Chapters Chapter 1: Morning Routine
Author's Note
Before I begin, I'd like to give a shoutout to Bricklayer for helping me finish this first chapter, really appreciate it.
And uh... yeah, new Transformers story. I'll be honest, gonna try and start fresh this time. Emphasis on try . We'll see how things go from here. Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Morning Routine
The year was 2030; a warm evening in California. The crickets were chirping as the moon began to rise high into the sky over the timberlands. Red and orange were a painted cascade above a young couple.
“Alright, I got the stuff! I got the chips, I got the soda, I got it all!”
“Great! Oh, I really hope she loves it,” The girl said.
“Are you kidding? She’s going to love it. And you know me, I’m a master behind the grille.”
The two of them were prepping for a big barbecue, and sadly the special brand of chips and steak they needed were far away. Of course, there was question of why waste so much gas just to pick something up from so far, but they went anyway. The two heard flames rocketing in the distance, enough to make them turn their heads. Looking behind, they saw something small but fast shooting right at their direction. Instinctively, they jumped out of the way, just as the rocket impacted upon the store, exploding it in a fiery inferno.
Pieces of metal and materials from the store flew everywhere. Thankfully the two humans weren’t hurt, but they were shocked, startled… and admittedly felt like they were going to have heart attacks.
"Wha... what was that!?" She shrieked.
"I don't know, but we better get--"
A flash of lights blared behind them. The two of them turned around and saw the high beams of a police car slowly drive towards them, but the siren lights weren't flashing.
"Oh thank goodness, the cops are here. Maybe they can--"
"--Um... Dave? Look!"
Another car began to pull into the area, even though it was still dark, there was enough light from the flames to identify the other car. A black and blue muscle car with an exposed engine sticking out from the hood slowly rolled into the chaos and stopped to the side of the police car.
The frightened couple was confused until they heard noises come from both cars. Both of them began to shift and change shape right before their eyes. Pieces of metal and plating moving around and folding themselves away from the vehicle they once were. But one thing they could make out was the cars were changing and transforming into... robots. Pairs of legs unfolded and arms stretched out, attached to completed torsos and heads.
“Modesto… So this is the place,” The police robot boomed.
The blue robot turned his head at the partner next to him. “The indigenous life always fascinates me. They’re so primitive, so multicultural. Yet…” he turned his gaze towards the girl while his arm transformed into a glowing cannon. “So stupid.”
The girl shivered and waved hi. “H-Hi…”
And in seconds, she was no more. She was reduced to a vat of liquid that popped like a water balloon, scaring the presumed boyfriend who just stood in shock.
“No… B-Baby…” The groceries in his hand dropped to the floor. He didn’t even care anymore.
“Mmm…” the blue robot grunted, wiping the exploded residue on his thighs. “I like the way they pop.”
“You said that about the last 100 people we bumped into on our way here, Dropkick,” The police car rolled his eyes. “Anyways.” He displayed a holographic projection from his wrist. “The Energon signature was located somewhere on the southern coast, shouldn’t be too far out from where we need to be. Only four hours to get there.”
“Then lets hit the road,” Dropkick said, transforming back into the blue muscle car he rolled as before.
The police car transformed as well and followed close behind. The boyfriend was left in the dust, with the liquidfied girlfriend, fallen groceries, and a burning supermarket. He couldn’t do a thing but just drop to his knees and lower his head, crying softly and mourning the loss of the one he loved…
6:30 AM
The sun was just pulling itself over the horizon, blessing the city for a brand new day. Many people were struggling to pull themselves up out of bed, get ready for the day, get some breakfast, etc. Some people who lived here all their life were more accustomed to this, others not so much.
But one family that was accustomed to it was the Sweet family. Sour Sweet, an adult woman in her early 30s was helping her wife, Smallfoot get some luggage into the back of their pickup truck, although it was a little hard with her keeping an unborn child in her belly. The pickup was old, about over 50 years old, but it still worked fine. It helped the family, some children had been born in the back as grandma liked to say. Or at least conceived in the back. In any event, the little truck that could had helped the family through the years, carrying just a little of everything around the farm. And standing close to the door was their son, Betamax, and the family babysitter; Cyberwarp.
Cyberwarp's every day appearance was that of a woman in her mid 20s, sporting a blue short sleeved jacket with yellow stripes, blue jeans, heeled boots, and a sash hanging down in the middle of her waist, almost like a warrior's sash. And it hung from a belt with a buckle that had an insignia of a silver face with a triangular design. Though on her jacket, she did share a patch with the same insignia, athough atop of a heart and diamond graphic; the insignia carried by the Sweet family for years.
“Okay, so Cyberwarp, we’re only going to be gone for a few days, are you sure you can watch Betamax on your own?” Smallfoot asked.
“I’ve watched him before, haven’t I?”
“I know, but he’s got tests coming up this week, the poor guy’s a little nervous. If you can, give him some help, or help him with studying, okay?” Smallfoot asked.
Cyberwarp smiled. “I promise. But isn’t he a little young?”
“They’re spelling tests, Cyberwarp,” Smallfoot corrected. “I know he can do it, but the little guy needs a bit help refreshing some particular words.”
“It’s not a problem.”
“You won’t be gone long, will you Mama?” Max asked.
Sour smiled and kneeled down, ruffling his hair. “I promise kiddo, we’ll only be gone a few days, and we’ll be back soon. And you know we can always talk with the video chats, or over the phone if you want.”
“Okay,” Max nodded.
Sour kissed the top of his head. “Everything will be okay, sweetheart.”
“Okay, so you have the emergency numbers, you know where the medicine is—”
“—And I got the list of things I need to do while you’re gone, I know,” Cyberwarp chuckled. “You remind me of that Twilight Sparkle, I swear.”
“Except we don’t freak out ,” Sour corrected.
“That too.”
“Think you’re all packed, babe?”
“I think so, yeah,” Sour nodded. “Okay, so,” she addressed the two in front of her. “A few days without the parents. It’ll be hard, I know it’ll be a bit tough, but it’ll be okay. We’ll be back before you know it. And that surprise I promised? Well... you'll see it soon.”
“Got it,” Cyberwarp nodded again. “Now don’t you have a long drive ahead of you?”
“Oh shoot, you’re right. Come on babe, we should get going,” Smallfoot said. "Hospital's a long drive from here."
“Wait!”
Before the two went to their truck, the little boy leaped and hugged Smallfoot. She smiled before picking him up for a proper hug.
“Oh, you are getting so big,” she giggled.
“Hey, how about a little sugar for Mama?” Sour pouted.
Smallfoot passed her son over to Sour who gave him an even bigger hug.
"Please tell me you'll be okay," Betamax whispered, a little fearful.
“I’ll be okay kiddo,” she said, stroking his cheek. “I promise.”
She gave a quick peck to his cheek just before Cyberwarp picked him up.
“Have a good trip, you two. We’ll see you when you get back!”
“Okay, bye guys!” Smallfoot waved.
“Bye Mommy! Bye Mama!”
Sour waved back just before getting into the red pickup. Once the engine activated, the truck drove off from it’s driveway, and into the street. The truck honked twice just to say bye before they left the area, and before they knew it, they were out of sight.
Cyberwarp kept Max close to her as she walked back inside the house.
“Now don’t you worry about a thing, buddy. Like they said, they will be back before you know it.”
“I know,” he said with a small frown.
Cyberwarp smiled softly before moving her fingers towards his ribcage, making him giggle and spasm in her grip.
“I’mma tickle you! I’mma tickle you!”
“Hey, no, stop it!” he laughed.
“I’mma get cha!”
"Hey, no fair!"
"You surrender?" Cyberwarp teased.
"Never!"
Sometime later, after breakfast and getting dressed, the bus pulled up to it's stop.
"Max! Bus is here!"
Betamax ran as fast as he could, trying not to miss it. “Don’t forget your homework!” She said, slipping the homework page in his backpack. “Have a good day kiddo, I’ll pick you up after school!”
“Bye Cyber!”
“See ya!”
Cyberwarp waved as he got onto the bus. And soon enough, the bus took off, on it’s way to school. The caretaker sighed contently; happy she was able to get him out just in time. Walking back inside the house, she looked at everything in front of her, hands on her hips.
“A few days…” Cyberwarp said before shrugging with a soft smirk. “Easy peasy.”
Checking the time, she grinned knowing that she still had plenty of time before she had to set off for work. Maybe there was some chores she could get taken care of before she left? Sour did leave a list of things to take care of while she was gone.
Walking back inside the house, she found a piece of paper left on the kitchen countertop for her to read (Sour and Smallfoot still preferred using pencil and paper over computers anyway despite knowing their usefulness) and picked it up. She could it tell it was written by Sour, since it looked as if it was scribbled in a rush.
Cyberwarp, while we are gone, there a few things we need you to help with around the house other than keeping an eye on Max. The baby should be due any day now, so we would like some help from you to keep the house maintained.
-Front porch needs to be swept -Groceries to be shopped -New baby's room needs a mobile for the crib (maybe something space themed?) -If Max needs help on spelling, help him practice -Keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary -Push the boxes up into the hayloft if Steve and Space come back -Check the basement for possible mice, I swore I heard one behind the shelves
PS: if you know someone bad is coming or near, drop Max off at his Aunt Lemon's, and if you run into you-know-who, please kick her butt, melt her down, save the head. I want to mount her head on a stick!!! But, also, please turn on the silent security systems. Hopefully Space's weapons can take care of any intruders without killing them.
--Signed, Sour Sweet
Cyberwarp raised her head up, blinking. Of course she knew Sour wasn't serious, but sometimes her sarcastic/crazy moments scared her from time to time. "Well, I hope we don't have to deal with her, but I can definitely take care of everything else."
First, she grabbed the leftover dishes from the sink and set them into the dishwasher. She'd start 'em later, wasn't full quite yet. After that, she took care of sweeping the front porch, cleaning off any dust and loose pieces of dried paint; definitely was gonna need a new coat of paint later on.
After making the final sweep, she put her elbows on the top of the broom handle, thinking for a moment. That was one chore down, anything else she could get done today? Well maybe get the groceries, but she'd have to handle them after work. Same went for clearing stuff in the barn. But maybe she could check the basement?
She went downstairs and flipped on the lights. Down below there was the regular stuff like dryer and washer for the clothes, some additional storage for food and whatever else they might have needed, earthquake supplies included. Against the walls, there was some computer tech implanted against the wall, mainly used for more urgent matters. And in the center of the room were a few comfy couches and chairs huddled together in front of a TV with some gaming consoles. Of course they had one upstairs in the main living room, but downstairs was also an option. Plus whenever they had some people over and their kids wanted to be alone, it made a perfect spot to play by themselves.
"Alright little mouse... I know you're down here. You can't hide from me, and you can't hide from Sour..." Cyberwarp taunted. "This house isn't big enough for the two of us."
She walked into another part of the basement, facing the shelves that held more food. "I swear, if you contaminated their food, we are going to have major problems..."
She picked up a broom as well as a small container with holes, hopefully big enough to contain it if it existed. Carefully she tip-toed forward, and listened carefully. It was quiet, aside from the running generators. But somewhere in that basement, she could hear a teeny squeak . And it came from the shelves.
"Show yourself, Mickey!"
Her eyes squinted carefully as she kept an eye out. Just then she saw something skitter across the shelf and she leapt forward to catch it with the container.
She missed.
"Scrap!"
She saw it climb jump across the shelf and onto another desk, she tried again. Still missed it. Now she could see it running on the floor. Now was her chance. She jumped into the air like she was about to body slam a wrestler, and slammed the clear plastic container over the mouse, trapping it.
"Aha! Gotcha!" Cyberwarp cackled, victoriously. "No more running in my house little one."
Reaching over for something on the desk, she moved a part of a spare cardboard flap underneath to help lift up the trapped mouse. With it now contained, she could now move it outside.
Carefully up the stairs, she walked outside, ignoring her car and went straight across the road into a field of grass. Just a few more steps. She squatted down, and set the trap down, allowing the mouse to escape.
"Now don't let me catch you in the basement again. You wouldn't want to hear Sour scream," Cyberwarp said, watching the mouse run away. "Good." She checked her watch and her pupils shrunk. She needed to get moving; it was almost time for work.
Quickly scrambling, she grabbed her purse and other items for work and rushed over to her car; an old van/minibus. The van didn't look like any typical one, as it was mostly in dark purple with a few splotches of green paint and graphic designs of diamonds on the sides and with a single word written; 'Dazzlings'. Truth be told, she found the van abandoned and left to rust in piece, probably because the owners didn't find a reason to keep it or maybe they found something bigger and better. Either way, she wanted to keep it and found it useful for driving to work as well as a few other things.
But she couldn't leave just yet; there was one more thing she needed.
"Oh! Glit!" Cyberwarp whistled. "Glit, come on buddy!"
She waited for a moment or two, and was greeted by a fluffy white husky dog charging out the door. His coat was clean, making his fur more fluffy than ever. And a blue collar was around his neck, the tags and small little keychains hanging around it jingling.
"Ready to go, bud?"
The husky nodded.
"Alright, come on bud!"
The husky climbed into the back of the van, thanks to Cyberwarp opening the door for him. Once he was inside, she pulled herself into the driver's seat and turned on the ignition. The engine hummed to life, and the built in computer in the console activated as well. It may had been an older model of a small tourbus/van, but she had some help from friends install some tech and more modern features to make it still functional in today's society.
The van pulled out of the driveway, and so Cyberwarp began to set off to work, heading down the highway. With a smile, she opened up a compartment in the middle console and pulled out a small cassette tape. She inserted it in the player , and the van began to drive.
Out of the farmlands she went, as her van was beginning to drive right into the city. Alongside, she could see a train roll on it's tracks right past her, disappearing into the city for it's destination. She softly smiled, and then looked back ahead to keep her eye on the road. As she began to drive past the buildings, her eyes moved around, looking at the sights and wonders that she was always greeted to whenever she went to work. Every day, it was usually the same thing. Lots of busy people moving from place to place always needing to go somewhere, some nice tropical sunshine with tons of birds in the air, beautiful turquoise waters that reflected from the sun.
She stopped a traffic light, eager for the light to turn red. On her left, she watched some construction workers continuing to build away for a new apartment complex. Cranes lifting heavy beams high into the sky, excavators shoveling and clearing the area so it could be paved. But her eyes turned to a steamroller which began working on making the ground nice and smooth, with a single man driving. The man looked up a smile, and he waved at her.
Good to see you too, Steamer.
Her signal was given, and she went back onto the street again.
Around her, she could see more people just enjoying daily life. People working at food vendors on the street for people to grab quick bites to eat if they didn't have lunch. Some kids playing with some remote controlled drones which they used to bother people, annoy them for their own pleasure. She just rolled her eyes and just kept going on the road. She sat idly, waiting for the traffic light to turn green. Her hands tapped against the steering wheel, enjoying the beat of the music. Completely ignoring the sound of the angry drivers behind and on the sides of her, she was in her own little world and nothing here was gonna break her. Looking on her left, she caught sight of something that made her smile.
A woman all in black, riding on a blue motorcycle sitting next to her. She knew who this person was, and just to be friendly, she waved hello to the biker, hoping she'd notice. And she did; and politely, the biker waved back to her, giving a single salute.
The signal turn green, and the two went off on their separate ways. Cyberwarp kept on her path to school, while the biker drove in the other direction. And for a split second, her head flickered in the light, as if her helmet was a holographic projection...
Chapter 2: Everyday Troubles
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Author's Note
Special thanks to Scholarly-Cimmerian for the proof-reading!
Chapter 3: Predator
Sandbar and his friends were already getting ready for a night of endless gaming and fun. They had gotten to the TV first, they were getting the video games of their choices installed so they could play, now all they needed was Gallus and Silverstream to return with the food. Of course, they were wondering what was taking them so long but they hadn't heard back from them quite yet.
Just then, they could see Gallus and Silverstream running inside the break room. "Oh there you are! So ready to--"
And the groceries were thrown right at the group like cannonballs, sending them all falling down.
"Gottagospiewellbeback!" Silverstream said quickly before she and Gallus left.
All of them groaned from the pile.
"Anyone hear what she said?" Smolder asked.
"Not a word," Sandbar moaned.
Silverstream and Gallus quickly got on the next bus, ready to go track down Cyberwarp. While they knew she was the school counselor, they also knew where she lived, having to come and visit her a few times; mostly cause she was their favorite 'teacher' and had often dropped gifts or small pieces of appreciation over at her home. But right now, they weren't as sure what she was. She, a human being, didn't get shot or hurt by a single bullet. And where did her martial arts combat come from!? She never shown any signs that she was a secret ninja.
"Still remember where she lives?" Silverstream asked.
"Hard forget. Not a lot of farm houses out here."
"I hope she's okay."
"What do you think she's even doing right now?"
***
Cyberwarp's feet strut, danced, and bounced all around within the kitchen, waiting for the food to finish boiling on the stove. All the while some music from a radio blared, playing some old tune from the late 2010s.
Be the true, true, true,original dare to be, what you are meant to be workin' hard, that's our thing all this way, we're perfect, perfectly true!
Cyberwarp, balancing on one foot, performed and an almost perfect ballerina spin in the middle of the room, holding one leg up as high as she could.
"True, true, original... true, true, original... we're perfect, perfectly true! Whoo!" Cyberwarp chuckled, enjoying the beat. She was thankful Sour was not here to see her acting like a dork. The timer dinged on the stove and she dashed over to the pot that was bubbling with dinner. She poured the water into a strainer, dumping the pasta into the strainer too.
She poured the pasta back in the pot and started grabbing the remaining ingredients she needed. The sauces, the little spices, it was all meshed together in a delicious aroma. The smell went up into the air
"Kiddo! Dinnertime!"
"Coming!" Betamax called.
The little boy came running down the stairs and just in time as Cyberwarp was finishing prepping his dinner.
"Yay! Spaghetti!"
Cyberwarp giggled. "I thought that'd make you happy. I thought we'd make things fun for our first day of just us. And tomorrow since I don't have work... what do you say we go to the beach for a little bit of early spring-time fun?"
