WHITE PINE

By

Kageshi Hotaru

***

Optimus Prime stared at the spectacle before him. Never in his life, of all his time living on Earth, had he ever felt so... inferior.

His fellow Autobots were having a field day with this. Ratchet was trying his best to hold back laughter. Ironhide was roaring with laughter, as he kept himself upright by holding onto to Sideswipe's shoulder, who was having a hard time holding back his own chuckles. Bumblebee was shaking, playing a laugh track on his radio. The twins, Mudflap and Skids, were rolling on the ground nearby, laughing so hard their vocals hurt. The Arcee triplets – Moonracer, Chromia, and Arcee herself – were giggling amongst themselves. Jolt was chuckling, his arms crossed and his head shaking at the scene before him.

The humans were a little nicer about the problem Optimus Prime was dealing with. Mikaela had a smirk on her face, an apologetic look across her features. Sam was smiling at Optimus, standing next to his girlfriend with a proud stance. Leo had an expression of surprise, as if he didn't expect the scene before him to even happen. Maggie had a blank, unreadable look on her face as Glenn was completely frozen in shock. Simmons, Lennox and Epps were a little ruder about the deal, guffawing completely and using each other as support.

"Don't worry, Optimus," Mikaela assured, as she walked up to the leader of the Autobots. "I understand what you're going through, and really... try and imagine what we feel like next to it."

"I understand that, Mikaela," Optimus said in reply, as he continued to stare at the thing before him. "I just... didn't expect to find this..."

"And a whole forest for that matter," Sam added with a smile. "Got to love Canada, huh?"

"But.... seriously...." Ironhide gasped as his mirth ended. "THE Optimus Prime... dwarfed... by a tree?!"

The Autobots (minus Optimus Prime) all roared with laughter once more.

Optimus sighed in disbelief. "I don't believe it either. My sensors indicate that this tree is more than 200 feet tall..."

Maggie nodded in response. "It's called an Algonquin White Pine...This is pretty much as high as they go."

"I can't believe the height of this spectacle," Optimus told the humans, as the Autobots weren't necessarily as forgiving about the ordeal and were too busy laughing at the poor commander. "It's amazing what your Earth can create, my friends."

Sam nodded, a smile coming to his face once more, since he had glared at Bumblebee. "Yeah, it is, isn't it?"

The extremely tall white pine stood tall, dwarfing the leader of the Autobots completely. He could see his pride falling before him in ashes as he stood next to the tree, a smile coming to his face as he looked up at the magnificent living thing before him.

The great Optimus Prime... defeated by an Algonquin White Pine.

... Priceless.