talons. "Polly wants to crack me!" Sideswipe cried out before Strongarm fired her blasters at the Raven, which made her turn to her.
"Wings up, bird brain!" Strongarm ordered as she then scratched herself before the Raven swatted her blaster away and pinning her down.
"Scrap!" The two bots called as Bulkhead then tackled the Raven down.
"No one touches my rookies, Con!" Bulkhead called as he tried to punch the Raven, but it flew up as Bulkhead gave a yelp. "W-Whoa! Put me down!" He called while holding onto the Decepticon.
Just then, Rodimus and the rest of the team came in as Rodimus then transformed into bot-mode and flew up as he raised his leg, which made the Raven Decepticon squawk in shock as Rodimus kicked her square in on the face, which let Bulkhead go as the Wrecker landed on his feet as the Raven fell to the ground as Rodimus landed in front of his team as the others regroup together.
"Who needs punching!?" Grimlock called in excitement while raising his fists as the Autobots stood together as Rodimus drew the Star Saber.
"Okay, Con, time to go back to your cage." Rodimus quipped as the Raven Decepticon squawked loudly and took off into the air before spotting something shiny on the power lines.
"Shiny." She said as Rodimus gave a glare and flew towards her as she began to peck on the line before she managed to get the part out and flew off as the two wires sparked up and landed on Rodimus, causing him to scream in pain as he lost his flight and began to fall.
"Rodimus!" Acree called out.
"I got it! I got it!" Grimlock called as he had his hands up, but Rodimus fell flat on his back on the ground in front of his team. "I don't got it." He sheepishly said.
The others gathered around Rodimus and helped him up. "You okay, buddy?" Bumblebee asked.
"I'm in shock." Rodimus muttered while rubbing his head as they looked up and saw the Raven Decepticon flying off while they didn't notice that Strongarm was scratching herself before watching with the others.
Back at the scrapyard, Denny and Russell went back to the command center while walking up to Fixit while Russell was still bugged about earlier. "Why'd you tell that guy you wouldn't be on his TV show?" Russell asked his father. "Don't you wanna be a star?"
"Pardon the interruption, but I'm confused." Fixit said in confusion. "How would appearing on television induce stellar fusion?" He asked as the two Humans looked at Fixit weirdly. "I-I mean, how would it make Denny a star?" He corrected himself.
Denny then turned to his son. "Son, I collect this stuff because I love it. I don't… I don't have a burning desire to be rich and famous like Larry LaRue does." He said as Russell gave a disappointed look, "And we have Autobots to hide." He said before they saw the Autobots coming in and went into bot-mode as they rushed up to them.
"We lost the fugitive." Rodimus said seriously. "Anything on the scanners?" He asked Fixit.
Fixit then checked the equipment, "Check the mugshots for any prisoners who look like an Earth Raven." Arcee told him.
Fixit did just that as he searched through the database before he got a match and checked the stats. "That's our fowl." Bulkhead nodded.
"Filch. Compulsive thief." Bumblebee read.
"Does it say future punch taker?" Grimlock asked eagerly as he punched his fists together. "'Cause she's gonna be that too."
"Seems she's been stealing everything from water tanks to railroad switches to radar domes." Fixit noted at seeing the records.
"And endangering humans." Rodimus added while Strongarm kept scratching.
"No surprise. She was Polyx's most wanted thief, stealing everything 'shiny' that wasn't nailed down or was nailed down." Bumblebee recalled.
"Filch would already be in custody if Sideswipe hadn't broken regulation 134 section 2." Strongarm said as she showed the holobook.
"You have been a total freak about rules these last few cycles!" Sideswipe pointed out while waving the rule book away.
"We won't make any real progress here until we all-" Strongarm tried to say.
"Enough!" Rodimus called out, which started the two as he sighed. "Strongarm, did you forget who's in charge here? And Sideswipe is correct, you have been far too clingy to your rules and regulations lately and that's what's been jeopardizing our missions. As your leader I cannot allow this behaviour to put your teammates at risk," He said, holding his hand out, "Your regulation log." He requested.
