Transformers Animated

Unofficial Season 4

Episode 1

The Bigger They Are…

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers

Earth, Night

Detroit, Michigan

"Dare to be stupid! Dare to be stupid! It's all right! Dare to be Stupid!"

Wreck-gar continued to sing to himself in his garbage truck mode as he went about his favorite pass-time, collecting the city's garbage. He loved garbage, though even he was never entirely sure why. Perhaps it was some sort of subconscious kinship he had with it, or maybe he had too many screws loose in his head. Either way, it saved the city money on garbage disposal and it made him happy.

"Dare to be stupid! Dare to…" He stopped mid-verse as his optics detected a line of light shooting through the night sky. "Ooh, Pretty!"

When the line of light faded, Wreck-Gar returned to his duties.

On the peak of the mountain looking over Dinobot Island, a small black satellite dish absorbed the beam of light. After finishing the reception, it transformed into a cat-like robot. The black panther-bot ran down the hill. It ran until it reached a cave in the side of the hill. It ran inside, reaching a chamber with a large computer. Sitting in front of this computer was the earth-born Decepticon Soundwave. He was watching various transmissions from across the planet; Soap-operas, sitcoms, infomercials, televangelists, Doctor Who. All flashing before his sunglass-optic.

The cat-bot purred as it approached Soundwave. The Decepticon pet the creature's metal head with mild affection.

"Ravage: Report." Soundwave stated in his usual synthesized monotone.

Ravage growled as it leaped onto the console, linking into it in its satellite dish form. A screen popped out of the base. Images flickered across the screen before being shown on the monitor. Soundwave looked at all of the diagrams intensively. One diagram in particular caught his attention. He brought it to full screen.

"Interesting."

The Next Day,

Cybertron

Optimus Prime stood in the damaged section of the academy. The head of the Elite Guard surveyed the damage with heavy distaste. He had seen them carry out the shells of the scientists killed in the fight. It had been brutal.

"And here we thought the war was over," he said.

Perceptor walked into the room.

"Any idea of what data they stole?" Prime asked.

"Despite his delinquency, Frenzy is a highly efficient hacker." Perceptor replied in his emotionless tone. "It will take some time to determine exactly which files were accessed."

"I'm sorry about your compatriots," Prime said sullenly.

"Casualties are an unavoidable statistic in war." He replied flatly. "We are beginning the Aerialbots' training test now. Do you wish to observe."

"You're still holding the test?" Prime asked in surprise.

"Progress does not stop." Perceptor replied. "Not even in the face of tragedy."

The two Autobots began to walk down the hall.

"This shall be the first test of the Multi-combiner technology since it was first developed for Jetfire and Jetstorm." Perceptor observed.

"I'm surprised that you didn't think to try it before," Prime replied.

"We wanted to fine-tune the combiner circuit as well as possible before trying anything on this scale. When the result shall create a weapon to par with Omega Supreme, we must limit all variables."

"So now you're ready?" Prime asked.

"We have eliminated all variables that can be accounted for before testing." Perceptor said with a brief pause. "Anything else we must deal with in time."

Prime wasn't sure how that made him feel, but in the short time since he was made head of the Elite Guard by Sentinel, he had learn to trust the judgment of Cybertron's head of science.

"I should mention," Perceptor continued. "We finished your new trailer as-per your request."

"Thank you," Prime said as they entered the observation area.

The observation deck looked out onto an open lot next to the academy. Jazz and Goldbug were both there waiting.

"Hey O P," Jazz said. "You here for the show?"

"I was here for the investigation," Prime replied. "I thought I might stay to see the demonstration."

They all looked down into the testing area. In the area were five winged Autobots waiting to begin. Silverbolt, the leader, was predominantly white in color with red and black highlights. He was the tallest of the five. Skydive was dark grey in color and stood somewhat impatiently but calmly. Firefight, a hotheaded red mech, paced impatiently across the field. Slingshot, a light blue bot who stood a bit shorter than the others laid back on the ground casually. Air Raid, a dark purple colored bot, shifted nervously.

"Aerialbots." Perceptor said. "You may begin the test."

"Finally!" said Firefight. "It's been forever!"

"Cool your jets Firefight," said Silverbolt. "Let's make this test as good as possible."

"Holy circuits!" said Air Raid as he saw who was watching. "It's Optimus Prime. Optimus Prime is watching the test!"

"Wow! Really?" asked Slingshot. "That is so cool!"

"It's not all that surprising," said Skydive. "After all, this is an important test."

"Then let's not disappoint," Silverbolt said. "Aerialbots! Transform and Hit the Sky!"

All five leaped into the air, transforming into Earth-style jets. Silverbolt was a passenger jet while the others transformed into fighter jets. They flew up into the sky with incredible speed.

"Well," Goldbug said. "They certainly have flying down."

Perceptor nodded. "We used Earth vehicles as the basis for their forms. The humans' experience with flight has greatly benefited this experiment."

Silverbolt's flight was slightly shaky as they flew higher.

"Are you alright Silverbolt?" asked Skydive.

