Okay so this probably sounds dumb but at least for now I'm calling it a Mindtrapped AU (my thing with ES Bumblebee getting put under Mandroid's control)
I went back and rewatched the last three episodes of S1 (I replayed Stowed Away. Stowaways so many times I can't count it) but basically I'm rewriting that entire episode plus tweaking the last two. Now I have a canon-relevant reason for Bee going into the G.H.O.S.T Headquarters (his secret mission) and the kids stay home!!!! What compelled them to follow him in canon?! It's like they wanted to get captured or smth,,
So Bee's basically crawling through the walls like a roach to get his business done *insert cool spy stuff that me am not smart enough to write*. I also think that (just my opinion) Optimus kinda acted too obviously suspicious of Croft and that ruined the element of surprise because she immediately clocked that something was up.
And Schloder's complete 180 opinion of Bee?! Wasn't he eager to put that minibot in cuffs just episodes ago??? I think I'm going crazy
Anyway I'm trying to make it flow more cohesively while I build up to the bigger events
I have an oc that would fit perfectly into the plotline but idk if I should actually flesh that out or keep it more canon compliant. On one hand, I'd have an excuse to write them (an unaffiliated Velocitronian bounty hunter with relations to G.H.O.S.T but not officially working for them), and on the other I wanna keep the main antagonist a human (Croft, Mandroid)
Orrrrr, I could write them in and turn it into a double betrayal? (They're so gonna get killed off btw, it was destined in the scriptures)
I'm completely torn on this, y'all can decide whether or not they debut in the fic.
ANYWHO,,,,,,,
Bee gets got at the wrong time and the mission is a failure, and instead of being put in a cell, is immediately put into interrogation (read: torture) for espionage and conspiring with "the enemy". Y'know how everyone else has a badge on their chest/shoulders? Well, Bee gets one implanted directly into his neural net, attached at the spinal cord in the lumbar region, and it's so tightly interconnected that it hurt, threatening to sever the delicate circuitry. (It's fully intended to actually cut the cord if it gets deactivated, a fun surprise for later. I plan on exploring the potential of Cybertronian mobility devices. I also like the prospect of Bee using a cane)
During the fight, Breakdown comes back after getting his shit together, feeling terrible for abandoning his bbg and his family. He takes the responsibility of doing everything he can to keep the mind controlled minibot focused on him and nothing else, which leaves the terrans relatively unscathed at the end. Breakdown just kinda,,, lets his shit get rocked, feeling like he deserves to get beat up like that for even thinking about abandoning Bee. He comes out less unscathed, but alive.
Because it's a different type of control chip, and also connected to a computer at G.H.O.S.T and not that hand thing Croft has, Bee is still under when that big energy wave hits in the last episode, though since the connection was abandoned, there's no input coming through and Bee is left standing there uselessly, waiting for a signal that never arrives.
I think it'd be funny if Breakdown were to try and mess with him, making stupid faces and poking at him to try and get a reaction. He manages to get a few doorwing and horn twitches, and a full body movement when he jostles him hard enough. Other than that, nothing, and it's lowkey disconcerting. None of the others can get any other reaction, and especially Jawbreaker feels somehow responsible and keeps clinging onto him like a koala, hoping that behind the chip, he can feel that his little brother is there trying to support him.
What if the only reaction he gives is because of Hashtag, due to her G.H.O.S.T affiliation? He can sense a signal bouncing through her from that computer and he gives attention to her, awaiting for a command. She of course is freaked out about it but also enamored, because that's one of the craziest situations she has ever been in aside from the major fight earlier.
She can't properly intercept the signal because it's out of access, but now they have a better clue on where to look to shut the computer down and get Bee back.
And boy is that reunion uneasy.