"B-But, what about-" Strongarm tried to say.
"Now." Rodimus said firmly with his arm still out. Strongarm flinched a bit before she sighed and took out her disk that held the log as she then gave it to Rodimus. "Thank you. You can have this back when you learn not to rely on it and realize that the rules of Cybertron don't apply here. Understood?"
"Understood." Strongarm said with shame as she then walked off as the others watched her go.
"Huh, first time you ever stood up for me, RP." Sideswipe commented in surprise as they watched Strongarm out of sight.
"Hey, Rodimus, I know Strongarm was being clingy, but maybe try to go easy on her." Bumblebee said to him. "She really loves her regulations."
"Yeah, she's just a bit homesick. She's still not used to Earth customs." Bulkhead added in agreement.
Rodimus gave a sigh. "I know, but she needs to learn the hard way." He said to them. "She's forgetting where we are and who holds authority. And if she kept going by her logs in the middle of a mission, it could cost us."
"Yeah, we learned that the hard way the first time we were here." Acree said in understanding. "Guess Strongarm is going through that."
"I'm still thinking about why she is homesick now and not when we were on Earth the first time when Cybertron went dark?" Sideswipe asked in confusion.
"I think it's because you two along with Smokescreen were in stasis at the time and had a short time here on Earth." Bumblebee pointed out. "Kinda like a quick field trip and back home. But being here longer than before, I guess she's starting to get it now."
"Maybe she needs insight from someone who's already gone through this," Rodimus told Bumblebee with a smile.
"Yeah. You're right." Bumblebee nodded with a smile as he then followed after where Strongarm went.
With Strongarm, she was on top of the scrapyard sign as she had a sad look at her logs being taken away as she then scratched her left leg before Bumblebee came over and sat next to her. "Hey, Strongarm." Bumblebee said with a smile. "You feeling homesick, cadet?"
"Just, following Rodimus Prime's lesson, sir." Strongarm stammered. "Continuing my education without my regulation logs."
"Huh, well, when I first arrived on Earth, I missed Cybertron, something awful." Bumblebee said with a sigh. "Got a case of alloy hives. Felt like I had tin flakes under my armor." He commented while scratching his arm. "Cybertron was the only home I've ever known. I knew how things worked there. I wasn't sure I'd ever feel comfortable here." He said as he looked out in the sky.
Strongarm was surprised by this as she was having the same feeling. "How… How did you get past that?" She asked him.
"I started to think of being on Earth as a game." Bumblebee answered. "With new rules to figure out. Took a while, but it got easier. Especially once I open up to it. And Rodimus is just trying to teach you that as well without your logs. Just give it a chance, alright." He said as Strongarm gave a nod with a small smile.
Meanwhile, on a large statue of a wing man holding a torch in his hand on the outskirts of Crown City, Filch in her bot mode stood on the torch looking out towards the city. She then went into her beast mode and took off to the sunset with s squawk.
Back at the scrapyard, Fixit looked at the monitor before he got a signal. "Filch is on the move." Fixit called.
"Okay, Strongarm, Sideswipe, Acree, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, let's go." Rodimus said before turning to Denny and Russel. "You too, Denny. We may need you to help with human presence."
"Sweet!" Denny cheered as he picked up his luggage. "I got my go-bg of disguises ready."
Grimlock then transformed into Dinobot form, "Let's Rumble!" He declared.
"Sorry Grimlock, not this time. This mission will be close to the city and-" Rodimus tried to say before Grimlock raised his hands.
"No. No. I've been working on looking like an Earth-based vehicle." Grimlock said to him before rummaging through junk. "Just hang on." He said as he kept going. "Just one second. Oh, you're gonna love this. Almost done." He then got out while having car parts attached to him. "Check it out." He did a pose as he then laid on his stomach. "I'm a truck." He then slowly moved around while making sounds as a truck as he gave a laugh while seeing Rodimus' dull look. "Right? Yeah?" He asked as Rodimus smirked and shook his head, much to his dismay. "Oh, come on!" He complained as his disguise fell off as he covered himself as if he was bare.
