| abstract
| - Meanwhile, in Professor Sumdac's private lab, his attempt to construct a servo for Megatron fails, as Megatron knew it would. The Decepticon says that Destronium is necessary to build parts of sufficient quality, but Sumdac responds that the only available Destronium is a small amount synthesized on Earth. The next day, Prime reprimands Bulkhead and Bumblebee, then says that Bumblebee will spend the day working with Prowl and Bulkhead on using his head instead of his thrusters. This upsets Sari, who has been looking forward to sharing with 'Bee one of her dad's latest prototypes: a set of turbo boosters. Bumblebee's all too eager to get them attached, but Ratchet absolutely nixes the idea. Sari protests that her dad's equipment is perfectly safe. Across town, a technician reports to Professor Sumdac that there are problems with the new turbo-blade cyber suit as the test subject hurtles helplessly around the test track. Sumdac resignedly asks for the design specs so he can work out the bugs. Once the suit is perfected, it will increase human speed and reaction time a thousandfold. Megatron insists that the Destronium take priority, but Sumdac notes that the available sample is too unstable; transporting it from across town would leave it useless—or worse, highly explosive—unless it could be delivered in under ten minutes. He notes that nothing is that fast, but Megatron eyes the display of the plans for the cyber suit. Shortly, Nino Sexton is informed that someone has posted his bail, though the police drone has no info on who it was. Bemused, he walks outside, where a delivery drone hands him a package "from a friend." Nino opens it to find the cyber suit. In traffic, Bumblebee refuses to slow down and blend in. He points out that a riderless motorcycle hardly blends in either, so Prowl generates a holographic driver, but Bumblebee still refuses to cooperate—until a traffic jam forces him to do so. When a group of police vehicles speed by, Bumblebee takes the excuse to put on his own police roof light and do some "blending". The police turn out to be responding to a sudden rash of thefts by a hyper-fast Nino Sexton. Just after one theft, a teller comments in shock that the money vanished in a nanosec. Nino overhears and decides he likes the name. He eludes the police easily, then encounters Bumblebee. This time, Nanosec gets away, and Bumblebee can only marvel at his speed. However, for all his speed, Nanosec finds his big bags of loot rather heavy, and he pauses to catch his breath—only to be confronted by Prowl. The crook soon escapes, but Bumblebee's had time to catch up. He's still not fast enough to overtake Nanosec before the speedster zooms through a railroad crossing with a train closing in fast. Losing his nerve at the last second, Bumblebee slams on the brakes but gets stuck on the tracks. Bulkhead manages to grab the train in time to save 'Bee from getting crushed and holds it long enough that his buddy can get out of the way. As Nanosec rejoices in his escape, he is contacted by Megatron, who is using a strobing signal that can only be detected at ultra-high speeds. Megatron offers Nanosec a substantial reward—$50 million—for delivering the Destronium. As a downpayment, he provides an ATM code that delivers a large amount of cash out of Isaac Sumdac's private bank account. All he has to do is get the Destronium from the lab to Sumdac Tower within ten minutes. At the Autobots' base, Bumblebee continues to try to beat his speed record, but to no avail. As he begs Ratchet to give him the turbo booster upgrade, Nanosec heists the Destronium from Sumdac Labs. Prime arrives to announce Nanosec's latest activity and location, and commands everyone to roll out to capture the villain. A dejected Bumblebee thinks it's impossible, but Sari holds up the Key and says there might be a way. As Nanosec races into town, Prime stops him with a spread of negative-friction lubricant, but once he lassos the criminal out of the puddle, Nanosec's speed allows him to turn Prime's grappling lines against him. Prime calls for back-up, so Sari activates Bumblebee's newly installed boosters with the Key. Prime finally manages to catch Nanosec by his legs, but Bumblebee rockets into him, out of control, allowing the villain to escape. 'Bee and Sari nearly zoom off the edge of a half-built bridge, but Prime's line catches them. Even so, it's a struggle for the Autobot leader to hold them, so 'Bee throws it in reverse. This gets him away from the drop, but otherwise doesn't help much. Down the road, Ratchet uses his magnets to catch Nanosec, then checks the container he was carrying. He quickly realizes the danger involved—if the Destronium detonates in its current state, it could wipe out half of Detroit. Then Bulkhead notices Nanosec, whose hood has come off, now has grey hair when he used to be a redhead. Just then, Bumblebee rockets by, still out of control and now in reverse, again knocking Nanosec free to resume his delivery. Ratchet suggests Bee switch to robot mode, which is a MUCH bigger help. Prime catches up and orders Ratchet to disable the boosters, but there's no time; Nanosec has to be caught and stopped NOW. Prime tells everyone to roll out—without any vehicle mode modifications, thank you. As they proceed, Bulkhead wonders if the Destronium turned Nanosec's hair white, but Prowl responds that loss of hair color in organics is a sign of aging. Realizing what's going on, Bumblebee activates his boosters (which are apparently under control now) and races after Nanosec, using his head AND his thrusters. Once he catches up to the slowing speedster, 'Bee easily zaps the Destronium out of his grasp and rolls off with it. He then taunts the criminal into pursuing him at top speed until Nanosec becomes literally too old for this stuff and collapses. By this time, the Destronium is very near its flash point, and according to Ratchet, the only safe place to take it is the upper atmosphere. With a two-stage boost assist from Bulkhead and Prowl, Bumblebee manages to use his thrusters to take the Destronium high enough and chuck it away before it explodes. Ratchet and Prime then slow him down and cool him off during his reentry. As the media cover Nanosec's arrest and the averted disaster, Prime congratulates everyone on a job well done, and Prowl even offers to race Bumblebee back to the plant, but 'Bee says he and Sari will walk.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)