“This is not Cybertron. We must have landed on another, far inferior planet.”
Then he spots a discarded tin can. “Is that the best sustenance this ragged rock has to offer?” he squawks.
He pinches the can with his beak and swallows it in one gulp.
Suddenly, the Decepticon feels a wonderful sensation. His body ripples with energy. It grows bigger and more menacing.
“Hmm, this rock may have something to offer me after all!”
Russell and his father finally arrive at the amusement park and drive around to where Doug’s Den is located.
A man with glasses and a ponytail is waiting for them with a big grin on his face. Russell guesses that it is Doug.
“Denny, you ol’ sea dog!” Doug hollers as Russell and his dad exit the pickup. He squeezes Denny in a bear hug that lifts him off the ground.
“Dougie, you haven’t changed a bit. I want you to meet my son, Rusty.”
The boy shakes Doug’s hand and says, “It’s Russell, actually.”
“And I’m Doug,” the man says with a wink. “Come on in, I’ll show you around!”
Russell and his father walk through the arcade, looking at all the classic video games. There is one where a yellow circle with a mouth eats white dots while running from multicolored ghosts. Another one stars a short plumber with a mustache that has to save a princess.
“Wow! This is awesome!” Denny gushes. “What do you think, Rusty?”
“I think it’s cool… if not a little old.”
“Russell, apologize!” his father scolds.
Doug laughs. “No offense taken. The boy’s right. Kids today have portable, digital, highly advanced technology in the palm of their hands. Why would they waste their time with these clunky old dinosaurs?”
“You don’t need to tell me about clunky dinosaurs,” Denny says. He looks at Russell with a gleam in his eye. Russell smiles knowingly.
“I might as well shut this place down or turn it into a museum,” Doug continues. “I’ll charge people to come in and hear me say, ‘The first coin-operated pinball machine was introduced in 1931.’”
Denny brightens. “And speaking of pinball machines…”
“Oh, yes! Right this way.”
The group circles around back to the loading dock, where two time-ravaged pinball machines stand wrapped in plastic.
Russell can see the intricate illustrations painted on the back panels of each game. They are of a grizzled adventurer wearing a leather jacket and brown fedora. In one, he is riding a horse into the mouth of a cave shaped like a skull. In the other, he swings on a rope over a pit of cobras surrounded by flames.
Hmm, maybe these things aren’t so boring after all, Russell thinks.
About half an hour later, after loading their truck and bidding Doug farewell, the duo is back on the road again.
“I can’t wait to tinker with them,” Denny says. “Maybe even put some of that Autobot tech in ’em. Make ’em outta this world!”
Rusty smiles. That turned out to be a fun little adventure after all.
When they reach the bridge, Denny slams on the brakes.
There appears to be a traffic jam, with several bystanders looking over the side of the bridge.
Suddenly, a screeching creature swoops up into the air.
“Is that a hawk?” Russell asks.
“It looks more like a vulture,” Denny says, puzzled. “We don’t have many in these parts, though.”
Just as suddenly, the winged beast dives and lands on the hood of the pickup, denting it under his massive weight.
CRUNCH!
Denny and Russell see the Decepticon logo on the vulture’s gleaming metallic hide.
“Wish we had some Autobot tech with us right now!” Russell yells.
Chapter 4
SCREEEEEECH!
The sound of metal scraping metal is ear piercing as the Decepticon digs his claws into the hood of Denny’s pickup truck.
“A prisoner has escaped!” Russell cries.
“Rusty, look out!” shouts Denny.
The vulture pecks at the glass with his giant beak. Thin cracks creep across the windshield in a spiderweb pattern.
“We gotta call Bumblebee!” yells Russell.
“First, we gotta get this thing away from the people,” replies Denny. He wrenches the wheel to the left, causing the pickup to go off the road and into the woods.
The Decepticon hisses in surprise and digs his talons in deeper to maintain a grip on the hood. Then he glares at Denny.
“We’re taking the scenic route, you big buzzard,” Denny says.