"I'd love to!"
***
The bus made its stop and the two students got off.
"Okay, where do we go now?"
"I know the place. Follow me," Gallus led the way.
As they walked, they could hear the sounds of birds, a few crickets chirping in the grass. A couple of massive fields where some more farmers were working on their last jobs for the day. Some fences and beams closing off the fields so to better divide their land. Occasionally some cars drove by, or a motorcycle or two. Sometimes a big rig, hauling some loads to another state.
"How many times have you been here?" Silverstream asked.
"Once or twice. I came here to give her a Christmas gift. Though I didn't know she was living here as a permanent nanny."
"Oh she told me she was a nanny! Or was it a babysitter, I always get confused by that definition," Silverstream said, unsure.
"Anyways; I know she lives out here. Should be the farm right about... here!"
The two of them were now standing in front of the driveway of the Sweet's home. A cute white farmhouse with with two-stories, sitting next to a massive red barn. Outside the barn they could see a few massive barrels stacked, probably filled with fuel, maybe gasoline or something. A few beams were erect surrounding the driveway gravel stones, with spotlights attached. None of them were turned on, but they were visible to the eye. Near the house, close to a tree was a small tire swing and extra swing set.
"Oooh this looks nice," Silverstream cooed.
"I guess so," Gallus said, not really into the farm kind of environment.
Carefully walking around, they slowly pulled themselves against the wall of the house, They were right underneath the window of the kitchen. And just in case they were gonna see something weird or interesting, Silverstream pulled out her phone and turned on the camera.
Both of them peered from the back window, watching as she walked around in the kitchen. It didn’t look like anything was out of the ordinary, she was just putting dishes away, nothing unusual. She turned her head a few times to look at the TV in the living room, chuckling a bit as she kept working away.
“Doesn’t seem like there’s anything unusual,” Gallus commented.
“I don’t know, maybe we shouldn’t be here,” Silverstream said, a little fearful. “It feels like stalking.”
“We have to know how she didn’t die. How else could you explain what happened at the store?"
They didn’t know. Until she pulled up small climbing ladder and set her heel on one of the steps. They didn’t know what she was doing until they saw something else; a dark gray orb with glowing lines of neon blue attached to her right ankle.
“Wait, what’s she doing?” Gallus asked. “There’s something on her leg.”
Cyberwarp’s hand swiveled at the strange metallic orb that was down by her ankle, moving it around like it was about to pop off. With one single pull, the orb was removed from her ankle in an instant. Her entire body flashed like static on a television screen, until it stopped. Both Silverstream and Gallus gasped. Silverstream looked back on her phone which was still recording. She had captured it all.
Out of fear, the two of them ducked back down from the window, trying to avoid being seen.
“She… is she--!?” Silverstream squeaked before Gallus slipped his hand over her mouth.
“Shh…” he whispered, holding a finger over his lip. “We can’t let her know we followed her home!”
"We gotta get out of here," Silverstream quivered.
The two of them tried to get up and run, but the two of them froze like deer in the headlights. Red flashing lights turned on from some unseen post, flashing back and forth. Several spot-lights turned on by themselves, flashing down towards the property's driveway, and it only made them panic.
"Oh no! What do we do!?"
"Hide, come on!"
The two of them ran as quick as they could, and went straight to hide behind a couple of barrels that were lined up together, a few of them stacked on top. They slammed their backs against them, panting heavily as they caught their breath. They hoped that their counselor didn't notice, but unfortunately she did. The side-door was creaking open, revealing some light from inside the house and a shadow of her body which began to walk out.
"Max, stay here. I'll check it out, I'm sure it's nothing," Cyberwarp advised, swinging a gun around in her hand.
Cyberwarp stepped outside, with the side door making a creaking noise as she walked out. With a shotgun in hand, she walked onto the property's laneways, her feet crunching on top of the stones.
"Alright, who's coming out here at this time of night?" She said, praying it was nothing. "If you're an animal, I suggest you back off! If you're someone hoping to rob this house, guess what, there's nothing of value here. If you're a Jehovah's witness, you need to leave, I'm not buying whatever it is you're selling! Smallfoot made that mistake twice, I'm not about to make that mistake too!"
She pumped the gun, loud enough for it to echo. She wasn't planning on using it, but if it meant scaring off whoever or whatever was out there, she was gonna scare.
Now the two students felt as if their hearts were about to jump right out of their chests. She did see it. And she was armed.
"Into the barn, come on," Gallus whispered. The two of them took their chance and crept their way inside the barn without her seeing. But her head did turn to the sound of it opening and closing.
The two of them looked at each other, both sharing the same thought.
"Alright, we'll hide in here until she goes away. We should be able to get out of here by then," Gallus said.
"Wait... what's that?"
The two looked deeper into the barn, and saw something. A strange giant device that was sitting against the back of the barn, far away from where they would assume would be the parking spots for the cars, or work areas. There was a giant metallic circle held on a base, connected to tons of cables and computers.
The two of them walked slowly towards it, capturing some more photos of the strange machines.
"Is she building something?" Gallus questioned.
"What if she's making some sort of doomsday device!?" Silverstream feared.
Gallus looked back. "As scary as that sounds, I think the only doom we ever got from her was when she threatening Cozy Glow. I never saw her so mad."
"Hmm, true. But still, what is this thing!?"
The two of them listened, and they heard the doors beginning to slide open with a powerful grip. Instinctively, the two of them quickly ran for cover. They two of them threw themselves behind a few stacks of hay bales, hoping it would hide them from sight. Why they had bales of hay when there was no sign of a horse or farm animals was beyond them.
Her feet stomped along the ground, creating a metallic thunk every time she took a step forward. Gallus could feel Silverstream's body shivering as they stayed huddled close, trying their hardest not to make any noise. If she found them, she would not be happy.
Listening, they heard her footsteps turn the other direction, walking back towards the barn doors. And she closed the doors shut behind her, going back outside. Realizing there was no going out that way, the two of them booked it for the side-door, and slowly creaked it open, trying to be as quiet as they could; no sense in attracting more attention. Carefully creeping out the door, they slowly tip-toed their way to the end of the wall, and looked out. Cyberwarp was still wandering, looking for the source of the disturbance.
Only one window of opportunity was open for them, and they took their chance. The two kids dashed right into the cornfield, hoping the tall growing field would hide them from her sight. But Cyberwarp heard them, and she stomped towards the field. She couldn't make out who it was, but one thing was for certain. She wasn't letting them leave so easily.
The counselor twirled the shotgun around and clipped it onto her back. Gallus and Silverstream kept on running, but they stopped partway when they saw Cyberwarp just standing still, outside the field.
"Why isn't she going after us?" Silverstream quaked.
"I don't know, but we shouldn't stop, we should get out of here while we can."
But to their surprise, there wasn't any sort of noise coming from behind them or out in the open areas. Not a peep. Knowing it was stupid and probably an unwise choice, the two kids stopped running. They listened carefully, trying to pick out a sound; any sound if they could.
They didn't hear anything... at first. They heard a strange whirring noise. And machine parts moving around. But it didn't sound like any engine of a car or farm equipment being activated. Or any sprinkler systems.
Chuk-chuk-chuk-chik!
They waited some more, still taking a few steps back. But then they saw something slowly rise up into the air, above the cornfield like a UFO. Black sharp fins sticking out the front and the back of a blue and yellow hovering machine. The kids assumed it had to have been some sort of flight vehicle, judging by the cockpit looking thing in the middle, and the engines on the sides keeping it hovering in the air.
"What is that!?" Silverstream cupped her mouth, trying to be quiet.
The worst was yet to come. Searchlights activated, and the ship was starting to hover right towards where they were.
"Stay out of the light!" Gallus warned.
The two of them ran as fast as they could through the fields, but Cyberwarp could see the rustling in the field. She kept following the movements, moving her light closer and closer to looking for who was near.
They pushed out of the fields and ran straight into the bushel of trees that cut off the land from the Sweet's property. Climbing over the fence, they still high-tailed. They didn't stop, they kept on running. And they had to keep running if they wanted to take the next bus back to campus. But they were out of sight.
The flying machine hovered for a few more minutes, and then the search light turned off and it began to fly straight back to the farm house...
Meanwhile, back at the campus, the four students were still sitting around, practically bored out of their minds while they waited for Silverstream and Gallus to return. Where could they have gone?
And speak of the devil, Silverstream and Gallus came back in the building, slamming the doors behind them. Their backs slammed against the doors, panting heavily like they had just came back from a marathon.
"Oh there you are! Where were you guys, we've been waiting for hours, we were worried sick--" Ocellus began. But Silverstream stopped her sentence midway by yanking her into a hug. She could feel Silverstream shaking in fear, not wanting to let go. "Silverstream? Are you okay?"
She shook her head.
"What happened?" Sandbar asked, concerned.
"Trust me... it's bad," Gallus said, feeling shaken up as well.
"Guys, come on, what happened?"
"Even if we told you, you wouldn't believe us," Silverstream whimpered, refusing to let go of Ocellus.
"Well, try us," Yona said.
"... Cyberwarp is a robot!" Silverstream blurted. "She's not human, she's been a robot the entire time!"
Their friends stared at them with raised brows and derision.
"Okay, I'm going to ask this with a grain of salt; why do you think she's a robot?"
Gallus sighed and composed himself. "We went to get snacks at the grocerry store but there were these two guys robbing the place. The next thing we know, Counselor Cyberwarp stepped in and took them out like she was a ninja. But one of them shot her... and she didn't die."
The students nodded.
"We followed her back to her home to check up on her, only to find out that she's not who she said she is. And remembering what Yona said earlier, it adds up. She always smells like motor oil whenever we're around her, she didn't get hurt from a live bullet; she's a robot."
"We both saw it, and we took videos of it!"
Turning on their phones, they showed what they had seen that evening. The four students watched intently, the light flashing back in their faces. A bigger flash flickered on screen, and the four of them went wide-eyed.
"What the..."
"The heck?"
"You see what we mean?" Gallus pointed. "How can you explain that?"
"What even made her just zap like that?"
"She yanked something off her ankle, I think that was what was making her look, well, human."
"Pulled what off?" Ocellus inquired.
"I don't know. It didn't look like something here on Earth. And, actually, hold on..." Gallus dug into his pocket. "How do you explain this?" He revealed the single bullet shell that was nothing more than a small piece of circular metal. "The bullet was reduced to a pancake!"
Ocellus grabbed it and squinted her eyes as she looked at it. It was very faint, but she could distinctly see a small number 12 mushed on there.
"It's definitely a bullet."
As they talked, Silverstream flipped through her phone, looking at all the pictures and video she had collected. Her attention wandered for a bit, but a little something caught her eye. One of the pictures she took was a closeup on Cyberwarp, more importantly, an unintentional closeup on her chest. And her attention was drawn to the interesting logo...
"Does anyone know what this means? We saw it on Cyberwarp's chest when she revealed herself," Silverstream explained, flipping her phone around.
The four students looked at her awkwardly.
"What?"
"... I have so many questions about that sentence," Smolder raised a finger.
"Probably best not to ask them. Yona doesn't want to know the answer," Yona shook her head.
"No, I mean... just look!"
She stuck the phone in their faces, showing the picture. Zoomed in close, they could see a purple symbol on a dark blue background, none of which they could make out. But the symbol itself looked a little like a face made with some triangular formations.
"I don't know. Doesn't she usually have that on her jacket, we see her wear it every day," Sandbar said, unsure.
"But why would she have it on her jacket, and then have it blazed on her chest?"
"Maybe she did some wild things as a teenager?" Ocellus asked.
"How can she do wild things as a teenager if she's not even human?"
Smolder rolled her eyes and groan, her fingers running through her hair. "Look, just post the picture online; ask to see if anyone recognizes the symbol, people can find anything on the internet."
"She's not wrong," Ocellus shrugged.
"Well... okay. We'll post it in the morning," Silverstream nodded.
Reaching over to the counter, Sandbar grabbed himself a cookie. "But until we get an answer, I think we should do something tomorrow. You two look so stressed out."
"Oooh, how about Yona and friends go to the beach?"
"Guys, we don't need to go to the beach!" Gallus hit his head on the back of the bus window. Somehow he got dragged into going with the group down to one of the most popular beaches in their area.
"You two were freaking out hard last night, come on, we've got to help you guys relax," Sandbar said.
"Yeah, besides who said going to the beach was a bad thing? It's fun. Plus, we could always go to that cool amusement park they got set up on the pier!" Smolder grinned. Just the thought made her giddy.
"But we don't need, ja, we don't--ugh," Gallus slouched in his seat in defeat.
The bus stopped at a traffic light. Some cars drove across the lane in front of them, reaching the left side. Two of them were the disguised robots who had taken a pit stop in Modesto. The police car, Barricade, kept his scanners on the look-out but all the while stayed in the traffic lane and followed all rules. He may had been a Decepticon, but he wasn't about to attract so much attention here. And having the muscular police car mode helped him plenty. The standard 911 tag, a big police marker on his doors, a spoiler on the back; there was even a badge with a Decepticon logo printed. People swore someone took a race car and modified it into a police vehicle; which turns out was the truth when Barricade had scanned this particular vehicle.
Dropkick, the blue muscle car wasn't too far behind him. He kept a good distance behind him, rumbling his exposed engine as he drove down the streets. Blue and black were his colors, and he had a strong sturdy model of a car that provided the power he needed.
"... last night several eyes were watching as what they claim a UFO in the skies, hurling down into the Indian Canyons. Is this real, or just another hoax? More on this as it develops. And in other news, police investigation continues as many civilians have been left frightened by a mad-woman behind the wheel of a flashy sports car. Attempts to apprehend this driver have been taken, but with no success. Also, I'm not wearing any pants. More on this, after the break. "
Dropkick groaned and turned off the radio. "Nothing."
"Too bad Shatter isn't here. I could have done the searching for more Energon out west, instead of being here stuck with you."
"You're lucky if I don't slag you," Dropkick sassed.
"Can't believe this... where's Megatron when you need him?" Barricade grumbled. "Wait a minute... hold on," Barricade paused. A picture pulled up a small screen inside of his cabin. The internet post of the purple symbol that Silverstream and Gallus had found. "Well, well, well... it seems we have an ally here in the city."
"That's Cyberwarp's colors, I recognize it," Dropkick replied, getting the same picture. "She's no ally."
"Hmm... so that means she's here. Maybe we can do a little--wait..." Barricade paused again. "I'm picking up an Energon signature."
"Can you trace it?"
Barricade chuckled. "Already did. It's somewhere at the beach. Let's go see just what's down there."
"Here it is guys."
The kids stepped off the bus and walked down to the beach. All six of them were dressed purely in shorts and t-shirts, tank tops, you name it. But their swimwear was packed in the bags they brought with 'em. Surprisingly today it wasn't very crowded, but there was a handful of people still there. Some folks stopping along a few shops for some hot or cold food, somethin' to fill their stomachs. A few surfer dudes and bikini girls chatting, laughing, having a blasts.
"So what do you guys wanna do?" Sandbar asked. "Wanna hit some waves, maybe just play some beach ball?"
“Wait, is that Counselor Cyberwarp?” Smolder asked.
The students turned their heads and saw indeed, Cyberwarp was also there at the beach, playing with Betamax. In a two-piece bikini, and with a small Hawaiian headdress on top of her head. She was playing catch with the boy with an inflated beach ball over a small net they had set up in their corner of the beach.
“I didn’t think she did much outside of work,” Smolder admitted.
“Everyone has to have a hobby, Smolder,” Yona said.
“True, but I didn’t think she was the beach type,” Smolder shrugged.
"She has Hawaiian knick-knacks and junk in her office, I thought that'd be obvious," Gallus deadpanned.
“Maybe we should just turn around and go to another beach, there’s tons of beaches here in California, right?”
“Guys, come on, she’s not a robot, I’m sure of it,” Sandbar said, reassuringly.
“You weren’t at her house, how can you say that?” Silverstream shivered.
“And you didn’t see her getting shot and not get hurt at the grocery store,” Gallus added.
“Why don’t we just talk to her?” Ocellus asked, already walking towards her and the child she was babysitting.
“Oh, we’re so dead…” Silverstream whimpered.
Netherless, they still approached her little set-up.
“Counselor Cyberwarp?”
Cyberwarp turned her head and smiled. “Oh, hi Ocellus. What are you all doing here?”
“... It’s Saturday.”
“Yona needed a break from looking at computer all day,” Yona said.
“Well, good on you kids,” Cyberwarp smiled, throwing the beach ball back to Max. "It's nice to see there are still kids doing outdoorsy things. Don't get me wrong, I love video games as much as the next guy, but it's nice to come out on a nice sunny day."
The students turned their heads to the other kid she was playing ball with.
“Is that your son?” Gallus asked.
“No, I’m babysitting him. But I like to consider him as a son,” Cyberwarp smiled.
“Oh, Cyberwarp, I’m gonna go to the bathroom real quick,” Max said, stepping off their little court.
“Alright kiddo,” Cyberwarp nodded, as Betamax dashed off to the bathroom.
“Soooo…” Gallus asked. “About yesterday. Are you… okay?”
Cyberwarp turned her head as she went to open the cooler. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”
“You were shot,” Gallus raised a brow. "We were at the grocery store, and we saw you get shot."
Cyberwarp blinked. “Wait… ohhh I remember! The two robbers from the grocery store?”
“Yeah, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Cyberwarp nodded. “Really, I am.”
“… How were you not hurt?”
“Oh. Well… kevlar vest, I keep one underneath my clothes,” Cyberwarp shrugged it off.
Silverstream and Gallus blinked. They still weren’t buying it. Their suspicions were only raised even more, how else could she have pulled herself back up on her feet so unrealistically.
“It didn’t hurt, at all?” Silverstream asked.
“And what about that thing around your ankle?” Gallus asked, pointing to the small orb that was attached to her leg.
“Oh this?” Cyberwarp raised her leg. “Yeahhh… about that?”
The students leaned in closer to listen.