"F-fine," Silverbolt replied shakily. "I'm just fine." Don't look down! Look strait ahead! Don't look down! Look strait ahead!

Firefight huffed at his commander's words.

Silverbolt then flipped and leveled out. "Aerialbots! Combine!"

Silverbolt reverted to robot mode. His arms folded and extended his torso. The nose of his jet-mode folded over and formed a chest-plate. His legs folded in and linked into the pelvic unit. Metal forearms extended from the fuselage of Firefight and Slingshot as their wings folded in. Air Raid and Skydive both folded in their wings as feet formed from their aft sections. Firefight formed the right arm, Slingshot formed the left; Skydive formed the right leg and Air Raid formed the left. The head shot from the torso, with face and optic visors and gold horns.

"SUPERION!!!"

The massive robot landed in the testing area, standing tall beside the building.

"Impressive," Prime commented.

"Thank you sir," Superion replied in Silverbolt's voice.

"Combination test: complete." said Perceptor. "Begin motor function test. Please raise your right arm."

Superion followed the command.

"Lower."

He followed the command again.

"Repeat with your left arm."

He repeated the raising and lowering.

"Very good. Now raise your right foot."

Superion complied.

"How long are we going to do this? I have a date tonight and…"

Everone stared at Superion in shock. It was not Silverbolt's voice speaking, but Slingshot's.

"Holy Slag! Am I the one talking?" The Slingshot controlled Superion asked.

"What's going on here?!" Came the irritated voice of Firefight.

"Aerialbots." Perceptor said in a louder tone to express concern. "What is wrong?"

The massive robot began to sway on his feet. "Our personality circuits seem to be in conflict," said Superion in the voice of Skydive. "W-we're destabilizing!"

"Disengage combination." Perceptor ordered. "Disengage now."

The giant mecha fell to the ground. His composite parts disengaged and reverted to robot mode. They all laid on the ground, groaning in pain.

Prime sighed. "Jazz, call Ratchet. Tell him we need a medical unit over here."

"Roger that O P," Jazz replied as he went to send the call.

"So much for our new weapon," Goldbug said with disappointment.

"Let's hope this is fixable Goldbug," Prime replied. "With the data they stole, who knows what the Decepticons will do next."

Earth

The Decepticon Base.

Soundwave was working at his computer, modifying the diagram of Superion. As he worked, the female Starscream clone, Slipstream, sauntered in to the chamber. She casually pet Ravage as she passed, earning a purr from the beast-bot. She leaned on Soundwave's chair and watched him work.

"What are you doing now?" she asked casually.

"Ravage intercepted a Decepticon signal last night," he replied. "It contained stolen data from the Autobots' database. One of the pieces of data was for a new Autobot invention called the Mass-Combination Circuit."

"Uh huh," she replied. "And why should I care?"

"It allows multiple robots to merge into a single gigantic robot with powers akin to Omega Supreme."

Her optics widened with interest. "That's a pretty good reason to care," She admitted.

"Ravage: Operation; Retrieve Dirtboss."

The cat growled in response and ran deeper into the cave.

"Why Dirtboss?" Slipstream asked.

"I have modified the circuit design so it can be copied with earth materials," Soundwave replied. "I need the Constructicons to test the technology."

She shrugged at the explanation. "Better them then me."

"Yeah, jes hold on Tom. I'm movin' fast as I can," said Dirtboss as he was nudged into the room by Ravage. "So Soundwave. Ol' puss here tells me you got a job for my boys."

Soundwave printed out the modified diagram and handed it to the squat Constructicon. He looked it over with hmms and ahs.

"Okay, looks easy enough," he said. "But, I'm gonna need least t'ree more boys for dis to work."

"Laserbeak."

The Bird-bot flew to its master's shoulder. From its beak dropped three Allspark pieces. Despite his best effort, Prowl could not retrieve all of the Allspark fragments. Over the years, Soundwave and his men had gathered as many as they could find. Soundwave handed the pieces to Dirtboss.

"Yeah, dis'll do," he said. "I'll be ready by the end of the day." He then turned and left. "MIX! SCRAPPER! GET OFF YOUR EXHAUSTS! WE GOTS WORK TO DO!"

Soundwave returned to his seat. He began to monitor transmissions again.

(Imagine a cheep cartoony commercial)

Tired of Decepticons knocking down your house? Supervillains stealing from your banks? Well, worry no more! Sumdac Industries is proud to introduce, The Headmaster Series 2 Police Enforcers. (Real picture of the Headmaster appears. It is a transforming Police car with a minimal detailed face. The head detaches and transforms into a tall and lean robot battle suit) The New Headmaster Battlesuit can link to any Protectobot body. Each Headmaster/Protectobot pair is piloted by one of Detroit's finest. So rest easy citizens of Detroit. Your new protectors are here to keep the peace.

A Public Service Announcement paid for by Sumdac Systems.

Powell turned off the screen. He and Henry Masterson, i.e. the super villain Headmaster, were in the CEO office of Sumdac Systems. Both had very displeased looks on their faces.

