Back at the desert, Miko and Bulkhead were laying down on the sand. Watching the sky. For some reason the cloudless view above the desert was something that you won't be able to take your eyes off.
"Wow, the sky. With no clouds in sight. It…" Bulkhead said in awe at seeing the clear sky.
"It looks boring. Yet amazing, which is kind of weird. There's no cloud at all." Miko said as Bulkhead looked down at her curiously.
"Why is it weird?" He asked curiously.
"Well… when people look at the clouds, they tell what they see, for example a bunny, a bird or a marshmallow." Miko explained and had to giggle.
"A bunny in the sky? I didn't know that bunnies could fly." Bulkhead said in confusion and it made Miko giggle.
"That's not what I meant. What I mean is that clouds sometimes form something familiar." Miko said with a soft smile.
"And how do they do that?" He asked curiously.
"Dunno, maybe it has something to do with the wind." Miko said with a shrug.
"Something tells me young lady that you haven't been paying attention during your sky science class." Bulkhead said with a raised optic ridge.
"Okay, just so you know, it's just regular science class. There's no such thing as sky science." Miko corrected him.
"Isn't astronomy a science that studies the stars that are in the sky?" Bulkhead asked.
"Okay, you got me there. But still." Miko pouted as they returned their gaze back to the sky.
"This view reminds me a bit of Cybertron. The sky there was like that sometimes. During the night you could see the stars and more. It's hard to believe that here on Earth you can do that too." Bulkhead said with a small sad smile. He misses the old days before the war.
"I hope one day I'll get to see the stars on Cybertron." Miko said hopefully as she looked at Bulkhead.
"Someday maybe. For now, you'll have to look at them from here." Bulkhead said with a smile and she returned it.
"Yeah." Miko nodded before Bulkhead heard his comm-link.
"Bulkhead, do you read me?" It was Ratchet.
"I hear you, Ratchet. What's up?" Bulkhead asked.
"The maintenance work on the ground bridge is done. We're getting ready for your return." Ratchet said.
"Really? Okay, we'll get ready." Bulkhead said before he hung up and looked at Miko who looked at him curiously.
"Uh, Miko. I hate to tell you this… but the beach day is over. Ratchet just called and said that the ground bridge was back in action. They're just waiting for us to come back. I hope you're not too mad we have to leave." Bulkhead said as Miko stood up.
"Me, mad? Dude, this was the best day ever. I had so much fun." Miko said with a grin.
"I see. I'm glad to hear that." Bulkhead chuckled.
"Let me get my stuff. Think you can transform? That way it'll be quicker to get my stuff." Miko said as she started to gather her stuff.
"Right." He nodded and transformed into his vehicle mode
After he did, Miko started putting most of her stuff in her duffle bag. When she was done with her bag, she started to take down her parasol and grab her beach chair and put them all back in the rear seat section. After that, she got inside Bulkhead and closed the door and put the seat belt on after putting her pants on.
"Okay, time to leave." Miko said as she put the seatbelt on.
"Ratchet, we're ready to go." Bulkhead said after turning his comm-link back on.
Back at the base, Ratchet nodded after getting a fix on their coordinates.
"Good, I have a fix on your coordinates. Now the ground bridge should work like it always does. However we shall monitor the transportation until you get back safe and sound." Ratchet explained.
Back at the desert, Bulkhead turned on his engine.
"If you sense that something is not right. You tell me right away and I'll shut down the ground bridge." Ratchet told him.
"Copy that. We're ready." Bulkhead replied.
Back at the base, everyone got ready.
"Very well then. Is everyone ready?" Ratchet asked as he turned around.
"We're ready." Arcee said with a nod.
"Fire it up." Smokescreen said with a thumbs up and Bumblebee agreeing.
"Armed and ready to go." Jack said as he and Emily removed the pins from the fire extinguishers.
"Uploading coordinates and activating the ground bridge now." Ratchet said and quickly typed the coordinates in.
After uploading the coordinates, Ratchet activated the ground bridge. It turned on perfectly and smoothly without any trouble. The portal seemed stable.
Back at the desert, Bulkhead was waiting for Ratchet to tell him that he could enter the portal as it opened up.
"Bulkhead, you may come in. Now remember if there's anything weird happening. You must tell me." Ratchet said.
"I will." He said before Miko spoke up.
"Just out of curiosity. What would be shown if the portal starts acting weird?" Miko asked curiously.
"Let's try not to think about it. Just breathe and relax and think positive thoughts." Bulkhead said nervously as Miko pouted.
"Easier said than done." She said as Bulkhead started to enter the portal.
He got in and drove slowly and carefully.
Back at the base everyone was holding their breath, standing ready if anything bad happened. Ratchet had a steady look in his eyes. He was keeping his cool and yet he was a bit worried about the ground bridge malfunctioning.
"Bulkhead? Is everything okay?" Ratchet asked.