“… My leg is paralyzed. I had a genetic disease when I was a kid, which made one of my legs completely paralyzed so I was always in a wheelchair. Apparently, the doctors found a way to make it move again thanks to a little work in medical science,” she said, raising her leg up, showing the metal piece attached to her ankle. “But once I take it off, it stops working and I will fall on my face.”
“Sooo… it’s like an advanced cast?” Yona asked. “Leg brace?”
“Yes, exactly,” Cyberwarp smiled.
Smolder sniffed the air, and cringed. “No offense, but why do you smell like metal and oil?”
“Smolder!”
“It’s fine. I’ve been working on some maintenance on my van, and I forgot to take a shower before I left,” Cyberwarp explained once more. “Now. Lemme see… So long story short, I…” Cyberwarp froze.
The kids waited for a response.
“Well?”
“Shh,” Cyberwarp whispered, holding her arm up in a military signal, silencing them. “Something’s not right…”
Her focus turned to the parking lot over to the boardwalk, very close by. Something seemed off… Her eyes slowly squinted as she looked at the cars parked. One of which she picked out; a black and blue sports car.
“AMC Javelin’, black and blue… oh no ,” She whispered.
“What?”
“Kids, listen to me carefully,” she continued to whisper. “You need to leave, now.”
“But why, we just got here,” Silverstream whined.
“We’re not leaving until you tell us what’s going on—”
“—there are really bad people listening to us right now,” Cyberwarp said quickly, silencing Gallus. “I’m not kidding. These people are really, really, bad. They will hurt you if they get the chance. Now I want you to listen to me right now.”
Now the kids were afraid. This wasn’t like their counselor at all.
“I want you six to take the next bus back to the city, go back to the campus and stay there. Do not go anywhere else, do not talk to anyone else, just get back to campus, now. I’ll explain everything.”
“How do we know you’re not lying to us?” Smolder asked, putting her hands on her hips and raising a brow.
“Smolder, just go. All of you, go, get out of here, you need to get to safety,” the counselor shushed, trying to shoo them away.
Realizing they weren't going to get more answers out of her, they did just that. They walked away and started to walk towards the bus stop where a bus had just pulled up. Cyberwarp took one last look at them, and then turned her head towards the sports car. She watched it slowly pull out of the parking lot, turning the opposite direction from her and the kids. Looking away, she bent over to reach into her purse and pulled out a small device with several buttons. She clicked on the buttons and raised the device to her ear, with it now acting like a cell phone.
"Lemon Zest?" She asked, holding her device. "Yes, hi. I don't suppose you're busy right now? I need to drop Max off somewhere; I have a bit of something important to do..."
Cyberwarp limped as she walked to the front door of the Sweet house. The drive was fine, but after fighting a Decepticon, she felt like she just needed to sit. He beat her aft HARD, and Cyberwarp came to one conclusion.
"I seriously need to work out some more..." Cyberwarp groaned, her foot dragging against the front porch. She waved her hand in front of a specialized lock, which gave a green light, allowing her to walk inside. While it was usually locked with just a standard key, new security locks were made to help, and thankfully it did not screw up for the family. And for the better, neither Cyberwarp, Max, or Smallfoot would have wanted to be around to hear an angry Sour screaming at the security team makers.
Inside the house, she could see Max was back home, thanks to Aunt Lemon Zest
"Hey kiddo, I'm back," she announced, walking through the front door.
"Hey, welcome back Cyberwarp," said the 30-something year old woman standing in the living room. A pink skinned adult with lime green hair, wearing yellow shorts and a light blue tank top. It was hot in California after all.
"Hey, Cyber--oh my gosh, what happened to you?"
Cyberwarp spat out a piece of metal. "... I accidentally drove into a monster truck rally," Cyberwarp lied.
"Wait, really? Dude, that's awesome," Lemon grinned.
"No it's not, I lied," Cyberwarp admitted, feeling exhausted, collapsing onto the couch. "Dropkick and Barricade kicked my butt."
Max's face drooped. "They're... they're back?"
Cyberwarp's spark hurt, hearing the sense of fear from Max's question. But she still remained calm. "They are. But it'll be okay. I've made some calls, the Autobots are going to take care of them. Besides," she said, picking up Max and holding him in a hug. "My priority is to look after you, and I swore I would take care of you."
Max hugged the robot, feeling her metal slowly warm up as a soft cozy. "Please don't die..."
Cyberwarp softly smiled and patted the back of his head. "It'll be okay. I'm here."
Lemon checked her watch, and then back at Cyberwarp. "Do you need anything, or..."
"No, it's okay. Thanks again for watching him," Cyberwarp said, graciously.
"Oh it's no trouble at all," Lemon smiled, leaning in to give a soft hug to her 'nephew'. "I love hanging out with this sweet little guy. Have a good day guys."
"See ya," Cyberwarp waved as she left. "Say hi to Blaster for me."
The next few minutes were quiet, with the two of the m just sitting on the couch, idly. Turning her head over to Max, she gave him a friendly smile.
"Did you have fun at Aunt Lemon's?"
"Mmmhmm."
"Do anything fun while your babysitter was getting her butt kicked?"
Max couldn't help but laugh. "Well, we went out for some ice cream, and then we played some games..."
The afternoon turned to night. The young six took a bus down to the beach again, which was empty with it being closed. But they snuck right in without anyone watching.
“Guys, I don’t know. Something just doesn’t seem right,” Sandbar said as the group wandered onto the beach. Luckily no one else was here this time of the night.
“Yona think we shouldn’t be here. Why would Cyberwarp tell us to go out here alone?” Yona quivered a bit.
“Maybe she just wanted to talk to us in total privacy!” Silverstream chirped. “I mean look, there’s no one here but us!”
Sandbar looked beyond their group, towards the crashing waves against the water. It was a peaceful sound, always relaxing to hear whenever he and his friends came to the beach. But looking ahead, something was amiss. Out in the clear water, he saw some bubbles. Lots of them.
“Um. Guys.”
“What?” All of them stopped.
Sandbar tilted his head towards the water which was creating more and more bubbles underneath.
“You don’t think she’s under there, do you?”
The bubbles continued, until they saw something start to prod out of the water. Two yellow propellers were the first to rise up, dripping water from the fins. Connected to those propellers was a yellow head which emerged under the water as well, revealing the propeller system was mounted on his shoulders. A pair of blue eyes flashed before their eyes as he looked at them. And he started moving towards them.
“Uh, guys? Do you think maybe we should run?” Ocellus gulped.
“I don’t think we can,” Gallus pointed.
Four cars were now rolling onto the beach, including a motorcycle showing a driver in all black. Among the vehicles were a green SUV type of off-road vehicle, a white and red drifter car (most likely used for street racing in Japan), a blue and orange off-roading dune buggy, a solid black car (almost like government cars) and a blue motorcycle.
But the strangest one of all was the giant metallic looking lion that pounced on the sand, joining the group of cars. He looked at them curiously but didn’t growl at them.
“Okay, now I’m scared.”
But then the motorcycle began to move again. The driver that was sitting on the bike vanished into thin air and the motorcycle began to change shape. Plating folded out, and they could see slender blue and gray arms unfold and dig into the sand as the back of the motorcycle flipped into a pair of legs. A head with a soft orange/yellow horn in the middle of the head and baby blue eyes were revealed.
The rest of the vehicles around them began to shift as well, all of them twisting and changing in front of them. Even the strange thing that they saw in the water started to come towards them, revealing a body attached to the head that looked at them.
All of the robots were taller than them, making them feel like bugs in comparison. The blue femme smiled before taking a knee down so she could be level with them.
“It’s okay, we’re not here to hurt you. We just want to talk to you. Are you the kids that Cyberwarp told us to meet?"
“Uh… yeah?” Sandbar quivered.
“What… are you?”
“My name is Arcee. We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron.”
“But you can call us Autobots, for short,” The robot who emerged from the sea said, pulling off his mask and letting water escape from his face.
Autobots. Okay, good to know they have something we can call them.
“My name is Leobreaker,” The lion spoke.
“Jungle operation specialist,” Arcee added.
Abruptly, he changed, revealing a tall robot with a yellow and gray color scheme. “You are?”
“Gallus,” Gallus nodded before the robot extended his hand. Hesitantly, he shook it, receiving a soft smile back.
“Who is big green?” Yona asked, looking up at the big bulky green one with black hands and a gray facial structure.
“Bulkhead. You?”
“Yona,” she smiled.
“Nice to meet you kid,” Bulkhead smiled before softly opening up a palm to properly greet her, with Yona following that up by shaking his massive finger.
“Our scout and sniper, Catapult,” Arcee continued, looking at a bright yellow and blue femme who was as skinny as a pencil and with slender long legs and arms.
“Oh my goodness, they’re so adorable,” Catapult squeaked, cupping her mouth. “Are all humans like this? They are so cute.”
“You think everything is cute,” The white and red femme rolled her eyes.
“Probably from watching too much cat and dog videos on the internet,” Leobreaker said, teasingly.
“Hey, I can’t help it!”
Bulkhead held back a chuckle.
“War veteran, and our biologist/medical officer, Seaspray,” Arcee nodded, looking at the Autobot still drenching with water.
He bent down so he could take a closer look at Sandbar. “Nice to meet you, little dude.”
Sandbar grinned and gave him a soft fist bump.
“Override, new recruit. Recently joined our team,” Arcee commented.
She took a knee down to look at Smolder. “Looking tough kid. Bet the kids at the uh… um… w-what do they call them again?”
“School—”
“—School! Bet the kids at your school don’t pick on you, huh?”
“No, they don’t. Even if they did, they shouldn’t mess with me,” Smolder said, puffing her chest up a bit.
“… I think I like this one,” Override smirked.
“And last but not least, Makeshift,” Arcee gestured to the entirely black robot that stood before him. He was literally all in black, it was hard to make out what parts were what, or even if he could change into anything. The only thing that they could make out was the red Autobot badge on his chest and the pair of ominous red eyes on his faceless face.
“He sure looks friendly,” Silver quivered.
"Appearances can be deceiving," Makeshift said. Though it was kind of spooky, he had no visible lips so how was he even talking!?
“So, what can you do?” Ocellus asked, taking a step forward.
“I can change my shape and appearance; technically speaking, I am a spy.”
Everyone watched as all the parts on Makeshift’s body began to twist and change before them; new parts suddenly unfolding as if they were hidden away; and now he had changed his look to look exactly like the leader next to them.
Makeshift cleared his pipes and then spoke, and to everyone’s surprise he was now using Arcee’s voice to talk. “Being able to look like anyone and anything was useful for during the war; and it’s useful for blending in with you humans and your flashy rides.”
And then his parts shifted and changed back into the black robot he was.
"So why are you all here?” Gallus asked.
“We’re stationed here in California. My crew and I had been tasked to monitor your cities and keep an eye out for any suspicious activity.”
“Until now when we found out there are Decepticons here,” Leobreaker said.
“The two jokers that chased after you?” Arcee added.
The kids nodded.
"If you're talking about the copper and the muscle car, yeah, that's them," Smolder said, folding her arms.
"First Decepticon activity in years and now they decide to take things here," Arcee shook her head.
"Come on, that's awesome. We finally get to get into some action again, I've been waiting for the day I could finally take on the Decepticons."
"We're trying to fight without putting California's people in danger, remember?" Leobreaker said.
Override pouted. "Yeah, I know..."
“So, if you bots are stationed here, who sent you?”
“That would be our boss,” Override said, putting her hands on her hips. “Optimus Prime.”
“Wait, Optimus who?”
“Optimus Prime! Leader of the Autobots, bearer of the Matrix, and savior of the galaxy,” Catapult said with dramatics, giggling.
"Basically, yeah."
"But wait, if you all are Autobots, then why is Cyberwarp a... a..."
"You mean, why is your guidance counselor a Decepticon?" Arcee asked, raising a brow and putting her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, that!"
"That's a long story, Sandbar."
"It's not a long story, she's a convict, alright? A Decepticon who we should have just locked up for good," Override snarked, her fingers clenching into a fist.
"Convict? For what?"
"I don't think now's the best time to be going into this..." Leobreaker said, trying to act like the adult.
"But--"
"--No," Arcee said, firmly but fairly. "Another time. Now, Cyberwarp talked to us and explained everything that had happened; your personal safety is exactly why she called us."
"But, wait, what? You guys?"
"You may be in danger because you are one of the few, one of the only who have ever seen us," Arcee said, leaning forward and up close.
"And they want us, why?"
"You've seen Cyberwarp haven't you? And if you see just one of us... then that'll mean they'll want to silence anyone who has seen them ," Arcee said.
Silverstream and Gallus hunched their heads, fearing their mistake.
"Why didn't we just leave her alone..." Silverstream whined.
"Hey now, come on guys. Maybe it's a good thing we found out now. I mean someone was going to find out eventually, and better it be us than anyone else at school. Can you imagine what that jerk Trotskey would say if he found out? Or Cozy Glow?" Sandbar said, stepping up.
"Cyberwarp would be fired, and students have no counselor to talk to about problems," Yona concluded. "Sandbar knows. Besides, Cyberwarp is best counselor school ever has."
All of them clamored in agreement.
"But knowing still puts you six in danger. The fact of the matter is we can't let them go after you, since now they most likely know who you are at this point. Which is why we'll need to take you back to our base for witness protection," Arcee concluded.
"But, wait! We still have another week of school! We can't just ditch class!" Ocellus pointed out.
Arcee stopped. "... Scrap. Forgot, they're kids, with school," she rubbed her temples. "Well, okay, how long does school go for typically?"
"We all have different schedules!" Ocellus explained. "But next week is our last week, and then we'll be on spring break!"
"How long does that go?" Makeshift asked.
"Two weeks!"
The Autobots all shared glances.
"It wouldn't be wise to take them out of school suddenly out of nowhere," Bulkhead agreed.
"Alright, fair point. You kids will continue to go to school as normal, but we'll make sure those Decepticons don't go after you again. We will however be checking in with you to make sure you're still safe," Arcee declared. "Fair enough?"
The kids all nodded in agreement.
"Hey, anything that keeps me away from being liquefied is good enough for me," Smolder said.
"But still, if the Decepticons come back, you are going to need protection. But who should be looking after who..." Arcee said, looking at each one of them. Then back to her own crew who was waiting for Arcee to say something. "Hmm... we'll figure this out another time. I think you kids should probably get back to your campus."
"What!? But we just met you! We don't even know why you're all here," Ocellus said.
"We'll explain everything tomorrow, at our base. We'll give you a call," Arcee said. "But we will give you kids a ride back, if you want it."
The six of them looked at each other, and gave the leader some agreeing nods.
"Catapult, Makeshift, Override. Can I trust you three to take them back to campus safely? In vehicular mode," Arcee asked, sternly.
"I'm always careful, Arcee," Makeshift protested.
"That last remark was aimed at Catapult and Override. That means, no spring-loading, no running through red lights, and no unnecessary speeding."
"That was one time!"
"Half the New York Police Department were trying to hunt you down," Bulkhead objected.
"I didn't know speed limits were a thing!"
"Less talk, more roll," Makeshift said, dropping to his knees and flipping into a black sports car. Catapult converted back into a dune buggy, revving her engine. And Override transformed into a sports car, ready to roll.
"Hop on in guys," Override said, opening up her car doors. Smolder and Gallus climbed into her seats, and strapped in the seatbelts. Silverstream and Sandbar strapped themselves in the front seats of Catapult's mode, and Ocellus and Yona climbed inside of Makeshift.
Makeshift slowly and softly pulled out of the sand and back onto the road, and led the way. Soon Catapult was trailing behind him, and so was Override. The remaining four bots watched as they drove off to get the kids back to their sanctuary.
"So when Cyberwarp expressed her concern about not being able to take care of them, do you think she might have been exaggerating?" Bulkhead asked, curiously.
"Trust me, Bulk. I have no clue. But a precaution is as good as any."
Later that night, two vehicles were racing down an empty stretch of desert. One of them was Shatter, the other following close behind was Megatron. While he was still battered and beaten, he was still able to move just fine, although his flight abilities weren't functioning. With Shatter's intellect, she managed to find a rusty tanker truck for him to disguise as. Megatron, while not liking the idea of using these primitive Earth forms, did understand he wasn't going to stay hidden with his Cybertronian tank/aircraft mode. The truck was also fitted with some makeshift armor, knives, and other such materials, owned by anarchists hoping to overthrow their government.
The knowledge reminded of Megatron of his younger days when he began the war with similar goals and he knew that these humans rode to their own destruction. Megatron also knew if he was going to rise back up to power, he would have to adapt to his current dilemma. Lost, no army, barely any resources but a few scraps of Energon and a few subordinates. If he was going to get off this planet, he would have to start from ground zero in order to reclaim his power. But at the very least, his allies had made themselves a makeshift base to hide from the Autobots, so at the least, it would be a start.
The caverns of the mine were dark, as expected. A few lanterns still remained, which did give a little bit of light inside. A few tracks were still there, with a few carts left over. In addition, there was some abandoned mining equipment that had been long forgotten as well, which was surprising, considering how it looked like it was still operating. Off to the side, there was a small set up with some Cybertronian tech, and a few Energon cubes stacked.
Deep inside, Dropkick and Barricade were just sitting around, waiting for Shatter to come back. The only sounds echoing were a few small pebbles falling, the creaking of some wood, soft wind, and their footsteps crunching on the ground.
“I’m bored. How long are we supposed to sit here?” Dropkick asked, pacing back and forth.
“Shatter will come back soon. Unless she decided to dump your aft,” Barricade snarked.
Dropkick growled a bit before yanking a tarp off a piece of mining equipment. “You’ll be lucky if I don’t slag you.”
“… Shatter is right, you are a child.”
“Mmm…” Dropkick said, not even looking at Barricade. “Uh-huh.” His eyes locked onto a drilling machine. “This one looks very interesting…”
Just then, the two heard engine sounds coming from down the tunnel. As they stood up, they were delighted by the first sight of Shatter racing inside before flipping around into her alternate form.
“So? Where’d you run off to?” Barricade asked, folding his arms.
