Well, Happy Valentine's Day everyone! And isn't this appropriate? I'm updating on the holiday! I was going to work on this chapter and get it up earlier, but I had a busy class that burned me out everyday. So, I'm sorry about that.

Oh, and this is the last chapter. Yes, folks, this story of randomness, humor, and all 'round bad luck for Bumblebee is now over. I hope this is an appropriate end, and I hope I have stayed true to the characters throughout this story. Enjoy!

Chapter Fifteen: Conclusion

Back at base, Bumblebee was making a few minor adjustments to the contraption he and Sari had been working on. Sari was currently watching Bee as he tinkered with a pulley system hanging from the ceiling. She kept far away from him, just in case he fell from the rafters he was hazardously leaning from.

"Bee," she called up to him, "I can see this is some kind of fancy prank that's going to get you into trouble, but, I don't know why you're doing it. I mean, wasn't the lecture you got when they rescued you from Dinobot Island enough to last you for a while?"

Bumblebee looked down where Sari stood. He rolled his optics and then began to climb down from the ceiling. I guess I'm gonna have to explain it to you, huh? he thought as he worked his way onto one of the production line arms that they had set to reach up into the rafters to allow easy access for Bumblebee to the ceiling. Once he was low enough where he could jump without damaging himself, he leaped from his perch and landed on all fours on the factory floor. Sari trotted up to him as he stood. He then picked her up and sat her on his shoulder as he left the living room for his quarters. He had come up with an idea as soon as he landed.

Once in his room, he went over to his desk and pushed some of the odds and ends onto the floor to make enough room to allow Sari to sit, then he brought up the messaging program on his computer screen.

"Oh, look," Sari said as she pointed to the screen as the program opened, "you got a message from your mom. Aww!"

Sure enough, there was an unread message that said "From: Mom" on the screen. Bumblebee waved Sari's hand away from the screen and brought up a new message box.

"Aren't you going to see what your mom has to say?" Sari asked, barely containing a bout of giggles.

I don't have to answer to my mom! Bumblebee wouldn't have said that aloud, of course, not even if he could. Instead, he began typing away on his keyboard.

"You asked why I'm building that trap. Well, you remember when I got back from Dinobot Island and Prime promised me no one would tease me about being speechless anymore?"

He stopped typing and allowed Sari to read what he wrote. She nodded as she read it. "Yeah, I remember."

He turned back to the computer and started typing again.

"Well, no one's stopped! They weren't as bad as before, but they still did it! And then Optimus teased me when we came back and told him about Blitzwing. I didn't think the Boss-bot would do that. So, I'm going to get them when they come back. Every single one of them. Especially Prowl. He's been asking for it since day one!"

"Ok, I get it." Sari said after she finished reading the message. "Do you think this is the best way though? I mean, that trap could be considered overkill."

"When have I ever done something that wasn't BIG?"

Sari grinned. "You're size, that's one thing."

"Hey, don't start. Or you may find some of my pranking genius directed at you."

"All right, all right." Sari laughed, throwing up her hands in surrender, knowing Bumblebee would make good on his threat. "Hey, let's see what your mom has to say."

"No. Don't you know it's illegal to read someone else's mail?"

"Well, it's getting kinda late, and I'm worn out." Kup said as he closed a panel on his ship. "I think I'm ready to call it a day."

Up on top of the ship Bulkhead held a replacement panel in place while Blaster welded it on. Blaster rolled his optics when he heard Kup's statement.

"He's wore out?" he said. "Tell me, Bulky, who do you think's been doin' all the work around here?"

Bulkhead grinned. "Not him."

"Got that right." Blaster laughed as he finished welding the metal sheet.

"Is he always like that?"

"Like what? Getting someone else to do his work for him? Yeah." The two bots stood up and admired their work. Most of the damage to the armor plating of the ship had been repaired, thanks to them. The other bots were busy repairing other things, like the engine and the landing gear, which they just discovered failed after their landing on Earth.

"I think he does it 'cause he's so old, y'know?" Blaster said. "I keep tellin' him to go ahead and retire, but he keeps right on. Complaining and moaning day 'n' night." Blaster grinned. "I think he enjoys it."

