Author's Note

So, long time no see on this huh? Look, I was in a pause, I had no idea what I wanted to do in terms of writing, I was lost, real life stood in the way, other projects... okay, not really any excuse, but either way, this is back, and Shadow and I are determined to finish it off.

Thanks to everyone who read this, and I do hope you will enjoy more of the adventure that unfolds! And if you could give Shadowmane a follow, that'd be great!

Rising Tension

The rest of the Shadowbolts fled into the forest, leaving the city—and their toxic halves—behind as they dwelled on the harrowing experience they just went through. Highbrow and Sugarcoat had been shot out of the sky, and the resulting explosion made them believe that the two were dead, or in serious danger.

Lemon shivered, “S-Shouldn’t we go back to get them? I don’t feel right leaving them like that…”

“They just… blew up.” Indigo’s lip quivered, before she bawled and pulled Lemon into a hug. “I never got to tell Sugarcoat how cute her hair looked!”

Sour sniffled. “And now… they’re gone.”

Sunny frowned as well. “I know we shouldn’t have left them… but we have no choice. Those toxic… things are overrunning the city every second, any more and then we would all be caught.”

“Yeah. And I still can’t get any word from the base either,” Hound said, almost grinding against the edge of the road. ‘Something’s definitely wrong here, girls…”

“Wrong as it may be, we must keep moving,” said the calm and charismatic voice of the Wolf-con. “We’re almost there, in fact… I’m picking up a large trace of Autobot frequencies near my home.”

“Autobots? Y’mean, there are others out here?” Sunny asked, clutching Weirdwolf’s frame tenderly.

“I can smell it… I know they’re here. Many of them.”

As soon as everyone arrived to the forest, all of the girls stepped out of the cars, allowing the robots to transform back into their alternate forms. Weirdwolf crept down, taking a knee out and dug his hand into the dirt. He raised his claw up, sniffing it, picking up the scent.

“Yes… they’re here. Autobots. And humans…”

“Humans?” Lemon cocked one of her brows. “Y’think they’ll help get rid of those meanie-pants back home?”

“Maybe. Just maybe. Come on.”

Weirdwolf led the group, and everyone scurried behind, deeper and deeper into the forest, letting only the sounds of the wind and wildlife accompany them.

“You know, there’s something I never understood about you,” Sunny asked. “Why did you want to take refuge here in the woods?”

“Is there something wrong with that, my little human?” Weirdwolf asked.

“W-Well, no, I just… I never thought that a former Decepticon would want to be somewhere so… peaceful.”

“Let’s just say the war was… not pretty to me. My servos had seen unimaginable horrors, and I would have rather wanted peace than conflict.” Weirdwolf sighed, gently clawing the ground. “Not even Megatron or whatever doofus leading the Decepticons now can swing me back.”

“Oh, well, that’s good.” Sunny said, unsure of how to respond.

Weirdwolf and the group stepped through the forest and stopped on a large spread of dirt. In front of them was the lake, with the beautiful moon shining its light on the crystal clear water. Only the sounds of crickets and the water splashing along itself could be heard in the woods.

“We’re close. Their vitals are getting stronger.” Outback peered out from a tree. “Think they’re friend or foe?”

Weirdwolf sniffed the air, picking up the sent. “Friends. I can smell them.”

Lemon for once had somewhat of a smile. “Aww, who’s a good wolfie? Who’s a good wolfie? You are!” And she started playfully rubbing his chest area.

Weirdwolf just chuckled, hearing her joke.

“Very silly, I’ll say,” Weirdwolf rolled his eyes, still smiling.

“But there’s no time. We need to get back to base and warn Optimus about those Toxic Shadowbolts…”

“I agree, Twilight, but how are we gonna do that when we can’t even get in touch with them?”

“Ahem,” Weirdwolf interrupted.

The girls and the few Autobots turned their heads, seeing the former Con and the Bolts right close by.

“Perhaps we could help resolve that issue?” Weirdwolf replied.