"I'm certain I don't have to explain why my associate and I are displeased with this," he said to the person in the chair, "do I, Ms. Sumdac?"

The chair swiveled around, reveling a young woman in her mid-twenties. She wore a blue suit with a dress skirt. She wore glasses and had her red hair in a bun. It was amazing to believe that just ten years ago this very stern-looking young woman was the care-free little girl named Sari Sumdac. Now she was the acting CEO of Sumdac systems and giving them both a very cold stare-down.

"No, Mr. Powell," she replied. "I don't see the problem. Please elaborate."

Masterson slammed his fists into her desk. "You stole my invention!" He exclaimed. "You took my invention and gave it to the cops!"

"Well," Sari continued. "Since Sumdac systems owns the rights to your Headmaster technology, I assumed I could do with it as I pleased. And considering your history with the law, I actually find the whole situation amusingly ironic."

"Don't try to toy with me Noob!" Masterson replied. "I know for a fact that I still own the copyright to my invention. It's in my contract!"

Powell suddenly got a little nervous at the mention of the contract. Sari just smiled sinisterly.

"Funny you should mention your contract," she said as she pulled papers from her desk. "I actually have your contract right here. If you read it I think you'll find an interesting clause in the fine-print."

Masterson grabbed the contract and began speed-reading.

"If you want then I'll just tell you," she said casually as he kept reading. "Basically, it says that if you are caught in a criminal activity and convicted, you forfeit all rights to the Headmaster technology."

Masterson's eyes widened in shock. "No way!!! You mean…"

"Since you got arrested trying to kill me and my father after Powell here lost control of Sumdac Systems, all rights to the technology shifted to us."

"Damn you!" he exclaimed.

"Don't blame me," Sari replied proudly. "It was Powell who drew up your contract during his time as CEO. It's a pity he thought Soundwave was more profitable than the Headmaster system, or else you guys might have a reason to talk."

Both men turned red, Powell with embarrassment and Masterson with anger.

"You-you-you!!!" Masterson growled.

"You got Pwned," She said with a big grin. "Noob."

Masterson growled before ripping off his lab coat and revealing his Headmaster costume. "I'll show you who's a Noob! Noob!"

He then ran at the window and leaped out. It was a long fall from Sari's office to the ground. As he fell, he pulled out what looked like a car remote and clicked it.

Be-boop!

Suddenly, the trailer of a parked Semi exploded. From it emerged a robot forged from a hodge-podge of various vehicles. The machine was topped by the classic Headmaster unit. The robot opened its head and allowed Headmaster inside.

"Let's see how you like my Headmaster Supreme!" He exclaimed as the Robot rocketed up the side of the tower.

Sari watched the display with only mild interest. She sighed and removed her jacket and dress skirt. Underneath she wore a yellow dress similar to the one she wore as a child/teen. The dress did well to show of her mature and shapely figure. As Masterson floated before her office, she removed her glasses and let down her hair. Powell panicked behind her, hiding behind the desk.

"Alright Noobs!" Headmaster shouted. "You thought you could Pwn the Headmaster?! Oh No! The Headmaster Pwns you! Any last words before I vaporize you?!" As he made the threat, several rocket-launchers emerged from the body.

"Just one," Sari replied. "Transform!"

Sari's eyes glowed blue as energy surrounded her. Golden metal plates wrapped around her body, converting organic to robotic. Her head became covered in a helmet as the battle mask snapped into place over her mouth. Her flowing hair reconfigured into a series of red cables. Sari's robot-mode had matured with her. Despite her small size, she was sleek and dangerous.

"Y-you," Headmaster stuttered as he looked at the lean little femme. "You think that scares me Noob?! Take this!"

Headmaster fired the missiles at her. Sari scoffed. Her hair flailed out like serpents. From the steel tips energy-bursts shot out. This bursts detonated the missiles before they could hit the building.

"Sorry to disappoint," Sari said. "But I'm not that easy to kill."

Sari leaped into the air. With a flick of her wrists her arms formed laser blades. She swiped both at the base of the headmaster unit. At first, nothing happened. Then the machine sparked as the head fell off the machine. Headmaster screamed as he began to fall, the machine body breaking apart on the way down. Just as he was about to hit the ground, he came to a stop. Sari used the jets on her feet to carry them safely to the ground.

It took only a second for the area to be filled with police cars. From within the cars emerged the new Headmasters. Their cars quickly changed to robot mode as they leaped on top.

"Head On!" They shouted as they linked in in head mode.

Each Headmaster pointed a laser rifle at their precursor. From behind the bots emerged a much older Captain Fanzone, now Commissioner. He pulled out his signature megaphone.

"Henry Masterson!" he said. "Come out with your hands up!"

The disgruntled inventor pulled himself out of the damaged unit. As he saw himself surrounded, he quickly surrendered.

Sari walked over to Fanzone, retracting her helmet. "Nice to see you again, Commissioner."

"Hey there kid," said the grizzled old cop. "Nice work there."