"All good. I think I'm almost there." Bulkhead said and Arcee noted the vehicle coming out of the portal.
"I see him." Arcee said as she pointed at Bulkhead and Miko who were coming back and soon out of the portal.
"We made it back. Phew. And in one piece." Miko said with a sigh of relief.
"Yup, you said it." Bulkhead agreed with her.
"It worked. Thank Primus. ground bridge offline." Ratchet said in relief.
Ratchet turned off the ground bridge and after Bulkhead came out of the ground bridge, he stopped and let Miko come out. After she did, the big guy transformed.
"Guess who's back?" She said with a big smile.
"Hey, looks like you had quite a good time. Wow, nice tan." Emily said as she noted that Miko's skin looks darker than usual.
"Thanks, I figured I could use some." Miko said with a grin.
Jack was trying to resist laughing at how Miko looks.
"So you decided to go for the toasty look?" He snickered only to get a beach ball to the face by Miko.
"Very funny." She rolled her eyes.
"So glad to see you're okay. When you didn't answer any of our messages, we got so worried." Raf said as he approached them.
"Messages?" Miko blinked in confusion and took out her phone.
Miko checks her phone and sees that she had tons of unread messages that they had sent her. Even two or three calls.
"Oh, right, sorry. I didn't have any signal In the desert. But man I gotta tell you. It was fun. A bit too sandy and burning, but cool." Miko said as she put her phone back.
"So how was the desert?" Smokescreen asked Bulkhead.
"Ha, no different than the good old Sea of Rust." Bulkhead said.
"It figures. Boy, that place was the worst. And I should know, I've been there." Cliffjumper chuckled.
"It's good to have you back, Bulkhead. And for once I'm glad that you didn't bring any sort of catastrophe with you." Ratchet said as Bulkhead agreed with him.
"Yeah, me too." He nodded.
At the moment Ratchet thanked Bulkhead for coming back to base without causing any incident, a weird noise was heard which made them look up and look around where it was coming from.
"What is that noise?" Arcee question.
"I don't know." Cliffjumper shook his helm.
"Think it's the ground bridge?" Smokescreen asked but Ratchet shook his head.
"The ground bridge doesn't make that kind of sound." Ratchet said.
Emily listened carefully before looking towards Bulkhead.
"Call me crazy but I think that it's coming from Bulkhead." Emily said as he blinked.
"Who, me?" He pointed to himself.
"Yeah, I think she's right. Maybe something got stuck with you." Miko agreed with her.
"Let me help you with that." Smokescreen said.
Smokescreen hits Bulkhead a couple of times in the back to help him unstuck whatever he had stuck and make him make that strange noise. And what came out of it had everyone shocked. Sand was coming out of Bulkhead's joint. He had some stuck in him and he didn't even know. Some dropped on the floor. Ratchet had a pretty serious look in his eyes. He looked straight at Bulkhead who was a bit uncomfortable by this situation. Even Miko was a bit nervous. Everyone was amazed by the sand that came out of Bulkhead. It stopped for a moment falling off him for a moment.
"Anything else?" Ratchet asked as he crossed his arms.
"Let me check." Smokescreen said.
"There's no need for…" Bulkhead said but before he could finish his sentence, Smokescreen hit him on the shoulder and another ton of sand came falling off the big guy again.
"That." Bulkhead finished.
The second ton of sand was a bit bigger than the first one. What was really surprising about all this awkward situation, is that Ratchet kept his cool which was weird and scary for everyone. They were all used to hearing Ratchet say his famous catchphrase.
"This is one awkward situation." Jack said as he looked at Ratchet.
"Yeah and you know what's really weird? Is that Ratchet didn't say, you know what." Emily agreed with him.
"Right, his famous 'I needed that' catchphrase." Jack knew Ratchet would shout that.
"I'm not sure if it's something but from the looks of it, Ratchet is about to say it." Raf pointed as he hid behind Bumblebee.
"Brace yourself, guys." Miko said as she was ready to cover her ears.
The sand stopped falling off Bulkhead. The big guy was very silent since this was kind of embarrassing.
"Uh… hehehe… Guess I got some sand stuck in me and I accidentally brought some with me without even knowing… hehe… hehe. Okay, look just say it already. I know you're itching to say it anyway." Bulkhead said nervously as he looked at Ratchet.
"I know this… situation calls for it but since the work was completed without any incident. I won't say it." Ratchet said and that shock and surprised everyone.
"What did you just say?" Bulkhead asked in confusion.
"I said that I wouldn't say it. You just brought some sand by accident. It's not that big of a deal." Ratchet said while keeping his arms crossed.
"Guys, I think Ratchet here is not the Ratchet we know. I think he got replaced by a con who can change its form." Miko said with her eyes wide.
"I would say that what you just said sounds crazy. But after what I've seen, I think you're right." Emily said with a nervous laugh.
"Maybe Ratchet is just trying to be nice?" Jack suggested.
