Chapter Text
Knock Out was starting to think this mission might work out for him.
He initially wasn’t too jazzed about the idea of his partner being replaced by an insecticon of all things, but it only took about 30 clicks of digging in these strange human tunnels till they found the relic.
And when the Autobots showed up, he outsmarted the puny two-wheeler in no time, and was able to speed off with his prize. The insecticon could deal with the rest of the dirty work, and Knock Out would get to take all the credit for securing the relic.
And he needed that credit. After Starscream decided to ditch, Megatron had been keeping his soldiers on a shorter leash, and with Arachnid leaving, and killing Breakdown. Megatron wasn’t taking any more chances. He practically had to live with two vehicon guards, like now that Breakdown was gone, Knock Out would start thinking of ditching too.
Which, admittedly , isn't entirely wrong, but he misses the freedom he had before. Why should Knock Out be punished if he was the most loyal? Seemed like a personal attack if you asked him.
Now, what exactly this relic did was still a mystery, but as long as it got Megatron off his aft for a couple of cycles, he didn’t care what it did.
Though, his celebration would have to wait, as he hears a car accelerate behind him. Knock Out adjusts his rearview mirror to find the source is a familiar yellow camaro.
Of course they wouldn’t just make it easy on him by just sending ‘Arcee.’
At least Bumblebee would actually race him this time.
He thought back to the last pursuit, when Bumblebee wouldn’t transform, and was almost glad to see the Autobot back on his wheels. It had been pathetic to watch the bot try and chase after him on his peds.
“Well well, look who got his treads back!” Knock Out quips as he increases his speed. Bumblebee lags behind a bit, and Knock Out takes this chance to look around the seemingly endless subway for anything he can use to his advantage. He eventually spots an intersecting tunnel feeding off behind him. It’ll have to do.
Knock Out slams on his brakes and turns sharply to the left, adjusting as he drives over the tracks, and turning around to go through the tunnel. He knows the move won't lose Bumblebee, but he’s hoping it will at least allow him to increase the space between them.
Unfortunately for Knock Out, Bumblebee doesn’t even hesitate, replicating his move, and shortening the gap between them. Bumblebee uses the opportunity to transform and launch himself over Knock Out.
He tries to swerve out of the way but Bumblebee lands straight on his hood, jabbing his front bumper down into the rails and scraping them against it as he slides forward.
Great , that will take forever to buff out.
Knock Out tries to transform, but Bumblebee grabs his front and spins, throwing him down the tunnel. The move, mixed with this timely transformation, flings the relic from his interior and down the tunnel.
He finishes shifting in the air and crashes into the nearby wall, his helm taking the brunt of the force and his vision momentarily clouded with warnings.
He growls in frustration, and shoves the warnings away, pushing himself up onto his peds and rushing after Bumblebee.
When Knock Out catches up to him, he rams his shoulder into the smaller bot, making him stumble for a moment and let out a surprised beep. He smirks at the sound and leaps towards the relic, grabbing it and pulling it close, just in time for Bumblebee to land on top of him and try to pry it from his servos.
After a moment of struggle he lands a steady kick to Bumblebee’s chassis, throwing him a few yards back, and pushes himself to his peds.
He vents for a moment and looks down at the relic safely in his servos once again, and turns around with a smug grin to look at his aggressor.
“Nice try, Autobot, but let’s see how you fair against this !” Primus, I hoped this did something useful. He points the device towards Bumblebee and activates it. It sparks for a click before it shoots a green beam of light through Knock Out, landing behind him.
Knock Out groans. This day was going just great. Of course he would point the device the wrong direction.
He turns around, hoping it was at least something he could use, but all he sees is the familiar glow of a groundbridge. Primus just can’t let him have this, can he.
“Ugh, a groundbridge! Really!? ” Knock Out complains before Bumblebee rams into his back, making him stumble and fling the device into the opening.
Welp, into the mysterious groundbridge he goes.
