The Story of Wheelie

A strange corkscrew-shaped ship plummeted through space. Inside, a young Autobot and his parents were gripped in terror. Their ship was on a doomed course. It had run out of fuel mid-flight. An emergency landing was impossible. The landing gears were jammed!

The ship fell through space at breakneck speed. The steel ship finally broke through the darkness of deep space and plunged toward an uncharted planet below. The ship exploded when it hit the planet's surface.

Only one lucky passenger was thrown clear - the boy Autobot, Wheelie. His unfortunate parents perished in the fiery crash.

Wheelie was lying on the ground, short circuited and in grave danger. He was on the dangerous planet Quintesson!

The evil Quintessons, the inhabitants of the planet, found Wheelie lying there. They decided he must be an alien spy and they dragged him away and threw him into a Quintesson dungeon.

When Wheelie awoke, he was dazed. Slowly it all came back to him. He remembered the terrible crash. He cried out for his parents, but soon realised they were not near him. Wheelie was sad and frightened.

Wheelie shuddered when two Quintessons walked into the dungeon. These creatures have five-sided heads. Each side has a different expression. The Quintessons stared at Wheelie wearing their frightening angry expressions.

The Quintessons tied Wheelie's arms and marched him out of the dungeon. They led him through dark, winding corridors. The group stopped in front of two large doors.

The lead Quintesson swung around and fixed Wheelie in a frightening stare. He was wearing his death-mask expression!

The Quintesson guard pushed Wheelie through the doors and onto a long platform. Wheelie looked over the edge of the platform and his eyes grew wide. There in the swampy pit were vicious-looking transformers with razor-sharp teeth. They snapped their mighty jaws at Wheelie. They were Sharkticons!

Wheelie realised that he would soon be a meal for these horrible robot-sharks. He jumped hard on the platform and bounced high in the air, somersaulting backwards over the heads of the startled Quintessons.

Wheelie raced through the twisting hallways and out into the jungle. The Quintessons were right behind him. Wheelie was too fast for them. He raced away into the dark jungle of Quintesson.

The evil Quintessons vowed to recapture the alien Autobot boy. And as time passed they made many attempts. But Wheelie managed to outsmart his enemies each and every time. He protected himself with a laser knife he carried and a special sling which hurled fire stones. He had found these weapons while sifting through the wreckage at the crash site of his parents' ship.

Wheelie missed his parents an awful lot. He was thankful they had taught him well in the ways of survival. Somehow he felt their spirits watched over him as he roamed the wilds of Quintesson - all alone.

Compared to Wheelie, the boy Autobot Hot Rod had a very carefree life on Earth. He was never lonely because he had a lot of Autobot friends. The wise old Autobot Kup and girl Autobot Arcee were two of them. Sludge, Slag, Swoop, and Grimlock were his Dinobot friends.

Right now they were preparing to go on a special space mission together. Autobot Bumblebee was posted at the Autobots' space station on the second moon of Cybertron. This was a strategic location for battling Decepticons - the evil enemies of the Autobots.

The Autobot outpost needed supplies. Hot Rod, Kup, Arcee, and the Dinobots volunteered to travel to the space station with the necessary supplies. Kup kept a watchful eye as the group loaded the supplies onto the waiting ship. After a while he said to them, "Hold it! I don't think it is wise to load on any more cargo. Too much weight and the ship will be in big trouble!"

Grimlock and Slag ignored Kup's warning. "No want make second trip," Grimlock said to Slag. Unnoticed they piled on additional supplies. Soon everyone climbed on board and the ship zoomed off!

The flight was smooth sailing at first. But as they flew deeper into space, the ship began to rattle and sputter uncontrollably. Arcee grabbed onto Hot Rod. "What's happening?!" she asked.

"Don't worry, Arcee," Hot Rod comforted her. "Kup will soon have everything under control."

At the ship's controls, Kup moved about quickly handling one instrument then another. Nothing was working. They were in big trouble!

"Phew! That was a close call!" said Arcee as the shaken group climbed out of the damaged ship.

The downed party explored their strange jungle surroundings. They didn't know it but they were being watched. Spying eyes in the thicket of overgrown bushes and tangled trees followed their every move.

Then Kup spoke the name of the place all of them most dreaded. "Quintesson!" he declared.

The instant Kup uttered that name, a savage animal-like scream pierced the air. "Aiyeeeeeee!" It came from Wheelie, the wild boy of Quintesson. He sprung from the bushes in a flash. "Look back! Quintessons attack!" he yelled to the Autobots.

Before the Autobots could act, Wheelie took charge. He hurled one firestone after another with non-stop lightning-fast precision over their heads. His target was a band of enemy Quintessons stealthily approaching the Autobots from the rear.

ZING! ZING! The firestones whirled through the air. The mob of Quintesson soldiers ran for cover from the fiery ammunition. The Quintessons had planned a surprise attack on the Autobots. They failed, thanks to the fearless boy of the jungle!

Once the Quintessons were out of sight, Wheelie turned to go. "Wait! Who are you?" Hot Rod asked.

Wheelie stopped and stared at the strangers, puzzled. Could they be his own kind finally come to rescue him? he wondered. He answered Hot Rod. "Wheelie my name. Wheelie ask same," he said.

Hot Rod introduced everyone to their new-found ally. They all had questions for Wheelie.

Suddenly Wheelie said, "Quintessons return to finish fight. Wheelie say get out of sight!" He led Hot Rod and his group away from the crash area.

They hadn't got far when the Autobots realised they were being followed. The Quintessons had returned along with the Sharkticons! In seconds, they attacked!

Now in Dino mode, Sludge swung his armoured tail at the Sharkticons and smashed three of them into sheet metal. Swoop rose high in the sky and fired his missiles at the enemy with deadly accurate aim. Grimlock caught the unlucky Quintessons in his powerful jaws and broke them in two. CRUNCH! Slag spewed his fiery breath at the enemy! SWOOSH! They melted into pools of liquid metal.

While the Dinobots, Kup, and Arcee held off the enemy, Wheelie signalled Hot Rod to follow him. "Do not fear, Wheelie get you out of here!" he said. Hot Rod and Wheelie both transformed into their auto modes and raced through the jungle to the spot where Wheelie's parents' wrecked ship had crash landed. The strange corkscrew-shaped ship lay dark and battered.

Right away Hot Rod saw what was wrong with the ship. He repaired the damage in no time. The corkscrew ship was all set to rocket off the unfriendly planet. Hot Rod revved up the engine and hoped his friends would hear the roar and follow it.

Wheelie kept watch outside the ship. All of a sudden, he felt the earth trembling beneath his feet. Surrounding trees toppled from their roots. "For friends' sake, not now an earthquake!" Wheelie gasped.

But it was no earthquake. The victorious Autobots and Dinobots were making a speedy return from the battleground. And with each quick stride the Dinobots shook the ground with their great strength.

When they got close enough they heard the purring of the corkscrew engine. Closer still, they saw Wheelie motioning for them to get onboard. The small troop knew they were homeward bound. "Yaay!" they all cheered. Within seconds they were aboard and ready for takeoff.

"Just a minute!" said Hot Rod to Wheelie. "We're not leaving you behind! Climb aboard, friend."

Wheelie smiled and eagerly climbed into the spaceship. As they sped off into the blue yonder, Wheelie gazed at the planet which was home for such a long time. He sighed a deep sigh and said, "Wheelie gone... from Quintesson!"

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