Rusty fumbles for the CB radio on the truck’s dashboard. Once he pries it loose, he clicks on the receiver to open a connection.
The pickup’s tires bump along the uneven terrain, jostling Russell. He drops the radio, and it slides under his seat.
Denny shouts a warning as the Decepticon rears his head back for another attack. “Get down and cover your head!”
The vulture stabs at the glass again, this time penetrating it with his beak.
SHUNK!
“AAAH!”
Denny screams and reflexively turns on the windshield wipers. They begin swishing from side to side, momentarily hypnotizing the rampaging robot.
Screeching with annoyance, the Decepticon chomps down and rips them off. He chews them but finds them unsatisfactory.
“BLEH!” he yells, spitting them out. Then he turns to attack again. The windshield will not withstand another hit.
Denny uses his wits and—in a last-ditch effort—squirts the bad birdbot with wiper fluid.
SQUIRRRT!
The liquid coats the vulture’s face, blinding him. Flailing his wings, he loses balance and lurches backward.
Denny cuts the wheel one more time, causing the truck to swerve in a complete circle. The Decepticon tumbles off the hood, claws at the air, and slams into a nearby tree trunk.
BAM!
Unfortunately, one of the pinball machines is jarred loose and falls out and onto the ground. The glass display shatters into a million pieces. The metal gears and ball bearings roll over the grass, glinting and shimmering under the sun.
This catches the vulture’s attention, and he descends upon the arcade game, rending it apart. The priceless pinball machine is now nothing more than a worthless chew toy.
“Oh, man!” Denny laments, looking over his shoulder.
Without a moment to lose, he slams on the gas and the pickup truck speeds off toward the scrapyard.
Russell finally gets his hands on the CB radio and tries to contact the command center.
“There’s no answer, Dad,” he says.
Denny gulps and tries not to look worried in front of his son. He wipes the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand.
“Do you think our friends are in trouble?” Russell asks.
“Only one way to find out,” replies Denny. “We’re almost there.”
Father and son ride the rest of the way in silence, both wondering what will be the outcome of this Decepticon disaster.
Chapter 5
When Russell and Denny arrive, they jump out of the truck and rush into the scrapyard, only to find it eerily quiet.
“Where is everyone?” Russell asks.
“Let’s hope they didn’t get carried away,” Denny says.
“Dad!” Russell says.
With his father, the young boy runs up and down the aisles of piled junk calling out the names of their friends.
Suddenly, there is a loud crash and crunching of metal followed by painful grunts and sounds of a struggle.
“Oh no!” Russell exclaims. “That sounds like trouble to me!”
The humans sprint through the mazelike scrapyard until they discover the source of the commotion.
There, in a clearing between the busted lawn mowers and a broken tractor, is an Autobot pileup.
Sideswipe is sprawled out on the bottom. Lying on top of him are Bumblebee,
then Strongarm, and finally Grimlock.
They look exhausted and defeated. Russell notices that the robots are barely moving.
“Our friends picked the wrong time to shut down,” Denny says. “Now what are we going to do?”
Rusty cups his hands around his mouth and shouts. “HELP!”
The Autobots stir and turn toward the boy.
“Welcome back!” Sideswipe says cheerily from the bottom of the pile.
The robots climb off one another and help Sideswipe to his feet. Clutched close to his chest is a large concrete wrecking ball.
“We finally played a proper game of lob-ball,” he says. “And this ball is much better than Fixit!”
“I concur,” says the mini-con, scurrying out from behind a trash can.
“See?” Sideswipe says. “Now I can do this!”
With one swift motion, he spikes the wrecking ball into the ground, lifting a cloud of dust and debris.
Bumblebee walks over and asks, “How was your trip?”
“Terrible!” Russell exclaims. “While you guys were running around, we were running for our lives!”
“What happened?” Strongarm asks.
“We were attacked by a flying Decepticon,” Denny tells the group.
Stunned, the Autobots look at one another. Without a moment to lose, they shift into their vehicle modes.