Pinkie Pie gasped with delight. “Wolfie!” And not a single one of the others was prepared for the hug that followed.

“Nice to see you too, Pinkie Pie.” He hugged her back, gently tousling her poofy, puffy pink hair.

The Bolts smiled, seeing the Rainbooms all okay.

“Oh, it's so good to see you girls! Oh thank goodness, you’re okay!” Sunny said, tackling Rarity in a hug.

“We’ve missed you so, so much!” Indigo hugged Rainbow, brushing her head against her chest, which caused Rainbow to flinch and stumble backwards.

“Dah, hey! Warn me next time!” Rainbow replied, but she hugged her regardless.

“Sorry. It’s just that hugs are the bestest thing ever when you see people you haven’t seen in a really long time.” She exited the hug and twiddled her fingers.

“It’s been only five days, girls.” Sunset was the first to point out. “And what are you all doing here anyway?”

“There are meanie-pants versions of us causing super-bad things in town!” Lemon blurted out. “They’re all gooey and sticky and not friendly in the slightest!”

“And the worst part? They have Sugarcoat!” Indigo added.

“Wait, what about Highbrow?”

“They shot him down,” Hound replied. “I don’t even know if he survived the crash.”

“Don’t let one fire take you down, Hound,” Blaster said in his ever slick voice that could compete against Jazz, “Remember, Highbrow’s a Headmaster. I’m sure that dude’s A-okay. You could decapitate him, and he wouldn’t die!”

“But Sugar…” Sunny waddled up to the girls. “She’s not a Transformer. She’s in super-duper trouble…”

“Sugarcoat’s a strong girl. I’m sure she’s okay. I hope,” Smallfoot added.

“Still can’t get a connection to base either, so I’m expecting the worst…” Hound groaned, ferociously pounding away at his communicator to try and speak to the others. “Come on, come on! Pick up, you defunct pile of—“

“Wait, you can’t talk to the base either?” Smallfoot asked, reaching forward.

“Yeah. And the Groundbridges have all been shut off too, so we can’t just teleport in and see how everyone’s doing.” He added. “This is bad, Smallfoot. Like, REALLY BAD.”

“Hmm…” Weirdwolf tapped his chin. “Curiouser, and curiouser…”

Highbrow’s helicopter form still laid in the mall. Mangled, decapitated, set on fire, helicopter blades bent, it was all a mess. It didn’t even look like he could transform. But, thankfully, he didn’t need to.

“Ahh!!!” A small robot shouted, springing up from the fountain water. A blue and gray robot with a small blue visor gasped heavily as he pulled himself up. He didn’t know how long he was in the fountain, or even how long it was since he crashed. Looking behind, he frowned.

“Well, it certainly seems I won’t be in massive size any time soon. Sugarcoat! Are you okay!? Sugarcoat? Sugarcoat!” Highbrow shouted.

Pulling himself out of the water, he got on his two feet, water falling behind him.

“Okay… let's think, let's think. Shot down, spun out of control, crashed into the mall…” Highbrow though, scratching his chin. Where could she have gone?

But wait. On the ground. Footprints. Black, gooey, slimy footprints...

“What the…” He staggered and hobbled towards the footprints, almost like a wild animal would when it was hunting prey. “Is this… my oil? Or is it something else entirely?”

He stuck his finger into the goop, raising it up to his visor. A few screens flashed in his eyes as he observed the substance, trying to analyze it.

“Hmm…” He tried to open a channel up to Autobot HQ, but nothing seemed to work. After trying and failing repeatedly, he went to the auxiliary channels, but even they had been shut down. “No comms? No link to the base? Whatever left these tracks, it’s obvious they don’t want us following it…”

Carefully, trying not to make a sound, he slowly started to follow the tracks of slime. His boots made a few small clanks, which only made him cringe as he walked. He really wished he wasn’t this loud when he walked.

