Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a crack of dawn on the outskirts of Detroit city. A peaceful, yet tense atmosphere was surrounding the area. Like something bad was about to happen at any moment.

There stood an old hangar. It was surrounded with military vehicles, soldiers and even a couple of scientists. All of them looked like they were on edge. They carried out their respective tasks, acting and talking around whatever was it that they were guarding.

Two soldiers were standing in front of an entrance to the hangar. They looked tired and just as anxious, but with the sound of a distant car engine, it was about to change.

One of them looked up and noticed something. A small grey car parked in front of the gate to the closed-off area. After a second, someone got out of it. A woman who looked like she was in her late 30s closed the doors behind her. She quickly fixed her short black hair, made sure her neat formal suit was flawless, and then walked up to the guard post.

“What’s going on?” The first guard noticed his co-worker gawking forward.

“No idea.” She replied. The two of them observed the woman talking to the guard inside the post for some time. To their surprise, he eventually let her go inside. She took the stairs and headed towards them.

“Great. Must be another reporter.” The guardsman said.

“I’ll take those over chasing off another group of U.F.O. freaks.” The guardswoman replied. Finally, the mysterious woman found herself right in front of them.

“I have a clearance.” Was the first thing she said to them. She raised her arm and handed them her legislation.

“... ‘Department of Interstellar Relations’?” The guardsman snorted, looking over the legislation from both sides. “Since when do we have a department for interstellar relations?”

“Since yesterday.” The woman replied, taking back her document. Before she moved to enter through the doors, the soldiers looked ready to enter with her. She stopped. “I was instructed to go in alone.”

“Whatever you’ve heard about this job, they obviously didn’t tell you enough.” The guardswoman said. “You need backup if you want to come out of there alive.”

“I know exactly what I’m here for. The organisms I’m about to speak to are neither aggressive, nor uncooperative. Besides,” She said, revealing her wrist. There was a red metal band on her hand. It was emitting some strange energy field. “it’s fascinating how fast we can incorporate new technology, really.”

The soldiers looked at each other. Eventually, however, they stepped back. She was free to go in.

The woman entered the hangar and heard its doors closing behind her. From that point, there was no going back. The lightning inside was really bad, but she could see the end of the platform she was standing on.

Dusting off her suit and quickly collecting her thoughts one last time, she moved. The clanking of her heels echoed through the empty walls, gaining the attention of whatever or whoever was inside. Finally, she reached the end and grabbed onto the barriers.

“I’m here to speak with a representative of your species!” She went straight to the business. Despite the darkness, she could see the glimpses of military vehicles parked around. Flying machines, jets, planes, helicopters. Those, however, didn’t get her attention as much as the machines sitting between them.

It took all of the woman’s courage to keep her cool when five pairs of eyes stared back at her. Gigantic, metallic eyes. Three pairs of blue eyes, one pair of crimson, and one pair or yellow.

“My goal is to defuse the situation between you and the citizens of the city! If everything goes accordingly, you won’t have to spend another day in this hangar!” She continued when she received no response.

The eyes moved around. She waited. Then, suddenly, she heard a loud crunch of metal. She couldn’t control her reaction this time and her body instinctively took a step back.

One of the machines stood up. It was perhaps the tallest figure she had seen in her entire life. A robot. It stepped towards her, passing its companions, and going up to the platform where the lighting was a little better.

Finally, she stood face to face with a metal titan. Its white, blue and red body was dusted from the days spent in the enclosure. Despite the sheer might it commanded, its grey face (it had a face!) was soft and friendly.

“I shall be representing our group.” He said, voice booming and just as mighty as the rest of him. The woman nodded.

“You may call me agent Miranda Dryder. Your new liaison.” She said and extended her arm to him. He gave it a quick glance before suddenly moving his arm. Miranda braced herself.

“My name is Optimus Prime. Leader of the Autobots.” He said, placing the tip of his finger in the palm of her inviting hand.

“You’ve all found yourselves in quite the tight spot, haven’t you?” She offered, retreating her arm. She pulled out a small tablet from her suit, ready to begin.

TRANSFORMERS: STEEL THREADS

After what felt like hours of talking, Miranda Dryder left the hangar with new information acquired. As soon as she disappeared through the door, Optimus Prime returned to his seat. His mighty posture immediately faltered and he let his shoulders slump forward.

