Ok, so things in italics, like this right here, are characters' thoughts, while things in italics and quotation marks, "like this for example", are things spoken over a phone or comm. Okay? Y'all dig? ;) There's going to be a lot of that in this story, so I thought I'd explain that now.

A Transformers: Animated Short Story

Chapter One: Tragedy

Sari Sumdac collapsed on her bed after a long day of doing…well, nothing. Everything had been rather quiet lately. No AllSpark fragments showing up, no Decepticon attacks anywhere. It was as if the entire war had been put on hold. But as she had heard Ratchet say, when the enemy seems the quietest, that's when you really have to keep an eye open. Sari enjoyed the quiet for a while, but just like everyone else, she was getting restless. Just wishing something would happen.

As she turned over on her side and pulled the blanket up to her shoulder, she closed her eyes to catch some sleep before another day dawned. Just as she got comfortable, however, the cell phone on her nightstand came to life, playing the ringtone of one of her favorite songs.

"Grrrr…." She rolled over again and slammed her hand down on the phone, grasped it hard, and lifted it up in front of her maroon eyes to check the caller ID. It was Optimus Prime.

Now, why is he calling me this late? Sari wondered as she sat up and flipped the cell open.

"Yo, Big Bot! What's up?" she asked.

"Sari," came his reply, "it's Optimus." That she already knew. Optimus sometimes had a knack for stating the obvious.

"Yeah, I know," Sari smiled slightly, "what is it?"

"Well, Blitzwing and Lugnut have…resurfaced."

"What happened?" Sari started to catch on, something bad happened, she could tell by Prime's tone. She gripped her phone with two hands.

"Bumblebee and Bulkhead were out on patrol, alone, and the Cons came out of nowhere. They just…attacked them." Revealed Optimus.

"Are they hurt?" Sari's heart skipped a beat. How badly could they be hurt?

"Bulkhead escaped with minor injuries. But Bumblebee wasn't so lucky, I'm afraid."

"Prime, he's ok right? He's alive, right?" Sari threw the covers back and jumped out of her bed.

"He's in stasis lock, and badly damaged. Ratchet's working on him as we speak."

"I'm coming right away!" Sari said as she scooped her clothes out the dresser drawer.

"No need. I'm coming to get you. I'll be there soon."

Prime was indeed there soon. Just as Sari stepped out of Sumdac Tower, Optimus Prime, in his fire truck alt mode, pulled up on the side of the road in front. Once Sari hopped in and buckled up, Prime was on his way back to base, the old warehouse building that was now the Autobot headquarters.

Prime wasn't one known for speeding, but because of his worry for his friend, and the fact that Sari was almost in tears from the whole matter, he turned on his lights, his siren, and made it back to base in record time.

As soon as he pulled up, Sari jumped out and ran for the door. Prime transformed and quickly followed her, but at a more reserved pace.

Sari burst into the main area of the base, the area with the large TV where she and Bumblebee often played their video games. Now, she just saw Prowl sitting there, watching the news, looking for any sign of the Decepticons. He stood when he heard her run in.

Sari didn't acknowledge him, or even turn in his direction, she ran right through that room, and into the hallway, darting in the direction of Ratchet's med bay. She prayed her best friend would be all right once she got there.

Once she neared the med bay, she noticed Bulkhead standing there, leaning against the wall opposite the door. His servos were crossed over his chest and he was staring at the floor. He did look up once he heard tiny footsteps swiftly approaching.

Sari skid to a halt and looked up at her large friend. He looked down at her and tried to give her a reassuring smile. Sari could see that he was still damaged from his encounter with the Decepticons. He still had the dents and scrapes to prove it. Apparently, Ratchet thought the damages inflicted on Bumblebee were too extensive and he had to start repairing them immediately before he saw to anything non-life threatening.

"Bulkhead, how is he?" asked Sari, turning to the door.

"I don't really know, Sari. Those Decepticons surprise attacked us. And Bumblebee got the worst of it before I was able to transform and do anything." He sighed. "It's all my fault."

Sari continued to stare at the door, hoping Ratchet would come out any second with good news. "No it's not, Bulkhead."

"Yeah, you did everything you could." Prime said, coming up followed by Prowl.

"I guess," said Bulkhead, before he began, once again, to stare at the floor.

Sari stepped up to the med bay door, reached up, and knocked. "Ratchet, I brought my key!" She called loud enough so the medic could hear through the door.

They heard movement from behind the door, and then Ratchet opened the door, but not fully, and blocked the way in.

Sari took the key from around her neck and stepped closer, trying to go around Ratchet to get to her best friend.

"Sari," Ratchet said, stopping her from entering, "you should just give me the key, and wait out here." He reached his hand down and waited for Sari to hand it to him.

Sari gripped her key tightly. "But I'm the one who uses the key. Just let me come in and help Bee."

"Sari," Ratchet said in a sigh, "you really need to give me that key." He sounded sad and tired.

"Why can't I come in?"

"It's…uh, pretty bad, kid."

"Just do as he says, Sari." Optimus ordered. He had seen how damaged Bumblebee had been when Bulkhead brought him back. Sari did not need to see him in that condition. He hoped she wouldn't insist.

Much to his relief, Sari did hand the key to Ratchet, who smiled reassuringly at Sari, and then disappeared back behind the med bay door.

There was nothing more they could do, but wait.

They stayed that way for a while longer, before they all gravitated to the main room so they would have somewhere to sit and wait on Ratchet to come out and inform them on the state of their yellow friend.

Sari sat on the arm of the couch, her face in her hands, and her eyes staring at a lone videogame controller.

Bumblebee should be using that right now. She thought.

Just then, Ratchet stepped into the room. Everyone stood up and looked at him expectedly. Sari ran a few paces forward, then stopped and looked up at the medic as he handed the key back.

"Ratchet, is Bumblebee ok?" she looked up at him with tear filled eyes.

"The good news is, yes, Sari. He's going to be just fine." The tension in the room suddenly broke, and Sari squealed with joy.

"But I do have some bad news."

"What is it?" Optimus asked.

"Well, I only have so many supplies here. And unfortunately, I don't have what I need to get Bumblebee to a full recovery."

"And what does that mean?" Sari asked. "My key fixes anything!"

"It may fix everything, but it cannot replace what isn't there anymore. His vocal processor is gone. I don't know what happened to it, but when Bulkhead brought him in, I noticed it wasn't there. Probably ripped out during the fight, after all…he was almost unrecognizable. I won't be able to replace it unless we get the parts from Cybertron. It's a very delicate operation."

"So, this means?" asked Prowl.

"It means, for now anyway, Bumblebee's gonna be mute."

Well, isn't this a surprise? I've posted something new! Really and truly, this story isn't finished. I've written four chapters in it, and I'm a little bit stuck. I think I know where I want it to go...a little. It's still fuzzy, so I may ask for suggestions once I get to that chapter. ;)

The idea for this story was a thought I had a year back. How would Animated Bumblebee handle being mute like movieverse Bumblebee? He probably wouldn't handle it well.

And I don't know if Sari's All Spark key would have had problems replacing anything, it just worked for the story. So, just imagine it can only repair what's there, not create anything new.