Sideswipe Versus Thunderhoof Read online

  KA-POW!

  Underbite hits the wooden planks so hard he splinters them. With his nose stuck inside the dock, the Chompozoid is momentarily down for the count.

  With the moonlight streaming into the warehouse, Thunderhoof can now make out the shape of the forklift.

  “You ain’t goin’ nowhere,” he snorts.

  The elkbot’s eyes glow red with anger, and steam billows out of his snout. The Decepticon flexes, rears back, and lifts his hoof. Then he stomps the ground hard, emitting powerful seismic waves of energy—like an earthquake!

  SHOOM!

  The concrete ripples and cracks, starting at the foundation and spreading all the way through to the walls. The building begins to buckle under its own weight.

  “The integrity of the entire warehouse is compromised!” Strongarm shouts.

  Sideswipe looks up as the ceiling caves in. His optics go wide with horror.

  “We better bail before we become a bunch of buried bots!”

  Chapter 9

  VROOOOOM!

  Sideswipe and Strongarm change modes from bot to vehicle and hightail it out of the collapsing warehouse.

  BAM!

  SMASH!

  Iron girders and steel support beams come crashing down into their path. The sports car and police cruiser weave in and out of the wreckage until they are finally outside.

  The Autobots zoom toward the docks to find Bumblebee and Grimlock standing over the prone form of Underbite.

  “Yo, Bee!” Sideswipe calls out. “Burn some rubber, dude. This whole place is falling apart!”

  Bumblebee looks down as the dock begins to splinter and crack. Chunks of concrete and metal rain from above.

  Underbite comes to and realizes the danger around him.

  “This is way above my power grade!” he growls, and jumps to his feet. The Chompozoid stumbles toward the empty alley and shouts over his shoulder at the Autobots. “Sayonara, suckers!”

  Bumblebee shifts into his vehicle mode as Grimlock stomps away from the warehouse.

  The Autobots race toward the safety of the dock’s edge.

  Behind them, whatever is left of the warehouse finally buckles and collapses into a humongous heap of debris.

  FWOOM!

  Then… silence.

  All is quiet once again in the industrial area, where moments earlier a battle raged between Autobots and Decepticons.

  “Well that mission was a bust,” Sideswipe complains. “Literally.”

  “There must be a way to still fix it,” Bumblebee says.

  “You raft… rant… rang?” Fixit asks, radioing in to their audio frequency.

  Bumblebee chuckles and says, “What have you got?”

  “I’ve picked up the location of our newest Decepticon targets. They are moving north, away from your location. And they are moving fast.”

  “They sure are some slippery scoundrels,” Strongarm states.

  “Any sign of Thunderhoof?” Sideswipe asks.

  “I’m not getting a reeking… reeling… reading,” Fixit sputters.

  “Do you think he was buried in the building?” Grimlock asks.

  “Good riddance,” Sideswipe huffs.

  Bumblebee admonishes the hotheaded Autobot. “We can’t disregard any Cybertronian life, even if it’s that of a criminal Decepticon. We can only hope to keep Earth safe until we can rehabilitate them.”

  “Beautifully put, sir,” Strongarm says.

  “Speaking of,” Fixit interrupts, “the fumigates… fooditives… fugitives are getting away!”

  “Send us the coordinates and we’ll pursue immediately,” Bumblebee says.

  Fixit does so, and the bots rev their motors. Bumblebee summons another spontaneous rallying cry.

  “Let’s burn some rubber, bots!”

  “Hey, good one,” Sideswipe replies. “I like the way you think!”

  As the Autobots speed away, something buried under the rubble of the warehouse begins to moves. Chunks of rock and dirt shift to reveal a pair of gleaming, metallic antlers.

  Soon, the rest of Thunderhoof emerges from the debris. His eyes are burning with rage, and smoke billows from his snout.

  “Now I’m really steamed!”

  Chapter 10

  The Autobots drive through the mazelike warehouse district, finally reaching the other end of the harbor and shifting back into their bot modes.

  Bumblebee sees Slink, Snitch, and Sneak in their getaway forklift driving toward the boats.

  “Here’s the plan,” he says. “Strongarm and I will go on the offensive and capture the fugitives. Sideswipe and Grimlock will stay here and block them from escaping in case we fail.”

  “Roger that, Bee,” Sideswipe replies.

  Bumblebee and Strongarm spring into action, sprinting down the dock and leaping into the air. Strongarm whips out her weapon and creates a crossbow. She fires an arrow at the topmost steel drum on the lift.

  CLANG!

  Direct hit!

  The drum tips over and lands in front of the vehicle, causing Slink to slam on the brakes.

  Bumblebee descends from above, wielding his energy blade. The sword’s bright glow illuminates the night sky as Bumblebee uses it to slice right through the forklift.

  SWISH!

  “Jump for yer lives!” Slink shouts.

  The Decepticons scatter onto the dock. Their escape vehicle splits in half like a chopped melon, its edges smoldering.

  “That was a close shave,” whines Snitch.

  The fugitives hop to their feet, but they find their path blocked by Strongarm and Bumblebee.

  “It’s the end of the line, Decepticons. Time to face justice,” Strongarm commands.

  “Let’s swim fer it!” Sneak shouts.

  “Forget about it!” Slink shrieks. “Catbots hate water, remember? Now make yerselves useful and snuff out those law-bots!”