“‘My name is Optimus Prime.’” One of his companions repeated his words, deep tone and everything. It was a golden and grey robot with claw marks on her shoulders and legs. “I’m starting to think all your speeches sound like that.”

“Hey!” Another voice sounded, an orange and red bot with a yellow spoiler on his back. “We’re not on Cybertron anymore, but that’s still your Prime!”

“Oh, shut it, Autobot! If it weren’t for him, none of this would’ve happened!” She snapped at him, revealing her sharp teeth.

“Both of you stop!” The third voice was heard, accompanied by the sound of something hitting the metal floor. They both belonged to a big green robot across them. Unlike others, he was standing, supporting himself with his cane.

“Slash, was it? Pointing fingers at each other won’t solve anything. Neither will bickering like cryo-condors over a glitch-mouse, Hot Rod.” He addressed both of them. They looked away from him after being called out.

“Bulkhead speaks the truth. Nevertheless, I am sorry, young ones.” Optimus said softly after a second. He glanced at them and then at Bulkhead apologetically. “None of you should’ve been dragged into this. Know that I will do everything in my power to make things right.”

“Promised every politician ever…” Slash murmured. Unfortunately, Hot Rod heard her.

“I really hope you’re joking and you didn’t just compare a living demigod to a politician.” He whispered to her. She rolled her yellow eyes in annoyance.

The last of their members was sitting in the corner, a certain distance away from everyone. Instead of engaging in that conversation, he chose to remain a spectator. His red eyes remained fixated on the Prime for the longest time.

—--

“Do a backflip!” A young girl’s voice shouted. It appeared that she was filming her friend who attempted to do a skateboard trick at a local ramp. The boy swiped in the air and executed an impressive backflip, only to land safely some distance away. A round of applause sounded in the background. The boy posed for his gathering of fans, looking beyond proud of himself.

The attention was on him for just a second more. Then, the dark clouds appeared in the sky behind them. They heard thunder, but it sounded off. Metallic, in a way. It visibly shook the boy on the camera.

The voices of concern only rose when they saw lightning. The boy turned around just in time to witness a strange phenomenon. The electricity danced across the sky, starting to form a shape. A gigantic circle.

“Do you see that?”

“What is going on?”

“Chris, come down!”

The other kids were heard in the recording. The boy tried to get off the ramp, but then another lightning came, more powerful than the last and struck the middle of Detroit.

The kids screamed and the camera the girl was holding fell down. It managed to capture the children running away from the skatepark. After they were gone, it was active for some more time.

The last thing it caught were large figures soaring across the sky. Optimus Prime was holding onto a red jet while he was being attacked by a dark blue flying robot.

The camera froze on that exact moment.

“This is no scene from any sci-fi movie, this is real life!” The footage zoomed back, revealing the TV reporter’s face. “What appeared to be just another day in Detroit turned out to be a nightmare come true! The sky quite literally tore itself open and what came out of it still shocks everyone!”

After a second, the footage changed and revealed a bunch of interviews with the citizens.

“I was just walking my dog when a giant robot flew right above my head!” A young woman in a beanie said, gesturing nervously.

“One of them almost stepped on me! It crushed my car instead! Then the second one flew from the sky and used it to whack the first one in the face!” An older man wearing a casual hoodie said with wild, unfocused eyes.

“The one I saw had a single eye! He stared at me like this!” A young girl said, curling her fingers into a circle in the middle of her face as to demonstrate.

“Despite receiving no reports on the lives lost in the incident, the collateral damage was great. Most of the fire caught the construction ground for a new shopping centre in the west side of the city.” The reporter continued, showing behind himself. He was on the scene of the aftermath. The construction of the mall were halfway done before the incident. Now, it looked like a demolition site.

His program were watching people all over Detroit. From cafes to homes to shops on the streets. All of them nervously waited for any news on the matter. Some of them were already armed with various items to protect themselves, such as baseball bats and metal pipes.

“Now that the dust begins to settle, we can only ask ourselves: What are these strange machines? Where do they come from? Is this the alien invasion we’ve all been speculating for years? This morning, we received an update on the group of robots that were captured by our military.”

The footage changed again. It showed agent Miranda Dryder standing in the city hall in front of a stand.

“They’re not here to invade or cause harm! That was never their intention!” She spoke. “Nevertheless, they feel remorse for what happened and offered to make amends!”