Shatter chuckled before reaching behind her, pulling out two glowing Energon cubes. “Energon, comrade. I picked some up on the way back,” she said before tossing them to the two Decepticons.
“Any Autobots out there?” Dropkick asked.
“None for now. I only found some things . And… someone .”
Shatter smirked as she stepped aside from the tunnel. The two were confused until they heard the sound of loud thunderous stomping down the dark labyrinth. A tall bulky gray body came into the light, making Barricade and Dropkick gasp.
“It… it cannot be,” Barricade was flabbergasted.
“Lord Megatron…” Dropkick gasped. Shatter chuckled evilly with pride.
“Decepticons! Your rightful lord and master, has returned!”
Dropkick bowed before their leader. “I live to serve, Lord Megatron.”
“Dropkick, rise,” Megatron ordered.
Dropkick did stand up straight again.
“Your survival is an unexpected turn. I had thought you and your partner perished on Cybertron, but Shatter tells me your vanishing was premature,” Megatron spoke.
“Yes, my liege,” Dropkick nodded. “As I’m sure Shatter told you, we were captured during battle, and didn’t wake up from stasis until we crashed here on this planet.”
Megatron waited, and then turned back to Barricade. “Barricade. You always find a way to slip from immediate trouble.”
Barricade smirked. “That I do.”
Megatron then looked around some more. No one else in sight, and only three Decepticons in front of him.
“Has there been any contact with any other Deceptions?”
“None, Lord Megatron. Barricade, Shatter and I haven’t seen any other Decepticons until, well, she found you,” Dropkick shook his head.
"And what about the crashed cruiser? We may have lost some Decepticons, but there are some I noticed who weren't on the ship. Soundwave, Shockwave, Thundercracker, many others," Shatter commented.
"During the attack, I ordered my top troops to evacuate. No sense in wasting their sparks. But their fates remain unknown..." he said, looking back at the cavern hall that would lead outside, thinking.
"Whatcha thinkin' about, boss?"
"But if my Decepticons are still online, we will find them..."
***
"If they escaped long before we made it into Earth's atmosphere, they will already have rendezvoused with Onslaught and the others. But if they are here on Earth, I will expect them to be hiding..."
Several pieces of military aircraft flew over some forests, all staying together in formation. A few of these jets were the same type, sporting only a few different colors. But there were a few other ones with them that were different, though like the others, were all in different colors. But one thing they all had in common, was they were working together, all on the same side.
"...Looking for the others..."
And down a stretch of highway, a massive big rig slammed through several cars, eliciting a few angry honks, but the truck continued to ignore them. Nothing could stop it's big black cabin, purple glass panes, or it's gray trailers.
"... And harvesting as much Energon as possible..."
In a train yard, a big, strong, steaming locomotive pulled out of the yards, hauling a few freight cars behind it, taking them away to put them to good use. And in another disclosed area, several green construction vehicles were working in a massive canyon, unearthing glowing blue crystals from some of the mineral deposits. And in the nearby forest, were large metallic creatures ripping down trees, chirping and clicking as they did so...
"... And when the time comes, we will call our Decepticons, and strike back at the one who dared to oppose us."
***
Megatron then turned around, and looked at his three Decepticons, who were all standing straight and together, giving their boss their undivided attention and respect.
“Fellow Decepticons…” Megatron addressed. “We will be leaving this planet. To that end, you three shall be tasked with executing my new plan.”
“What is the plan, boss?” Barricade asked.
“These unknown forces have depleted half of my army, stormed my warship, and attacked my Titans... They will be dealt with in time. For now, you shall serve me by gathering what I need to assemble a working spacebridge.”
Barricade whistled. “Wow. I’ll admit, not what I thought you were going with this.”
Dropkick nudged his shoulder to quietly tell him to shut up, allowing Megatron to continue.
“Forgive me for asking, Lord Megatron. But what about the rest of the Autobots? Optimus Prime has left a handful of his comrades here on this planet.”
“Optimus Prime's warriors are of no concern to us at present and they will not become one if you do your duty properly. If you manage to fail me in this regard, then you will deal with them as I expect any warrior in my army to do or die trying.”
Dropkick chuckled. “Those Autobots won’t stand a chance…”
“Do not forget: I will not tolerate further infighting or insubordination or other failures to serve my will. Until we find the out the fates of the rest of my trusted warriors, we will work together. We are stronger united, then we are against each other. There will no more room in my army for the likes of Starscream or anyone aspiring to follow his... Dubious example.”
Megatron glared at his three warriors, which did not allow for, much less invite further questions. The three Decepticons bowed their heads.
“Yes, Lord Megatron,” the three said in unison.
“Then rise, my warriors. Our mission has begun…”
The morning sun of Sunday rose over the horizon, bringing the second weekend day. Just like usual, everyone got up and did their daily routine to prepare for the day, make whatever preparations or plans they have to do. Though for the Student Six, they did not sleep well that night. Their minds were too awake to try and sleep, and the thought of those robots watching them scared them to death.
The alarm clock on Smolder's phone dinged, and in seconds the phone flew across the room and bounced off the wall and into a soft bean bag, followed by Smolder moaning. "Why????"
And that was followed by the sight of Silverstream rolling out and slamming onto the floor. "Ow!"
Smolder's eye sleepily looked at Silverstream who pulled herself to her feet.
"You know, we can just stay in bed you know. There's a reason they call it the weekend."
"I couldn't sleep," Silverstream admitted, clutching herself. "I keep thinking those big meanie Decepticons were going to stick their hands through the window and crush us."
Smolder sighed, pulling herself out of her bed. "You too, huh?"
"You couldn't sleep either?"
"Not one bit," Smolder yawned, smacking her lips. "All I kept seeing was that blue guy's gun in my face." And tired as ever, she stumbled to her closet to grab a set of fresh clothes for the day. "Maybe we just need breakfast."
After getting dressed and using the restroom facilities, the kids walked downstairs to the cafeteria and grabbed breakfast. Pancakes, waffles, bacon, toast, eggs, cereal, orange juice, milk, etc. They got their food and sat down at a table so they could eat.
The breakfast was... quiet, to say the least. Usually it was full of conversation and life, but after yesterday, it just became drop dead quiet. No one said anything, you could barely hear anyone eating their food, it was just... dead. Only some clinking of their utensils or plates were heard.
"... So. Anyone sleep well last night?"
"Nope," everyone said, rather bluntly.
"Honestly I wish I had a gun under my pillow," Gallus admitted. "Not sure how useful it'd be but... the thought would have been nice."
"I slept in the student lounge all night," Ocellus confessed as well, sinking into the chair. "I'm so close to the windows, I didn't want to be that close to being yanked out!"
"That explains why I found your pillow and blanket on the couch," Smolder stated, sipping some milk.
Sandbar nibbled on some bacon in the midst of the talk. "I know we're all scared, but I'm sure things will be okay guys. Those Autobots will stop them from attacking us, I'm sure of it."
None of the friends were so sure about that. I mean, okay, the Autobots were nice and they did approach them with caution, trying not to scare the living daylights out of them, but all of this was still new. They weren't sure what to think.
"I'd make some comment on what if the Autobots are bad and the Decepticons are good, but one of them was about to kill me, so I'm not going to say anything," Smolder said.
Ocellus was about to speak, but she felt a soft buzz vibrate in her pants pocket. Her cellphone was going off. And someone was trying to call her. "Excuse me," Ocellus said, reaching her phone and getting up from the table to talk. "Hello?"
"Ocellus, it's Makeshift. "
"Makeshift?" Ocellus asked. The table turned their heads at her. "What's wrong?"
"Just wanted to make sure you and the others are awake. I'm parked outside your campus, I need to take you six to our base of operations. "
"But, why?"
"If we're going to protect you kids, you need to understand exactly what we're dealing with here. Are you all dressed? "
"Um... yeah?"
"Good. Meet me at the campus parking lot. Look for a black SUV with a dog hood ornament. Shouldn't be too hard to pick out ," Makeshift said, hanging up.
Ocellus heard the dial tone, and she just looked back at her friends with an unsure expression on her face.
After getting all of their gear, i.e their cellphones, snacks, knapsacks, purses, whatever, they walked downstairs out of the dorms and went into the faculty parking lot. Not many cars parked here today, but they could see the car they were requested to go to. Like Makeshift said; he was sitting as a black SUV, looking like every other SUV you would see. Black and shiny like he just went through a car wash, and ready to go.
"Makeshift?"
"That's me. Come on in kids," Makeshift replied, opening up all the car doors.
"Um, how are we all going to fit?"
"It's a sports utility vehicle, it's got more than enough seats. Though I recommend three sit in the middle or all the way in the back. I need to keep a holographic appearance in the driver's seat."
The six students exchanged glances.
"So who's sitting where?"
The drive out of campus and into the city wasn't so bad. Ocellus being the smallest sat in the shotgun seat, Yona sat on the left side in the middle with Smolder in the middle, and Sandbar on the right. This left Gallus and Silverstream to sit all the way in the back.
"So, um, this whole transforming thing, how do you do it?"
"It's easy. You just do it," Makeshift replied, nonchalantly.
"Yeah, but how do you pick what you disguise as?"
"That's also easy. You just find the vehicle that suits you, scan it, integrate all it's data into your system, and you will have yourself a new alternative mode," he answered. "Most of the Autobots are limited to choice, but I can scan whatever I want and be whatever vehicle I want."
"So... anything?"
"Well, mostly anything that's within' my body size, so I can't exactly transform into a jumbo jet or a blimp or an aircraft carrier," he corrected himself.
"That's... actually pretty awesome," Smolder grinned. "That must make you the ultimate warrior then, right?"
There was some eerie quietness in the car as they were driving, and Makeshift didn't respond. Smolder felt like she might have said something offensive, until--
"--It does not."
Smolder sighed in relief, no offense taken.
"I may be able to look like almost anyone, but that doesn't mean I'm powerful. Having a great power doesn't translate into being the strongest of them all."
"Makeshift speaks truth," Yona nodded. "Yona's family members claim strength, but not all Yona family members super strong as they speak."
Some awkward silence filled the car some more. The only things they could hear right now was the sound of Makeshift's engine running.
"... You kids want me to play some music? I can find just about anything--"
"--No, no, it's okay. We'll just uh... we'll just sit here," Sandbar said, awkwardly.
"... Okay. Makeshift to base, Makeshift to base. Seaspray, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear ."
"I'm almost outside of the city, I'm going to need a groundbridge."
"Roger that. "
Just then a green portal flashed before them on the road ahead. The kids jolted in surprise, even more when Makeshift just kept driving like normal. With a flash of light, Makeshift drove through the portal and found himself no longer in the city; now he was sitting in the middle of a long dusty stretch of road that went across a scorching hot desert.
"Wha... where are we?" Ocellus quaked.
"Don't worry, we're not far from the city. We just needed to take a Groundbridge to our base to save driving time."
And with a sharp right he skewered off the road and bounced on the desert grounds, racing to the base.
"Whoa, slow down!" Sandbar gripped the handlebars of the car. "We're not in a race!"
"Trying to avoid detection right now, gotta go fast," Makeshift answered. He made a turn around the bend, and just up ahead he could see the base. An abandoned factory that looked condemned. Several boards covering most of the windows, broken glass, mold everywhere, it looked absolutely desolate.
But the doors opened up, and he drove inside like normal. They drove through a hall, until he parked himself int he main command center. Off in the corner there was a set of control consoles and screens, probably for monitoring any activity. A cinder-block looking piece that they swore was a couch, sat in front of a TV with a few other chairs. Some giant-sized cabinets hooked on the walls, some tables, so much interior installed. And in the command center was Arcee and the rest of the Autobots who were waiting.
"Welcome to our base of operations," Makeshift welcomed, opening all doors. The kids climbed out, and once everyone was free, Makeshift slowly shifted and transformed back into the metallic shadowy body that he was hiding. "Boss. The kids are here, as per ordered."
"Thanks Makeshift. But again, you don't have to call me boss, just call me Arcee," she corrected.
"My apologies, Arcee ."
"Hey, hey, hey, welcome to our pad!" Override smiled, with open arms. "Now I know, an abandoned factory in the middle of nowhere isn't the greatest place for a hideout, but it works for us. We got space, we got cover, it works."
"Eh, not the biggest dump I've seen," Smolder shrugged.
"If you don't mind us asking, we have some questions about those Decepticons, and well, everything," Sandbar asked.
"Of course."
"First of all, when did this all even start?” Smolder asked. "You act like this fight between you guys and those two Decepticons had been going on for a long time, how long has this war been going?"
“It’s kind of a long story,” Arcee began.
“Oh boy, we’re telling this story again…” Override rolled her eyes, planting her behind onto a chair.
“If they’re going to learn about us, they might as well know a bit on how all of this got started,” Arcee pointed out.
“She’s right you know,” Bulkhead said.
“If I may?” Arcee asked, looking at the kids.
“We’re listening,” Sandbar nodded.
Arcee walked them over to their little 'living room' area, sort of. And the kids parked themselves onto the cinderblock couch, sitting next to Override and Catapult who sat down. Arcee pulled out a chair, spinning it around and sat on it backwards, so her arms were hanging over the back support.
"Okay. So..." Arcee cleared her pipes. “A long time ago, just far out in the cosmos of space, there was nothing except for two gods; Primus, and his brother, Unicron. Primus believed in creating life, but Unicron was more interested in destroying and devouring anything in his way. The brothers fought; but Primus found a way to combat him; the 13 Primes. The very first Cybertronians.
They fought him off, and Unicron left, vowing revenge one day. Primus then converged himself, and with the help of the 13 Primes, he created more life; Cybertron. But as our society advanced, we unfortunately raised a new problem. Some Cybertronians were not happy with how leadership and planetary control was being handled, until some bot was bold enough to start his own force of power; Megatron. He raised an army to battle against the current rulers, and it turned into an all out war. That is until an Autobot, courageous enough to fight took a stand; and that Autobot’s name was Optimus Prime. He rallied those who were fighting for a noble cause, and we had been in war ever since..."
Cybertron
Explosions and laserfire were echoing through the air across Cybertron. Hordes of Decepticons and Autobots were screaming during the battles, trying to one up the other but with very little success. Each side continued to get on top of each other, and it only continued as the years went on.
During the battle, several Autobot cars were flying through the air, having raced up a ramp to try and jump to the other side. Since a bridge had been disconnected, they had to do a little improvising. The first one to slam her wheels on the other side was Arcee, albeit much younger and with a light pink and white color scheme; with a race car-like mode.
Right behind her were a few of her fellow allies who had helped her with the most recent mission; Hound, Mirage, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, many others. Now they were on the run, thanks to some Vehicon troopers who were racing after them, hoping to eliminate them due to the Autobots finding valuable information that could have turned the tide for the war.
“They’re still on our tail, Arcee!” an Autobot yelled from behind.
“We’ll take it to the tunnels, we’ll out maneuver them there!” Arcee ordered, swerving to the right. The Autobots swerved towards her direction and raced down a ramp, going straight across the highway.
Several Decepticon soldiers fired at them from the buildings above. Seekers and Vehicon troopers fired with all they got, even manning a few turrets. But the Autobots were getting farther and farther away from them. The Decepticon leading this barrage, a hulking large purple figure with a large cannon for an arm and a single yellow eye pointed at them.
"Destroy the bridge! They are carrying sensitive information! Let none escape!"
Several Seekers jumped from where they stood, flipping into jet forms and gave chase.
"Uh oh. Arcee, we have Seekers on our tail!"
"Hound, Mirage, can you throw some rockets back at them?"
"Yes ma'am!" Hound called. The two Autobots spun around, now driving backward to cover the Autobots. Armed rockets equipped from their sides, locking on target. They let go, and the rockets headed straight for the Seekers in the air. They took evasive action, but one or two of them did hit a Vehicon, and one Seeker in the process. But they kept up the chase. The Decepticons loaded rockets to fire at the Autobots, until some shots went above them, calling his attention.
On a tower, two Autobots pulled themselves up, armed to the brim. One was all in red with a tank turret sticking out his chest, and the other was in red and dark blue, a femme with two rockets mounted above her head.
"Need some help?"
"Let's blow 'em to pieces, BANG, POW!!" The red Autobot shouted before flipping into a tank mode. His turret locked on, and he fired several rounds into the air, taking out a few jets with powerful kicks. "That outta buy our friends some time, KAZOWIE!"
And it sure did. The Decepticons completely forgot about Arcee's team that they put their focus on the two Autobots shooting from inside one of the buildings.
"Haha, suckers!" Sideswipe taunted.
"Forget about something, boys?" Sunstreaker added.
"Boys, save it when we get to base," Arcee said, playfully rolling her eyes underneath that car form. "Prowl, you can open up the gates, we're coming home."
The group went straight down a ramp, heading underneath a part of the bridges. And when they took another turn, they went down a ramp that went deeper, towards the base entrance. The doors opened, and the pack drove inside, nice and smoothly.
"Finally, we made it!" Arcee said, transforming into robot mode, with a proud smile, looking at her comrades. "Tell Optimus we have the access codes, we got them!"
Prowl smiled. "Nice job, Arcee. I'll tell him at once."
The femme looked back to her friends who were all throwing some fist bumps, high-fives, even a chest slam or two in there, something they picked up from the Wreckers. But Arcee still smiled, beaming with pride. She had every reason to be proud of her team. This may have been a small victory, but it was just what they needed right now...
"... But as eons went on and the war continued, our resources became more and more depleted. We eventually set off to find new sources of energy and that’s when we crash-landed here on Earth, in 1984. We stayed hidden, until the Decepticons came back in 2016. Our war with the Decepticons continued, until one faithful day in 2017…”
“Well what happened?” Gallus asked.
“Unicron made his return, planning on killing Cybertron and Primus once and for all. That was when Autobot and Decepticon forces joined forces and stopped Unicron, for good,” Leobreaker said.
