“Okay,” checked Tails, “blast screen: ready. Power couplings: correct. Power source: accepted. Que the start button.”
“Why am I here?!” griped Ratchet. “To quote from DeForest Kelley’s famous role, I’m a doctor, not an engineer!”
“Well, it couldn’t hurt to have you here,” replied Perceptor. “It could explode.”
“Are you counting on it?!” yelped Ratchet.
“The power source IS a Chaos Emerald,” answered Perceptor. “We may have miscalculated on a power transfer circuit.”
“How can you be so nonchalant about a potential explosion?!” cried Ratchet. “Sometimes I wonder if you need to retire!”
“Yes, yes, I’ll get right on that,” dismissed Perceptor, not paying attention to what Ratchet said. “All right, three! Two! One!” The machine started glowing! Sparks were prevalent around the exterior! And then…it just made a sad pop before powering down. First, Ratchet poked his head from behind the blast screen, then Perceptor, and finally, Tails.
“…I guess…we overprepared,” mused Tails.
“I don’t understand!” cried Perceptor. “The theory holds! Chaos Energy mixed with Cybertronian technology should provide a stable output!”
“Why don’t we take a break?” suggested Tails. “We need to unwind for a bit and get some fresh ideas.”
“I guess so,” sighed Perceptor. “I wonder how Optimus and the Witches are getting on?” At that point, there was an explosion and an imprint of an upside-down Optimus appeared in the wall. “Never mind,” mumbled Perceptor.
“I’ll get him off,” groaned Ratchet. As he walked away, Tails ran his hands over his face.
“I told Optimus that the De-Roboticizer was more than sufficient!” he muttered. “It restored Mobians in the past without the use of magic!”
“Well, we need options,” argued Perceptor.
“But, MAGIC?!” protested Tails. “I would never say this to any of our magic-wielding friends, but the engineer in me is disappointed and finds magic to be a cheater’s method.”
“I’ve heard worse on Cybertron,” called Optimus’ voice as he and Ratchet passed them on their way to the Med-bay. Tails gulped and nervously looked to the ceiling.
“It was nice of you to show me around,” remarked Cyber-Sonic.
“As you have mentioned the past few days,” grumbled Metal Sonic, irritation creeping into his voice.
“I’ve been going over the staff here to jog my memory,” continued Cyber-Sonic, unaware of Metal’s emotional state. “Although, I HAVE noticed a discrepancy. Actually, make it three.”
“And those discrepancies are?” asked Metal in a noncommitted manner.
“Three of the bots here are missing. Decoe, Bocoe, and Bokkun,” explained Cyber-Sonic. Metal idly looked up the staff manifest and found their schematics. His interest was piqued.
“I’ve never heard of those units,” he muttered. “Excuse me.” He headed off to Eggman’s office. He keyed in his access code and indicated he was alone. The doors then opened and he could see Eggman talking to Megatron’s holo-form.
“Something I can help you with?” asked Eggman.
“Cyber-Sonic was going through the bot manifest,” explained Metal, “and discovered three bots I’m not familiar with. I believe their names were Decoe, Bocoe, and Bokkun. I haven’t seen them around the place.”
“…Regrettably,” growled Eggman as he glowered at Metal, “Decoe, Bocoe, and Bokkun are dead.”
“I see,” replied Metal.
Cyber-Sonic decided to content himself with a little Emerald search. As he scanned, a pair of blips appeared on his scanners. They faded for a while. “I must be seeing things,” he mumbled. The blips came back and kept flashing at a steady pace. “Then again!” yelped Cyber-Sonic. He then called the main monitor room. “Soundwave! I found two energy signatures! They’re moving! I think the enemy is setting up a trap!”
“Laserbeak’s just reported in!” called Soundwave. “It looks like it’s the last two Emeralds! Megatron’s sending us out! You ready to stomp some bad guys?!”
“Let’s stomp bad guys!” cheered Cyber-Sonic. A Ground Bridge opened and Cyber-Sonic went through. He met with Soundwave and Laserbeak.
“Let’s do this thing!” called Soundwave. “Laserbeak, where the Bots at?”
“They’re not Autobots,” reported Laserbeak. “They’re robots of Eggman’s design.”
“Describe them,” directed Cyber-Sonic.
“The wee one is navy blue with a big yellow M on its waist, has yellow optics, and a set of horns,” described Laserbeak. “The tallest bot is yellow, skinny, and is angular with a long head. The fat bot is silver with a round appearance. All three of them are humanoid in some fashion.”
“I know them!” yelped Cyber-Sonic. Soundwave looked a little worried. “I found schematics on them,” explained Cyber-Sonic. “The small one’s Bokkun, the tall one is Decoe, and the fat one is Bocoe.”
“Och aye,” mused Laserbeak, “but the fact remains, they aren’t Autobots.”
“Let’s go talk to them,” offered Cyber-Sonic.
“Yeah, maybe we can get some info from them,” replied Soundwave. “Laserbeak, return.” Laserbeak came up in his personal jet-glider alt-mode. His holo-form was riding on top. The holo-form disappeared and Laserbeak went into Soundwave’s backpack. Soundwave and Cyber-Sonic then approached the trio. “DUDES!” called Soundwave. “What brings you bots here?” The trio turned to see them.
“Who are you?!” asked Bocoe.
“I think they are Eggman’s,” gulped Decoe.
“Er, dude, don’t you use contractions?” asked Soundwave.
“And Soundwave is from Cybertron, not Mobius,” answered Cyber-Sonic. The three then looked at Cyber-Sonic in horror.
“Sonic!” breathed Bokkun. “He’s dusted off the Roboticizer!”
“We will get you back!” urged Decoe. “I promise!”
“What are you talking about?!” yelped Cyber-Sonic.
“Decoe, Bocoe, get the Emeralds back to base!” ordered Bokkun. “We’ll transmit our message when we get there!” He then took a small TV set out of his satchel. “Here’s a message for you from the Radniks!” he said before he tossed the TV. Soundwave caught it and examined the picture. It showed a comedic version of Bokkun’s head sticking his tongue out and then a cartoon bomb with the fuse having rapidly vanished. Once the fuse was gone, the TV exploded in Soundwave’s face.
“SOUNDWAVE!” cried Cyber-Sonic.
“…The oldest trick in the book,” hissed Soundwave as he cleared the soot from his visor, “and I fell for it. They used the bomb to distract me so they could escape! I’m a veteran! I should have known that!!”