“Maybe these tracks will lead me to Sugarcoat. She’s a tough old girl, even with all her toxins removed, so I’m sure she should be fine,” he said.

Completely ignoring his own advice, he started a jog through the mall trying to find the exit. Eventually he found the exit, and made it through the front entrance. But as he stepped out, he instantly jumped and hid behind a giant potted plant, hearing some female voices outside. Very familiar female voices in fact...

“SURRENDER YOURSELVES, AUTOBOT VERMIN. YOU MUST BE CULLED FOR THE TOXIBOLTS TO PREVAIL.” Malware-1’s voice boomed throughout the Autobot base, reaching every corner. The walls had turned red, and guns were scanning each and every corridor and room, looking for Optimus Prime and the other bots in the headquarters.

A good majority of the Autobots had found places to hide, but others sadly did not make it in time. A few soldiers laid about on the ground, either injured, or dead. Needless to say, the Autobots were horrified at the state of what their base had become.

“THERE IS NO ESCAPE. GROUNDBRIDGES AND COMMS ARE OFFLINE. AND IN MERE MOMENTS, THE OUTSIDE AUTOBOTS WILL BE DESTROYED AS WELL.” Malware’s voice returned. “ACCEPT THAT YOUR RACE IS DEAD, AND THAT THE TOXIBOLTS HAVE WON.”

“Is this the end, Optimus?” Red Alert asked, cradling his body gently. “Are we really going to die in our own base?”

“No. There must be a way to resolve this crisis.” Optimus put a hand on his chin as he looked out at the guns. “This base’s defense matrix is state of the art, but it is not infallible. Everything has a weakness; even us.”

“Well…” Jazz said, sitting on Optimus’s other side. He looked to the commander, a proud smile on his face. “If we don’t make it out, it’d be an honor to die alongside you, Prime.”

“But how are we going to stop a Teletraan? Especially one that has this whole base under its’ thumb?” Tracks asked, lifting a brow at his commander.

“Hmm…” Red Alert looked to the screens, seeing the black, inky skull and crossbones on them. “Maybe, if we go to its’ central core and get rid of whatever’s corrupting it, we could reboot the system entirely and get him back on our side without any major damage.”

“But won’t that require us getting out? Into the open? Where we’re constantly getting shot?” Another Autobot asked, off to the side.

“I know Teletraan better than any Autobot and Decepticon. I worked in a library before I was an Autobot, after all.” He said. “Though he can see us all, he can’t focus on every area at once. And, if multiple weapons systems go online in different sections of the base, it would be easier for us to dodge and weave, as he has to keep his eye on the bots at all times.”

“Hmm…” Jazz said, in thought. “I like it.”

“Sounds dangerous. But it sounds like we don’t have any other option, and at this point, I’m willing to go with anything right now,” another Autobot replied.

“If we switch to vehicle mode and spread out, he’ll have a hard time trying to shoot us all down.” Optimus lifted a finger. “The speed we drive at, coupled with the fact that Teletraan-1 has to cover many areas at once, will surely lead to him missing more than a few shots.”

Jazz grinned. “Then let's have a race!”

“And Teletraan-1’s ammo is limited as well. So not only is he just one security AI having to look at many screens at once with multiple bots whizzing around, but he’ll have to reload as well in between. Meaning that he’s not as perfect a menacing killing machine as we think.” Red Alert lifted her finger.

“But still… that virus has me worried. Who knows what else it’s done to him?” Strongarm looked at the screens, which glitched and switch to static at times, like something out of a sci-fi horror film.

“We won’t know unless we act. Autobots, we will draw Teletraan-1’s attention to us. If you can, alert any other Autobots nearby, and inform them. We will not stand down today! Til all are one!”

Everyone shouted. “Til all are one!”

“Well then, everyone,” Jazz said, converting into his racecar form. “Let's have a race!”

“Autobots! Transform and roll out!” Optimus delivered his signature line as the others transformed and shot out of their hiding places, roaring down the tunnels at high speeds.