Bumblebee becomes a sleek yellow sports car and scoops up Denny into his cab.
Sideswipe has the flashier and shinier appearance of a red sports car and takes Russell in tow.
Strongarm prides herself in her identity as a police sport-utility vehicle.
Fixit and Grimlock follow along in their bot modes because they do not have secret vehicle appearances to change into.
Together they all zoom back to the command center.
Once outside the command center, the Autobots change back into bot mode and enter. Fixit rolls to the control panel and checks the map on the big computer screen. There is a blinking dot near their location.
“It would appear that there is another Decepticon on the loon… loop… loose,” he says.
“You’re not far off,” Denny replies. “This creature was birdlike.”
“He has razor-sharp claws and a beak and wings!” Rusty adds. “He almost made a meal out of the pickup!”
Fixit clacks away on the keyboard, calling up all known flying Decepticons on the Alchemor’s manifest. A few seconds later, several images appear on the holo-scroll.
Rusty and Denny point at their assailant simultaneously.
“That one!” they shout.
“His name is Scuzzard,” Bumblebee reads. “And he is a Scavengebot. His abilities are similar to those of a Chompozoid.”
“Our enemy Underbite is a Chompozoid, remember?” Strongarm adds. “When these Decepticons consume metal, it supercharges their bodies until they become unstoppable.”
“Scavengebots have the compulsion to rend everything apart before they consume it. Most of them are pretty harmless and feast on scrap metal,” explains Bumblebee. “Not Scuzzard, though.”
“Hmm, I seem to remember his case,” Strongarm says. “He was arrested for laying waste to a good part of Kaon’s industrial area. It took an entire squadron of the capital’s police force to detain and contain him!”
Denny spoke up. “This creature was about to destroy the bridge before he set his sights on us. Made a meal out of one of my poor pinball machines, too.”
“So what’s the plan, sir?” Strongarm asks.
“Good question,” Bumblebee replies. “We need to lure the predator away from civilians, get him into a secluded area, and subdue him as quickly as possible.”
“Finally!” Sideswipe says. “Just what I needed to flex my pistons!”
Bumblebee smiles. “You’ve given me an idea, Sideswipe. We’ll send you out as a decoy.”
“Wait, what?” replies the young Autobot. “That is a bad idea.”
“Not really,” adds Strongarm. “You’re red, shiny, and quick to catch attention. Perfect bait!”
“And you’re fast,” concludes Bumblebee.
Sideswipe tries to protest, but he agrees with everything his teammates have said.
“You’re right,” he says. “I make Decepticon hunting look good.”
The hotshot Autobot admires his own reflection in the mirror of an old vanity nearby.
Strongarm aims her blaster and pulverizes the piece of furniture.
“Eek!” Grimlock shrieks. “That’s seven cycles of bad luck!”
“Get over yourself,” Strongarm says to Sideswipe.
“You get over yourself!” Sideswipe retorts.
“Let’s get this mission over with, please,” Bumblebee interrupts. Then he doles out orders to the rest of the team. “Fixit, send us Scuzzard’s coordinates.”
As the mini-con complies, Russell and Denny consult the map.
“Hmm, that buzzardbot seems to have flown into town and is circling the area above my buddy’s arcade,” Denny observes.
“You have to move fast before he attacks!” Russell says.
“There’s a mile of deserted road in the forest leading back here,” Denny tells Bumblebee. “It’s a longer route, but you can avoid the bridge and being seen by humans.”
“Thank you,” Bumblebee says. Then he turns to Sideswipe.
“You will get Scuzzard’s attention and lure him back to the deserted road. Strongarm and I will be waiting to form a triangulation and trap him with our neo-forges.”
“What about me?” asks Grimlock.
“You will stay here. These Decepticons are unpredictable. If any more of them appear, we will need you as one of our last defenses here at the base.”
Forlorn, Grimlock hangs his head.
“Okay, team,” says Bumblebee. “Let’s cruise down to bruisetown!”
