A Glitch in Time: Chapter 3

"Bulkhead, I want you to stay here while the rest of us go to meet Jazz," ordered Optimus. The large green bot seemed uncertain of his boss' plan.

"I don't know Optimus... are you sure you guys should be leaving in the first place? Can't we just ask Goldbug?" replied Bulkhead. Optimus sighed. The Prime did not like doing this as well, but he needed to confirm where the alliances laid.

"The young bot does have a point," Ratchet decided to give his opinion, "And we're going back to the past. What's going on now isn't any of our business, because it won't be happening."

"But what if we are stuck here Ratchet?" speculated the leader of the small team. One of the traits that made him an excellent Prime was his ablity to look at all scenarios. "I want to trust Goldbug, that is why I'm having Bulkhead stay."

"I still don't agree with that," Prowl stated his feelings, "If it turns out Goldbug is the enemy, Bulkhead will be alone to fend for himself."

"Bulkhead," Optmus turned and looked directly up at the large bots optics, "Bumblebee was your- is your best friend, what do you think we should do?"

"I think we should ask him directly," Bulkhead repeated what he had said earlier. The green bot crossed his arms must like Ratchet would.

"I mean, what are your feelings about being left here?" Optimus cleared up his question. He had his mind already made up about the plan.

"I have no problem staying. I know Bumblebee would never become a Decepticon," replied Bulkhead in full confidence of his friend.

"Now with that settled.... how exactly are we going to get a shuttle and go where Jazz wanted us to meet," Ratchet brought up the problem the young bots seemed to forget.

"I have a plan," Prowl said with a slight smile on his face.

--------------

Starscream had given up on his need to search the ship, at least for now. The old seeker never had expected Skywarp and the small team of Autobots to ever 'come back.' He had never believed the idiotic time travel theories. While he knew Swindle could come up with some clever machines, time travel was unlikely. Autobots were the type to believe such hopeful nonsense. Starscream on the other hand accepted Skywarp being gone. He was certain whatever device Swindle had made backfired and killed all that fell through it.

Starscream was glad his clone made it, yet did not know what do with Skywarp now that he was here. All his clones had 'grown up.' over the four hundred years. They had all branched out and were able to function on their own. Skywarp however was just as young as the day he disappeared.

"Where are the other seekers?" Skywarp asked as though he could read Starscream's mind. The young clone looked at Starscream's white and red arm suspiciously.

"Ramjet....is no more," said Starscream as he flexed the fingers or Ramjet's hand. The old seeker saw Skywarp's optics to go wide in terror. "I did not do it you dolt! It was Megatron! The liar bot helped me escape that glorified moron once."

"Oooooh," Skywarp decided not to ask the story behind the arm though. For a moment his processors flickered a thought. Would Starscream keep destroyed clones for spare parts? This idea worried Skywarp since he was a better match for Starscream's colors.

"Thundercracker is one of my generals," Starscream started to go off the list, "Sunstorm, 'usually' works with the Decepticons, sometimes wanders off, I've noticed. Little miss sugar thrusters ran off with that  accursed bounty hunter for some unknown reason," Starscream then finished.

"Did anyone miss me?" asked Skywarp. The old seeker raised an optic brow. The younger clone's question was strange.

"What do you mean?" Starscream looked at the violet seeker. Skywarp twitched nervously.

"I mean, the yellow bot... he seems certain his friends will make the future better for them..." the young seeker nervously paused, like he was scared to ask, "If I were here, how would it be different?"

Starscream actually thought about it a moment.

"I don't know what you would change, but I would hope you'd have joined my side. Despite your.... cowardly nature, with proper training of your abilities you would be a great fighter, even a general," Starscream honestly answered. The young seeker sighed as thought he expected a better answer.

"So... so... I see, " sighed Skywarp with a pout on hi face. Starscream muttered since he as not used to complementing a clone. Yet he had to remember Skywarp was still young. Four hundred stellar cycles had not gone by for the clone.

"Don't think too hard about it. You need to powerdown and get some rest," grumbled Starscream.

"Powerdown? On an Autobot ship!?!?!" the young seeker panicked at the thought. Even though he was with his creator he was still tense.

"Trust me, you have no need to worry about the Autobots," replied Starscream with his usual smirk.

---------------

"Goldbug! Wake up you old rust bucket," yelled Starscream over Prime's com. His voice was shrill as ever.