“Tomorrow, they will begin a city-wide clean-up of every location affected by the attack. The authorities urge their citizens to stay away from the area until further notice. The country’s finest are said to be put on guard duty for as long as necessary. Will this extra precaution be needed? Or can we trust those alien non-invaders? Time will only tell!... I really hope they know what they’re doing...” The last part was murmured and the microphone barely caught it. However, those were the closing words that ended the news report, leaving everyone on the edge of their seats.

—--

Hot Rod took a few steps forward and looked up at the sky. It was almost noon, so the sun was high and shining right down at him. He took a deep in vent and tasted the new atmosphere of an unfamiliar planet.

“Finally. A day without sunshine is a day lost!” He said mostly to himself, stretching his arms. Slash was walking right behind him, slouching.

“Do we really have to do this?” She growled.

“That was what we agreed to.” Bulkhead reminded, walking around with one arm outstretched. He had a holographic screen projecting on it, scanning all the damage around them.

Miranda Dryder arrived shortly after. She stepped onto a platform specially prepared for her some distance away. With her were at least three squads of armed humans who observed every move the Cybertronians made.

“Everyone, gather round!” Optimus called, gaining everyone’s attention. “We've got a difficult task ahead of us, but if we work together, we can have this done sooner than later! Let’s start with clearing out the rubble. Then we can move on to the faulty constructions.”

“Yes, sir!” Hot Rod enthusiastically saluted. Slash just grumbled with crossed arms. Nevertheless, they all moved onto their assignment.

Optimus, Hot Rod and Slash started picking up the remains of the building from under their feet. Then, they moved them towards big trucks that arrived on the scene. Optimus couldn’t resist waving to one of the drivers after loading a particularly big rock. The large human seemed startled by that and pretended that he didn’t see him doing it. It immediately brought Optimus’ mood down and he stopped.

“Careful with this sector!” Bulkhead warned the two younger members, pointing ahead. “Underground pipe system is still functional!”

Hot Rod rubbed his hands in preparation to pick up a big chunk of a wall. When he felt ready, he quickly took a hold of it and tried to lift it. He struggled horribly for a bit but finally managed to pull it above his head.

“Oof!” Only to be pulled down with it seconds after. As he was laying on his back on the ground, a big shadow loomed over him.

“Adorable.” Slash was staring down at him with a barely contained grin. To add salt to the injury, she took a hold of his bouler and lifted it with just one hand.

“I’m a race car, not a muscle car.” He retorted, standing back up. The two took a moment to look around and saw that so far they barely did anything. The troublesome rubble was still everywhere.

“I really miss Cybertron.” Slash groaned. “Clean-up was often a synonym for demolition work!”

Hot Rod thought for a moment.

“I think I have an idea.” He said, gaining her attention.

“Yeah?”

“It’s pretty dumb, but maybe it’ll help a bit… Not sure if Optimus Prime would approve though.”

“Then ask. Hey, Optimus!”

“Don’t!” Despite Hot Rod’s protests, she gained Optimus’ attention.

“The pipsqueak had an idea!” Slash said, pointing at Hot Rod who looked like he was about to burn himself in embarrassment.

“I-I just thought… I mean…” The red Autobot stuttered. “I just wanted to try something!...”

“Of course!” Optimus smiled at him. “We’re all open to new ideas.”

This slightly assured Hot Rod. He decided to walk some distance away and then turned to face them. His subspace opened and he pulled out an orange stick out of it. With a press of a hidden button, the stick began transforming. In seconds, it turned into a proud big bow.

The humans were immediately alarmed by this. They raised their weapons at them, pulling startled Miranda behind them for protection.

Hot Rod, Slash and Optimus raised their hands.

“This is all a part of the clean-up!” Optimus assured. Thankfully, the guards didn’t open fire, but still were ready to react.

“Throw something as high as you can!” Hot Rod yelled at Slash. She blinked, her curiosity being piqued. The golden and grey Cybertronian picked up a big cluster of bricks. Aiming at the sky, one leg front, one behind, she prepared herself. Meanwhile, the red Autobot pulled the bow’s electric string that suddenly sparked into existence.

Without any warning, Slash threw the rock high in the air. Hot Rod observed its flight carefully, aiming his bow. Finally, he released a fire arrow. It swiftly soared across the sky and hit a jackpot, completely obliterating its target.

“Score!” Hot Rod cheered, throwing his fist to the sky. Optimus clapped.

“Impressive aim, Hot Rod!” He complimented. That only encouraged him to go on.

“Give me something tricky this time!” Hot Rod requested, pulling out another electric string.