"Thanks," she replied. "Looks like the new boys are doing well."

They watched as the robots guided Masterson into a police van and shut him in.

"Eh, I hate to admit it, but those things actually do a good job keeping the peace," Fanzone said. "Don't suppose you could whip me up one of those in my size. I'm…uh…not as svelte as I was in my academy days." He motioned to his rather unflattering girth.

"You?" replied Sari in surprise. "Mr. 'this is why I hate machines?'"

"Hey, not all machines," He replied. "Just the ones that are junk."

Sari chuckled. "I'll see what I can do."

"SARI!"

The heroine sighed as the familiar voice of her father. The grey-haired scientist ran towards her from the tower. He stopped to catch his breath before speaking again.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "What happened? Was anybody hurt?"

"Relax dad," she replied reassuringly. "It was just Headmaster. No big deal."

"Are you sure?" he said in concern. "Do you need medical attention? Or a tune up?"

"Dad," Sari said impatiently. "The only thing I want tuned up is my bike. Is it ready? I feel like taking a spin."

"Ah, yes," Sumdac replied. "It's waiting for you in the garage."

"Thanks Dad," she said as she ran to the company garage.

Fanzone and Sumdac watched as the young woman left.

"They grow up so fast, eh Doc?" said Fanzone.

"Indeed Commissioner," The good doctor replied. "Perhaps too fast."

Decepticon Headquarters

Over time, the Starscream clones had all found their way back to earth. They had all agreed to follow Soundwave, (except Thundercracker, who still insists he is the true leader of the Earth-bound Decepticons.) This day, they all sat waiting while the Constructicons worked. They had to because the crude mechs had taken over most of the living space in the cave. They hid their work with a massive curtain.

"This is pointless!" Shouted Thundercracker. "What could be so important that those pathetic wastes could take the mighty Thundercracker away from his soap operas!?"

"I know exactly what they are up to," replied Ramjet. "I don't care what they are doing back there."

"I don't mind," said Sunstorm. "I have always admired the incredible work ethic of the Constructicons."

"Oh, can it Sunstorm!" Thundercracker commanded. "I can't take it anymore! I want to see what's going on!"

Thundercracker walked up to the curtain and tried to peek in. Suddenly, Mixmaster poked his head out.

"Eh, sorry pal," the squat Decepticon said. "No non-Constructicons past dis point. Dirtboss' orders."

"Listen to me to reprobate! I am Thundercracker! I am the greatest Decepticon here, and I certainly do not take orders from a pathetic pile of scrap like Dirtboss!"

"Uh, I wouldn't let him hear dat if I was you," Mix replied.

"Who cares what he hears?!" Thundercracker said as he tried to push past.

From behind the curtain, Dirtboss' control-screw flew into Thundercracker's head. The con immediately began hitting himself in the head as he walked back to his comrades.

"I knew something like that would happen," said Skywarp. "Why must he always antagonize everyone?"

"I admire his stubborn hardheadedness," said Sunstorm.

Slipstream and Soundwave entered the chamber. They ignored the self-abusive Thundercracker and walked up to the other clones.

"How's it coming?" asked Slipstream.

"We know exactly what is going on," said Ramjet.

"They shoved us out and began working," continued Skywarp. "We have no idea what they are doing."

Soundwave approached the curtain. "Constructicons: Report!"

"Cool your exhaust Chief," said Dirtboss as he emerged from behind the curtain. "We just finished." The small Constructicon cleared his voice box. "Lady and Gentlecons, it is wit' great pride that I introduce, the New Constructicons!"

Mix and Scrapper pulled the curtain apart, revealing three new robots. They were all a mix of yellow-green and other dull colors in their armor. One had treads for legs and a drill for a head. The face had a red visor. He was fairly lean figured. The next was a hulking bot with a huge shovel across his chest. He had a shovel-jaw that seemed to carry a permanent grimace as he growled. The third had a long left arm with a wrecking ball attached to it. His face was visored.

"Allow me to introduce Drillbit," Dirtboss motioned to the drill-headed bot, who spun his head arround while stupidly laughing; "Long Haul," He then motioned to the big bot, who growled angrily; "And Wrecker." The final bot swung around his wrecking ball, cracking part of the wall.

Skywarp shouted in panic as he his behind Slipstream. The femme rolled her optics.

"Excellent," said Soundwave. "Begin testing within the city at once."

"Ahh, do we have too?" Asked Scrapper, looking tired.

"Yeah, we just did several hours worth of work here," continued Mix. "Union-scheduled break."

Dirtboss stared daggers the two original Constructicons. "You get a break WHEN I SEZ YOU GET A BREAK! Cappishe?!"

"R-right Dirtboss," both cons replied with a panicked look.

Dirtboss grinned. "Constructicons! Transform and Punch the Clock!"

Each transformed into their vehicle mode and rolled out of the cave. Drillbit became a drill tank. Long Haul became a scoop-loader. Wrecker became a crane and wrecking-ball. All six Constructicons drove to the special ferry they had stolen to give the non-flying cons easy access to the mainland.