The Autobots stand still and stare at their leader. His attempts at a trademark rallying cry have been less than successful since they’ve arrived on Earth.
Sideswipe smiles. “How ’bout we just rock and roll?”
Bumblebee sighs. “Yeah, we can do that, too.”
Quick as a flash, Sideswipe, Strongarm, and Bumblebee shift into vehicle mode and zoom out of the scrapyard.
Speeding through the forest, the Autobots trace Russell and Denny’s trail to the old arcade. Their radar screens blip faster and louder, indicating that the Decepticon is near.
Bumblebee and Strongarm fall back and disappear behind a thicket of trees. They lie in wait, and Sideswipe puts his part of the plan into action.
In the distance, the red sports car sees a dark shape in the sky circling Doug’s Den. At that moment, the back door opens and Doug himself exits the building. He is carrying a trash can, which he empties into a shiny metal Dumpster. Then he reenters the arcade.
Once the coast is clear, Scuzzard dives straight down and lands on the Dumpster, scattering garbage everywhere. He folds his massive wings behind him and proceeds to take giant bites out of the metal with his beak.
Sideswipe watches as the Decepticon devours the Dumpster. With each chomp, a light shimmers over his body, and Scuzzard grows larger in size. He squawks with evil glee and continues his meal.
From across the street, the Autobot steels himself and drives into the empty parking lot of the arcade.
He revs his engine.
VROOOM! VROOOM!
Scuzzard is so engrossed, he does not notice the vehicle behind him.
Exasperated, Sideswipe honks his horn impatiently, startling the escaped convict.
BEEEEEEEEEP!
Scuzzard chokes and coughs up bits of chewed metal, which land and skitter away on the asphalt.
“ACK!” He gasps. “Can’t a bot eat in peace? I haven’t had a decent meal in five cycles!”
Sideswipe honks again.
BEEEEEEEEEP!
Scuzzard whirls around to find a fire-engine red sports car made of delicious metal. “Well, well,” he says, cocking his hea
d. “Now, that looks like a decent meal!” Scuzzard stretches his wings and leaps toward Sideswipe.
The Autobot peels back in reverse, kicking up gravel, and pulls a 180-degree turn. Then he burns rubber right out of the parking lot.
“Sideswipe to Team Bee,” the hero calls into his radio. “The birdbot has flown the coop… and he’s coming right at me!”
“Perfect,” Bumblebee responds. “Now lead him to us!”
Scuzzard watches as his savory snack races away.
“I love it when they play hard to eat,” he says to himself.
The Decepticon soars high into the air for an aerial view of Sideswipe. Once the Autobot is in his sights, Scuzzard swoops down to attack.
“It’s dinnertime!”
Chapter 6
Sideswipe senses his attacker gaining on him, and he barrels off the main highway and into the nearby forest. This causes Scuzzard to lose his visual on the Autobot.
The Decepticon slows his descent and peers through the treetops. Every couple of seconds, Sideswipe’s red body becomes visible amid the lush green foliage.
“These peculiar organic objects may provide you temporary cover, my tender morsel, but your brightness betrays you,” Scuzzard says aloud. “You’re as good as digested!”
Scuzzard dives into the trees in one swift motion. His blunt body savagely rips its way through the thick branches, tearing them apart as if they were made of paper.
Sideswipe is inches away from the razor-sharp talons of his airborne adversary. He slams on the brakes and comes to a screeching halt. Scuzzard passes right over him, grazing the Autobot with his claws.
“Hey, watch the paint job, you big slag-heap!” Sideswipe shouts.
Scuzzard is slightly taken aback by the talking vehicle.
“Hmm, looks like my next meal is more than meets the eye,” he says, squinting.
Sideswipe drives into a clearing and switches into his bot mode.
“If there’s even the tiniest scratch on me, you’ll be eating liquid fuel for a cycle!”
“It appears there’s an Autobot among us,” the Decepticon hisses.
Bumblebee Versus Scuzzard Page 2