“Oh, I’ll show you tricky!” Slash gave him a toothy grin, picking up two boulders at the same time. They continued their little game, with Slash throwing the remains in the air and Hot Rod hitting every single one. The humans watched them go at it for some time before finally lowering their guard.

“Apologies for the scare.” Optimus said, walking up to them. “This wasn’t planned, but it turned out to be a pleasant resolution.”

“What are they doing?” Miranda asked. The Prime shrugged.

“Having fun. Working off the stress. Primus knows we’ve had a lot of it lately.” Seeing that the guards were confused by that display of playfulness, the Prime continued. “I haven’t had the chance to get to know your kind better, but it appears we are more similar than you'd think. People who you see before you are civilians, just like you. They lived their ordinary lives prior to the accident.”

“Civilians, huh?” One of the guards asked, pointing left. “What about him?”

Optimus followed his gaze. One of the Cybertronians stood on the side, not contributing to anything at all. He was by far the biggest among all of them. His silver and grey plating reflected in the sun, highlighting many scars on his back. He was staring absently into the distance.

“He’s… It’s complicated.” Optimus said. There was a small uncertainty in his voice which he covered up immediately. “B-but he doesn’t mean any harm either! Let me show you! Megatron!” He called. The Cybertronian in question quickly turned his head around. The humans felt their spirits leaving their bodies when he laid his cold red optics at them. The giant named Megatron began stomping towards them. His front was just as, if not more scarred. One of the deep dents was running through his chest and the purple insignia he wore. He stopped right before the Prime, looking down to face him.

“I’d really appreciate it if you helped us out a bit. This is supposed to be a team effort, after all. We’ll certainly finish quicker with your strength on our side.” The Prime requested politely. The bigger Cybertronian kept staring at him...

“... Sure.” Megatron replied simply, with a tone far less sinister than they had imagined. As he headed to deal with the rubble, Miranda and the guards gaped at him in shock.

“We’ve known each other since creation.” Optimus added, putting hands on his sides and nodding to them.

Slash threw four smaller boulders this time. Hot Rod shot them down with only two arrows.

“Bulkhead!” Slash called, turning around. “Come over here and help me!”

“We’re supposed to be working!” Bulkhead reminded them, not taking eyes off his holoscreen.

“Sure, sure! Just admit you’re too old for some friendly competition!” Hot Rod shouted with a huge grin on his face. At that statement, Bulkhead’s gaze sharpened. He lowered his arm.

“Throw one for me!” He told Slash. She seemed surprised by his reaction, but did just that. Picking up one particular chunk off the ground, she threw it as high as she could.

Bulkhead rose his cane which started transforming. As soon as he grabbed it with both hands, it turned into a long slender blaster that fired at the sky. A powerful charge of energy hit the rubble and immediately turned it into dust. Slash’s jaw landed on the floor.

The green Autobot rose what once was a cane and flipped it on the other end. Smoke was coming out of its top which he blew at and made it disappear.

“I was shooting worse targets before your hotspot was even created, kid!” He commented after a second.

“I know! I just like to be reminded!” Hot Rod said cheekily, readying himself for another round.

—--

They spent the rest of the day doing the same thing. Hot Rod and Slash were shooting down the debris while Optimus, Megatron and at some point Bulkhead loaded it on the big trucks. Finally, the night was coming around the corner. By that time, the area had been cleared from at least half the mess that was originally caused.

Miranda was sitting down and working on her tablet. One of the guards suddenly walked up to her. He showed her the time on his watch and offered her a megaphone.

“Alright, that will be enough!” She stood up and spoke through the megaphone. The group stopped whatever they were doing and faced her.

“Aww.” Slash pouted, dropping a particularly big boulder back on the ground. The Cybertronians returned to their liaison and stood in a row in front of her.

“We will resume tomorrow. Now, follow the captain and prepare to be transported.” She said. The group didn’t look enthusiastic at all about it. Despite that, they did as they were told.

One of the guards walked down the platform and showed them the way. As they walked, the humans followed them with their weapons raised. Megatron was about to join them, which Miranda quickly noticed.

“Not you.” She said, making him stop. Optimus felt his whole body tensing.

“Is… there a problem?” He asked.

“I just wanted to clarify something.” Miranda said, typing on her tablet. “Those badges you have. What significance do they hold to you?”

Optimus and Megatron looked down at their chests for a brief second. At the Prime’s red badge and the other’s purple one.