"Don't worry, Grim, I have feeling next mission's gonna be all you." Bulkhead assured him.
"Okay." Grimlock nodded with a small smile.
Soon, Rodimus and his team drove down the road at highspeed as a car came by, which Denny flinch while riding in Strongarm. "Look!" Strongarm called as they saw Filch at the bridge, squawking before she then grab hold of a support beam at the side of the bridge.
"If she takes out that beam the whole bridge could come down!" Arcee realized as they transformed.
"Quick, take her out before she-" Rodimus couldn't finish as Flich pulled the beam right out before squawking and tried to fly away with her prize but the Prime grabbed onto the Beam, "That stays here!" Rodimus told her, digging his feet into the bridge as he was dragged to the railing as it cracked, trembled and shook.
"Rodimus, the bridge can't support our weight without that beam!" Bulkhead called out as they tried to keep balance.
"Try and stabilize it!" Rodimus called out to them as the Autobots scramble around while Strongarm stood there.
"Disaster protocol states that if more than one officer is on the scene…" Strongarm tried to say.
"Strongarm, this is no time for your regulations! People's lives are at stake!" Rodimus yelled to her. "Go!" He called as the bridge shook harder as Strongarm scratched herself and began to help the others. "Denny! You keep any humans from getting onto the bridge!"
"On it!" Dennny called as he then opened up his luggage and searched through the disguises before picking up a certain hat as he gave a smirk.
Strongarm then met up with the others underneath the bridge as they, san Acree, were using their arms to keep the bridge in place. "Oh! How do we fix this?!" Strongarm called out with a strain. "Rules call for repair as soon as-"
"Can't worry about rules right now!" Sideswipe yelled out. "Just brace the bridge!"
Strongarm grunted as they kept bracing the bridge as Rodimus then pulled harder on pulling the mean harder as he stood on the bridge. "Mine! Mine! Mine!" Filch squawks out as she kept pulling.
Soon, siren sounds were being heard before a cop car came driving by. "Look out!" Denny called out as the cop car stopped as he was in a construction worker disguise. "Hi, officer." He said as the officer rolled down his window.
"What the heck is going on here?" The officer questioned him.
"Nevada flieber from the witchah country exotic bird park opening next May, could you set up a temporary roadblock?" Denny asked him while keeping his act.
"A roadblock? Why in the name of Sam Hill do we need a roadblock?" The officer questioned.
"One of our larger specimens got loose." Denny lied as he gestured to Rodimus pulling on Filch. "Our high tech robot keepers will recapture and take care of the bridge." He explained while covering the Autobot's identities.
This convinced the officer. "One roadblock coming up!" he said as the sire called off as he took off at high speed as Denny waved at him as he turned to Rodimus still struggling.
"Let go! Let go!" Filch called out.
Back at the Scrapyard, Grimlock rushed up to Russell and Fixit at the command center, "Hey, Russell? Do customers usually come in over the walls if the gate's not open?" Grimlock asked.
"Only if they're shady." Russell answered.
"Okay. Then I think you have a shady customer." Grimlock said, which shocked the two as Fixit turn on the security cams and saw Larry climbing over the walls and began to search around.
"It's that TV guy." Russell realized before he had an idea. "Maybe we should let him film here." He suggested, which made Fixit looked at him in surprise.
"I don't think your dad or Rodimus will behooved, removed…" He hit himself after he glitched. "Approve. What if he sees the Alchemore? Or Grimlock? Or me? Because if someone's going to see me, I should be detailed first."
"Being on TV could mean more business for the scrapyard," Russell said to them. "Then maybe Dad would sell some stuff, and we could move out of here. And into Crown City." He added as he rushed off. "Block off this area and stay out of sight. I'll handle Mr. LaRue."
"Alright. But if he tries anything, Dino-destructor double-drop. Boom!" Bulkhead called with a pose as Fixit looked at Larry in the monitors before seeing the camera.
"That's the device that induces stellar fusion?" Fixit asked in wonder.
