Laserbeak’s Fury



Laserbeak's Fury is the fourth in the Ladybird Books series of Transformers storybooks.

Written by: John Grant Illustrated by: Mike Collins and Mark Farmer


 * Major characters (in order of appearance): Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Laserbeak, Skywarp, Hound, Optimus Prime, Spike Witwicky, Cliffjumper, Ironhide, Sunstreaker, Windcharger, Sparkplug Witwicky, Rumble

Summary
Seeking to exploit the Autobots' fondness for human beings, Megatron has Laserbeak sent out to observe and learn more about them. While following a farmer’s family on their drive home, however, Laserbeak collides with a set of overhead power lines and his transformation unit is de-energized, trapping him in cassette form. His transmission to the Decepticon base is severed, but his final report intrigues Megatron – a mechanical device with zero magnetic response, considered to be impossible by Cybertronian standards. At the same time, Hound has been listening in on Laserbeak’s signal for the Autobots, and a concerned Optimus Prime has his last known location pinpointed so they can investigate themselves.

The next morning, two electrical engineers arrive at the farm to repair the broken power lines, and discover the cassette-mode Laserbeak lying in the grass. Attempting to play him in their truck’s tape deck, they find he gives only out a series of beeps, and toss him back into the field again. Not long after, the farmer’s son and his dog find Laserbeak and take him home, but the boy promptly tosses the cassette onto his bed and forgets about it. However, the boy is also responsible for arranging the music for a local dance at the village hall, and when his mother finds Laserbeak, she adds him to the box of music tapes, which are soon taken to the hall.

Spike and Hound soon arrive on the scene to investigate the mysterious “zero magnetic energy mechanism,” which turns out to be an ordinary windmill. Spike also discovers Megatron, Soundwave and Starscream observing the windmill and village from the woods nearby, and radios Optimus Prime and an Autobot battle unit, who arrive as the sun sets.

Meanwhile, in the village hall, the dance is in full swing, until the DJ randomly grabs Laserbeak from the box of cassettes and slots him into the system. After a series of beeps, the system explodes, as its energy recharges Laserbeak and he erupts in robot mode. Panicking the dancers as they flood out into the streets, Laserbeak is fired upon by a villager a shotgun at him, leading to more and more armed villagers attacking him and chasing after him as he flees into the woods and meets up with the Decepticons there. The infuriated Decepticons prepare to attack the humans, but, aware of the danger, the Autobots make their presence known to draw the Decepticons’ fire. A mighty battle ensues, during which Spike activates the windmill. Its sails smash into Laserbeak, and Starscream is distressed when he discovers his null ray has no effect on it, leading Soundwave to a hasty decision – hoping that shockwaves can disable it, he deploys Rumble, who destroys the windmill with his piledrivers. With the windmill gone, the Decepticons retreat, and the next day, Optimus Prime laments its destruction, and is fearful that humans may have seen them. Spike allays his fears by showing him the morning paper, which tells of a freak electrical storm that destroyed the windmill... and the appearance of a winged demon at a disco!

Errors

 * Cliffjumper is colored yellow on page 27, but hey, it wouldn’t be the first time a yellow Cliffjumper had been knockin' around.

Items of note

 * The newspaper Spike shows Optimus is called the “Paprika Plains Informer.” “Paprika Plains” is the title of a Joni Mitchell song, but what the hee-haw it’s doing being referenced in here, one can only guess. Maybe Mike Collins was a fan?