“They are our faction insignias.” Optimus explained. “There is a great variety of them on our home planet of Cybertron. Like I’ve stated before, I am an Autobot. So are Hot Rod and Bulkhead.”

“In that case, I need a short testimony to your mate’s loyalties.” Miranda said and showed the two a picture from the Detroit attack. Mainly, the close-ups of the group that Optimus had fought against. There were five of them. They varied from vehicular characteristics, paint job, or even sets of eyes. However, they all had one feature in common.

The same insignia that Megatron was wearing. The question remained unspoken but it rang between them loud and clear. The grey Cybertronian couldn’t help but grimace.

“Agent Dryder…” Optimus tried to speak. “Megatron isn’t-”

“They are called the Decepticons.” Megatron answered. “One of the oldest factions. They have been many things throughout our history.”

“Isn’t that bothersome that you identify with your enemies?” She asked.

“Enemies is not a word we’d use.” Optimus said diplomatically. “The group we fought were extremists. They sought to take control over the current leadership of the Decepticons in order to do despicable things. I admit we don’t always see eye to eye on a lot of things, but there hasn’t been an escalation like that for over seven million years.”

“What kind of Decepticon are you, then?” Miranda asked, directly addressing Megatron. The large Cybertronian started leaning down towards her, which almost gave Optimus a spark attack.

“The one that’s smart enough to know nothing of value would be gained from conflict. That is all you need to know.” The Decepticon simply told her. Throughout those few seconds of intense eye contact, neither of them faltered. Suddenly, Miranda’s phone began ringing and their competition was cut short.

“I will hold you to your word.” She told him, before pulling out her phone and turning around to pick it up. Megatron straightened back up. He heard Optimus letting out a relieved sigh.

They were finally free to join the others. As they walked, the grey Decepticon discreetly placed his hand over his scarred insignia, burying himself in his thoughts anew.

—--

His attacker pierced his arm, barely avoiding his Decepticon insignia. He cried out, but no sound came. The water surrounding them was preventing it from leaving his protected mouth.

The light grey Cybertronian wearing battle armor got out of the way, ignoring the pain and keeping a hold of his swords. A large blue Decepticon jumped at him again with a sadistic smirk on his face. His spiked knuckle dusters were blocked by one sword. The grey robot used his other arm to collect sand from the bottom and throw it in the other’s eyes. It worked and he was distracted.

The armored Decepticon used his chance. He pulled back and cut his taller opponent’s legs, making him fall. He didn’t have a chance to get away from him before a red jet came out of nowhere and swiped him off his feet.

The masked robot quickly recovered and swung on top of it. Then, the jet began transforming. It was replaced by a big red Decepticon who began to wrestle with him.

The blue robot stood back up and saw what was happening. He saw the two other Decepticons struggling to get an upper hand while diving around. The armored one put her in a hold, temporarily getting an advantage. However, she was far from defenseless. The blue Decepticon noticed her stirring her own wings and flying towards himself. He understood the assignment and braced himself.

When she flew them very close, he punched the grey Decepticon off of her. He fell down, dropping his swords. He tried grabbing them again, but the blue Decepticon rushed at him and stomped on his hand. He let out a muffled scream.

His attacker was about to land a finishing blow to the back of his head when suddenly his partner ran up and caught his arm. She gave him a stern look telling him that enough was enough. He didn’t seem pleased about it but gave in and hid the spikes under the plating of his knuckles. With the smaller troublemaker on the ground, they were done anyway.

After some time, the pair managed to drag their associate back onto a broken warship on the bottom of the ocean. Its walls had holes in them that were protected by a large purple forcefield.

They entered a small room that served as a workshop of some kind. Someone was already inside. A winged robot was standing by the table, dismantling a big cannon. There were pieces of metal and some kind of colourful crystals splattered all around him.

The two entered the workshop, dropping the grey Cybertronian on his knees.

“We have a situation, my Lord.” The red one said. The Decepticon Lord in question ceased his movements. Then, he let out a tired sigh.

“How did he try to escape this time?” He asked, taking off his protective goggles.

“He waited for us to leave and then tried to sneak out of the opened entrance.” The blue one stated.

The Decepticon leader put down his tools. Then, he turned around and started approaching them. The rogue Decepticon squinted, watching the tall jetformer getting closer. His white, red and blue paint illuminated in the lights of the room and his red optics peered mercilessly at him. He stopped right before him, causing him to face the floor.

