Optimus Prime's unusual Charge

The Blue Moose

"That's it! I'm done for; I'll never be able to see again!" Starscream gave up and almost started crying until he thought of the bright side of his perdicament: "Well, at least I won't be able to see Megatron's ugly faceplate, before I go offline...That's always good." He slid down to sit in the cave.

{"He seems to be in distress, though; something about his optics failing... I still don't trust it."} Arcee continued.

"Copy that. Bumblebee; provide support for Arcee in case of an ambush." Optimus ordered.

.:"Yes Sir.":. Bumblebee whirred in response.

"What about me, Prime?" Bulkhead asked.

"You will remain outside with me, and we shall secure the perimeter." Prime answered. "We should cover for Ratchet as he searches for the Energon Crystals."

Bumblebee made his way out of the woods and looked around a bit until he saw the cave, but there was something headed his way! The grass was being disturbed by something moving around in it.

["Lucky for me, the grass in the fields around here grow pretty tall, so when I'm on all fours; they won't see me! The problem is, though; I can't see either! But nevermind that, I gotta keep moving."] I was making a beeline to the wooded area where I'd be able to hide better or even make it to higher ground. But stupid me thought it was a good idea to look behind and check if the smaller bot saw me when I was still running, until;

.:"What is that?":. Bee warbled confused. He had his weapon out and tried keeping a steady aim at the moving target, but also apprehensive about shooting. ["Is it an animal?"] He thought.

I heard what sounded like a weird warbling sound coming from in front of me, but by the time I swing my head back to see what it was, I slam head-first into a yellow and black wall of metal!

*CLANK!!!*

"OWWIE!" I cried, whimpering as I tried easing the pain my skull was in.

.:YOW!:.Bumblebee beeped loudly when the creature rammed right into his ankle guards. At the same time however, his trigger slipped and he ended up shooting the ground right next to the creature.

"EEP!" I almost got fried back there and scrambled into another direction trying to escape. ["Now I got 'em mad!"]

Ratchet and Bulkhead heard the canon shot and Bumblebee's cries ringing out.

"Bumblebee's hurt! C-mon Doc!" Bulkhead transformed and sped off into Bee's direction.

"Prime, we just heard a canon shot and Bumblebee crying in pain! Bulkhead and I are going to help!" Ratchet communicated Prime whilst he was underway.

"Affirmative Ratchet, I will cover for you." Optimus answered. Using Ratchet's unique energy signature, he was able to track down his location outside the woods.

Back at the cave, Arcee was getting a bit impatient. {"What's taking him so long?"} Then she heard the racket that came from outside near the woods. ["Scrap!"]

"Who's that?!" Starscream whimpered.

Arcee kept quiet.

"You can't trick me; I know you're there! I just heard you!" The con kept insisting and raised his weapon.

Arcee just watched him and remained as calm as she could be, but in the back of her Processor, she wished she could just leave and help Bumblebee.

"Don't worry buddy; we got ya!" She heard coming from outside. Hidden behind the rock she listened to what went on outside.

["Heh, Good ol' Bulk."] she smiled.

"Take that, Autobot!" She heard coming from Starscream. ["Oh Scrap!"]

The Decepticon had his weapon pointed towards her and took a shot, but just missed her head by a few inches! The rocket hit the top of the cave entrance and caused a cave-in, trapping them both inside.

By the time Ratchet and Bulkhead arrived to where they heard Bumblebee, they found the mech rubbing the bottom end of his cadulen, whilst standing next to a singed patch of grass.

"Don't worry buddy; we got ya!" Bulkhead reassured him as he scanned the area for foes.

"Bumblebee, what in the name of Solus Prime did you do?" Ratchet glanced at the burned spot and then over to Bee's sore spot whilst he was still rubbing it. "Did you just shoot your own Ped?!"

.:No, of course not! This weird looking animal thing, just jumped out of the grass, rammed its horns into my ankle guard and ran off!:. Bee answered.

"But why did you shoot?" Bulkhead asked.

Bumblebee put his ped down and rubbed his arm guard in embarrassment. .:"It...Spooked me...":.He warbled incoherently.

Just then Prime arrived.

"Bumblebee, is everything alright?" He asked.

Ratchet cut in: "Just a Moose attack, Prime. The animal was probably protecting its territory..."

.:"That wasn't a moose!":. Bee interrupted. .:"This thing was blue, with wings, a long tail, big ears and those fragging horns...":. He explained amidst Bleeps whirs and warbles of all tones and rubbed the sore ankle guard again when he was reminded about what happened.

Just as Ratchet was about to say something, they all heard a missile going off and the cave entrance collapsing.

.:"Arcee!":. Bumblebee bleeped. Immediately he transformed and sped off to the cave.