Russell manages to find Larry, who looks surprised to see him. "Oh, hey little man. Is, uh, your dad around?" Larry asked him.
"Nah. He's had to go out." Russell said with a shrug. "I'm handling customers and uh, TV interviews while he's away. I'm Russell."
"TV?" Larry asked before he realizes what he met after earlier. "Oh, right. Terrific. Russell, what can you tell us about the scraptastic collection here at Rusty Acres?" He asked while recording the whole thing on the camera.
"It's enormous and it's all for sale." Russell said with a smirk.
"Great. Cut." Larry said as he shut off the camera. "You're a natural. That's all we need from you. I'm just gonna, poke around, get some background video for the piece." He added with a smirk as he walked off.
"Hey, you can't just go off without a guide." Russell pointed out.
Denny then rushed up to Rodimus. "Rodimus! The bridge is clear! If anyone asks, you're a zookeeper!" He called with a thumbs up as his helmet gem piece shined, which caught Filch's attention.
"Shiny." Filch said with a smirk as she swung around, which made Rodimus gave a yelp as he went over the bridge as the Raven Decepticon went towards Denny, who realized what she was looking at as he ran off.
"Nonono! NO!" Denny called out as he was grabbed by the talons as Rodimus got back up and saw them flew off. "Whoa!" He yelled out.
"Scrap!" Rodimus cursed with a slight worried look.
At the Scrapyard, Grimlock was standing there before his comlink went off. "Grimlock! We need your assistance!" Rodimus spoke up.
"Say it again. Slowly." Grimlock teased with a smirk.
"Move it, Dinobot!" Rodimus snapped, which made Grimlock flinch as the Dinobot went into T-Rex mode as he made his way to the exit.
"Wait, can't just roar out of here with a human running around the scrapyard." Grimlock said in worry.
Larry was walking around with his camera taking view of the scrapyard before he spotted something. "Wow. A selective soda 68. I've never seen one up close before." He commented as Grimlock was behind him and Russell, wearing his vehicle 'disguise' to sneak by before Larry turned, which made Grimlock froze. "What is that?" he asked in amazement as Russell turned and gasped as Grimlock gave a nervous look while trying to maintain his cover.
With Denny, he regained consciousness as he looked around and saw many shiny things. "How'd I get back to the scrapyard?" He muttered as he stood up and look over an edge and saw how high up he was, which made him gasped as he was on top of the torch of the statue in Crown City as he turn away from the edge before he bump into something that made him fell down as he look up and saw Filch over him as the Decepticon gave a squawk.
"You're Not Shiny." She snarled as Denny gave a nervous look.
"Listen, uh, I'm a collector too. Just like you." Denny said nervously to Filch as he stooped up. "You… You like shiny stuff, right? I know where there's lots of shiny stuff."
"Shiny?" Filch said curiously.
Denny then pointed across the lake, "Straight out that way. Big old recycling plant." He told her.
"Shiny?" Filch said suspiciously, thinking this was just a trick so Denny could steal her loot.
"Don't worry about me. I'll… I'll take care of your treasure while you're gone." Denny said nervously.
"Shiny!" Filch said firmly as she then took off.
Denny then took out his phone and was about to call, but he frowned. "Really? Dead battery?! Shouldn't have played so much Sudoku." He muttered as he looked around. "Gotta be something in here I can grab some juice from." He said as he looked around the shiny objects Filch collected.
Back at the Scrapyard, Russell then spoke as he turn to Larry. "What's that? You mean you never saw one of those old lifesize remote control neolifty truck toys?" Russell lied.
Grimlock moved around while giving truck sounds as Larry just raised a brow, "Seen one I have three." He retorted as he placed his camera down and walked up to Grimlock.
Russell then got between them. "Then you know their activator sensors can get a little wonky. I'll just uh shut this one down." He said as he intimidated pressing buttons on Grimlocks sides.
Fixit then approached the video camera and picked it, unknowingly recording himself. "Mm, there's no way this induces stellar fusion. There's no neutronic igniter." He noted as Russell gasped when he saw him.