“Deadlock.” The leader mused, getting on one knee to face the Decepticon better. His tone was distressingly soft. “How many times do we have to go through this? Instead of doing something productive, you keep wasting your time and trying to run as if you were some kind of prisoner.”

“Isn’t that what I am, Starscream?” Deadlock spat in a deep modified voice. “I got the impression that you really like keeping me on a short leash.”

“Is this really what you think this is?” Starscream asked, straightening up and gesturing at himself. “You were the one who came to me for help. I gave you everything you wanted, a new start, a new name. Isn’t that what happened?”

Deadlock didn’t reply, just kept glaring.

“It was a two-ways contract and you knew it. I didn’t ask you for any favours for a long time, and now that I’m in need, you keep inconveniencing me. How’s that a honourable thing to do?”

“You don’t have a single honourable nano-cell in your body…” Deadlock murmured. Suddenly, he felt clawed fingers getting a hold of his jaw. Starscream grabbed him hard and made their optics meet. His calm expression was replaced with a scowl.

“I’m being very civil with you, but if you don’t want that, fine. Right now, nobody knows you had anything to do with our little coup. It’s only a matter of time until we fix the space bridge and regain contact with Cybertron. Keep pushing my limits, and you have my word, the first thing I’ll do is show the whole planet the truth. Do you understand me?”

Deadlock didn’t say anything, but the fire in his crimson eyes extinguished.

“Good.” Starscream smirked and after a second released him. He stood back up and faced the two large Decepticons. “Show the warrior his way back to his habsuite, Dropkick. Shatter, you’ll be going on a patrol alone today.”

“Yes, Lord Starscream.” They both nodded. Deadlock suddenly felt a heavy hand landing on his back. He was picked up and brought back to his feet.

“Move it!” Dropkick pushed him forward, making him walk. Starscream observed them and Shatter leaving the workshop.

The silence that their absence resulted in was very short lived. Suddenly, the Decepticon leader heard a strange zapping sound behind him.

“That Kaonian is more trouble than he’s worth.” Another voice spoke. Starscream turned around and saw that a one-eyed purple Cybertronian appeared out of nowhere. He was placing a bunch of metal parts on the table with only one arm.

“If he weren’t, I wouldn’t have recruited him in the first place.” Starscream told him, leaning against the table. “But enough about domestic squabbles. I would like to hear your professional opinion on our spacebridge.”

“Unsalvageable.” He immediately responded, making Starscream jump in startelement. As he kept talking, his leader started nervously glancing around the room. “It’s a miracle I could retrieve anything at all. Even then, most of it won’t be of any use anymore-”

“Yes, very good, Shockwave!” Starscream suddenly cut him off, gritting his teeth hard in a fake smile. “Though I’d strongly insist you use more optimistic language when sharing this news with others. Instead of ‘unsalvageable’ say… ‘A little worse than we expected’. It sounds better and lets you have more time to figure out what to do next.”

“We barely have any resources to keep the Nemesis stable. All our remaining energy is used to power the forcefield.” Shockwave said, using the tip of his arm gun to poke the remains. He made Starscream run a hand down his face. “Not to mention that this world doesn’t provide any equivalents to our Cybertronian sources.”

“But it has energy sources, yes?”  Starscream leaned very close to him. “That means we have other options and we can try harvesting that. I don’t claim to be the smartest mind on the planet and I figured that out all by myself!”

Without any warning, Shockwave straightened up and flipped their positions, catching his leader off guard.

“Calm yourself, your Majesty.” He replied. “You are beginning to act irrational.”

Starscream looked like he wanted to murder him. After a second, however, he took a deep in vent and did just that.

“Forgive me. Those have been difficult several days.” He said. “This is why I’m all for a change of pace. Leave your findings with me and tell our scout to search for alternative sources of energy. Before the next dawn comes, I want to have this ship running once more.”

“As you wish.” Shockwave bowed his head. Without any warning, he disappeared in a flash.

Starscream looked over the things Shockwave left on the table. He had a difficult time extinguishing parts of the spacebridge from charcoal. Thankfully, some of them looked good enough. He picked up one chunk of a metal construction. Then, he reached for a crystal laying close by.

The Decepticon hummed thoughtfully, slowly reaching for a wielder. He brought the cannon closer and got right back to work.

—--

“... This doesn’t look like the hangar.” Slash commented as the rest of the group stared in surprise.