"Slag you, you're older than me by vorns and vorns," replied the yellow bot as his optics slowly came online. "It better be an emergency, It was in a really needed powerdown!"

"Sorry to interrupt your 'beauty sleep,' but we need to talk. Face to face. The current situation has me concerned," stated Starscream. Goldbug was compelled to do so since Starscream's voice was not demanding. It was a calm and straight forward request.

"Alright, I will be down there in a nanoclick," replied Goldbug Prime as he got out of his berth. He wheeled down on his feet down to the elevator. The yellow bot whispered a request jokingly to Blurr. "Couldn't you just spit him out?" Goldbug smirked lightly even though he knew his ship couldn't 'hear' him.

Starscream heard a knock on his door. The old seeker looked to his clone sound asleep. Scream then vainly flicked a speck of space dust off his shoulder. He then allowed the automatic door open.

"Well, hello brave leader," said Starscream as earnestly as he could.  Despite the attempt it still sounded sarcastic.

"What exactly is the problem Starscream?" asked Goldbug sharply. He yellow bot walked into the room and crossed his arms, annoyed at being interrupted.

"I am just concerned this 'fixing time' might wipe us both from existence," said Starscream with a slight worry. Goldbug raised an optic brow, not falling for Starscream's tone.

"I am sure you are concerned about 'both' of us?" replied Goldbug in a tone that let Starscream know he would fall for anything the seeker said. Starscream on the other hand kept trying.

"Of course I am concerned about you. If we had not been on good terms when I was near death, I would not be alive at this moment," Starscream somewhat spoke the truth. He felt being honest about his self preservation would help the discussion along.

"But you wouldn't of died. We both know what," replied Goldbug as he looked up a moment at where Starscream had a piece of the all spark in his forehead.

"True, true, true... I guess you will be glad to go back to being a repair bot," Starscream said, trying to be manipulative in a different approach. Perhaps his loss of power would start the conversation going the way he wanted.

"Haha, did you think I WANTED to be leader of the Autobots? And I think I'll become a Prime again someday," stated Goldbug not underestimating his own skills. "Look Starscream, I can see where you are trying to get at. Optimus and the others WILL be sent back to their time."

Starscream narrowed his optics annoyedly. When Goldbug's human companion died he thought it would be easier to manipulate the leader of the Autobots.  The old seeker did get away with some things in the last two hundred years. Still, Goldbug Prime knew when to draw the line.

Starscream had witnessed the red headed half-fleshbag get what she wanted from Goldbug in the past. Her manipulating was more endearing. She would get the car bot to bend down to her height. The woman would then stroke his thumb and lean in. She spoke as though she was telling him romantic words. 'But Honey Bee, this plan will work. The third team will keep the Decepticreeps from being able to follow group two's retreat.' She would then smile sweetly, her hand caressing up to the yellow bots palm. By then he would agree to anything she said.

Starscream knew that he couldn't make that work with Goldbug. Sari's 'manipulation' was through love and trust. Starscream was far from having that kind of power over Goldbug.  The old seeker did know a friend the yellow bot cared about. He would have to work indirectly through that.

"You're little hornet friend, pity he'll be a Decepticon once again," stated Starscream with is hands clasped in concern. He hoped he touched a circuit with that comment. "There's quite a chance in the new future he won't become an Autobot again."

"Thats none of  your concern, he knows the risks. We've discussed it before," The leader bots answer had a cold tone to it. Starscream looked away a moment as to check on Skywarp stasis nap. His real reason for looking away was to  hide his face a moment was so Goldbug could not see his smirk. Starscream had finally found  doubt the leader had in his plan. He turned back to face his ally.

"Such a sacrifice on his part," Starscream started to gain momentum, "While some of your loyal know they might not exist, that buzzing bot knows he'll be alive, being a miserable Decepticon. A much worse fate indeed...."

"Slag you," Goldbug glared at Starscream. His damaged optic seemed to darken more. The leader bot then turned and left the room. The automatic door slammed as though reflecting Goldbug's mood. Since he was online anyhow, and too riled up to go back to sleep, the yellow bot headed down to the ship's lounge.

-----------------

"He was hesitant to give us a shuttle," commented Prowl as the team minus Bulkhead were already a distance away from the ship.

"That doesn't mean anything. He did still give it to us," replied Optimus. "We were not being 'held' on the ship. Besides, It sounded like Cheetor gave us the shuttle because Goldbug instructed him to give us anything we asked for."