He groans before transforming into vehicle mode again, and racing through the portal opening, hearing the other bot do the same.
If the ground bridge feels a bit different than it usually does, Knock Out doesn’t notice. Instead focusing on accelerating through the gateway before Bumblebee gets a chance to catch up.
He breaks out the other side of the bridge and slams on his brakes when he gets through, quickly scanning the area. He’s right in the middle of a canyon, terracotta walls tower over him on either side. He looks to one side and sees the canyon fuse in with the mountain. He looks to the other and notices the crevice opens into a rocky— yet completely empty— desert.
Great . The stupid groundbridge just took him into the middle of nowhere. Knock Out transforms and looks around for the relic, his gaze drifting over to the portal in time to catch Bumblebee speed through and transform. He lands on his peds, and quickly points his blasters at Knockout, while scanning the area for the relic himself.
When Bumblebee can’t seem to find it either, Knockout speaks up, “Oh no, it must have been single use. Why don’t you be a good little scout and report that back to Prime.”
That finally gets a response out of Bumblebee, and he pauses before translating his beeps into words. “You do with relic what?”
Knock Out always struggled to understand the old Cybertronian the bot was forced to use and with how outdated the language was, he was pretty sure Bumblebee couldn’t even say most words. He honestly didn’t understand why the autobots put up with it all the time. Despite this, he understood that the bot was accusing him, and rushed to his defense.
“Nothing! Honestly !” he says back, raising his hands in fake surrender as he continues to look around the area. It has to be around here somewhere.
The two stand in a tense silence for a moment before Knock Out remembers his staff resting comfortably against his backplates and gets an idea. He lowers his hands and looks into Bumblebee’s optics. The autobot prepares for Knock Out to attack again, and charges up his blasters.
Knock Out quickly grabs his staff and throws it at Bumblebee. Not expecting it, the yellow bot fires his blaster instead of dodging, allowing the unexpected projectile to hit its mark. Bumblebee’s shot hits Knock Out’s chassis and pushes him back.
He lands on the ground and scoffs at the new dent on his chassis. Poking at it for a bit before he looks up to see that his idea worked. Bumblebee was lying on the ground, his parts frozen in a forced stasis lock.
He brushes himself off and walks towards Bumblebee, scanning the canyon one last time. He supposes if neither of them spotted the relic, then there’s a chance it didn’t go through the portal. Knock Out looks back down at Bumblebee as frustration bubbles up. If he was going to be fragged anyway, then why should the other bot get to walk away scratch free?
Forcing a smug smirk, He grabs Bumblebee’s front and turns his face to look at him. Knock Out shifts his arm into his saw and holds it up to the other bots chest. “Well, if I can't bring Megatron back the relic, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind the head of his favorite Scout.” Knock Out holds the saw closer to Bee’s throat, when a small glimmer catches his optics and just a few clicks away he spots the relic, the shining metal poking out from behind a rock.
“I guess it’s your lucky day,” he says, partly to himself, and drops the Autobot. Bumblebee crumples to the ground, unable to catch himself. Knock Out steps over Bumblebee’s stasis-locked form and walks towards the relic.
He picks it up and examines it. Megatron won’t be happy about the state of the relic, but it's better than if he came back empty handed like he thought he would.
Knock Out steps over the bumblebee again and waves the relic in his line of sight with a slag-eating grin on his faceplate.
“A pleasure as always, Bumblebee”
He turns around, ready to transform and escape, but freezes, energon going cold in his circuits when he spots Optimus Prime standing at the entrance of the ravine.
Scrap.
Knock Out looks at the ground beside him and notices that Bumblebee has started to move his arms. He narrows his optics at Knock Out, before widening them as he catches sight of Optimus Prime.
Knock Out takes a few steps back, angling himself away from Bumblebee and Optimus, but finds himself backed into the wall of the ravine. He watches as Bumblebee is able to shakily push himself up and moves towards the Prime at the entrance.
Oh he is so fragged.