Russell gave a fake cough. "Fixit." He said as Fixit yelped as he quickly rushed off, dropping the camera before Larry saw him as he walked up to pick up his camera.
"Rodimus needs me." Grimlock whispered to Russell.
"Go before LaRue gets interested again." Russell urged as Grimlock then went off as he went to Larry. "Whatever you do, don't waste your time going that way. That's the stuff my dad will never sell." He lied as Larry gave a smirk and walked off as Fixit went out of hiding and went to Russell, who turn to him. "You recorded a video of yourself on that camera!" He scolded.
"Scrap!" Fixit muttered. "Did it cut my good side?" He asked as Russell gave him a brow.
Back at the bridge, the Autobots struggled to keep the bridge in place as Rodimus came to support his team. "Are you all okay?" Rodimus groaned.
"Other than ignoring every disaster protocol ever written, we're great." Strongarm grunted.
"Really? Now, Strongarm?!" Acree questioned with a look. "You're more worried about protocols than your own Spark and human lives?"
"We need Grimlock, where is he?!" Bumblebee asked as they felt their strength failing.
At the road, Grimlock was riding his pusher down hill as he quickly stopped and hid behind some tree and bushes as he saw the roadblock as he quietly went to the side and went by them before he went to the bridge where his friends were.
"Someone called about a bridge?" Grimlock asked with a smirk as he used his Dinobot strength and kept it in place. "I could do this all day." He said pridefully.
"We don't have all day, team. And neither does Denny." Rodimus said seriously.
At the scrapyard, Larry was still recording as Russell followed him as his phone rang and answered it to hear it was his father. "How's it going out there?" Russell asked.
"Let's just say, I need a ride." Denny said in worry, having recharged his phone from a battery from a motor scooter.
"Dad, I'm so sorry. That TV guy broke in and I showed him all around the Scrapyard telling him it was all for sale." Russell said in shame. "And now he's seen Grimlock and got video of Fixit on his camera."
"Calm down, kiddo. We can deal with that later." Denny said to him. "Right now, I need to get a message to Rodimus."
Russell nodded as he looked ahead. "Mr. LaRue, I need to…" He trailed off as he saw Larry was gone. "Mr. LaRue?"
At the statue, Denny was waving his arms to get the Autobots' attention as they were driving down the road. "There's Denny. Just like Fixit said." Rodimus said as they drove closer to the statue. "Grimlock, how are you holding up?" He asked through the comms.
"Awesomely, I am literally holding up awesomely." Grimlock reported, still holding up the bridge but then it started to give, "Slightly less awesomely." He admitted.
Soon, the Autobots look up at the statue as Rodimus gives a smirk. "Race ya all to the top!" He dared as he used his flight ability and flew into the air.
"Hey, no fair! You got flight mode!" Bumblebee called as he and the others began climbing.
"Oh, no you don't!" Acree challenged.
"Hey, wait up!" Bulkhead added next.
"Ride them up, Strongarm! RP's cheating!" Sideswipe added with a smirk.
"All of you are violating, section-" Strongarm tried to say before growling in frustration, knowing it was pointless as she followed after them as the Autobots on the ground climbed the statue while Rodimus took to the air.
Sideswipe was climbing faster than the others, "Just passing through!" He said with a wink.
Just then, Filch returned with a squawk as it flew towards them. "Secure Denny!" Rodimus called as he prepared his battle mask, but before he could reach the Star Saber, Filch grabbed him by her talons and dragged him by the air as he gave a yell.
"Rodimus!" Arcee called in concern as the two crashed down onto the ground and Flitch eyed the Star Saber sparkling.
"Mine." She said with intense greed.
Back on the Scrapyard, Larry continued to nose around the Scrapyard as he noticed something interesting, "Mmm, mine." He said greedily, reaching to take the item.
Rodimus then punched Flitch in the beak and the two started fighting while the others watched them, "Bulk, Arcee, Strongarm and I will back up Rodimus! You two get Denny!" Arcee told Sideswipe and Bumblebee.