Detroit.

A short time later.

Fanzone was driving back to the prescient, enjoying a donut as he drove the beat-up yellow car that was once copied by a certain obnoxious yellow bot. He smiled as he remembered the days with the Autobots. Sure they were a pain, but they had real heart.

His reminiscence is cut short by an explosion far off. "What the…?"

Fanzone pulled over and hopped out of the car. Using a pair of binoculars, he looked towards the bay area where the blast had originated. Through his binoculars, he could see the six Constructicons tearing up several buildings.

Fanzone grabbed his radio. "All Headmaster units, this is Commissioner Fanzone to all Headmaster Units! Report to the bay area! This is a code 1 emergency! I repeat, a code 1 emergency! We have Decepticons in the city!"

Long Haul burst out of the building, not stopping as he plowed into another. "Stupid buildings!" He shouted. "I'll crush you all!"

Drillbit giggled as he bore hole after hole into the ground. "Ooh, dis is fun. So many places to make holes!"

Wrecker threw his ball into nearby buildings. "Ah," he said the a gratified sigh, "I love dis job."

While the others caused chaos, Scrap and Mix sat at a gas station, taking their fill from the pumps.

"Boy," said Scrapper. "Deese guys sure like destroying stuff."

"Yeah," Mix replied. "A bit too high-strung if you ask me." He took a drink from one of the pumps. "You know, dis BP stuff ain't too bad."

"Whatever," Scrapper replied. "Give me good-ol' fashioned diesel any day."

"WHAT THE SCRAP ARE YOU TWO DOING!?"

They both flinched at the voice before Dirtboss smacked them both across the head.

"How many times do I have to tell you glitches?" he said angrily. "No Breaks! Now Move It!"

Both cons grumbled as they pulled themselves to their feet. They began to join in the devastation, when the sound of sirens hit their audio-receptors.

"Oh geez, its da fuzz," said Scrap in a panic.

Dirtboss just smiled. "Perfect."

A whole army of police cars drove up to the cons. The drivers shot out of openings in the roofs of their vehicles.

"Head On!"

The Headmasters all assumed robot mode. They all pointed their rifles at the six cons, who grouped together.

"Decepticons!" said one. "Surrender now! You are all under arrest!"

"Nice new trick flesh-bags," said Dirtboss. "But we got a few tricks of our own, right boys?"

"Right Boss!" said the three newbies.

Scrap and Mix looked nervously at their leader.

"Uh, are you sure about dis boss?" asked Scrapper.

"Don't question me!" He ordered. "Just do it!"

"Right," replied Mix nervously. "No problem Boss."

"Awright den!" Dirtboss declared. "CONSTRUCTICONS: MERGE!"

Mixmaster and Long Haul both shifted to vehicle mode. The body of Long Haul and the tanker of Mix both folded up, forming large metal legs. Scrapper leaped up and linked into the two other cons, forming the pelvic and abdominal areas. Dirtboss leaped onto Scrapper and formed into the torso. Wrecker and Drillbit both leaped up and linked into the sides of Dirtboss, forming metal arms. From the top of Dirtboss' body emerged a black-helmeted head with a chrome face. The green and black titan towered over the patrol of Headmasters. He grinned confidently as he flexed his massive pistons threateningly.

"I AM DEVASTATOR!" He declared in Dirtboss' voice.

The Headmaster patrols panicked as they began firing at the massive Decepticon. He just laughed and kicked many of them out of the way. The robot armors went flying. Their drivers ejected from the damaged bodies and began to retreat, while the undamaged units transformed and drove off.

"Heh," The giant scoffed. "So much for da fuzz."

"Hey, I t'ink I can see our old place from here Mix," came the unexpected voice of Scrapper.

"Hey, are you supposed ta be the one talkin'?" Asked Mixmaster's voice. "Hey! now I'm talkin'!"

"Great!" called Drillbit. "Now I can fulfill my lifelong dream." He began to sing loudly over the city. "Spinning, Spinning, all the world's a Spinning!"

"SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

At that declaration, all the other voices silenced.

"If any of youse mugs so much as THINKS another word, I swear on the Spark of Megatron you will regret it 'til da day you go off line! Got it?!"

The voice of Dirtboss received no reply.

"Good!" He said to the silence. "Now, Where was I? Oh, yes."

Devastator then crushed the gas station under his foot. This set off a fiery blast. The massive Decepticon laughed as he continued to tear down buildings around himself.

Sari loved riding her motorcycle. The wind in her hair, the sound of the engine, all so soothing. The heavily modified red chopper tore up the streets of Detroit. As she drove, she became aware of the heavy explosions near-by.

Sari sighed in frustration. "Can I never get any time to myself?" she asked.

Shifting to Robot mode, Sari put her bike in high gear and drove towards the explosions. As she drove, she was shocked to see several police vehicles driving in the opposite direction. She was fairly certain they were all her Headmasters. Sure enough she came across the massive Devastator as he laid waste to the town.

"Okay," she said as she observed the gigantic mech. "This may be a bit out of my league."