They climbed down the ladder leaning on the side of the ship and saw Ratchet and Kup standing a few paces away from the gangplank, doubtlessly swapping stories about the good old days. Prime was standing next to the landing gear, looking up into the space where it was stored while the ship was in flight. The two bots decided to go over and see what he was doing.

When they got there, Prime called up into the opening, "Can you see what has them jammed?"

"I think it the better question would be 'what doesn't have them jammed?'." Suddenly, Prowl poked his head out of the opening and looked down at Prime. "There's so much clutter, rust, and space barnacles up here it's a wonder the landing gear deployed at all when they landed."

"So, it's nothing we can repair at the moment?" Optimus asked.

Prowl shook his head and then dropped down to the ground, as gracefully as ever. He stood back up and brushed off some rust that had got on his arm. "I think this vessel should be condemned. You and I both know it's not safe."

"Yeah, that ain't gonna happen." Blaster said with a shake of his head. "This piece o' junk is as old as Kup himself and it's seen as much action as he has. There's no way he's gonna get rid of it."

"Then perhaps when you get back to Cybertron you can have the landing gear replaced. No patch-up job is going to fix it." Prowl said as he looked back up the way he had come.

"That's gonna run up quite a price." Blaster said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I guess it will. I really don't know much about this kind of thing. I'm a Cyber-ninja, not a repair bot."

Suddenly, Kup called over to them, "Hey, how about we get this part over to that young bot, and then once he's patched up tomorrow we come back out here and finish the job?"

"I think that's a good idea." Optimus called back. "Come on," he said to the three standing around him, "you and Kup are welcome to stay at the plant tonight, Blaster."

"I could do with a change of scenery." Blaster said with a grin.

An hour later, after they put away the tools they had worked with and Kup made sure everything on their ship was locked up tight and the security system was working, they arrived at the abandoned plant. They all transformed and Kup looked the old building up and down.

"And you kids say my ship is a piece of junk and needs to be condemned?" he asked, glancing at Bulkhead, Prowl, and Blaster. As Kup, Ratchet, and Optimus continued on to the door, the other three hung back slightly.

"You think he knows what we said?" whispered Bulkhead.

"I think so, big guy. He's freaky like that." Blaster whispered back.

"Uncanny." Prowl added with a nod.

As they entered the front door, the first thing they noticed was that the base was unusually dark. Only the barest minimum of light was on. Usually, all the lights in the main room were turned on, along with the TV and a video game.

"You think Bumblebee hasn't been back?" Ratchet asked as they stepped into the room.

"I don't know, but he better be here." said Prime as he looked around.

They didn't know it, but when they entered, their feet had set off a trip wire. Now, a whirring sound came from above them. And as one, their heads shot up to see what was making the noise. What they saw on the ceiling was a pulley, connected by a rope to a lever, which slipped open the bottom hatch of a box, conveniently positioned above them. As the lid opened, it dropped a number of large, bulging balloons down on their heads. Every single one of them burst as they made contact with the surprised Autobots or floor beneath, covering them with something cold and wet.

"Paint? Pink paint!" Blaster yelped as he tried unsuccessfully to rid himself of the slimy substance. "No, no, no! Not my paintjob, man!"

"This has Bumblebee written all over it." growled the now pink-colored Ratchet.

"What the slag is this?" Kup said as he wiped the pink away from his optics.

"Bumblebee!" Optimus cried, knowing the bot in question couldn't be too far away. He looked at the others behind him; they were all covered in pink blotches. There were only two who managed to escape being totally covered. And that was Prowl because he was able to leap away before too much of the splattering paint hit him, thanks to his ninja reflexes, and Bulkhead, who was following behind everyone, so he only got a small splatter on his feet.

Suddenly, everyone turned as they heard the thumping of running servos as Bumblebee dashed from his room where he and Sari had been surfing the web. He burst into the room with a cheeky grin on his faceplates, and a camera in his hands.

Ha! I got ya good! He raised the camera to his face and looked down the viewfinder, snapping the shot as soon as it was focused. As he looked at the display screen on the camera, he noticed the group in his picture had two extra bots. With a puzzled expression, he dropped the camera to see with his own optics if he was seeing correctly. He counted the glaring faces again and was sure this time that there were two extra.

Um, I know you can't hear me right now, but who are those guys? He pointed to the two new bots, which were both glaring daggers at him.