"Bumblebee, wait!" Optimus warned, but the young bot was already halfway there. "Bulkhead." Prime turned his attention to the large green mech beside him.

"On it!" Having already read Prime's thoughts, Bulkhead transformed and followed Bee.

"That's it, That's where the signal is coming from!" Ratchet exclaimed, looking at his radar.

Prime nodded. "They may need our help, clearing the debris." He then looked at Ratchet who, in turn gave him a knowing look and followed after Bulkhead. Just when Optimus was about to transform himself, he heard something rustling in the bushes. Turning his attention to them, he caught something diving back into them.

He managed to catch a glimpse of the creature before it dove into the underbrush. He didn't bother it and drove to the others to help clear the debris.

When Prime got to the cave, the Autobots already started moving the rocks from the entrance, so he gave a servo with the rest. Once they cleared the debris, Bumblebee went inside, followed by the rest. They found her along with Starscream at the very end of the cave.

Dust flew up when the cave entrance collapsed and it irritated Arcee's vents, but soon it cleared up and she turned on her lights to see better.

"Have I joined the Allspark yet?" Came a whimper from within the darkness. Starscream.

"No, but you will if you try that again." Came an answer back from the light that suddenly came on in the cave.

"Arcee?" He asked. Arcee then aimed her weapons at his helm.

"You wouldn't shoot a poor blind defenceless Cybertronian would you?" He whimpered.

Arcee then put both his servos and wings in Stasis cuffs. "Got it?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Starscream answered.

"What happened? How come you're suddenly blind?" She interrogated him.

"It was that-that dreadful fleshy, with its poisonous-acid spit!" He cried out.

"Humans don't spit acid." Arcee said.

"Who said anything about a human?! I may be blind now, but that wasn't a human!" Starscream yelled.

"Describe this creature to me." She demanded.

"Why? Are you missing a pet?" He sneered.

She shoved the weapon up against his forehelm.

"Alright, alright! Don't hurt me..." He pleaded.

Just then they heard the Autobots as they broke through the debris and came inside.

.:"Arcee!":. Bee whirred.

"Aww...ya missed me?" Arcee smiled and playfully punched his shoulder pad. "Don't ever keep a femme waiting." She said in a mock dark tone. "Take Screamer for an example."

"Hey! My helplessness is nothing to be made fun of!" He squirmed.

The bots snickered.

"Anyway, he claims that a strange creature spit some kind of 'poisonous acid-like substance' in his optics...I didn't wanna contaminate it, so Ratchet could have a closer look." Arcee explained putting the substance's description in Air quotes.

Ratchet scanned Starscream and he came up clean. Pinching his Olfactory Sensor, sighing and grumbling something under his vents, he reached into his Thoraxal Cavity and pulled out a small vial of some lubricant-like substance and a piece of sanitary cloth. Drenching the cloth, he stepped closer to the patient. "Hold still..." he told him and proceeded to clean the thick, slightly dried up substance off Starscream's optics.

"Hey, I can see!" Starscream rejoiced. "By Primus, it's a miracle! Thank you Doctor, Thank you!"

Ratchet just scoffed. "Miracle? It's just Saliva!" He threw his Servo's up in the air.

"I beg your Pardon?" Screamer asked confused by the medic's reaction.

["Primus have mercy...."] "It's a liquid substance secreted into the mouths of many organic creatures, providing lubrication for chewing, swallowing and aiding with the digestion of food... as in: NOT CYBERTRONIANS!!! At worst, it only made your vision blurrier, since it clung to your optics and your faceplate may have a funny smell to it for a while, until your next bath, but THAT'S IT." Ratchet ranted. "Earth animal slobber, Blue flying Moose?! I should have stayed at the base..." He grumbled.

"Wh-wait, You saw it too?!" Starscream asked.

"Oh, yeah...almost forgot; description. NOW." Arcee pointed her weapon to Starscream's face.

"Alright already! It was covered in blue fur, with wings, a long tail, big ears and two horns on its head!" Starscream started spilling the beans.

"Starscream, is this what you saw?" Prime showed him a holographic image of what he himself saw peeking out of the bushes.

"That's it! That's exactly what I saw!" He exclaimed.

.:"AHA! I knew it was not a moose!":. Bumblebee confirmed.

"Then what in the name of Primus is that thing?" Ratchet asked.

"It's a MONSTER, that's what it is!" Starscream chimed in. "Now, please let me go...Megatron will send for me any moment." He pleaded.

"Then it is best we leave this place..." Optimus decided and they all started walking out of the cave.

"Oh, please have mercy!" Screamer almost cried, but by then, they had already left. Shortly after a ground bridge opened in the cave and they could hear Starscream's cries for help, but decided to let the Decepticons be, for now.