She pressed a button on her dash. Instantly the image of her father appeared on the dash.

"Sari!" he said. "What in heaven's name is going on our there?"

"There's no time!" she exclaimed as she tailed the destructive machine. "Activate the Spacebridge! We're making a call to some old friends."

Cybertron.

Inside the Medical center, Optimus, Jazz and Goldbug all waited to here the condition of the Aerialbots. They had been waiting most of the day for some sort of news. Optimus sat impatiently.

Jazz, seeing how tense Prime was, decided to speak. "Don't sweat it O P," he said. "I'm sure those new boys are going to be just fine."

Optimus Prime nodded at his second-in-command's words. "I'm just frustrated," he said. "We have no idea when the Decepticons will overcome the loss of Megatron and reestablish themselves. The theft at the academy gives me even greater cause to worry. Whatever information the Cons have is just one more thing we have to worry about."

"Don't worry about it Boss-bot," said Goldbug. "We handled Megatron didn't we? Nothing else the cons could ever come up with would ever match him."

"I hope you're right Goldbug," Prime replied, standing up. "All the same, I would feel much better knowing we had an edge."

Ratchet entered into the waiting area.

"How are they Ratchet?" asked Prime.

"No serious damage," the old war-vet replied. "They're already up and anxious to try some crazy stunt flying."

Prime could detect a tone of concern in Ratchet's voice. "What is it?" He asked.

"The combination caused an overload of their personality circuits," the old bot replied. "Too many minds running one body. Until the problem can be filtered out, I think it would be best if those boys not try combining again."

"What would happen if they did?" asked Goldbug.

"Worst case scenario," Ratchet replied, "their personality circuits would overload and fry, permanently wiping their minds clean. Basically, it would destroy those boys."

"Did you tell them?" asked Jazz.

"It's my duty," Ratchet said sullenly. "They took it as well as can be expected."

The four Autobots stood silently for a time. Suddenly, a sound came to Prime's attention. He activated his comm.

"Optimus Prime Sir," came the voice of Cliffjumper. "The spacebridge is open and there's a message coming through for you. It appears to be from Earth. They say it's urgent."

"I'll take it here," Prime replied.

A holographic image appeared before the Autobots. It was Issac Sumdac with a panicked look on his face.

"Optimus Prime, there is a terrible crisis here on Earth!" He said. "A Gigantic Decepticon has appeared in the city and is causing untold amounts of destruction."

The image changed to Devastator destroying the city. The Autobots watched the situation in shock.

"Well, now we know what was stolen from the Academy's mainframe," observed Goldbug stoically.

"Please Optimus Prime," begged Sumdac as his face reappeared. "Please hurry, Sari is out there!"

Goldbug's attention was piqued at the mention of Sari.

The message ended. Optimus turned to his men. "Jazz! Goldbug! Get yourselves to the spacebridge! Tell Bulkhead to have it ready post-haste."

"Roger!" replied both bots as they ran out of the building.

Optimus turned to Ratchet. "Fetch the Aerialbots, they're coming too."

"But Prime…" Ratchet protested.

"I know they can't combine," said Prime, "but they can still provide air support. Get them."

Ratchet gave Prime a curious look before running to follow his orders. "I don't like this," he muttered.

Earth.

Sari followed closely behind the giant monstrosity. She was still contemplating trying to fight it, but given the higher-than-usual scale difference, she hesitated. Soon however she saw a stalled school bus in the destroyer machine's path. The bus was filled with scared human children.

"Oh Slag!" Sari exclaimed.

Activating a switch, Sari's bike began to transform. Hydrofoils shot it up on its front tire as the drive section folded up. Jets propelled the machine off the ground as the front wheel separated and formed a pair of hover-jets. She flew up to Devastator's head. Just as he was about to step on the bus, Sari blasted his head with her arm-blasters. The giant con turned and looked for the source of the attack. He was shocked to see Sari floating by his eye.

"Hey slag-head!" she shouted. "Why don't you pick on someone 1/100th your size?"

The machine grinned. "Well well, what have we here? A little Pixie?" He laughed.

Sari fired missiles from her bike right into his eye. The giant screamed in pain, grasping his eye. Angrily, he swatted the small femme. Sari flew several blocks before skidding across the pavement. Her bike shattered and her armor tore.

As she came to a halt, Sari groaned in pain. "Okay," she said. "that was stupid."

The thuds of Giant footsteps alerted her as the massive Decepticon stood over her. He raised his hand and was about to swing down and squash her.

Suddenly, a gold muscle-car raced up through the giant's legs and skidded to a halt in front of her. In a second, Goldbug transformed and fired his stingers into the monster's palm, causing him to flinch back. Sari looked up at the Autobot warrior in surprise. When she saw his face, she was even more surprised.

"Bumblebee?"

The Gold Autobot smiled at his small friend. "It's been a long time Sari," he replied.

"I'll say, " she said, noting his height.

"RAHH!"