"Bumblebee," Optimus said, struggling to force his voice to stay calm, "this is Sergeant Kup and Blaster. They brought your replacement part."

"Why'd you have to use pink, small fry?" Blaster asked, still fussing over his ruined paintjob. "No self-respecting mech goes around in pink!"

"Look at this!" Kup shook the container that held the replacement part. "All this pink ooze just ruined it. I hope you're happy now, 'cause I am not bringing you another replacement."

What? Ruined? Bumblebee's jaw dropped slightly and his optics got big. No! This isn't fair!

"I've had it with you and all these problems you keep causing us! Come here right now." Ratchet stormed over to Bumblebee, who couldn't turn and run fast enough before the enraged medic's servos clamped down on his right arm and another equally pink pair grabbed the other. He was now caught between both a grumpy Ratchet and a grouchy Kup.

No! I'm too young to go off-line! Spare me! I'm sorry, I really am. Please, no! Bumblebee struggled with all his might to get free, but the two old bots were stronger, and more determined to end this. They dragged him away from the living room and down the hall to Ratchet's med bay.

"I'm going to need my wrench for this." Ratchet said as they entered the room.

What? No, not that!

"And my welding torch."

Oh, please, just off-line me quickly. Hey, get that thing away from me! Someone help!

The other bots remained where they were and looked on after him, not feeling sorry for the troublemaker in the least.

Bulkhead started to feel awkward in the silence, so spoke up. "I guess we should get this mess cleaned up."

"No. Just clean yourselves off. We'll let Bumblebee handle this tomorrow." Optimus said as he turned to go to the washroom before the paint dried anymore. Why did Bumblebee have to choose the quick dry stuff?

"But it will have dried by then." Prowl stated as he began to follow.

"That's the point. It'll be harder to get up. A perfect punishment."

"It's gonna be hard enough to get off as it is." Blaster said, picking off chips of paint as they walked.

"I've got a paint remover in my studio," Bulkhead told him as he followed the bots who were leaving a pink trail behind them, "maybe it will help get this stuff off."

"Get it, Bulky. Get it. I can't leave tomorrow being as pink as a femme!"

The next morning, Bumblebee slowly awoke to the sight of a bright, blinding light above his head. He knew immediately that he was in Ratchet's med bay because of it. He also noticed a slight throbbing on the back of his processer. He rubbed the place on the back of his helm and felt a shallow dent. The last thing he remembered the night before was Ratchet looking for his wrench. He hoped he was wrong, but he suspected he knew where that dent came from. The other thing he noticed was that he was still alive. He sighed in relief. After that night, and how Ratchet and the new bot, Kup, acted, he didn't think he was going to see the light of another day.

Ok, really. Ratchet wouldn't try to off-line me. He's a doc-bot! Bumblebee reassured himself. He really hoped Ratchet wouldn't try that.

Deciding that since he was alive it would be ok for him to sit up, Bumblebee slowly lifted himself. A groan escaped his lips and he reached back to hold his throbbing head again as a wave of dizziness rolled over him. He closed his optics to stop the spinning.

"Ratchet said that you shouldn't be getting up, Bee. You went through quite a surgery after all."

Bumblebee opened his optics to see Sari sitting on the berth next to him. She smiled at him and stood. "You need to lay back down now. Before Ratchet comes back and sees you up."

Bee did as she said, and lay back down. He groaned again as his head started to throb because of the movement.

Suddenly, it hit him. He made a noise.

"Wait!" he yelped and shot back up into a sitting position. His head protested the sudden movement and started pounding away.

"Ow! Sari, I can talk! Oooh. Man, my head hurts. Why does it hurt? Oh, it hurts when I talk. But that's just it, I'm talking!"

"Bumblebee, lay back down, right now." Sari ordered and gently pushed him back down. "And your head hurts because of that knockout gas or whatever it was that Ratchet used on you before he fixed you."

"Knock-out gas? You mean knockout wrench! I have a dent on the back of my helmet!" He talked as loudly as he could without causing his processer to hurt, which was nothing more than a whisper.

"No, he said he used some kind of gas, I think. He wouldn't hit you."