“With the war over, we hoped things would finally become peaceful again. Until some Decepticons rose up and launched a series of attacks in 2027. Even though a few remained and escaped, we did capture the attention of your planet’s leaders and, well, one thing led to another and we made a peace treaty with them. We were granted safe haven here on Earth.”
“But if the whole world knows you exist, how come we haven’t heard? How come you guys aren’t out in the public so often? How have we not heard a single thing about you, I think an attack on New York City's hard to forget!” Smolder asked.
“Because we know you humans and your desire to capture every exciting thing on video with your phones,” Arcee said, a little sarcastically. “But even then, if we did, it could attract attention of the Decepticons. California’s one of the biggest states here in the US, and we didn’t want to start a battle in a highly populated city. The world knows we exist, but it's still our job to stay hidden among the public.”
“Except thanks to Barricade and Dropkick, we couldn’t avoid that,” Bulkhead added. “I love lobbing as much as the next bot, but I’d rather do it with the least likely chance that someone will get hurt.”
The kids nodded, understanding what they were explaining.
“But wait, what about Cyberwarp? Where is she? Isn't she a part of this war?” Ocellus asked, looking around.
“She told us to talk to you kids alone. Since you kids figured out her secret, she wanted you all to talk to us before talking to her.”
“But why?”
"Because in her rambling, she said we would do a better job of taking care of you six than she could."
"... Okay, that doesn't really answer the question," Gallus raised a finger.
"If anything, that raises even more questions," Yona stated, tilting her head.
"I asked about that, it's a sensitive subject for her, one that she rather not discuss with us. Again. If you want to know, you'll have to ask her. I'm not going to talk about her behind her back," Arcee said.
"Fair enough," Gallus agreed.
Just then, a noise went off on the main computer. Leobreaker who had stood quietly, listening to the entire conversation, walked to the monitors to check. "We have an Energon spike. Should we go investigate?" Leobreaker asked.
"Yes, we should. Autobots, prepare to--"
"--Wait, what about the children?"
Arcee froze and internally cursed. "... Scrap. Leobreaker, where exactly is this spike, is it in a populated area?"
The Autobot typed on the console, moving the cursor around on the radar screen. "Hang on... the spike's located... aww scrap. Checking internet satellites, there's some people camping nearby. Guess I won't be going anywhere again."
"You'll get your chance to come back out again, I promise," Arcee reassured.
The lion crossed his arms. "Doesn't feel like it..."
"Chin up big guy. If we need someone to pounce on Cons, we'll give you a call," Override teased.
"You ever hear the phrase 'don't poke the bear'?" Bulkhead asked.
"He's not a bear," Override chuckled.
"You know what I mean."
Seaspray turned on the groundbridge, and watched as Arcee rounded up the team (at least most of them).
"Autobots, roll out!"
Arcee transformed first, and she drove out of the base and through the portal. Bulkhead then transformed and followed after. And one by one, Override, Catapult, and Makeshift followed suit. When everyone had finally passed, the portal closed off. Seaspray and Leobreaker stood awkwardly, looking at each other, and then back at the kids.
"Well as long as you kids are here, how about we--"
"--You do what you want, I think I'm gonna go cool off for a bit," Leobreaker said, walking away from the group and going down the hallway.
"Grouch much?" Smolder raised a brow.
"The guy doesn't get much time outside the base. Doesn't help that someone didn't give him the memo on needing to pick a mode that falls under 'low profile'. But as long as you all are here, how about I show you around? If you kids are going to be under our protection and all, and besides, you six are guests. What kind of hosts would we be if we didn't show you around?"
Sandbar smiled. "I like the sound of that. What about you guys?"
"Eh, beats sitting and doing nothing."
"Sure."
"Yona want to see!"
"Why not."
"Yes, please!"
Seaspray smiled under the mask. "Great! Follow me. Let me show you around..."
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Chapter 8: Kings of the Road
Author's Note
And we continue our story.
Contains more appearances, cameos, and much more.
Chapter 8: Kings of the Road
“Come on in you truckers… come on in…” Cyberwarp muttered quietly, clicking the button on the Gatling gun to turn on.
She heard crunching of stones and tires grinding against the sandy road. And they were coming from all directions; left, right, forwards, backwards, everywhere! She kept spinning around, trying to look for the source, any of them, she felt like they were about to pounce on her. Her spark raced, and she panted heavily, trying not to hyperventilate and panic--
"Who are you?"
She fired into the air, and turned around quick, fumbling with her gun at the one who questioned her. Four robots together, standing and looking at her with curiousity. But more worrisome was the fact all four of them had Decepticon badges, right there for her to see.
"Wait, don't fire," a booming voice barked. "She's one of us."
A large hulking figure stomped into the open, stepping into the middle of the road with the rest of the Decepticons, facing her.
"Um... y-yeah, I'm a Con! I'm with you guys, I mean look on my chest, I'm on your side!" Cyberwarp tittered, shaking as she held the gun.
Five Decepticons before her. But wait a minute, these guys looked familiar. Yeah, they were; little details like the fact all of them had wheels and car parts was becoming a first clue. But she recognized their faces as well. One was in blue and white. The second was a maroon red, white, and black. The third was gray and red. Fourth was an all in yellow with two wheels locked into each arm. And the last of the bunch of the biggest and tallest of them. Black and white with purple markings on the chest and the front truck cabin built into the legs. And a sleek light purple face with menacing purple eyes glaring at her.
"Wait a minute... I know you guys! Yes, yes, I know you! You're the Stunticons, you're the kings of the road back on Cybertron! Don't tell me, let me guess...", she said, pointing to each one. "Breakdown." He nodded. "Dead End." He nodded as well. "Wildrider, Dead End, and last but not least... Motormaster."
"I like this one," Motormaster smirked.
"So where does a spunkin' femme like you come from anyway?"
"Um... Cybertron?"
Motormaster chuckled. "I think Drag Strip means to ask, what part of Cybertron did you come from."
"O-Oh! Sorry. I used to be a citizen of old Iacon, and then when the wars rolled around, well... one thing led to another, and I guess that's how I became one of you guys," Cyberwarp explained, putting her weapons aside. Seems like these Stunticons didn't know her true nature. Maybe she could use that to her advantage...
"How did you get here anyway? Did you crashland with the rest of us too, I don't remember seeing you on board the Nemesis."
"No, I've been here since..." Cyberwarp stopped. "Wait. What do you mean crashland?'
"Think we should tell her?" Breakdown asked.
"She's one of us, of course we should tell her," Motormaster spat.
"I don't think that's such a good idea. But then again, no one really cares..." Dead End moaned.
"We were attacked. Someone staged in an attack on the Nemesis, and the next thing we know, we're hurling back here on this mudball of a planet," Motormaster groaned.
"Autobots?"
"No. For once, it wasn't the Autobots. But I don't know who they were. And thanks to them, we crashed back here and now we're separated from the rest of the team. Now you; what are you doing here, and how long have you been stuck?"
"O-Oh! Right. Sorry, I um... Well I've been stranded here for a couple of years now, been making do with what I have. The humans don't know I'm hiding, so I've been able to camp really well," Cyberwarp said with a straight face, lying through her teeth. "I know there are other Decepticons here on the planet, but I've mostly just bumped into them, staying out of their way, that's all."
"Have you run into anyone in particular? Megatron, Soundwave, the Constructicons, anyone?"
"I'm afraid not. Not even that traitorous Starscream has been seen. Though knowing him, he'll come around very soon..." Motormaster sneered.
"Wait a minute." Wildrider interrupted. "I smell something funny..."
"Oh, that's probably the sea. This area's really toxic, you know," Cyberwarp brushed.
"No, that's not it. Although I can smell that. But you... I smell Autobot fumes on you. So clear, so polluted free..."
Cyberwarp's spark sank. Oh no, he was gonna know!
"O-Oh, um, well, you see, it's a funny story, actually uhhh..."
"You're not collaborating with Autobots, are you?" Drag Strip glared, pointing the tip of his pistol at her.
"N-No, never, I would never work with the enemy! I'm... okay, I'll be honest with you guys," Cyberwarp stopped. She was scared inside, screaming in terror. One wrong move, and these guys would rip her to pieces. "I've been sneaking through the Autobots as a defector. I've gotten their trust, I've learned much from them, I've been trying to gain their trust, but I am not one of them."
"So they have no idea you're still a true Decepticon?"
She shook her head, shaking in her heels.
"Oh I am liking her more and more," Motormaster grinned, walking past her. Cyberwarp felt like a bug compared to him, she could feel him breathing down her neck. And he was right close to her face, almost inches in front of her. His finger brushed the side of her face, making her heart race. Was this guy about to rip her apart, or was he attempting flirting? "Not only is she radiant, but she's survived on her own, and has infiltrated the Autobots? You would make one valuable member in Megatron's army."
"Heh, heh, maybe we can leave Megatron out of this? He doesn't exactly know I'm on this planet, and I'd like to keep it that way. Just watching him dealing with Starscream, I would hate to get on his bad side...", she shivered.
"Fair enough, little one. Perhaps for the time being, until we find Megatron and the others, perhaps we can work together? We'll meet here again in this scraphole of a town, and you can report your findings to us when you have new information. I have a feeling this will be the start of a new partnership..."
Cyberwarp was frozen. Now she had shot herself in the foot. If she said no, they'd still probably attack her. For all she knew, they could tie her down to the road, run her over in vehicular mode. Or worse, tie her limbs to four of the Stunticons and rip them off like something out of those disturbing human gorefest films. But then she thought her situation over again. These Stunticons had zero clue that she was a defect, no idea that she was associated with humans or Autobots. Maybe she could feed them false information and get them to fall for a trap? Or better yet, if they meet up with any others, she could get some very useful information out of them too.
But what if Arcee and her team found out she was talking to them behind their backs? Trust gone, job gone, locked up in prison for the rest of her days, or worse. She didn't want everything she worked for jeopardized. And the Sweet family, she couldn't part with them, she just couldn't. They were family to her, and what about the rest of her friends who were off on business? They couldn't be left alone either.
"Are your circuits frozen?"
Cyberwarp snapped out of her deep trance. "I'm still online! S-Sure, collaborating could be fun."
"Excellent. I knew I could trust you. We'll be hitting the road now, but should you ever need to contact us... you know how. We'll meet back here again when you have something new to report."
"Okay, great! I'll... see you boys soon?"
"Til we meet again," Motormaster replied, coaxing his team to follow him.
Their footsteps stomped the ground, and for once Cyberwarp felt a little relief knowing they were leaving--
"Wait."
--Or not.
"I almost forgot... what's your name?"
"M-My name? Oh, it's um... Cyberwarp."
"See you later, Cyberwarp," Motormaster nodded. "Stunticons, lets hit the road!"
One by one, they transformed and raced out of Bombay Beach, laughing maniacally.
"Gangway!!!"
Cyberwarp cringed, hearing them slam into a few parked cars as they left the area. Now she finally had some relief, seeing that they were gone. Now she could relax her joints, they were still wobbling and shaking. Pressing a button on her wrist, she fumbled her way off the main road where a Groudbridge opened up for her.
Walking through, she found herself back in the barn again. She stumbled a bit, feeling like she was becoming dizzy and was almost about to fall down and crash on the barn floor. But she kept her balance and managed to walk through and opened the doors. And to his surprise, there was Glit and Max standing outside, waiting for her. Probably got a notification that she had come back through the Groundbridge.
"Yay, you're back!" Max cheered. "Where'd you go?"
"Y-Yes, I'm... I'm back," Cyberwarp said, shakily. "Actually, can you just excuse me for a moment? I just need to be by myself for a real quick second."
"Okay!"
Cyberwarp smiled briefly and shut the barn doors, leaving Glit and Max to just stand there. And she shut the doors tight, locking them so no one on the outside could hear her.
"Why the fragging Primus did I talk to the Stunticons!? What is Arcee and the others going to say!? Why did I agree with those guys, Cyberwarp what is wrong with you!? 'Oh no, I can't be a part of your team!' 'Why not?' 'BECAUSE I'M LIVING WITH HUMANS AND AUTOBOTS YOU ROAD HOGGING TWITS! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
Glit and Max just stood there in silence, waiting for her little episode to end.
"This is going to take a while..."
Honestly this wasn't the first moment that Max had listened to someone in his family having to step away to release some anger like this. The amount of times he was told to step out of a room because mommy was about to say bad words, followed by her little fits of rage was something he was used to. Luckily Sour wasn't the type to take it out on her family, hence why she always asked to be by herself whenever she screamed profanities.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm going to need a moment!"
Back at base, everyone had unloaded the supply of Energon that they collected from the pit and into their vault. Plenty of more Energon collected and more fuel restocked!
The kids meanwhile, were given a chance to go back to their school and pick up their study sheets and materials so they could do a little bit of homework while they were at the base. Hey, at the very least, get some studying in while they're being looked after by the Autobots. Some of them sat on the cinder-block couch, others just sat on the floor. And sitting upside down on the couch was Catapult, letting her legs kick.
"Soooo whatcha studying?" Catapult asked innocently with a smile.
"Math," Silverstream frowned.
"Why so sad? Math is fun!"
"No, it's not. And it wouldn't be fun if you did the kind of math that we're doing," Gallus said, gloomfully.
"I've heard that before," Arcee acknowledged as she passed by. "The complaints I've heard from Sideswipe and Sunstreaker when they tried to help Rainbow with her math homework?"
"They keep changing it up, I swear," Gallus complained, slapping his homework folder down on the floor.
"Mind if I take a look?" Catapult asked.
"Knock yourself out, I'm at a loss."
Catapult's head slowly swiveled around and looked down at the sheet. "Hmm...
"Let me break it down in simplest terms. Can you add? Can you subtract?" Makeshift asked, using another voice to speak.
The kids nodded.
"Good. That's all you're ever going to need. You're not going to need the Pythagorean Theorem when you're tipping your waitress, so this is also horseshit ," Makeshift quoted, squinting his little red eyes.
"Hey! Language," Bulkhead snapped.
"We've heard it all, Bulkhead. Bad words are nothing new," Smolder said, looking up.
"Yeah, but what kind of example would we be setting if we sweared on and off?" Bulkhead asked, putting his hands on his hips. "I know you humans have foul mouths sometimes, but it doesn't make what they say any more intelligent."
"Try telling that to Sour Sweet. She's got a massive foul mouth on her," Seaspray said, standing at the consoles.
"I thought that was because she's bipolar?" Override asked, raising a brow.
"No, that's something completely different," Seaspray answered. "Sour's more sarcastic and snarky."
"He's not wrong," Arcee replied, walking back into the main control center. "After hanging out with her and the Shadowbolts for a few years, I can confirm. And I thought I had some snarky moments." She looked at Seaspray and Leobreaker. "Did the kids behave while we were gone?"
"Are you kidding? These kids were nothing but the sweetest things," Seaspray smiled under the mask. "They were behaved, they didn't break anything, they're good kids. They even took interest in the suits of our old friends from Canterlot High."
"Good. Last thing we need is more accidents."
"Still don't see why I had to stay. I could have helped you fight against that Seeker," Leobreaker complained.
"If we had known the area was void of humans, I would have brought you along. But I can't have you risk our cover."
"Cover? The entire planet knows we exist, why even cover our secret?" Leobreaker asked.
"So we can handle the Decepticons without panicking everyone in California," Arcee answered back. "I know it's not fair, but it's Optimus's rules."
Leobreaker shook his head, sighing. "I understand you worked under Optimus Prime's chain of command for years, but just because you did, doesn't mean you have to do everything like him."
And the lion just walked out of the main center and into the halls, most likely going to his own resting room.
"Ouch," Gallus hissed.
"He just needs some time alone, that's all," Override reassured.
Gallus however wasn't so sure about that.
Leobreaker threw his fists against a makeshift punching bag (which was several metal pieces and objects held in chains) for some more practice. Elbows bent, eyes focused, he threw as many punches as he could. After a quick punch-out, he parked himself on the bench, letting his hands rest from all the grinding and smashing.
"Hey."
Leobreaker turned his head. "Arcee, I don't--Oh. Oh, kid, hey. Sorry, I thought you were one of them."
Gallus walked into his 'room', climbing up onto the bench to sit with him.
"You okay?"
"No, I'm not," he said, rather flatly. "I'm tired of being stuck in the base all the time, I'm tired of just sitting around and waiting, I'm just... I just wanna go out there and fight."
"I get that," Gallus said, sympathetically. "But you'll be out to fight eventually."
"Maybe if Miss Stand-In Prime gives me the okay. Don't get me wrong, Arcee's a good leader, I know she is. But sometimes, I swear she acts too much like the great and glorious Optimus Prime sometimes. Yeah, he's great too, but just because he is, doesn't mean you have to be exactly like him," Leobreaker complained. "I just wish she understood that, then maybe I could be allowed to actually fight."
"You do know how to fight though, right?" Gallus asked.
"Are you kidding? I've trained for years to battle. I've studied every battle in historical records, practiced with every Autobot close by, I've done everything. I know I can be a great Autobot." He sighed. "But its the same thing every time; can't leave the base, you'll attract humans, giant lion isn't a low profile. Sometimes I swear, I feel like I'll never be allowed to leave. Guess that's what I get for picking something animal-based."
Gallus softly smiled. "Maybe one day you'll get your chance."
"Yeah, I really hope so."
A moment of silence passed between the two of them, staring blankly at the wall awkwardly.
"... Slag it, I need to go outside. I'm gonna go walk around, stretch my legs."
"Mind if I come with?"
"Don't you have homework to do?"
"Well, yeah, but this is more of a... mental health break," Gallus shrugged.
Leobreaker smiled. "Can't argue with that, now can I?"
At the mines, Shatter and Dropkick were walking inside, carrying several pieces of boxes, tools, weapons, whatever they could find from the wreck. Megatron's first orders were to grab as much as they could, so that they could set up a small base within. If they were going to be operation, they might as well grabbed what they could. She set the crates down, wiping her hands off from the dust she kicked during her walk inside.
"We've recovered most of the equipment we could from the wreck," Shatter stated, looking to Megatron laying down on a presumed operating table. "But I'm afraid we are limited on tools. Shockwave must have grabbed most of what he could during the wreckage. If he's even on this planet."