"Its only a matter of time before he has to tell Goldbug," replied Prowl, "We shouldn't of left Bulkhead there."

"Give it a rest kid. I feel Optimus made the right choice," Ratchet spoke up. The old bot crossed his arms grumpily.

The team cam upon the asteroid that was mentioned in the coordinates Jazzimus had sent them. Optimus landed the shuttle as he noticed the Elite Guard command ship approaching. It was flanked by six lesser ships all bearing the Elite Guard symbol. The main ship would be too large to land on the astroid. Instead it parked beside it.

"I hope you are right about this Prowl. I'm starting to feel a little inadequate here," Optimus said to the view of the large ship and its fleet.

"I have a bad feeling in my gears about this too," added Ratchet as they watch the main ship let off Ultra Jazzimus, followed by six armored guards.

"Lets go meet them," Prowl said as though his friends words did not meet his audio receptors. The ninja bot came up to the ship's door and hit the button for it to open. Optimus slowly rose from the pilot chair and followed suit. Ratchet threw his hands in the air frustrated. He realized the two bots were still going to go despite the warning signs. He had to follow to keep the younger bots out of trouble.

Prowl stopped a moment to let Optimus Prime take lead. After all, he was the leader bot of the their team. As the three approached the Elite Guard ship, Ultra Jazzimus came into view. At first the bot looked as though he was black in color instead of his sports car white.  As light reflected it showed his armor was actually a dark navy blue. Due to obvious upgrades he was now Ultra Magnus' height. Jazzimus' headgear also matched that of the former leader. While Jazzimus' optics were normal Autobot blue, some of his soldiers had a white glow. The Autobot Elite Guard symbol on Jazz and the other guards was white instead of red.  Optimus' com recognized the format as Autobot, but something was off. It seemed there was an extra line of code to identify them as separate from Goldbug's Autobots.

"Thanks for meeting me guys," Jazzimus said in his casual voice the three bots were used to.. "I couldn't talk over com for long or Goldbug's minions would trace it."

"Its no problem," Optimus smiled slightly, hoping his betrayal of Goldbug would be worth any information obtained.

"Its great to see you Jazz...imus," Prowl corrected himself mid sentence, "Or would you prefer Ultra Jazzimus?"

"Hey, its fine. You cats can call me by my old name. It won't hurt anyone," smiled Jazzimus. The had a hammer much like Magnus' that he leaned on when he talked.

"What is it that you need to tell us about Goldbug?" asked Optimus, wanting to get to the point.

"For one, he's the 'self proclaimed' leader of the Autobots, probably learned that from his buddy Starscream," said Jazzimus, referring to how Starscream tried becoming leader of the Decepticons on many occasions.

"So you're saying you're the real leader... of the real Autobots?" Ratchet asked, wanting a direct answer.

"Yes, I carry Ultra Magnus' code," replied Jazzimus, "Don't get me wrong, Goldbug has his spark in the right place, but we had a bit of a 'falling out' many many solar cycles ago."

"He does want to send us back to the time we left. He believes it will change everything," spoke Optimus.

"There is more to do than that," the Ultra bot started to explain, "To really fix the problem we'd need to go further back than that. Do you have the time device?"

"No, we don't," Optimus said, neglecting to mention the Key was in his possession. Prowl then started to give more information. Optimus had an urge to stop his second in command from telling but held back. "How far back are you talking about?"

"Swindle has it on the Decepticon command ship," explained Prowl to his trusted friend. He interrupted Prime as though he had never heard the question. "He needs Skywarp to use the machine. Skywarp is on Goldbug's ship."

Ratchet raised an optic to Optimus as if to say, 'is it alright for the kid to be blabbing this?' The bots in front of them were Autobots based on his scanners. Yet, the old bot still received an odd vibe from them. It was that suspenseful sicking feeling he would feel when dealing with a patient moments before they succumbed to a full space barnacle infection. There was no sign of a virus on them, but the suspense kept gnawing like a dull ache. Ratchet knew in his old servos this was not going to end well.

"Not all hope is lost then," replied Jazzimus in a leader bot tone instead of his jive talk. Prowl was glad to see Jazz in this twisted future. Out of all the bots he knew it made better sense for his friend to be leader over Bumblebee. Jazz had always shown leader capabilities, even when trying to get Optimus and Sentinel to work together. It made perfect sense to Prowl that Bee was 'playing pretend.'

"I think its best if we go back to the time we left.... what were you thinking of?" asked Optimus again, curious by what Jazz meant.