Devastator roared down on them. He was kept from attacking by a series of missiles shot by the Aerialbots. The jets flew past him as he swung to hit them. They transformed to robot mode and used their hand blasters and missiles to attack the massive con.

Goldbug changed back to vehicle mode. He opened the driver's door. "Hop in!" He said.

Sari complied, and they drove off and away from the killer Devastator. Devastator growled angrily as he swiped at the Aerialbots.

"Take this you big Ugly!" shouted Firefight as he lobbed missiles at the giant.

"Take it easy Firefight!" called Silverbolt. "Skydive, Idea's?"

"Aim for the joints," He replied. "They should be his weakest points."

As the Aerialbots circled the massive con, Prime and Jazz stood on the roof of a nearby building. Behind Prime was his new Trailer, a much bulkier model than his previous trailers with a long fire ladder.

"Sure you're up to this?" asked Jazz.

"It's our best hope right now," Prime said. He then grinned confidently. "Besides, I've been looking forward to this."

Jazz grinned as well. "Solid."

Prime stepped in front of his trailer. "Optimus Prime: Transform!"

Prime leaped up as the Trailer flipped up. The Upper parts of the front section folded forward and formed massive arms. The Ladder moved forward and the back section spilt, forming massive legs. Prime's body folded up and linked into the cab section. A larger helmet with wing-like horns on the sides locked in over his, with a secondary visor covering his mouth.

"OPTIMUS PRIME: SUPER MODE!"

Prime, now equipped with this new battle armor, leaped at Devastator and punched him in the face. Surprisingly, he was able to produce enough force to knock the Decepticon down.

"What the…?" Devastator asked in shock.

He then saw Prime standing on another building. He threw a punch at the smaller bot, but Prime leaped onto the hand. The ladder on his back extended forward, spraying high amounts of concentrated water at the combiner's face. Devastator shook Prime off, but the Autobot Leader continued his assault. He pulled a larger axe from his storage area and swung at Devastator's legs. The monster cried out in pain.

Sari and Goldbug watched the fight from a distance.

"Prime seems to be doing good," Sari commented.

"Not good enough," commented Goldbug. "I think we're just making it mad."

Sari looked at her long-time friend with surprise. Had matured so much in the time they had been apart. Then again, she was hardly one to talk.

"You seem to be taking this pretty seriously," she said. "You've changed a lot Bumblebee."

"It's not Bumblebee," he said.

"Huh?"

"My name," he continued. "It's not Bumblebee. I changed it. I'm Goldbug now."

"Really?" she asked in surprise. "Okay then, Goldbug, What are we going to do?"

"Right now, nothing," he said. "All we can do is hope Prime can handle this. Otherwise…" He looked up to the Aerialbots circling above.

With one strike, Devastator managed to make a clean hit on Prime. He knocked the lead Autobot into a building with enough force to crumble it. The Aerialbots watched in concern from above.

"This is nuts!" said Firefight, "We should combine and take out this guy!"

"But you heard Ratchet," replied Air Raid.

"Forget Ratchet!" said Slingshot. "Prime needs us!"

"It would be extremely risky," Skydive cautioned.

"No, they're right," said Silverbolt. "We're Autobots. Protecting others is what we were built for."

"Finally," said Firefight. "Now you sound like a leader!"

Silverbolt grinned at the complement. "Aerialbots: Combine!"

"SUPERION!!!"

In a flash, the five bots flew up and linked together. The massive robot hero descended from the heavens and delivered a drop-kick on Devastator. As he landed, Superion entered a battle stance.

"Let's do this!" called Silverbolt's voice.

From the Rubble, Prime emerged, only mildly damaged. He looked up and saw the two towering Transformers facing each other.

"No!" He called. "Don't do it! It's too risky!"

"Risk comes with the job sir," Superion replied. "This is what we were made for."

Sari looked with a shocked gaze at the second giant. "Wow! No that's impressive."

"No, it's bad," Goldbug replied. "Doing that will destroy them."

Far off from them, helping civilians get out of the area, Jazz watched this event with great reservation. "I hope you kids know what y'alls doing."

Devastator regarded the other bot for a moment before laughing. "So you're the guy Soundwave ripped off eh?" He said. "I suppose I should t'ank you. T'anks to you, I'm now da strongest robot in existence! I'll destroy whole worlds with this power."

"Yeah? I'd like to see that!" Said the voice of Firefight. "Uh, oh!"

"It's happening again," said Air Raid's voice with panic.

"Just ignore it," replied Silverbolt. "Focus on fighting!"

The two titans clashed. Superion was much faster than the bulky Devastator, but Devastator was much stronger. Superion tried his hardest to fight back, but the constant mind swapping and growing pain in his processors made it difficult. Soon his hits failed to connect and he could no longer focus from the constant pain.

"What's wrong kid?" Asked Devastator as he punched the mech across the face. "Can't even control your own body?"

Superion was quickly knocked to the ground. Devastator stepped on his chest triumphantly.

"Too bad kiddies," he said. "If you had a better Leader, maybe you would stand a chance. As is, there's no chance that you could ever beat me!"