"Then you'll have to make do what you've found," Megatron concluded.
"Understood," Shatter nodded.
"Alright, so Megs, remind me again, why do you want a new alternative form of transformation? I thought you were already big and mighty with the tank mode," Barricade asked, setting some equipment down on a tray. "Granted, I thought your gun mode back in the older days was pretty good, but still."
"Whoever attacked the Nemesis knew every step I made and exactly how to overthrow me. I am not going to make that mistake again," Megatron growled as glared up at the light above him.
"Fair enough, I suppose," Barricade said. Best he not say anything else to anger his boss. He may be needing repairs, but he knew he could still beat the scrap out of him. "Now what do you want? Stronger tank mode, maybe something with flight?"
"I wore that in my old skin as Galvatron. As such, I am no longer him."
Barricade flipped on the console of the installed computer/monitor system, pulling up pictures of things that were commonly seen on Earth. One of the first pictures he loaded was of a two bladed helicopter mode with a hulking cannon underneath the cockpit.
"Not enough."
"Okay... how about this? I know Grimlock is this, but unlike him, you have brains," Barricade asked, showing a picture of a prehistoric T-Rex.
Megatron simply glared at him, unamused.
"O-Of course we don't have to, probably not mighty enough for you," Barricade shrugged it off, looking through more.
"Why not go back to your classic Cybertronian jet form? Restore the old days when every Decepticon and Autobot knew not to mess with you?" Dropkick offered, folding his arms, leaning against a beam.
"No."
"Okay, how about your primitive Predacon form?"
"No!" Megatron growled. "I do not wish to be reminded of my previous failures. Why'd I ever listen to Razorclaw's suggestion..."
"Okay, okay!" Barricade protested. "Sheesh, this is impossible."
"Then let me make this painfully clear to you," Megatron yelled, leaning up. "I want a new form that will strike fear into the hearts of my enemies! I do not want any of my older forms, I need something new, something big, something powerful!"
"Perhaps I can make a suggestion?" Shatter interrupted.
"Be my guest, it's not like anything else will make him happy," Barricade let slip.
"I'm going to ignore that, only because I will need your services," Megatron warned.
Shatter walked over to the console, typing on the keypads and keyboards. "I remember during the time spent trapped on this planet, we've had much time to examine and study this planet's culture and history. In some ancient folklore, they had many tales of fierce creatures, called dragons."
She displayed a picture on the monitor, giving an example of said beast. A giant beast with fire breathing out of it's mouth, monsterous wings that could slice anything in it's way, and powerful claws that could grind up anything it picked up. Megatron's eyes looked more and more interested.
"Magnificent beast..."
"Truly. For as underwhelming as this planet is, they do have a knack for weaving tall tales and creatures," Shatter admitted, smirking at the picture.
"Then if I am to regain my power, I will take on that beast's form," Megatron concluded, pointing at the dragon.
"As you command, Lord Megatron," Shatter smirked. "Barricade, I require your assistance with the operation. Shockwave's notes are clean, but I still require a second hand."
"Wouldn't you rather your boyfriend help?"
"I trust Dropkick to slaughter intruders. Not restore a Decepticon's vehicular mode," Shatter said, bluntly. "Would you wish me to deliver some form of stasis, my liege? It would make the operation more--"
"--No! I wish to bear witness as you attach my new upgrades," Megatron insisted.
"As you wish, Lord Megatron."
Raising the tools, she clicked them together with an evil grin.
"Then let the transformations begin."
Chapter 9: Simple Interaction
Outside the base, leaping through the desert was Leobreaker in lion form. And riding on his back, holding on tight was Gallus, making sure he stayed on tight so he didn't fall.
"Sure is pretty out here," Leobreaker commented, leaping over another rock. "Is all of Earth like this?"
"Most of it. Some places, not so much. But tell me about Cybertron, how is that planet?"
"Before the war, Cybertron was downright gorgeous. It was quiet, peaceful. Though I'll admit, I did enjoy some of that, but the only bits of adrenaline I got was going down to watch local races, or being a team player in Cube games," Leobreaker said. "Then, as soon as the war started, I was getting right into action with the rest of my Autobot buddies."
"Are you able to go back there?"
"I can, but honestly its really boring now. Down here on Earth is where the real action is, its where the Decepticons are! And your planet has a lot of fun things to do!"
"You got that right," Gallus grinned, still holding on.
"Hang on little buddy! We're circling back to the base!"
He ran like a horse with intense speed, running back to the base. Just a few more feet, and... stop! His paws grinded against the sand, halting in front of the doors. Once they opened up, he just walked inside nice and easy. He walked back to the main entrance, and lowered his body to the ground so Gallus could climb off. Once he was off, Leobreaker transformed back into his robot mode.
Inside the kids were doing some final minute studying and doing a little quizzing with each other. But it was quickly coming to an end, as now the kids were getting a little hungry.
"Um, it's getting close to dinnertime. Can we order some food?" Ocellus asked.
Arcee hadn't even considered that idea. They were kids after all, they needed to be fed as well as protected. "Sure. What do you want?"
"Hmm... anyone want some pizza?"
"Sure."
"Why not?"
"I can go pick it up," Makeshift offered. "Let me just get a pizza truck."
He walked over to the main computer and started typing on the monitors. Out his back came several tentacles and cables which started connecting into the mainframe, looking through the internet. Several flashing images went by on screen in nanoseconds until it finally stopped and changed back to the regular map screens. Makeshift's cables unplugged and went back into his body, and the former Decepticon turned around, walked back down the steps and onto the main floor.
Parts shifted and replicated around his body, and he slowly began to convert into a new form, now changing into an old pizza delivery car. Yellow with a white cab over the back end of the truck, and with a pizza logo on the doors.
"Anyone want to come with?"
"I'll come with you!" Ocellus said, dashing to the car. The door opened up and she sat herself in the shotgun seat. Once her seatbelt was clicked, Makeshift drove out of the base and into the desert. A Groundbridge portal opened, and the two of them passed through, now arriving back in the city again.
"Thanks for letting me come with you," Ocellus smiled.
"No problem," Makeshift said. "Besides, I can't exactly pick up pizza without drawing attention to myself. No humans to pick it up after all."
"So Makeshift, what's Cybertron like?"
"You mean right now, or back when I lived there?"
"I guess when you lived there?" Ocellus asked, nervously smiling.
"Okay, fair question. Well, before the war, Cybertron was just a nice little planet. We all had jobs, we had our own businesses, we were living peacefully without worry of anything bad coming except for Unicron."
"Who?" Ocellus tilted her head.
"Long story. Anyways, I had a job there as an actor in Cybertronian theater. Because I was forged with changeling abilities, I harnessed my ability to look and act like anyone into theater. But then when the war came on... all of that went away."
Now the student felt a little sad. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. You're not the one who instigated a war. I still found a way to use my abilities for good. Before I turned myself around, I got roped into working with the Decepticons, and they used me as a spy to infiltrate and report back information. None of them even suspected me."
"No one?"
Makeshift's steering wheel turned as he made a turn around the corner. "Not a soul. It wasn't until after the destruction of Unicron that I chose to change my ways. Since Megatron left Cybertron with almost all of his soldiers, I saw a chance to escape and finally get back to my roots again. So I found a job listing for working with Team Cee, so I found Arcee, signed up, and I eventually became a part of her team. Took awhile for that prejudiced Override to finally overcome it."
"She doesn't seem to like Counselor Cyberwarp that much," Ocellus twiddled her fingers.
"She just needs to get to know her like you do," Makeshift said, parking in place. "Oh, here it is!"
"I've got money, I'll be right back!"
Makeshift stayed parked on the curb, in the space while he waited. His radio flipped through several channels on the radio station. Nothing out of the ordinary, mainly just those same old talk show hosts. His rearview mirrors adjusted, until he spotted something in the street. A sleek dark blue police cruiser was slowly driving down the road, doing a daily patrol. But Makeshift spotted something on the side as it slowly pulled up next to him. A Decepticon marking on a police badge, printed near the door.
Oh scrap no... please, please, go away! Go away and don't come back, do not find me, I am not an Autobot, I am a pizza truck, go away!!!
Barricade was slowly looking around, checking for any signs for Autobots in the vicinity. If there were any, he was going to deal with them swiftly and with extreme prejudice.
I will smother you in pepperoni and cheese if you don't go away! Just gooo!!!
Barricade's engine idly hummed as he looked around. Nothing was in sight. But a strange aroma was hitting his senses, something wasn't right. Makeshift was shaking inside, hoping that he wouldn't come back to find him. Worse, Ocellus was now coming out of the pizza parlor!
Ocellus looked up at the doors, hoping to come in, but then she froze when she saw that same cop car from yesterday. Instinctively, she moved as fast as she could and slammed her back against the side of Makeshift, setting the pizza down. Ocellus cupped her mouth, shaking in fear. She couldn't make a sound, not when he was around. And Barricade was still close to them!
The two of them waited, until they heard the sound of an engine roaring in the street across from them. Driving through the intersection was several drag racers, speeding right past some civilians and ramming into several cars. And quite audibly, they could hear the police scanner talk in Barricade's vehicular mode.
"Calling all units, calling all units. I've got my eyes on a 10-94, we've got several dragsters reported in the area, any officers available please intercept."
Barricade wasn't about to do a human's job, but hey, why not? He wanted some excitement, at the very least, he could get some joy from scaring the living daylights out of them.
"Officer in progress, I will be giving pursuit, over," Barricade said, rather calmly. He slowly drove out into the intersection, and making Ocellus jump, his police siren turned on and he started to race down the road to pursue the dragsters.
Once he was gone, Ocellus finally got up. "That was close."
"Too close. Thank you crazy adrenaline junkies," Makeshift said, opening up his door to let Ocellus back inside. She sat in the shotgun seat and buckled up, shaking as she held the pizza. "You okay?"
"Y-Yeah. I'll be okay."
Makeshift pulled back into the street, now going on the path that would take them outside of the city.
"Want some music? I think I know something that can cheer you up."
The kids and Autobots waited for Makeshift to come back, and when the doors opened, they saw him come inside. And in the car was the sound of an oldies song, and Ocellus smiling happily as she sang along with Makeshift. Arcee just playfully rolled her eyes, grinning.
... ride through town In one of those new horse drawn open cars We'll see the shows at Delmonicos And we'll close the town in a whirl And we won't come home until we've kissed a girl
The shotgun door opened and Ocellus came out with the pizza. "Pizza's here!"
With some paper plates and drinks (that Ocellus also stopped to pick up along the way), the kids were gathered around and were eating some very delicious pizza with some soda and or juice included. The Autobots joked about wanting a slice, but no one really took any, and the kids understood right away. Even then, the Bots had their own susstenance with them; in the form of some motor oil straight from an oil can.
"Yona curious. What was it like having humans in Autobot base?" Yona asked, nibbling on some pizza.
"At first, it was really weird," Bulkhead answered, sitting next to her on the concrete sofa. "But we got used to it as time went on. Besides, having them around was a breath of fresh air."
"Sounds like they were fun," Yona grinned.
"They were. And I have a feeling they would have loved to meet you guys back then," Bulkhead nodded, patting her head.
"Do you have any old videos of them?" Sandbar asked.
"You bet we do! I have some of those video tapes, let me go find them," Seaspray said, running into one of the backrooms.
"Video tapes? Who even uses those anymore?" Smolder chuckled, rolling her eyes. "Everything can just be done on computers now."
"Be careful who you say that around. We've met some people who will get set off if you say that kind of thing to them. Besides, the only reason we used some old technology was because we didn't want Decepticons to lock onto their wifi signals on their phones."
Smolder shrugged. "Fair enough."
"Oh I found one of the tapes!" Seaspray said, holding a VHS tape looking piece in his hand. "This is a good one. This might show you what things were like back in the day when they were with us..."
He pushed the tape into the player, and the knobs were adjusted to tune into the recording. Everyone was gathered around to view, and the kids gave their full attention to the screen.
--
6/25/17
The tape began to play, and the screen turned on. The first thing that was on screen was an extreme closeup of an Autobot's face; a bot with a black helm and gray face (typical for a majority) but was seen with a red body and a rocket launcher on his shoulder.
"Rainbow, are we rolling?"
"Yeah, we're rolling buddy," the girl said, holding the camera.
"Great!" The robot cleared his throat and looked at the camera with a friendly smile. "Hey guys. Sideswipe here. Rainbow Dash suggested I make a video tape for you guys to show you what you're missing here while you're off catching some more Cons over in New York. Oh, wait!"
Rainbow Dash turned the camera around, showing a yellow-orange robot who had the same face like Sideswipe, almost like a twin.
"Sunstreaker! Bro! Say hi!"
Sunstreaker looked over at the camera and nearly fumbled. "Whoa, oh! How do I look, do I look camera-ready?"
"You look fine, Sunstreaker," Rainbow said, rolling her eyes behind the camera.
"Oh. Hi guys! ... What's this for again?"
"We're making a tape for some of our friends while they go hunting for Decepticon prisoners. Say where's Jazz and Bumblebee, I bet they'd love to get in on this."
"They're off at some fundraiser event with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, something about helping animals get a new home," Sunstreaker said.
"Oh okay. Too bad they're not here, I think they could use a little bit of Pinkie's happiness," Sideswipe shrugged off.
A red alert siren went off, and the three of them turned their heads around, camera included to see an explosion go off near one of the computer grids. Even worse, sounds of gunfire were going off as well.
"Oh scrap! Fire!"
Sideswipe ran towards the smoke, looking for the source of the flames. Sunstreaker, and a few other Autobots were seen running close by. Arcee, Seaspray, and Bulkhead recognized them all; Inferno, Mirage, Gears, many old Autobot buddies.
"Rainbow Dash, put the camera down and put on a suit!"
"Shoot, sorry! Hang on, I'm coming!" Rainbow ran from the smoke filled area and the camera was now facing her feet as she ran for her life. A few more seconds of screams, and then the video ended with some static and a test pattern.
--
"Yikes. What happened that day?" Smolder asked.
"Overheating and malfunctioning tech in Wheeljack's lab," Arcee said, bluntly. "Apparently he was trying to help make a new gun, and it didn't go very well."
"Better than making an Immobilizer Mark II, I can't imagine the damages that would do if he were to revive that thing," Seaspray shook his head.
"Still better than Hoist and Grapple's short-lived project," Arcee said. The kids were blanking, which Arcee could see by their confused faces. "Two of our Autobots, mechanics I might add, wanted to build a solar tower which could produce energy. Optimus said no because he was afraid the Decepticons could get ahold of it. And needless to say, the Decepticons played them hard, because they got help in assembling it."
"Ow. Didn't they know?"
"They were manipulated. And at the time, they were new, they didn't realize how deceptive they were being."
"They're literally called Decepticons, doesn't that set off any red flags?" Gallus pointed out.
"You'd think it would. But you be surprised at how many people have fallen for their treachery," Leobreaker pointed out, curling up in another chair.
As the evening went on, the kids finished their meals and took the rest of the time at the base to just sit and chill with their Autobot friends. Arcee leaned against a doorframe, finding herself suddenly smiling. The new recruits were having a nice conversation with these kids, and they were getting along just fine. This cute scene reminded her back in the day with many times she found Sunset Shimmer and her friends having conversations with their Autobot guardians. She always found it funny to see Rainbow Dash so competitive with Sideswipe, or Bumblebee be so fascinated by Fluttershy's variety of animals she took care of. To say nothing of Jazz's party antics with Pinkie Pie.
And now there was a new batch of kids having fun with their Autobot companions. This could be fun, really fun. After all, she could use something to turn things around and have a little bit of fun now and then. Something to help her recent behavior would be nice as well...
"You know, Arcee. I had a crazy idea," Bulkhead said, standing in the doorway.
"Can't be as crazy as anything else we've seen," Arcee said. "Lay it on me."
"Since we're going to be looking after them for a while, and they know our secret and all... what if we made new suits for them?"
Arcee blinked. "I'm sorry, you want to--what?"
"Sunset Shimmer and the girls helped us with the Decepticons with their own power suits. Why not make some new suits for the kids?"
"They're kids, Bulkhead. They're 12 years old!"
"But what if we're not around to protect them? It's not like we can just leave them in Cyberwarp's hands, she barely stood a chance against Barricade and Dropkick last time I checked."
Arcee sighed, rubbing her fingers on her temples. "Okay, maybe it would be good to teach them how to protect themselves, but I'm not sure how smart it is to give them suits to fight Decepticons."
"I'm not saying it's the best idea, but I'm only saying--"
"--I know Bulk, I know," Arcee nodded, looking at the kids. "But they're just kids. They shouldn't have been involved to begin with. They're not..."
Bulkhead finished her sentence. "They're not students from Canterlot High?"
Arcee shook her head. "It's not just that. I... I don't know. I'll give it some thought, but I don't think it's a good idea. We shouldn't be putting their lives in danger, and they shouldn't be going out fighting Decepticons."
Bulkhead nodded. "I understand."
As Arcee looked back at the kids, chatting, eating pizza, having a few laughs with their Autobot companions, she thought more and more on their current status. Seven of them, and so far only four Decepticons on the loose. They could handle just four, she was sure of it. But her mind still scared her with the thought of any of them getting hurt because of the Decepticons. If any of them did... she didn't know what she would do.
The kids were eventually returned back to their dorms, and they gave their goodbyes to the Autobots, thanking them for letting them hang out at the base for the day. Of course the Autobots planned on paying them another visit once their classes were done (and more so to check on them) but they did let them return back so that the school staff and no one else would be worried for their departure.
While it was nowhere near bedtime for the kids, it was close to bedtime for someone else over at the Sweet household.
"... And so with Twilight Sparkle saved, everyone came together and declared the Friendship Games a tie, Principal Cinch was fired, and they all lived happily ever after. The End."
Cyberwarp closed the faux book in her hands, finishing the bedtime story for little Max. The boy yawned as he slowly started to relax in his bed.
"Thanks for reading to me," he said softly.