"I was thinking of preventing the Great War so the Decepticon menace will never exist," stated Jazzimus with a moments look of obsession. It was a look Ratchet caught while the two younger bots missed it.

"What?!?! I don't think thats the best idea," Ratchet said with his optics open wide in surprise. Optimus shared the same expression. Prowl's face stayed the same while he took in the information.

"The Decepticons' plan to do the same to us if they get the ability first," replied Jazzimus in a normal tone.

"But we aren't the Decepticons. We don't take actions like that," replied Optimus. Ratchet's face tensed up, having a feeling Optimus' noble words would make the situation turn for the worse.  Ultra Jazzimus still spoke calm and collected.

"Times have changed Optimus Prime. As the Decepticons become crueler we have to do the same as well, ya dig?" stated Jazzimus. Even Prowl had to admit to himself he did not like the sound of that. Jazzimus however changed the subject. His voice also changed back to his normal tone. "Where is Bulkhead? Did he not make it through the portal?"

"We left him on Goldbug's ship, to find out what he could from their leader," replied Optimus carefully.

"What? But I need all of you," stated Jazzimus. "No matter, you can give me the location of Goldbug's crib and we can retrieve him."

"Ah.... that isn't an option," replied Optimus, not liking how Jazzimus' processors were running.

"I hope you cats don't decide to take his side," stated Jazzimus still in his old familiar voice, "That square ain't the one thats right here."

"Jazz, we just need some time to sort out what is going on," Prowl calmly explained to his friend, hoping he was still the old sensible Jazz.

"What ya'll need is to be reformatted. Then you'ld understand what's going on," replied Jazzimus. The three Autobots knew that did not sound good. Without speaking Jazzimus directed the flanking guards with  sharp hand and arm movements. The small team realized they had to get to their ship and get out of there as soon as they could.

----------------

As Goldbug entered the lounge it was hard not to spot Bulkhead by the large bay window. The green bot noticed the Prime from the corner off his optics.

"Its so beautiful here," spoke Bulkhead softly as he looked out to the stars. He then paused for Goldbug to reply. The leader bot didn't as he went to get a glass of energon from an open kitchen like area in the back of the lounge.  Bulkhead then added a question to his statement," Where in space are we? Anywhere I'd know?"

For a moment Goldbug was silent as he walked up to the window. He stood by his friend and gazed at the stars beyond. He took a sip of his energon before speaking.

"We are in the outskirts of Earth's 'Milky Way' galaxy," replied Goldbug softly. He knew Bulkhead would put two and two together quickly. Though people would first see the big bot as slow and dumb he actually had a brilliant mind.

"So then... the time machine... landed us at the same area we had left our time from?" asked Bulkhead. Goldbug just nodded and then sipped his energon again. The next logical conclusion was the Earth was gone, destroyed. Bulkhead sighed as he realized this. He then thought back to what Optimus told him.

"Is that how Sari-" he was cut off as Goldbug answered.

"No. What happened to Earth was sometime after," Goldbug answers in an empty voice. The tone showed he did not want to talk about the subject. He took another sip of energon and stayed silent. Bulkhead decided it was best to be quiet as well. The two old friends looked out at space together. Goldbug's tone then changed to the Bumblebee his green friend was familiar with.

"I should have you paint a picture of me, to take back to my past self," Goldbug joked. Bulkhead smiled behind his already fixed grinning jaw.

"Man, I can't wait to tell you that you're a Prime in the future," said Bulkhead as he turned a bit to look at Goldbug. Goldbug looked out the window. The stars outside reflected little beads of light on his faceplate.

"Thats all you can tell me, okay?" he replied. Goldbug knew he didn't want his past self to know all he had been through.

"Yeah.... I kinda figured that," Bulkhead said as he looked out the window again as well. Goldbug half smiled.

"You might not even want to tell me that I'm a Prime. I was already full of myself as it is," Goldbug chuckled lightly. Bulkhead didn't know if he should agree with that or not and just chuckled lightly. Goldbug finished off his small glass of energon and went to put its container in the kitchen.

"Can I ask you how you became leader of the Autobots?" questioned Bulkhead. He was curious how his best friend made it up so high. He didn't doubt Bumblebee's ability to be a leader, but leader of the autobots was amazing.

"Heh.... its a long story," stated Goldbug. This damaged optic flickered with a bit more light and then went back down to its half dimmed state.

"Well, I have time," replied Bulkhead with a slight smile.