"Aye-Aye." Sideswipe saluted as he and Bumblebee climbed up while Bulkhead jumped down onto Flitch.
"Regulation one, section three, a junior officer shall never disobey a direct order from a senior officer." Strongarm said while she scratched herself while looking between at saving Denny or helping Rodimus.
"Don't hesitate. When your team's in danger don't think, just act!" Arcee told her.
Strongarm then growled with determination as she and Arcee dove at Flitch, "Wanna play chicken?!" Arcee said with a smirk.
"Then watch the birdy!" Strongarm added as she and Acree double-punched Flitch, knocking her down as Bee and Sideswipe saw the whole thing.
"I will never understand her." Sideswipe commented.
"Just roll with it." Bumblebee said with a smile as they kept climbing and then found Denny, "Ooh, shiny." He joked.
"Funny." Denny said with a smile.
Back below, Strongarm and Arcee clung onto Flitch's back while Rodimus and Bulkhead flanked her from the front and back. "Look out below!" Sideswipe yelled out as he threw the metal beam at Flitch, nailing her on the head and knocking her out as the Autobots eased their stances.
"Bullseye!" Bulkhead declared.
"You all take Denny and Flitch back to the Scrapyard," Rodimus told them as he went up to the beam, "I'll get this to Grimlock." He instructed.
Grimlcok grunted as he kept trying to keep the bridge in check before it eased up a bit. "So how's your day going?" Rodimus quipped as Grimlock turned and saw him with the metal beam.
Bumblebee drove back to the Scrapyard with Denny at the wheel who glared when he saw Larry dragging a load of stuff he took with Russell standing there with a guilty look. Bumblebee stopped and Denny stepped out, marching up to Larry who just smirked at him.
"Oh, Denny. The treasures you have." Larry said with a smirk. "I found some things I've been after for years. Sell them to me now, or else I'll air my footage and every collector in the country will be knocking down your door." He threatened as Denny gave a glare before the rest of the Autobots came in with Flitch while staying out of sight.
Denny gave a glare before he smirked. "I don't think so, Larry. Because you won't be able to air that camera of yours." He said to him.
"Oh yeah, who says?" Larry challenged.
"Me, Quickdraw." Larry turned to see a familiar man marching up to them, the Autobot's liaison on Earth during the War for Cybertron and longtime friend, Special Agent Fowler.
"Who are you?" Larry questioned before Fowler held up his badge.
"Special Agent Fowler here of the United States government." Fowler said with a firm look. "And I have word from my old buddy Denny that you just decided to go over the fence just to grab some old junk. That's called breaking and entering, son." He told him.
Larry's eyes widened. "B-But, I didn't really… I mean, this kid just showed me around and-" He tried to say while gesturing to Russell.
"Save it for the Judge, Mr. LaRou." Fowler said with a glare as he blew a whistle, which caused two cops to come in. "Boys, take him away." He ordered as the officers nodded as they grabbed hold of Larry and took away his camera as he was being dragged away.
"No! Wait! I want my stuff! It's my stuff! Mine! Mineminemine!" Larry cried out as he was dragged away as Fowler, Denny, and Russell watched as Denny closed the door as Fowler held up the memory card.
"Thanks for getting here so fast, Mr. Fowler." Denny said with a smile.
"One of the perks of having a Ground Bridge, an instant destination for criminals." Fowler said with a smirk as he pocketed the memory card. "You know, when I heard word from Jack, Miko, and Raf that the bots had returned and settled down here while capturing fugitives, I was a bit surprised to hear, but also interested to meet you two. Might just have to make this an official Unit-E Outpost."
"But you would want to make sure not to tell anyone about the Bots return to your other superiors, right?" Russell asked. "They need to be kept secret after all."
"Son, I've been keeping the Autobots' existence a secret since the day they first stood on this planet." Fowler said with a smirk. "This time, I rather not explain this to Uncle Sam so the bots can have a bit more freedom and for me to get less grilled." He added with a chuckle.
"Thanks, Fowler." Bulkhead said with a grin.