"Aww, it's no problem at all buddy. Now you just rest comfy, okay bud?" Cyberwarp smiled, pulling the blankets over him. She gave him a soft kiss and was ready to walk out of the room--
"Cyberwarp."
She turned around. "Yes, kiddo?"
Max was hesitant to speak, but then he finally spoke up. "... Are Mommy and Mama going to replace me?"
Cyberwarp frowned. "What? Kiddo, no. Who told you that?"
"Some big meanies at school. They said when a new baby comes, the parents completely forget about their other kid," Max said, hugging his little teddy bear.
"Oh, kiddo, no. Your moms are never going to forget you, and you are not being replaced," Cyberwarp said, her motherly instinct kicking in as she pulled up a chair to sit back down. "They wanted a baby because they wanted to bring another member to the family here. They do not have any intent on replacing you, I know it. Why are you so afraid of having a younger sibling?"
"Because I don't know if I'll be a good brother. And I don't want them to not love me anymore..."
"Max, buddy, hey..." Cyberwarp stroked her cheek. "Bud, they will always love you no matter what. And you know, I think you could make a great brother when that new baby comes. And..." She did hold back a little snicker. "Your mom said a little something to me that I think you would probably enjoy."
"Yeah?"
"Mmmhmm. She said if it's a girl, you get to help put up barbed wire around the house when she's sixteen to protect she from all the hes..."
Max just nodded. "Oh... cool!"
Cyberwarp giggled. "And, (although I am not encouraging this) if it's a boy, you will have someone to tease and be the boss of without ever having to leave the comforts of your home."
Max did find some comfort in that thought. "... I hope I get a little brother."
Cyberwarp chuckled. "Oh, I can bet. We don't know whether it'll be a boy or girl, but I'm sure you'll still be able to love them when they come. In the meantime, you should just focus on your spelling. You've got that big test coming on Wednesday, after all."
"I know..."
Cyberwarp tapped her finger, but a grin came to her face. "Tell you what. If you do really well on that test, if your grade is in the A or B area... I will take you out as a little reward, we can go to anywhere you want."
"Anywhere?"
"Anywhere little bud. But only if you pass," Cyberwarp smiled, booping his nose. "Understand?"
"I do. And I will do well!"
"I believe in you, buddy," Cyberwarp smiled, ruffling up his hair. "Goodnight Max."
She walked out of the room, and closed the door after turning off the light. With a content sigh, she walked back downstairs to the main living room and dining room to relax for the rest of the day. One successful weapons trip done, now she was ready to defend herself should the day come. More of the house had been cleaned up for the arrival of the baby (whenever that would be). She still had some things to do, but it would be one day at a time.
As she about to turn on the television, the landline phone next to her rung. And she reached over to pick it up.
"Hello, Sweets residence," Cyberwarp said, answering.
"Cyberwarp? "
"Smallfoot, hey! It's so good to hear from you," Cyberwarp smiled, adjusting herself to get more comfy on the couch. "How's Las Vegas?"
"We didn't come to go gambling, silly, " Smallfoot giggled. "How is everything back home, everyone okay? "
"Everything's great," Cyberwarp said with a straight face. And inside, she was hating herself to the core for lying her aft off. "Max is okay, the house is still in one piece, we're all doing okay."
"Has Max done the spelling test yet? "
"No, not yet. That's not until Wednesday," Cyberwarp clarified. "But anyways, how are things there? Is Sour okay?"
"She is. We did get word from the doctors that the baby should be due any day now, but its so generic and broad that, well, we didn't want to take chances. We do have a room for Sour booked at the hospital, and we're checking to make sure that, well, her water didn't break ," Smallfoot said on the other end. "But enough about me, is there anything interesting happening on your end? "
Cyberwarp's face drooped. "Um... no."
"... Something happened, didn't it? "
"Um, no, nothing happened."
"Cyberwarp ," Smallfoot said, sternly. "If something happened, you can talk to me, you know that right? "
"... Okay, I ran into the Stunticons!" Cyberwarp blurted.
"You--wait--what? "
"I was just going out for a drive, and I ran into the Stunticons. They're back on Earth," Cyberwarp confessed, panicking in between.
"Wha--how? Why are they back? "
"I don't know!" Cyberwarp clawed at her own face. "I felt like they were going to kill me, but they didn't! They don't know... They don't even know I'm... you know?"
"So, they don't know you're technically siding with the Autobots? "
"Technically ," Cyberwarp emphasized. "But no, they don't. "
"Okay, look just stay calm. Does Arcee know? "
"No she does not," Cyberwarp confessed.
"Why didn't you tell her? "
"Because I'm having a hard time trying to earn their trust as it is! The last thing I need is for them to know I just happened to bump into some of Megatron's top troops," Cyberwarp threw her head back on the couch.
"Cyberwarp, you know if they try to do that, we'll still stand by you, you know that right? "
"How can you do that if you aren't even here?"
"... Touche. But still, this isn't something you should hide. If they're back, you need to tell them. And speaking of which, have you run into Shatter or-- "
"--I haven't seen Shatter yet, but I did have a bad encounter with Barricade and Dropkick who kicked my butt. The only reason I was even able to survive was because I had Glit, and even then, I'm just lucky they didn't hack me to pieces," the counselor said. "And this might be breaking who knows how many rules, but I might have, sorta... bought some weapons to defend you guys and myself?"
"... Where did you put the guns? "
"I put them in the barn, out of Max's reach. Why?"
"No, no, that's a good thing. Look, I promise I won't tell the Autobots you have weapons, but you need to tell them about the Stunticons. Talk to Arcee in private if you have to, but you need to tell the truth. Okay? "
Cyberwarp sighed, throwing her other arm down on the couch. "I understand. But if you don't mind, could we please change the subject? Do you know whether or not you're having a boy or a girl yet?"
"No, not yet. We wanted to keep it a surprise ," Smallfoot admitted. "Which reminds me, have you gotten a mobile for the baby yet? "
"No, because that's something I've been meaning to ask, do you want me to get anything specific?"
"Get something space related, something with cute little rocket ships and stars, that will work ," Smallfoot answered. "Oh, and there's something else. We need to place another order, I'm going to need some heating pads. "
"What for?"
"If a baby is going to be raised, they need to feel warm in the hands of their mother, or mothers in this case. And I don't know if you still plan on sticking around to help... "
Cyberwarp pulled herself up with a straight face. "I made a promise to help you when you needed it. And that's a promise I plan to keep. If I have to install heating pads on my body, I will do it if it means it will help you two." Note to self; install heating pads onto my arm and chest.
She didn't see it, but Smallfoot was smiling on the other end. "I really appreciate it Cyberwarp. Now where's the rest of our little family? Steve, Space, your twin Sky, where are they? "
"They're still off collecting a bounty on some old criminals," Cyberwarp explained. "Though I really wish they were here right now, I could use their hands."
"They'll come back soon, I'm sure of it. We'll give them a call ," Smallfoot replied. "Now I'm probably going to go get some sleep, you should consider relaxing as well. "
"I don't understand how you, a Pretender of all things can even sleep."
"The correct term is cyborg, Cyberwarp. My organs aren't pretending anything, " Smallfoot playfully retorted.
"Yeah, I know," Cyberwarp rolled her eyes, chuckling. "Well I'll let you get some sleep. Stay safe, okay?"
"You too. Goodnight. "
"Goodnight," Cyberwarp finished, hanging up the phone. She set the phone back on its slot, and threw her head back, rubbing her temples. Smallfoot was right, she had to tell the truth. This wasn't something she could hide for long. But how was she going to tell them? Would they even be accepting of her story, or worse, would they lock her back up in stasis again?
In the emptiness of space, a massive capsule was floating around outside of Earth's atmosphere, slowly moving towards the planet. It was covered in several burn marks, with some scraps and shredded plating deteriorating from the body. Soon the atmosphere captured the capsule, and it began its descent towards Earth, now hurling through the several layers above the planet.
The body was soon overheating, and it caught fire as it hurled towards the planet. Now it was spinning out of control as it made its way down, and was straight on a collision course. It hurled straight down to California, towards the Mojave desert.
It hurled farther and farther until it crash-landed, straight into one of the mountains. The mountain did stop it from going any further, but it dented part of the capsule like crushing a beer can. And it rolled right off and slammed into the ground, taking out a cactus in the process.
Flames were catching onto the pod, and more pieces of metal were falling off, breaking apart some more. But then, another piece of plating was punched out of the craft, and it slammed on the side. A single hand grabbed onto the edge, pulling itself up. And the rest of a metal body slowly emerged, rising out of the pod. A single pair of glowing blue eyes opened, finally awake and ready...
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Chapter 4: Reveals And Returns
The students got onto the bus like their counselor told them to do, but they were still hesitant. What bad people were watching them, and why? But as their bus ride began, they noticed something. The car that Cyberwarp was looking at... was following them. It was right behind them, and still moving.
But then the car suddenly turned the other way and just left. Now half of them thought maybe it was just a coincidence, but based on how their guidance counselor spoke to them about that car? They were more than a bit worried...
Cyberwarp, having gotten her kid somewhere safe, parked her van in an alleyway, hidden from the public eyes. If she was gonna face those two, didn't want people to find her car which would no doubt lead them to read her plates and find her home.
Looking into the back, she faced the husky that was sitting in the back, upright like it was expecting pets.
"Alright Glit. You ready boy?" Cyberwarp asked.
The husky nodded.
"Alright. Now let's take care of some business."
She opened up the car doors and Glit jumped out with her. Locking them up, the two of them started running down the alleyway. Time to see if they had to fight.
After they made their stop, the kids walked down the street, looking for someone, anyone they could talk to. They needed a policeman, or someone. If Cyberwarp knew someone dangerous was watching, maybe they could report it like they should be doing.
Just then, a police car was driving down the street. Maybe he could help them!
"Oh, officer, hey!" Ocellus waved.
The police car saw the girl wave at them, and slowly pulled up to them and parked itself next to them.
"Officer, I'm so sorry, it's just--we... we think there's someone bad after us!"
"Kids, hold on," the police car said, using the radio echoing from the cabin to speak. "Move into that abandoned parking lot, we'll talk in there."
The kids weren't sure why he wanted them to move there, but if he wanted to talk, maybe that would be their best option. Nether-less, they pulled themselves right into the abandoned parking garage. Worryingly out of sight from the public eyes...
"Alright, alright, slow down. Look, normally I would send someone else to handle this situation, but you caught me on a break; slow day. Now, use your adult words, talk to me. What did you see?" the officer said from inside the car.
"We went to go talk to our guidance counselor down at the beach, but she saw something and told us to leave. And after we did, I think we're understanding. Some scary person in a sports car was stalking us!"
"Some black and blue car, 70s model, maybe?" Sandbar said, unsure.
"So do you think you can help us?" Smolder asked.
The kids were expecting a response. But to their surprise, the entire garage went really quiet. Eerily quiet. Complete silence fell from the police officer. And they waited. But he didn't reply back.
"Sir, we asked you a question, can you help us?" Sandbar repeated.
Once again, more silence.
"Come on, we just want your help!" Smolder said, getting up close. She placed her hands on the hood, trying to look inside the cabin, but she couldn't. The windows were completely tinted, no way to look inside. "Sir, come on!"
The car's engine roared at Smolder, forcing her to back off and it took two centimeters to move in front of her.
"Hey, whoa, I'm sorry, I didn't mean--"
And the car still revved it's engine at them, forcing them to back up. The engine kept growling and he kept moving at them more and more.
"Okay, we're backing up, please stop!"
But the police car didn't stop, and it kept forcing them to back up further and further. And it didn't stop, it was like whoever was driving it was intentionally trying to corner them!
"Please, stop! We're sorry!"
But something happened. The headlights in the car slowly pushed out, swiveling around and moving right at them. This wasn't typical of any police vehicle, even in their modern era they hadn't developed this kind of technology! And stranger, a bright red light flashed up and down on the six students, slowly with an energy whirring sound. Almost as if it was... scanning them.
After a few seconds the light vanished, and the headlights pulled themselves back close to the grille.
"Uhhhh..."
The car violently transformed, slamming it's fists into the ground and digging into the very ground with it's sharp claws. The front tires flipped out to form the tops of the shoulders and a black head with horns and menacing red eyes glared at them, growling.
Only one thing was on their mind.
"Run, now!"
Picking up their feet, they ran like hell as fast as they could through the abandoned lot. The metal monster stomped after them like a T-Rex, only he didn't want to eat them, he wanted to stop them.
"What is that thing!?" Smolder screamed.
"I don't know!" Silverstream cried, jumping over a small piece of debris in her run.
"Can we talk about this later!?" Gallus shouted. "I'd rather not get crushed by a giant freaking robot!"
But the robot caught up with them. His hand swooped under and flipped Silverstream into the air, making her scream as she was thrown up and slammed onto the top of a car.
"Silver!" Yona cried.
The Seaquestrian student groaned from the pain as she tried to pull herself up, feeling the wind partially knocked out of her. But then she saw the monster come closer to her, looking ever more menacing. She tried to pull herself away but he slammed his hand down on the side of the vehicle to hold it in place as he looked at her; those beady red eyes staring into her soul.
"Are you username Hippofeesh127!?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Silverstream panicked, not understanding.
"Are you username Hippofeesh127!?" Barricade repeated.
Now she heard him. "Y-Yeah...?"
He got up in her face, almost spitting at her with fury. "Where is the traitor CW-2187? Where is Cyberwarp!?" Slamming his fist against the car again, Silverstream rolled off the car just in time and ran with the rest of her friends. Barricade flipped the car in anger, and still stomped after them. Looking ahead, he grabbed another car and threw it over their heads, forcing them all to stop and halt in their direction. He had got them to stop.
The six of them slowly backed away, but they couldn't see a way out. He had them cornered. And if they tried to run, he would no doubt catch up to them again. His fist slammed into the side of the destroyed car with anger, and he slammed his other fist down on the ground.
"I wouldn't move," Barricade said, looking up at Dropkick who somehow pulled up behind them. He transformed as well, and looked at them maliciously.
"Can I?"
"No," Barricade said. His fists slammed against the ground again, making them all jump. "I have some questions for you, humans..."
"Please don't hurt friends!" Yona cried, trying to protect Ocellus and Sandbar as best as she could.
"Oh quit your whining. If we wanted to kill you, we would have done it already."
"Just stay away from us, we didn't do anything!"
The Decepticon looked at them, and looked at them with a sly smirk. "You know, when I saw your post on a particular symbol, I thought you were pulling my chain. But not now, uh-uh. You just helped us find a Decepticon traitor. Now..." Barricade kneeled down, getting right up in their faces. His face sent shivers down all of their spines, those blood red eyes glaring into their souls. "Where is Cyberwarp? She's a traitor to Cybertron, and traitors get brought into custody. So... where is she?"
"We don't know what you're talking about!" Ocellus begged.
"Yes, you do!" Barricade's fingers crunched together. "Cyberwarp is here, now where is she!?"
The kids were petrified and speechless. Someone would have said something, but none of them could comprehend the situation right now. And for that matter, these two robots looked too threatening to the point where the only guess they could come up with for why they wanted Cyberwarp was possible torture or death.
"Can I?" Dropkick asked, impatiently. "I think it would make our guests a little more cooperative..."
His gun was active and pointed straight at Ocellus who was quaking in fear.
"Leave her alone!" Smolder said, standing in front of her.
Dropkick quietly chuckled. "You do not realize what this can do... well why don't we make an example out of you."
Now Smolder was scared. The gun was charging up, and she was shaking all over. Sweat ran down her head, not even her friends trying to pull her away was enough to make her calm. She closed her eyes, fearing that her life was about to end at this very moment when--
"Hey!"
Smolder's eyes shot open. Silverstream and Gallus gasped when they heard that voice. Even more so when they saw that same drone looking machine hovering in front of all eight of them like it had been stalking them.
"Leave them alone, Dropkick!"
Barricade quietly chuckled as he loaded his weapon. "Well, well, well. It's been a while, Cyberwarp."
"I wasn't talking to you!" Cyberwarp snarked. "Dropkick, you put one hand on them, I swear to Primus I will melt you down."
"You don't have the guts," Dropkick spat, rotating his gun and pointing it at her this time.
"I will bury you ," she growled, her voice sounding almost demonic in that tone.
"All talk and no shock," Barricade cracked his neck. "Why isn't she fighting back?"
"Why don't you fight!?" Dropkick yelled.
"You wanna fight?" Cyberwarp yelled. She was quiet and even though they couldn't see, she was smirking under her hovercraft form. "Then we fight ."
The hovercraft started to change. A pair of armored legs unfolded with black heels, The cockpit slid itself down, and the two hovering engines on the side unfolded a pair of arms, freeing two black hands with sharp claws. A head slowly popped out from the cockpit, with a blue helm and black horn in the middle of her head. Her eyes were blue and her skin was light gray (much like her human figure). Her Decepticon mark was still bare for everyone to see, but it was clear from their conversation that she was not like them.
"Now come and fight me like a real Decepticon!" Cyberwarp taunted, her claws clashing together.
The kids were mortified. Gallus and Silverstream were right; she was a robot. There was no denying it now. But wait; she had their attention. If they moved now, they could get away! Anywhere would be better than being in here and being seen!
Realizing that she had them occupied, the kids ran through Dropkick's legs, determined to get away. The Decepticon heard their little feet and watched them run down the open space, heading straight for the outside again.
"Get them! And kill them if you have to," Dropkick snarled.
Barricade smirked and he ran straight after them. He jumped into the air and transformed back into his police escort vehicle mid-jump, slamming back onto his tires to chase them.
Cyberwarp was fearful, but only for a second. With a brave face, she looked at Dropkick and clenched her fists.
"Glit! Eject!"
Dropkick wasn't fazed. "What, are you Soundwave now--"
A part of her chest opened up, and a cassette tape came flying out, slamming into Dropkick's head upon mid-flight. Ignoring him, the tape flipped itself around and transformed into a wolf with a pair of machine guns mounded over it's hind legs. He snarled and roared as he chased after Barricade chasing after the children.