Superion felt dread from all of his parts at that point. As he struggled against the pressure on his torso, he heard a small sound, looking to the side, he saw a crying child. The kid had been left behind in the panic. Devastator also noticed this. Grinning malevolently, he purposefully crumbled the roof of the building over the child. Seeing this, all of Superion Reacted. Just as the piece of roof was about to hit, he reached out and caught the rubble. In an instant, the child's mother ran up. She held the child to her as she carried him away from the scene.

His eyes glowing with anger, Superion threw the rubble at Devastator's face. This distraction allowed him to throw off the metal menace.

"What the heck…?" Devastator asked before being decked by his opponent.

"You just made a big mistake you creep!" Superion said, not in one voice, but in all five voices. "You just pissed us off!!!!!"

He then began to lay down a serious beating on the Decepticon. Devatator couldn't counter, the blows came so fast. Eventually, Superion kicked his enemy into a tall building. While the monster stood stunned, Superion drew a massive blade from his storage area.

"STAR SABRE!"

The blade glowed bright blue in Superion's hand. He raised it above his head as massive amounts of energy flowed from the blade.

"AERIAL… EDGE!!!!!"

A downward swipe, a horizontal, another horizontal, and a vertical upswipe. For a few seconds after the attack, nothing happened. Then, the massive Decepticon fell to pieces. Each con was perfectly rended from the others and they all flopped around as body parts.

"Oh Slag!" called the Dirtboss torso. "He severed da circuits! I can't change back!"

"Me neither!" complained Mixmaster-leg. "Dis is so uncomfortable!"

"You're uncomfortable!?" said Scrapper angrily. "I'm a freak'n pelvis! A Pelvis!!!"

"Constructicons retreat!" Dirtboss ordered.

The machines all flopped away awkwardly. Superion split into his composite parts. The Aerialbots watched with laughter as their opponent ran off with little-to-no dignity.

Several hours later on Sumdac tower, Prime addressed the Aerialbots.

"You all did very well today," he said. "I'm proud of all of you."

"Thank you sir," Silverbolt replied with a salute.

"However, you also had a hand in some of the property damage in this city," Prime continued. "And since the Constructicons are unlikely to do their half of the work, I want you boys to stay here and help the humans clean up this mess."

The Aerialbots looked at Prime in surprise, then surveyed exactly how much of the city had been destroyed. Safe to say, this was going to take a while. They all groaned in annoyance.

"Let that be a lesson not to try a dangerous stunt like that again," Prime said. "Now get to work!"

"Yes sir," they all replied. They flew off to join the construction crews.

Jazz shook his head. "You think that was necessary. You could have just told them to stay here and keep an optic out for the Constructicons."

"Discipline keeps an army on its servos," Prime replied. "Plus the work will give them a chance to interact with the people."

Sari looked at Prime with some surprise. He had certainly filled out the roll of leader well as far as she could tell.

"So," she said. "I guess you boys will be leaving."

"Cybertron can't protect itself Lil'sister," replied Jazz.

Goldbug leaned down next to Sari as the others moved to the Spacebridge lift. "It was…good, to see you again Sari," he said.

Sari nodded reaching out her hand. "I'll see you around I guess," she said with a sad tone.

"Yeah," Goldbug replied.

The shake was tentative at best. It was brief and soon Goldbug was on his feet and headed towards the lift. Prime had watched the exchange curiously and as the lift rose, he came to a decision.

"You know Goldbug," he said, "the Aerialbots are going to need someone to help them adjust to life on Earth. Someone who knows Earth culture better than anyone."

"What are you saying sir?" Goldbug asked curiously.

"Well, since me and Jazz are needed on Cybertron, that leaves you as the only available expert here," Prime said with a sly grin.

"Y-you mean…"

Prime nodded. "Goldbug, you are now the commanding officer of the Autobots on planet Earth. Good luck soldier." He saluted the young guardsman.

Jazz also smiled and saluted. "Go for it my man."

Goldbug smiled widely. "Yes! Thank You!" He said excitedly before catching himself. He regained his composure. "Thank you Optimus Prime Sir. I will gladly accept this mission."

Both commanders nodded as Goldbug leaped off the lift and down to Sari. The young woman was shocked as her friend landed in front of her.

"What's going on?!" she asked.

"I can stay," he said excitedly. "Prime said I was in charge and that I can stay!"

As this sunk in, a happy smile and joyful tears appeared upon Sari's face. She leaped onto his chest and hugged the Golden bot without restraint. He hugged her back gently, the two friends expressing their joy at this reunion. When they finally realized what they were doing, they broke apart with an embarrassed blush.

Their embarrassment was forgotten as Prime and Jazz leaped into the spacebridge and disappeared. The sun was setting over the city. Alone, the two friends enjoyed the beautiful sight.

"All in all," Sari said, "not a bad day's ending."

"Somehow," Goldbug replied, "I get the sense this is only the beginning."

To be continued

AN: WOW did this turn out long! This was a big project for me, but I loved making it. I hope you all enjoy reading it.

Next Episode:

Beast Wars