"That may be so." Raf agreed.
"Which is weirder when it comes to Bulkhead." Miko said as she raised an optic ridge.
"Did I hear right? Ratchet won't say it?" Smokescreen question in disbelief.
"I'm not sure I believe that." Cliffjumper said.
"Hep-yep-yep. I said what I said. And I always stand by my word." Ratchet said as he gave the two a look.
The second ton of sand that fell off Bulkhead started to shift a bit. It was kind of getting close to where the main panel was. Bolty had accidentally touched it and made it move.
"Bolty, stop." Emily said as Bolty stopped and shook the sand off him.
"It's okay. I'm sure nothing bad will happen. Even if it does, I won't say it. No matter what happens." Ratchet said as he kept his cool.
The sand was getting terrifyingly close to the main panel. Everyone was expecting Ratchet to lose his cool anytime soon and that they would have to cover their ears and audio receptors soon because that blow up would be the big one.
"Ratchet, you sure you won't say it right?" Arcee questioned him.
The sand was getting closer and closer to the panel. The expression on Ratchet's faceplate let out that he was really trying not to say the phrase but it looked like he was about to explode big time as his left optic was twitching.
"I'm confident that no matter what will happen I won't say. I'm in control. Total control." Ratchet said.
Ratchet confirmed that he was in total control and that he wouldn't explode. Which was very impressive coming from him. He normally loses it quickly and some around felt like it was coming. The sand got to where the main panel was. Everyone stood still, waiting for the catastrophe to come. But something surprising happened. The sand fell on the main panel but nothing happened.
"Nothing happened." Jack said with a nervous laugh.
"Haha. Nothing happened." Emily agreed with him.
"Really? I mean, of course. Why would anything bad happen?" Miko said in confusion but she was nervous as well.
"See? Didn't I tell you? I didn't say it. I told you I wouldn't. You guys thought I would, but guess what. I didn't." Ratchet scoffed.
"Yeah, well, your face said that you were about to throw the bomb." Jack noted.
"True, I thought I was gonna be like. Boom." Miko said.
"I'm surprised the main panel didn't overload or anything like it." Raf noted.
"Guess it takes more than some sand." Bulkhead said with Miko agreeing.
"You said it, big guy. That techno stuff sure is tough." Miko said with a grin.
When Miko said the main panel was stuff for some tech, it started to overload. There was a small fire and a small smoke coming from it. Jack grabbed the fire extinguisher and quickly put the small fire out.
"Fire is out." Jack said.
"Uh… hehe, at least the fire is out and I'm sure nothing bad will happen after that." Bulkhead said nervously.
After Bulkhead said that, the automatic sprinklers turned on after sensing smoke. Water started coming down on everyone.
Optimus, who was walking around the corridors of the base, had deduced that such catastrophe could only come from another one of Bulkhead's accidental mischief. Back at the Command Center, everyone stood still while the water was falling on them. The kids were completely soaked.
The sand turned a bit muddy because of the water. Bulkhead had really messed up and although Ratchet had tried to resist saying it. This time that was it.
"Uh… whoops?" Bulkhead said sheepishly and nervously.
"Ah, Primus, I tried but that's it for me. Bulkhead… I… needed… THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Ratchet yelled very loudly and caused everyone to cover their ears and audio receptors.
His yell was so loud that it became a huge echo. An echo that strangely it could even be heard by Decepticons in the Nemesis who all look up and stop what they were doing in confusion.
"You heard that?" Knock Out as Breakdown didn't hear anything.
"What are you talking about? I didn't hear anything." He said in confusion.
"It sounded like someone was shouting very loudly. Hmph whatever." Knock Out said as Breakdown resumed buffing out his finish.
Back at the base, trouble was brewing for the big guy and there was nothing his friends could do.
"Wait, wait, Ratchet. Please let me explain! Everything has an explanation!" Bulkhead said quickly in panic.
"He's right. It was an accident. When we got to where we wanted to go and he got covered in sand-" Miko said but what she said wasn't helping.
"He, what?" Ratchet leveled his glare towards the Japanese exchange student.
"Yeah, that was a terrible accident." Bulkhead agreed with her.
"Oh really? So I guess hitting you on the head with my wrench I'd gonna be your second accident of the day." Ratchet said as he got his trusty wrench out of his subspace pocket.
"Guys, you better run fast." Emily said as everyone took cover quickly.
"Run where?" Miko squeaked nervously as Bulkhead picked her up.
"Nowhere, Miko!!! Let's just get out of here!!!" Bulkhead said and quickly ran.
"Ahhhhhhh!!!" Miko screamed while holding on.
"Get back here you, big lug!!!" Ratchet screamed angrily after him and started to run after the two troublemakers.
There was nowhere for them to escape Ratchet's anger and after remembering that long pursuit and what happened one that day, everyone came off the memory lane.
Flashback ends;