  Snitch and Sneak rush at the Autobots, but Strongarm is prepared. Her weapon configures itself into a net launcher. Out from the launcher springs a high-tensile net coursing with electricity. It covers the Decepticons and gives them a jolt.

  ZAP!

  They slump to the floor, unconscious.

  Strongarm binds their wrists together.

  “Curses!” hisses Slink. “If you want something done… you gotta do it yerself!”

  She somersaults forward and unleashes her claws, swiping them at Bumblebee. The Autobot raises his blade and deflects the attack. Sparks fly as the opponents clash and slash away at each other.

  Slink strikes again, and Bumblebee parries her thrust.

  CLANK!

  He sidesteps and brings the hilt of the blade down onto Slink.

  THUD!

  The Decepticon falls forward but retaliates with a jackknife kick that knocks the weapon from Bumblebee’s hands.

  “I’m afraid our evening has come to an end,” Slink says, and prepares to shoot her claw-darts at the Autobot. “Say goodnight!”

  “Ladies first,” Bumblebee replies.

  He grabs Slink by her forearm before she can shoot and hurls her over his shoulder. She lands on top of Snitch and Sneak and gets zapped by the net.

  ZZARRK!

  “Nice moves, Lieutenant,” Strongarm says.

  Bumblebee thanks her as Sideswipe and Grimlock arrive, bummed over missing all the excitement. Bee contacts the command center.

  “Fixit? The Decepticons have been captured. Whip us up a Groundbridge, will ya?”

  The mini-con opens the glowing portal, and the Autobots walk into the light. Grimlock leads the way, dragging the snoozing criminals behind him. Then Bumblebee and Strongarm enter. Sideswipe saunters behind, bringing up the rear.

  Suddenly, the young Autobot is blindsided by a hulking figure and roughly lifted off his feet!

  “Oof!”

  The Groundbridge disappears as Sideswipe hurtles across the docks and lands on a nearby large boat. Dazed and disoriented, the Autobot looks up just in time to see his attacker com
e crashing down on top of him.

  “Thunderhoof!” Sideswipe grunts. “Ready for round two?”

  The elkbot laughs. “There’s that fast mouth runnin’ off again. Let’s see how much you can say when you’re sleepin’ with the fishes.”

  Thunderhoof lifts Sideswipe up over his head, ready to throw him overboard. Sideswipe scrambles to reach his weapon. He clumsily drops the device and watches it roll across the deck.

  “Scrap,” he whispers.

  “Bon voyage!” Thunderhoof hollers, and heaves Sideswipe out to sea.

  The tough little Autobot grabs on to the boat’s railing just in time and slams into the port side of the ship. Sideswipe winces but ignores the pain. Furious, Thunderhoof searches the boat for a weapon and discovers a harpoon.

  Sideswipe’s optics go wide as the Decepticon advances with the sharp implement. The Autobot’s free arm reaches for something dangling nearby.

  “Guess I’ll have to scrape this barnacle off the old-fashioned way.” Thunderhoof snorts.

  The elkbot raises the harpoon high when, all of a sudden, Sideswipe stuffs a round life preserver around his antlers!

  WHUMP!

  “That’s enough out of you,” Sideswipe quips. “I make the jokes around here.”

  The elkbot drops his weapon and grapples with the flotation device. Sideswipe hoists himself onto the boat and scurries to his weapon. He is outmatched in pure strength and instead decides to rely on his quick thinking.

  After an awkward struggle, Thunderhoof rips off the life preserver and howls.

  “AARGH! You’ll pay for this!”

  “Hey, you were the one who told me to use my head, remember?”

  The elkbot smiles. He lowers his head and aims his antlers at Sideswipe. He charges wildly, intent on spearing the Autobot once and for all.

  At the last second, just as Thunderhoof is about to deliver his devastating blow, Sideswipe flips backward and grabs on to the mast.

  Thunderhoof’s massive size and momentum send him crashing through the railing!

  SPLASH!

  The Decepticon plunges into the depths of the Crown City harbor.

  Sideswipe hops down and peeks over the edge. There is no sign of his adversary in the dark rippling water.

  Just as he is about to contact his teammates, the Groundbridge reappears.

  Bumblebee steps out and finds Sideswipe on the boat. “There you are! Is this your way of getting out of stasis pod cleaning?”

  “Nah, I just had some unfinished business to take care of.”

  Sideswipe hops onto the dock. He tells Bumblebee what happened with Thunderhoof.

  Bumblebee reacts with surprise. “I’m impressed, Sideswipe! Way to step up your game.”

  “Hey, I have a good teacher,” Swideswipe says, and fist-bumps Bumblebee. “It’s gonna be a long walk back to shore for Thunderhoof.”

  “Yup,” Bumblebee replies. “So let’s go recharge.”

  “Good idea… boss!”

  The two bots laugh and head toward the Groundbridge as the sun begins to rise along Crown City’s coast.

  Bumblebee catches a glimpse of Optimus Prime’s reflection in the water, and he is almost convinced that the great Autobot hero is smiling.

  “I’m proud of us, too,” Bumblebee whispers.

  Then the great Autobot leader disappears in a flash of blinding light.

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  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Welcome

  Characters

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Copyright

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  HASBRO and its logo, TRANSFORMERS ROBOTS IN DISGUISE, the logo and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro and are used with permission. © 2015 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.

  Cover design by Tim Hall

  In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  Little, Brown and Company

  Hachette Book Group

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  Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  First ebook edition: May 2015

  ISBN 978-0-316-29376-1

  E3

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