The kids ran down the surprisingly empty street and made a turn down an alleyway. It was small and narrow, no way he could squeeze his way down there. They turned left and then turned right. They were out of sight, at least for the time being. They had to find someplace to hide, farther away from him.
"Where'd he go?" Gallus asked.
And coming straight at them from the alleyway in car form was Barricade, revving his engine as he charged at them. If he couldn't get them out in the open, at the very least he would ram 'em down.
The kids ran yet again, dodging him as he slammed into several trashcans and crates in the process.
"You're not getting away you little brats!"
Still running, they saw Glit running towards them.
"What the heck!?"
"What the!?"
The lion dashed right past the kids and focused on Barricade. The two guns on his hind legs cocked, and they fired nonstop at Barricade's grille. The Decepticon grunted and reversed, trying to avoid being shot from the gunfire. But the lion still shot at him, slowly walking forward, ready to pounce.
Barricade transformed, furious by the attack. Transformed into robot mode, and ran at the wolf, ready to rip him in half. But the animal was ready and started to shoot at his face. He groaned in pain from the fire, and covered himself from the attack. But swatting the lasers wasn't enough, and so Glit jumped up and pounced on him, tackling him to the ground. He tried to bite at his face, but Barricade moved quick enough to avoid getting a piece of his scary face ripped off by his maw.
"You think you stand a chance?" Barricade grunted as he continued to wrestle the Cassette Warrior. "I've picked on fights with Ravage more times than you!"
The kids, seeing their chance to flee, ran for it.
Cyberwarp did her best to take on Dropkick, but she had a difficult time trying to wear him out. It wasn't hard to knock him down, it was just getting him to stay down. Dropkick punched her in the jaw and the stomach, and threw her onto the ground.
Her body was tossed against a couple of abandoned cars, but she still got back up. Dropkick ran at her, and slammed right through the wall with her, taking them outside in the sunlight. Cyberwarp quietly thanked her creator that there was no humans around to see them right now. Slamming a fist against his face and then kicking him in the stomach, she got ready to grab him, but he grabbed her and threw into the air to make her collide with the ground. She however actually prepared for that attack. Rockets ignited under her heels and she flew right at Dropkick, pinning him until the two of them right off the edge of a side and rolled right down a large drainage ditch.
Water flowed through the drainage as both Decepticons got back up.
"Lemme... lemme just ask you something, Dropkick," Cyberwarp growled, stretching her jaw. "Why are you back here?"
"You won't live long enough to know," Dropkick replied.
He loaded his gun and fired multiple shots at her, hitting her shoulders and her chest a few times. She was about to throwdown when Dropkick jumped up and performed a literal dropkick on her and slammed her to the ground. The wind knocked out of her, she was slow in getting up, and it didn't help that Dropkick pounded her face hard that Energon started bleeding. Quickly thinking, she kicked him back, pushing him off for a split second.
Cyberwarp, still on the ground, made her next move. She threw her legs up into the air and kicked Dropkick in the chest and the head. With a quick act, she wrapped her legs around his head, ready for the throwdown. She gripped the ground with her talons and used all of her strength to grab and throw Dropkick up and slam into the ground.
Unfortunately she failed to forget the last time she tried that maneuver because Dropkick simply twirled and twisted until he changed back into his muscle car form and sped towards a small ramp. He drove himself up it and he began to flip and change again. This time all of his parts transformed into a military helicopter which flipped itself right up and loaded with ammo, aimed straight at Cyberwarp.
Cyberwarp's pupils shrunk and her shoulders drooped. "How did I forget he could do that!?"
Dropkick fired multiple shots at Cyberwarp, hailing lasers down onto her body. She covered her head, blocking her face for protection, taking a few mild shots in the arms and legs.
Desperately, she looked around for something, anything she could use for cover, or something to punch him back. Just as Lady Luck had found her, there was a stack of unused steel beams for her to use. Picking one up, she held her grip on it as best she could and tried to swing at him while he was up in the air. Dropkick however taunted her by continuously flying over her
"Where are your little guns, Cyberwarp? Afraid to miss?"
Cyberwarp was growing annoyed. "Ergh, dang it Autobots, why did you have to take my guns!?"
Now it was time to try the least likely option. Throw it at him. Backing up, she held the beam up like a caber, ready to toss. Then with a running speed she threw it high into the air, and THWACK! Knocked Dropkick out of the air and he fell back down.
Standing up, Dropkick loaded his machine guns and shot at Cyberwarp with intense speed. With her balance back, she rolled to the side, dodging the fire. She jumped in the air and avoided another burst. And when she was finally close enough, she round house kicked him again and did a front kick, making the front of her foot hit him in the face.
Dropkick finally dropped, and fell on his back.
"Why don't you fight!?" Cyberwarp yelled, standing up. She stood in a fighting stance, readying her fists. Dropkick was ready to get back up and race--
"Forget her," Barricade said.
Suddenly he appeared from behind Dropkick, bruised and scratched up thanks to Glit's handiwork. And speak of the devil, he dashed down the hill and joined Cyberwarp, standing with her with his weapons ready.
"I can--"
"No. Forget it. She won this one. We'll get her next time," Barricade said. "Come on, she kicked your aft, we better get out of here. Police are already on their way."
The two of them jumped back, transforming back into their car modes and sped off out of the river, leaving her be. She stood there, panting heavily, admittedly exhausted from the fighting. She hadn't done that in a while.
"Glit. Return," she said. Glit converted back into a cassette tape and flew back into the open compartment on Cyberwarp's chest. Quietly, she stepped back out into the empty streets, hoping to go back into hiding to find the kids.
The kids, no longer hearing a sign of fighting or metal bashing together, looked around a corner. No sign of Barricade or the other robot. Seeing the coast was clear, they made their way down the alleyway ready to leave... until they saw the giant metal woman stand before them. Compared to Cyberwarp now, they all felt like insects ready to be stomped on. But her expression and her composure still remained warm and friendly as she sat on her knees to get down closer to them.
"Relax. I just want to talk to you kids."
Needless to say, none of them looked all that happy. "About what? About the fact you've been lying to us the entire time?" Smolder snarked.
"Or about the fact counselor is giant robot?"
"Who even built you anyway?" Sandbar asked.
"No one built me. I wasn't built, I was forged. And I'm definitely not from here on Earth," Cyberwarp said.
The kids stopped.
"... Are you trying to say... you're--"
She nodded.
"... That's awesome!" Silverstream squeed.
"No, not awesome! We almost died!"
"Which is why I never wanted you kids to find out my secret," Cyberwarp said. "Those two guys that tried to go after you? They're terrorists. They hate humans, and they hate me."
"But why are you working as a counselor at our school?" Ocellus asked.
"It's a lot more complicated than that, Ocellus. All of this is."
"Yona thinks counselor never even helped us for real," Yona crossed her arms. "How can friends trust alien robot?"
Cyberwarp understood entirely where they were coming from. After all they did almost get crushed by a psycho.
"You kids have every right not to trust me. But I'm telling you right now, all those times that I helped you with your problems... none of that was fake. I helped you because I wanted to. Helping you kids and looking after the boy I've been hired to do is the best part of my week. And none of that is changing, and I don't want it to change."
The kids exchanged a few glances; Gallus was hesitant, Yona and Smolder still had a hard time trusting her, Sandbar was indifferent, Ocellus and Silverstream were mostly just worried.
"... How did you kids even find out I was a robot?"
The kids heard glass shatter when she asked that question.
"Uhhh..."
"Well..."
"It was kinda obvious. Always smelling like motor oil, the hidden stash of gasoline in your closet and under your desk, you didn't get hurt when you were shot with a bullet..."
Cyberwarp groaned and clawed at her face. "Skyjack told me to get air freshener, why didn't I listen to her...? Well, it doesn't matter. You kids need to go back to campus, and get your homework done, I'll make sure that they don't bother you again. And by the way; you didn't see anything ."
She stood back up on her feet, adjusting some switches on her wrist nonchalantly. The students however were appalled at what she said.
"Are you kidding me!? We almost died because of two more robots who can transform into cars, and now we know you're an alien! This isn't something we can ignore!" Ocellus cried.
"We need to know what's going on!" Sandbar said, firmly.
"No, you don't. It's bad enough you six were almost liquified, I'm not about to risk your lives."
"But Cyberwarp, how else are we going to be okay, what if they come back? What if they find us and attack us again? What if they know where we live!? We'll never sleep knowing those two are out there!"
Cyberwarp wanted to ignore Silverstream's statements, but she couldn't. She brought up good points that she couldn't just ignore; they had seen them, and most likely would be searching for them again. And if she said no, they would still be upset; probably even try to blackmail her, knowing everything that happened today.
"You kids want to know the truth?" Cyberwarp asked.
Gallus looked at her with a 'What the hell' expression and nodded quickly. "Yes! That's what we've been trying to know!"
Cyberwarp froze. Thinking for a moment, she sighed and looked at the kids, putting her hands on her hips. "Alright, here's what's gonna happen. You kids want to know the truth? Come down to that beach again, tonight; eight o'clock sharp. There's some bots I want you to meet, they'll explain everything. And quite honestly... I think they'll do a better job protecting you than me. If today has told me anything... I can't look out for you six."
Wait, what?
"What do you mean?"
Cyberwarp tapped a few controls on her wrist. Her entire body shrunk down in size before them, back to the same size that they all remembered her being. "I can't protect you kids from those two. I have enough problems on my own, and I have a family to protect, I can't look after six more. They'll do a better job keeping you safe. I'm sorry."
And like that, she turned around and started walking down the alleyway to her van which was still parked.
"Oh, and one more thing..." she stopped. She only turned her head sideways, still keeping her backside to them. She bent over to adjust the light-bender, which activated once again and turned on the illusion. "If you tell anyone else about me... You're not going to have anything to back it up with."
She stepped into the van, and slammed her door. Turning on the engine, she blared the radio which bled out of the car. She pulled out of the alleyway, without saying another word. The only sound any of them could hear was the tires screeching, and the song she cranked up.
Darling, you got to let me know Should I stay or should I go?
And like that, she was driving away. The kids looked at each other, worried about the state of things now. Aliens, alien robots existed. Alien robot terrorists, even worse. And they almost died from them. And if they could easily hide as anything... then who else could have been here living among them? What if there were more alien robots among them? And Cyberwarp did say there was some 'bots' she wanted them to meet, so clearly there was more! But were they good? Were they nice like her, or were they--
"Ahem."
The kids looked back and saw Cyberwarp had pulled back to them, looking hesitant to speak up.
"... Do you kids want a ride back to school, or do you still want to take the bus?"
Elsewhere, in a vast and empty desert, a single red car was driving within the darkness of night. A red car with hints of white on the top of the cabin, sporting whitewall tires; a shiny silver grille with four headlights, and red fins out the backsides of the car. It was a late 50s model, which was certainly a looker to some eyes. No one was driving, and the car had a very small metallic Decepticon logo embedded above the V logo in the grille. Even though the interior of this car was the same old style as the car, there was some modernized tech installed in the middle console, which was projecting a map/tracking system just above the radio buttons.
She swerved off the road and into the desert sands, creating some dust clouds with her. She grinded her tires against the ground until she came to a stop. The engine was still humming idly, all the while the car continued to sit. Then without waiting, the car transformed. Arms unlocked from the sides, and slender red fingers dug into the sand to pull itself up. The front grille and headlights began to change as well, stretching and bending to form a chest. The back of the car transformed into a pair of long skinny but muscular legs.
The robot's back also grew a pair of jet engines and wings which hung out casually. A head unfolded with the rest of the vehicle, revealing a femme with a gray face, a red helm, and a menacing smile. Incredibly skinny and slender, was the partner that Dropkick knew as Shatter.
Reaching behind her, she pulled out a small device; a tracker. She had been driving around, looking for Energon deposits, anything to help her and her 'crew'. Which sadly to say was just her, Dropkick, and Barricade. She could tolerate Dropkick fine, but Barricade was a major pain in her aft a lot of the time. She was just glad to be out here; no one to see her, and she finally got a little bit of quiet time to herself.
Walking further along the sand, she was walking close to the edge of a cliff which looked off into a massive canyon. No Energon to be seen, sadly. But when she looked to the left, she had her optics locked. In front of her, deep in that valley was a crashed, flaming, dark purple and gray war ship. She had never seen this kind of warship in eons, and now here it was right in front of her eyes. Smoldering, in ruins, and crashed.
She jumped off the ledge she stood on and flipped into an alternate form; a red and gray military jet. Zooming down, she flew to the vessel and transformed back into her robot mode, surveying the scene in front of her. Thankfully there were no humans around or witnesses or anything. But this? This was something else.
Shatter took two steps forward, barely flinching at a piece of metal that fell off from the side of the ship. There was a hole big enough for her to walk through, the door to go inside; but it had been bashed in, like someone was trying to get inside.
The lights on her chest activated, allowing her to see inside the darker than normal hall. Barely any lights were on, not even emergency lights were active. That however was the least of her problems; the actual inside of the ship was worse than the outside. Pieces of machinery were strewn about, as if they were ripped out of the walls or shot at. It was like a battle had gone in here.
But when she went around the corner of the hall, it was worse. Bodies. All strewn about on the ground. Decepticon bodies. She flashed her lights down towards the deceased, looking to see who had fallen. Mostly were trooper type bodies, a lot of generics as far as she could see. But one of them stood out just a bit. A Seeker body she could see, laid limp.
She flipped him over on his back, getting a good look at the front. “Laser round to the spark chamber… he didn’t die in the crash.”
And another body was found in the midst of all the corpses. Same as before. "Decepticons! Sound off, is there anyone online?"
No reply.
"Shockwave? Soundwave? Thundercracker? Scrapper? Anyone?"
When she stumbled into the main control center, she saw most of the same. More rubble, more dead Decepticons. A few more Vehicons and Seekers, a few various warriors in between. But when she walked to the main control panel, she found some pieces weren’t as destroyed as everything else. Maybe she could patch it up?
Kneeing down, she reconnected some coils and fuses, hoping that this would get the power back on. And a single spark exploded in her face just before a soft hum of energy emitted. Looking to one of the monitors, she began searching the files. Transmissions were previously used, it seems.
She pressed a button, and she could hear audio files play back before her.
“Megatron, we are being boarded. He is coming for you.”
“Allow him to face me. I will finish him myself. Get yourself out of there, Soundwave."
“As you command, Lord Megatron.”
Shatter hit the pause button.
“Hmm… curiouser, and curiouser…”
Shatter backed off from the panel and shined her lights some more. A few sparks fizzed from dangling coils, which were the only sounds she could hear inside outside of her footsteps.
“Wildbreak…” She said, eyeing another killed Decepticon. “Well. I suppose one less annoying Decepticon around is better. We already have Barricade. Hmm… wait a minute. You were a Stunticon. But if you’re here… then where is Motormaster?”
She shined her lights some more, hoping to find Motormaster, someone, anyone still online. Some more destroyed panels, more corpses, recognizing a few fallen comrades as well; Spittor, Junkheap, a few other lower-class Cons. But the sudden shift in metal alerted her auditory sensors, forcing her to jolt back around with a loaded weapon. Someone was on the ground, still moving. A Vehicon!
She walked over to him, hearing some moans coming from the wounded soldier.
“Can you move?”
The Vehicon coughed before laying his head back. “He… He’s back.”
“Who? Who’s back?”
"T... T... Ta..."
The Vehicon didn't finish his words, before he slowly shut down and died in front of her. Shatter groaned in frustration, who was this attacker?
A loud groan caught Shatter’s audio receptors, and she looked around to see who it was. When she stepped into another part of the bridge, she found the source; a Decepticon who was still online, hurt, covered in bruises and stab wounds. And she didn't need to be told who it was. He was hulking gray, with a fusion cannon attached to his right arm, and a face that would send terror down the spines of anyone who faced him.
“Lord Megatron,” Shatter gasped.
A pair of blood red eyes slowly opened, trying to gaze back towards at the voice who was calling to him. “Who dares to call to me?”
“Lord Megatron, it is me, Shatter,” She called again. She couldn’t believe her eyes. He was still online!
Wearily, his optics looked up to see the red slender body belonging to a familiar warrior he knew so long ago.
“Shatter,” Megatron hacked up blood. “This is quite an unexpected turn. I thought you perished on Cybertron…”
“Your reports of my death were greatly premature, my liege. But what has happened to you? Who attacked you? What is the Nemesis doing here?”
Megatron groaned as he pulled himself up, trying not to stumble. “A traitor. One who wears the Decepticon badge is the culprit of this attack.”
"Who? Is it Starscream?"
"No, surprisingly, it is not. But it is a Cybertronian I have never seen before," Megatron groaned, pulling himself up. "Now you. How did you wind up here on this planet?"
Shatter, taking a knee down, spoke. "Dropkick and I were doing a hunt for Autobots, and we thought we had found an Energon deposit. But we soon found out the Autobots were using it as bait, and so we were locked into stasis pods. I don't remember what had happened, but when I woke from stasis, I found my partner and I had crashlanded here on this underwhelming planet. We set up camp with a few other freed Decepticons and we had plotted ourselves a little revenge to get back at the Autobots."
She sighed momentarily.
"Unfortunately, the Autobots had gotten the upper hand on us. There are armies of them scattered across this continent. Without much choice, Dropkick, Barricade and I had to run. Currently my two comrades are searching for Energon out west, while I agreed to patrol up north. That's when I found this ship, and therefore, you."
"Where are they now?" Megatron asked.
"My subordinates are not too far from here. We've established a base inside of an abandoned mine; the mineral deposits shield us from detection. With the masses of Autobots scattered on this continent, and our lack of numbers, we believed it would have been safer for us to remain hidden for the time being," Shatter explained.
"Very well. It will do. Lead me back to our base of operations," Megatron ordered, slowly getting his feet to move again.
"Yes, my liege," Shatter nodded, leading the way.
"And one more thing, Shatter?"
She looked back at him. "Yes, my liege?"
Megatron was expressionless, but still looked at her. "Congratulations. You are now my second-in-command."
