Robots in Disguise 2001

“We’ve got ‘em on the run, boys!” X-Brawn called out to his teammates.

The Predacons were up to their usual antics and schemes, trying to acquire some form of energy that Dr. Onishi knew about. The Autobot Brothers had been dispatched to intercept, but since the Build Team had been closer, they arrived on scene first and had done a fairly good job holding them up until the Brothers could join the fray. And color X-Brawn surprised, but when they arrived, they found that Wedge hadn’t gone and gotten himself stuck in the clutches of their enemies! He seemed to be getting better about that lately. Still got caught now and again, but it was happening less and less, for sure.

The Autobot Brothers quickly split and teamed up with a Build Team member of their choosing to beat back their foes; X-Brawn rushing to assist Wedge and Heavy Load against Gas Skunk and Sky-Byte, while Prowl helped Grimlock with Slapper, and Side Burn fought Dark Scream beside Hightower. At that point, it obviously wasn’t a fair fight. The Predacons were getting their tails beat so bad that after some traded blows and firefights, they turned tail and began to flee with the McGuffin they had obtained this time.

“But we need to get that stolen energy back!” Wedge exclaimed in response to X-Brawn’s declaration. “We can catch up, right?”

“Right you are, little bud,” X-Brawn confirmed. “And I got just the thing.” He promptly transformed into his vehicle mode and exclaimed, “Hop on the hood there and hang on, Wedge!”

The orange bot blinked with shock and cast a glance at Heavy Load, either nonverbally asking for some sort of permission or wondering if this was really happening. Whatever it was, his spell was quickly broken by Heavy Load urging him on and the sounds of Prowl and Side Burn racing ahead. At which point, he practically scrambled onto X-Brawn’s roof and clung to it. “Ready!” he announced with an almost delighted tone.

“Yeeeeehaw!” X-Brawn hollered as he revved up his engine and tore after his brothers to join the chase. He most certainly did his usual hooting and whooping as he bounced over the rough terrain, but what gave him an extra bit of go was his passenger’s vocalizations joining his own.

Wedge was having the time of his life on X-Brawn’s roof, laughing and cheering as they not only caught up to Prowl, but passed right by him to start gaining on Side Burn.

Prowl shouted after them to remind them that this wasn’t a game, but really now, at this point? It absolutely was. They had the fight in the bag, and now was the time for fun! It took X-Brawn a moment, but his ability to expertly traverse the rocky terrain made it so that he was able to catch up to his sports car of a brother struggling with each rock he hit.

“Havin’ some trouble there, li’l brother?” X-Brawn teased. “Yer usually way faster than this.”

“Ugh! I need to get me some axles built like yours!” Side Burn complained loudly.

“Maybe you should just sit back, then!” Wedge goaded with a cocky grin as he drew his blaster. “Me and X-Brawn have this!”

“Hey! Don’t count me out!” the blue Autobot protested, but X-Brawn was already pulling away and getting to some ground with fewer rocks littering the path.

“Catch ya later, Side Burn!” his brother called back merrily as he got themselves closer to the Predacons. “Alright, Wedge! Think you got a shot?”

“Yep! No problem!” the orange bot chirped back. There was a second’s pause as the young mech took aim at Sky-Byte, the one clutching the stolen energy, and then a bolt fired from his blaster, hitting the shark’s lower jaw and forcing him to drop it as he yelped. “Just that easy!” Wedge bragged after landing the hit.

The Predacons yelled to each other over their loss, but still didn’t turn back, leaving their bounty behind in shame and allowing the Autobots to recover the stolen energy. Once the two teams had regrouped, Wedge erupted into a giddy recollection of his ride for his teammates to enjoy.

“I thought the rule was ‘brothers first’,” Side Burn griped, fixing X-Brawn with a childish pout.

“As long as the job got done with little to no incidents, I don’t really care,” Prowl stated decidedly. “X-Brawn and Wedge got the job done effectively. That’s all that matters.”

“We always get to be heroes, Side Burn,” X-Brawn pointed out with amusement. “Letting the kid have a turn won’t do you any harm.”

“And it really means a lot to me, X-Brawn,” Wedge put in now that he had finished recounting the exciting details to his team, a broad smile decorating his faceplate. “That was a ton of fun! Do you think we can maybe do that again some other time? It doesn’t even have to be in the middle of battle! Going for a joy ride like that was exhilarating!”

The oldest Autobot Brother felt his chest puff out a bit with gleeful pride. “Hey, I’d be more than happy to take you along for another ride sometime! Just let me know when you’ve got some time and we’ll make it work,” he promised.

“Like right now??” Wedge checked hopefully, the look of utter delight on the kid’s faceplate nothing less than infectious.

It was enough to get X-Brawn in the mood for it… not that it was ever that difficult anyway. The oldest Autobot Brother promptly transformed. “Hop on, pardner!” he urged, revving his engine to encourage the young bot on.