"Yeah, right." But he grinned anyway. "Sari, it's great to hear my voice again! Oh, how I missed hearing me!"

Sari laughed. "It's great to hear you too, Bee. Finally!"

"But, that old geezer, what's his name? Kup? He said my part was ruined."

The eight-year-old shrugged. "I guess he lied. You did make him pretty mad. When I saw him, he was ranting a mile a minute!" She looked around the room, and then leaned closer to Bumblebee and said in a whisper, "I think he's grumpier than Ratchet!"

"What? No way." Bumblebee said in disbelief.

"Yes way!"

Bumblebee shook his head. "Not looking forward to meeting him then."

At that moment, they heard footsteps coming through the door, so they both turned to look, and saw Ratchet entering the med bay.

"Well, it looks like you pulled through. How do you feel?" Ratchet said, getting right to the doctoring.

"Well, I feel like Bulkhead did the Mexican hat dance on my processor, but other than that, I'm great! Can I get up and leave now?" he asked eagerly, lifting himself up slightly.

"No. Not until that headache eases up. We don't want you hurting yourself again, 'cause I want you out of my med bay just as much as you do."

"Aww, come on, Doc Bot. Let me out?"

Ratchet shrugged. "Ok then, but just to let you know, as soon as you leave, Optimus is going to put you to work cleaning up that mess in the main room." Ratchet smiled as he informed the young bot of his impending punishment.

"Uh, you know, on second thought, I think you're right. I should stay here a bit longer." Bumblebee said as he laid back and closed his optics again.

"That's the first smart thing you've decided to do since this ordeal started." Ratchet said as he crossed his arms.

"Humph. I don't think so."

"Everyone else does. You better be glad I decided to fix you now, instead of making you wait as punishment."

He knew that Ratchet wouldn't have made him wait. The Doc Bot knew how annoying Bumblebee would have gotten if he knew that his voice box was being withheld from him. Bumblebee grinned at the thought.

It didn't take long for Ratchet to let Bumblebee leave. It was sooner than he wanted to, but the young bot wouldn't stop asking 'to be freed'. So, Bumblebee and Sari left the med bay, and headed straight for the busiest room in the plant to announce the revival of Bumblebee's voice. Just as Bumblebee thought, the TV was on, and a few bots were sitting in front of it. There was Prime, Bulkhead, Prowl, and the two new bots, Blaster and Kup. Bumblebee also noticed that there were still pink spots on their armor, and he grimaced. He would have thought it would have been hilarious if it were just his friends who were caught in the trap. Visitors, and visitors he had never met before at that, kind of took the fun out of the prank. He knew how the team would react, not these two. Oh, well, he figured he could laugh about the prank after they left.

As he came up, the five bots turned at the sound of his approach.

"Little Buddy! You're up!" Bulkhead stood up and came to him. "Well, how are you?"

"I'm awesome!" Bee answered. Bulkhead caught Bee up in a big bear hug and laughed.

"It's good to hear your voice again. It's been way too quiet."

"I guess the human saying is true," said Prowl, "All good things must come to an end."

"Hey!" Bumblebee said as Bulkhead placed him back on his feet. "I've had enough of your teasing. Now that I can talk, I can defend myself!" he stood with his hands on his hips and glared at the ninja, just daring him to try something.

Prowl shook his head in amusement. "I'll stop the teasing. All right, Bumblebee?"

"Yeah, you want to stop now because I can shoot them right back, and you realize your way out of your league!"

Prowl turned to head out the front door, choosing to ignore the yellow bot.

"Hey, don't you turn tail and run. Get back here!" He chased Prowl to the door, calling after him as he transformed and drove away. Bumblebee turned back to the bots and girl and waved.

"See ya later! I got a month and a half of backed up revenge waiting for that nature freak. Hey, Prowl, wait up!" he called as he transformed and sped after the fleeing ninja-bot. "Why are you running? Afraid of little ole me? Get back here you cyber-ninja chicken!"

Kup and Blaster looked at each other from where they still sat at the couch, and shook their heads.

"Is he always this obnoxious?" Kup asked.

"He's just being Bumblebee." Sari answered with a laugh. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

The End

Thanks for all the support and help many of you have contributed. This story would never have been finished if it weren't for all you readers. Thank you for sticking with me through this long, long ride. :)