"Good to have you bots back," Fowler said with a smile. "I be lying if I said I didn't miss having you big lunkheads around."
"Missed you too." Arcee said with a smirk.
"And Prime, good to see ya too." Fowler said with a smirk at Rodimus. "Still leading the Autobots, I see."
"Indeed I am, Agent Fowler." Rodimus nodded with a small smile. "How are our friends doing?"
"They're fine. Still the best agents there are. And making sure Miko stays out of trouble as well." Fowler answered before he looked at his watch. "Speaking of which, I should get going. I'll be seeing ya around." He said to them as the Autobots nodded. "Raf, open a Ground Bridge for me." He said as a Ground Bridge portal opened up behind him. "Catch ya later, Bots." He said as he entered the Ground Bridge as it closed behind him.
Once he was gone, Rodimus looked down at Russell with a disappointed look, "What were you thinking Russell? Allowing a human who broke into the Scrapyard to roam around and do as he pleases?" He questioned, "Do you have any idea what could have happened?"
"Y-Yeah, I know." Russell said in guilt with his head down. "Almost had a close call with that earlier. I just wanted to help out the Scrapyard and get some more sales."
"So that your father would finally have an excuse to leave this place and you could move into the city?" Rodimus said with a frown, "And what do you think would happen to us after that if Mr. LaRou had aired proof of the existence of Cybertronians to the entire world?"
"Y-Yeah, I see that. That could be bad." Russell said with a frown. "And I know that I nearly blew your cover, guys, I'm sorry." He said in guilt.
"Well, I may be a collector, kiddo but I know what's really valuable." Denny said to him with a small smile before gesturing to the items Larry tried to get. "Besides, did he get all those pieces from aisle three?" He asked as Russell gave a nod. "The best stuff on aisle four!" He said with a smirk as Russell gave a smile.
"I'm going to figure out this star-making thing." Fixit said as he wheeled off with a ton of cameras while the Autobots gave strange looks from that.
"Uh, should we tell him?" Bulkhead asked with a brow.
"Nah, let him figure it out." Acree shrugged. "He'll learn the hard way." She added as Rodimus then gave a thought as he noticed Strongarm wasn't with them, having a thought of where she is.
At the top of the sign, Strongarm sat there alone as Rodimus flew up beside her. "Impressive. You broke protocol today, Strongarm." Rodimus said with a small smile. "And I don't see any hives that Bumblebee told you about."
"I realized now that you, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Bulkhead, Acree, and Fixit, even Sideswipe…" Strongarm said with a small smile. "You're my ties to Cybertron, more than any rule book."
"Glad you have learned that, Strongarm. You're gonna be okay." Rodimus said with a small smile as he then held up a disk. "And I think you have earned this back."
Strongarm smiled as she took back her log book and placed it on her arm as she then activated. "But that's not to say I won't be writing you all up." She said with a small smirk.
Rodimus smirked back. "And that's not to say that I won't demote you to private and make Sideswipe you're superior," He countered with a smirk.
Strongarm looked at him with wide eyes as she put her log book away. "Point taken, sir." She said as Rodimus gave a small smile as he knew that there's no way Strongarm is giving up her log book, but she has learned to not always rely on them and always count on her team to feel right at home.
Here it is, the long-awaited Chapter 8 of Adventures of Rodimus Prime.
First off, I want to say I am truly sorry for such a long wait, but I have been occupied by my real world life, helping other authors with their stories and catching up on College work that I never had a chance to work on this chapter.
But now I am back, and I promise I will do better to bring you all the content you want.
So, the Team has encountered a Raven-like Decepticon who likes shiny stuff, and Strongarm adjusts to being away from Cybertron and her clingyness to her rulebook. Also, the return of Agent Fowler prevents Larry from making off with Denny's stuff.
With one more prisoner captured, the Team is doing pretty well in their mission.
Next Time, the Autobots are caught completely flat-footed when one of their own seems to have turned on them and aids their enemy Steeljaw in his mission to build a Decepticon homeworld in "True Colors".