Little Honeybee 🐝

Chapter 2

That jubilant joy soon twisted into horror when Bumblebee noticed something was terribly wrong.

Energon. Everywhere.

He felt rooted to the ground. Frozen. Frozen in fear. That was Knockout, right? It didn't matter, he was already racing towards the red figure that was slumped against a tree.

"Knockout!" He cried out, skidding to a stop and kneeling beside the medic. He soon came to the conclusion that most of the energon was indeed not the medic's when he noticed his buzzsaw completely covered in the glowing blue substance. There was a trail of energon that led away from the area, but he didn't dare follow it. "Knockout, can you hear me? It's me, Bumblebee!" He said, softer this time, as he gently nudged Knockout.

Knockout's optics flickered online and he yawned, as if he had just woken up from a long recharge. It took a minute for him to process what just happened and he stared with wide optics at Bumblebee. "Oh my..." he mumbled, his mouth gaping open slightly.

Words flew out of Bumblebee's mouth in a jumbled mess before he paused and composed himself so Knockout could actually understand him. He took a deep breath, the stench of energon making him want to vomit. "What.... What happened here? How did you get here..?" He finally managed to say, his chassis heaving as he took deep breaths to calm himself down. He wanted to jump for joy and hug Knockout as tight as he could, but he wouldn't do that. Not while the mech was injured.

Knockout retracted his buzzsaw and sighed, rubbing his optics. He was still shocked that Bumblebee was literally right in front of him. He just couldn't believe it! "I came here in a pod... taken from storage back on Cybertron. I wanted to find you. When I landed, I picked up your signal. As I was following it, some wolf-like brute attacked me out of nowhere!" He growled, hissing slightly at the searing pain from the scratches on his stomach and chassis.

'Steeljaw...' Bumblebee wanted to growl, narrowing his optics. He glanced at the trail of energon again, figuring that the Wolficon couldn't have escaped without getting seriously injured. "Seems like you hurt him pretty badly." He chuckled slightly, trying to lighten the mood.

Knockout chuckled as well, wincing and keeping a hand pressed to his stomach. "You know how I am. Easily startled and easily angered." He replied, rolling his optics. "I'll tell you how it happened."

Bumblebee nodded, sitting down next to Knockout while still keeping watch.

-Flashback, Knockout's POV-

Knockout huffed as he strolled through the forest, furiously tapping at the small scanner in his palm. He was getting close, he could feel it. Suddenly, his energon went cold when he felt a firm hand settle on his shoulder.

"Hm... what do we have here?" An oddly soothing, but very creepy, voice murmured into Knockout's audio receptor.

Knockout ripped his shoulder out of the mech's grip and whipped around, almost dropping his scanner. He studied the mech before him, his entire frame tense.

A Wolficon stood before him, just a few inches taller. His ears were perked and there was a glimmer of interest in his piercing yellow optics. His long tail lashed behind him, making Knockout uneasy about the situation. He looked like he was poised to strike, but his sharp claws were kept by his sides for the moment.

"W-Who are you..?" Knockout stammered, trying his best not to tremble in fear. He wasn't aware of any Decepticons this far out into the galaxy, so how was there one here?

"My apologies, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Steeljaw, and I lead a band of Decepticons on this planet." The Wolficon, now known to Knockout as Steeljaw, said with a smile, his sharp denta peeking out from behind his lips. He tilted his head when he noticed the Autobot insignia on Knockout's chassis, freshly engraved into the scarlet red metal. "You are an Autobot?" He asked, a low growl rumbling in his throat.

Knockout gulped, remembering how he engraved that symbol onto his chassis after the war had ended. There were still Autobots and Decepticons, but they were few and far between when it came to fighting real battles. "Yes, and I am proud of it. I left the Decepticon cause long ago." He replied, his tone stern. He was trying to act somewhat tough in front of the intimidating mech, though that wasn't really working for him.

"Oh? So you abandoned it... hm?" Steeljaw sneered, starting to slowly stalk towards Knockout. His tail lashed and his grin grew, exposing more of his sharp denta. "So you're a coward?"

Knockout stiffened, his optics narrowing in anger. "I am not! Look, why don't you go back to where you came from and leave me alone! I'm doing you no harm!" He growled, backing away slightly. 

"No harm? Psh... what are you, a petty medic? Your threats mean nothing and they amuse me." Steeljaw chuckled, flicking one of his ears as he grew closer to Knockout.

Knockout growled louder, his right hand transforming into a buzz-saw. It roared to life and he held it in front of him. "Get away from me!"

All Steeljaw did was grin, his growl turning into a snarl as he lunged at Knockout with outstretched claws.