"Just this little thing? Are you sure it can save Optimus Prime?"
"Where did you bumpkins crawl out from?" Teddy scoffed at the crosshair that raised the question. "Are your heads full of 'big is good, big is beautiful, big is awesome'? Wake up! It's the 21st century, not World War II!"
All the Transformers present felt awkward. On Cybertron, that really had been their aesthetic.
After all, even for the Transformers themselves, size represented absolute power.
For instance, everyone here was smaller than Optimus Prime, and their combat power couldn't compare to Optimus or Galvatron.
Including Bumblebee.
Although he had excellent combat talent, his absolute strength wasn't high.
"Though, to be fair, Transformers do define base strength by size." John leaned down and whispered into Teddy's ear. "Just like no matter how advanced the tech is, we both still prefer the one that looks bigger at first glance, right?"
"…You saying that right next to my ear is really creepy." Teddy rolled his eyes. "Although, I have to admit, you're right."
Actually, Teddy understood the Transformers' doubts.
But what really annoyed him was that the Palladium Arc Reactor in his hand was something he'd risked his life to get.
When Optimus Prime needed an object with immense energy for healing, Teddy's first thought was to steal electricity from a local power plant.
But he didn't expect that electricity couldn't be used to repair a Spark.
Just when he was out of ideas, Teddy got a piece of news from the black market.
Tony Stark had declared the Palladium Arc Reactor fatally toxic to the human body and replaced it.
He'd successfully created a Tesseract isotope based on Howard Stark's designs.
That ultimate clean energy source was indeed incomparable to radioactive substances like palladium.
But Teddy saw this as an opportunity.
Sure, palladium contained radioactive material and was harmful to humans.
But for Transformers?
That was nonsense.
When did silicon-based lifeforms ever care about a little radiation?
Since the side effects didn't apply, the Palladium Arc Reactor was absolutely the best choice.
Something capable of powering a mecha-type superhero should have no problem repairing a Spark, right?
After sharing the idea with John, the two started scheming to get it.
At first, they planned to go straight to Stark Industries to steal it.
But soon discovered that they couldn't even get past the elevator, let alone reach the Arc Reactor.
At their wits' end, they overheard a man named "Happy" talking on the phone with the FBI Academy in a café near Stark Industries.
The call was about sending Iron Man's original Palladium Arc Reactor to the FBI Academy for collection and internal display.
That became their new target.
The FBI Academy.
They easily sneaked into the produce supply base that delivered goods to the FBI Academy.
But a man and a talking Teddy Bear together were way too conspicuous. So they decided that Teddy would go inside alone.
John would handle the pickup.
And so, Teddy successfully infiltrated the FBI Academy.
It sounds simple, but it all depended on exploiting the blind spots of the Academy's security system.
After all, if people saw a Teddy Bear on the sidewalk, they'd just assume someone dropped it, not that it was there to steal an Arc Reactor.
It took a lot of effort for Teddy to enter the internal exhibition hall, which wasn't even open to the public yet.
The area was filled with surveillance systems, the kind that would immediately alert the X-Men once they detected a living organism.
But…
Teddy had no life signs.
He was a Teddy Bear made of cloth and cotton.
So the hardest part was just walking.
Walk in, stuff the Arc Reactor into his belly from underneath, then walk out.
Unfortunately, when he tried to get back to the produce truck, he was discovered by Wolverine and cornered in the warehouse.
Teddy had to improvise, lighting up the half-smoked joint he'd been carrying.
That led to the scene where Wolverine and Dante caught him in the FBI Academy's warehouse.
In truth, Teddy had been scared half to death by Wolverine and Dante back then.
But he relied on his natural gift for deception and managed to get picked up by John safely.
Then the two of them raced straight back to John's grandparents' farm.
"Motherf***er, you silicon-based freaks from space, it's all thanks to me, a Teddy Bear, carrying you this far!"
"Even if it's just for the trouble I went through, you all have to at least try it!" Teddy said, tossing the Palladium Arc Reactor toward Ratchet.
It hit the ground.
Everyone froze.
"No, seriously, can't you just reach out and catch it? Do you expect me, a Teddy Bear, to perfectly throw it into the hands of a six or seven-meter-tall robot?"
"We didn't expect you to just throw it!" Even Ratchet, usually serious, almost lost composure. "I mean, I could've just bent down and picked it up."
"…Damn, you're right." Teddy shook his plush head. "I guess I've flown too much today, my mind's getting fuzzy."
Ratchet didn't say anything else. He picked up the Palladium Arc Reactor and walked deeper into the barn.
In the darkness, the Autobot leader Optimus Prime lay there with his eyes closed.
"Can we really survive this ordeal?"
Ratchet sighed.
Their situation was grim.
They were being hunted not only by the Decepticons but also by the Government, which had once secretly cooperated with them.
That "cooperation" had shifted into capture and control. The government now wanted to transform both Autobots and Decepticons into their personal War Machines.
"Survive what? The barn echoes so much that if you fart in there, I'd hear it like a nuclear explosion... Wait, do you Transformers even fart?"
Teddy said, waving at Bumblebee.
"Bee, come here, help me destroy this thing. After all, you don't want the FBI tracking your location, do you? Who knows if they're working with the Government."
He handed over the chipped collar around his neck.
Bumblebee didn't hesitate, connecting his internal system to the chip and overloading it until it was fried.
Just as everyone began waiting quietly to see if the treatment would succeed, a voice suddenly came from outside the barn.
"John? Teddy? Is that you two back?"
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)