“THERE YOU ARE...” Malware-1’s voice boomed as his guns pointed towards the speeding bots.

Sugarcoat, still shaken up from the crash, groaned as her eyes adjusted to the dim, yet violent light dangling above her face. The rest of the room around her was a dark shade of black, and not a single other inch of it was lit, save for the water that reflected the fractions of light hitting its’ surface.

Sugarcoat mumbled, but soon realized she couldn't speak. Or move for that matter. A patch of slime, covering her mouth preventing her speech, and her arms locked behind her back while more chains bound her legs to the chair’s legs.

“Y’know, I’ve had to jump through an awful lot of hoops now that I’m free from your body, other me. But rest assured, it’ll be worth it in the long run.” Sugarcoat’s toxic other half stepped out from the shadows, laying her hand on Sugarcoat’s chest. “And trust me. When you see our perfect world, you’ll be thanking us for freeing your worthless friends from their toxic halves.”

Sugarcoat’s eyes widened in fear.

“Is that… fear I see?” Toxic Sugarcoat slid her hand across Sugarcoat’s face. “It seems that underneath that strong-willed, adamant, and intelligent Crystal Prep trash, there’s a scared little preschooler, afraid of her own shadow. I’d ask if you want a pacifier and diaper, but from the looks of things, you’d probably use them all up by the time I finish with you.”

From the sidelines, Toxic Indigo and Sour watched and stared down at the helpless girl.

“You know, as fun as it is to torture her, mentally, is it really a smart idea to be away in this dump of a warehouse? I don’t want to sound alarmed, but that Autobot of hers… he could still be alive.”

“First of all, it’s not a warehouse. It’s the SEWER, you dimwitted ape.” Toxic Sugar groaned. “Second of all, she’s NEVER going to see that bot of hers again. Acid will find him, and turn him into a Toxic Autobot as well.”

Toxic Indigo rolled his eyes. “Just saying…”

“I say we gut her and get this shit over with.” Toxic Sour grumbled, folding her arms. “Kill the happy parts, and the bad parts stay. FOREVER.”

“And therein lies the problem. If they die, we die. It’s a long and complicated scientific process, Sour Sweet, but the short answer is that we need our goody two-shoes selves alive. Or we won’t even live to see our goal come to fruition.” Toxic Sugar grumbled.

Toxic Sour was next to roll her eyes. “Whatever… But I say we should take her outside. Let her watch as the entire city crumbles before her eyes… all in front of her, and she just lays bound and gagged. Helpless, unable to do a thing to stop us…”

Sugarcoat tried to break free, and cried at the top of her voice behind the gag and chains that held her down. The chair rattled, and the noise echoed throughout the base as she tried in vain to escape.

“Now look what you did. You scared her. You STUPID. Mindless. ZOMBIE!” —With each word, Toxic Sugarcoat threw black orbs of goo at Toxic Sour, until the final one caused her to evaporate into a sludge puddle— “She’ll be back, other me. Don’t worry about it.”

“I thought that was the point, we’re already holding her hostage!” Indigo ranted.

“We don’t want to traumatize her. Only scare the answers we need out of her. And if she’s traumatized, she’ll never want to speak again, and then we could go running around in circles until the end of time. Do you want that? Do you?!”

Toxic Indigo held her hands up in protest, “Okay, okay! Sheesh, chill!”

“I’m sorry about that. The rest of my associates are lower than maggots at times.” Toxic turned back to Sugarcoat, standing over her body. “They should never have been conceived, or at least, never have been conceived as such brain-dead infants in teenage bodies. But enough about the ramblings of idiots, let’s talk about you.”

Toxic Sugar lifted two fingers, causing black goo to rise up around the good Sugar’s feet, coating her body from head to toe. She rumbled and shook more, until the gag was finally removed and she screamed for real.

“Tell. Us. EVERYTHING.” Toxic Sugar grinned maliciously as she grabbed the overhead light and brought it closer to Sugar’s face, enveloping her field of view in it.