“I keep my promises.” Miranda said, gesturing at an abandoned building before them. “Your efforts have earned you a new accommodation.”

The facility was much bigger than the previous location they were kept at. It was also much closer to the city. The place consisted of one main building and two smaller ones standing between them.

Curiosity and exhaustion took over them and they immediately headed inside. Granted, the place was bigger, but the date it was in left a lot to be desired. The walls were covered in graffiti, grass was growing out of the floor and there was trash laying everywhere.

“Seriously? More of the mess?!” Hot Rod complained.

“That’s the best I could do in such short notice.” Miranda said. “It used to be a factory just a year ago. It had to be closed due to the owner’s growing debt. The authorities didn’t know what to do with it since.”

“It will do, agent Dryder. Thank you for everything.” Optimus thanked.

“You can thank yourselves. Were you not as remorseful, things would’ve been a lot worse.” She said honestly. Then, added: “You are not to leave this building until you are asked to. We will know if you do and take immediate action. The clean-up will resume in the morning. Until then, rest. Or charge, whatever is it that you need.”

Before she headed for the exit, she stopped to look at the Prime one last time.

“Keep up the good work and the DIR will look out for you. This partnership is something I am taking very seriously. I can only hope you feel the same way.” And with that, she walked all the way to the exit. A few soldiers were waiting for her outside and she started telling them something the Cybertronians couldn’t hear.

Finally, they were alone yet again. The group took a second to study their new surroundings. The sector they were in was big, even for them. The only problem was how dirty and eerily empty everything looked.

Hot Rod jumped when he suddenly saw Bulkhead stumbling a little.

“You okay?” He asked in concern. The green Autobot didn’t let him grab onto his free arm.

“Tired.” He replied. “It’s going to be a pain in the backside finding a comfortable place to park.”

“I still have some energy left. We can always make one.” Slash offered, patting her arm.

“You should do that.” Hot Rod nearly had a spasm when he heard Optimus’ voice. He kept forgetting the Prime was still there. “I want to say just how proud I am of all of you. Even in time of need, you found it within your sparks to care for one another. We may be in a hard spot right now, but I can see things getting better already. Rest for now, you’ve earned it.”

Hot Rod looked completely star-struck by his leader’s words. Slash, on the other hand, didn’t want to acknowledge him complimenting her. The two of them secured Bulkhead’s two sides, much to his annoyance, and headed deeper into the facility. They disappeared behind the corner, leaving Optimus with Megatron.

“... We’re wasting time.” The Prime’s audials picked up a small murmur after a second.

“I really don’t understand why you keep whispering when you obviously have something to say, Megatron.” The Prime said, turning to the larger Cybertronian.

“No matter what they claim, those humans can’t be trusted.” The Decepticon continued. “They’ve made it clear that they’re not letting us go anytime soon. This might be our only chance to escape before they figure out they can use us for their personal gain.”

“They finally made an honest attempt at communication.” Optimus replied. “Let’s not thwart their efforts immediately after they put their trust in us.”

“I understand this is the way you are, Optimus. I truly do.” Megatron’s confrontational tone changed into something more sympathetic. “But making peace with a bunch of organics isn’t what you recruited me for. It’s been days and Starscream still hasn’t come out of his hiding hole. If he and his underlings are anything like the warriors I taught, they are planning something big.”

“I am aware. But we tried confronting them once, the results were catastrophic. This time, we can’t afford it. Especially since this isn’t our planet.” Megatron still looked skeptical. Optimus placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I know this is a lot to ask, but if you can’t put your trust in the humans, can you at least put your trust in me? If only for the old times’ sake?”

The Decepticon went silent for some time, as if weighing his response. Then, he sighed and moved the other’s hand away.

“Very well, Prime. I hope you won’t come to regret your decision.” He said, disappointment ever present in his tone.

“Thank you. We can continue this discussion in the morning. In the meantime, we’ve all earned a moment of peace.” Optimus smiled, then wrapped his arm around Megatron’s back. It was a bit awkward, but both were too tired to care. “Come. Let us find a corner for you, old friend.”

They followed the others’ steps. Even though they reached a temporary understanding, they hadn’t spoken a word to each other since.

The Prime figured that things could get only better from there.

Chapter Text

LOADING….

RECHARGE: COMPLETE

ENERGY LEVELS: 100%

SPARK ACTIVITY:... HIGH

TEMPERATURE LEVELS:... HIGH

MOBILE SYSTEMS: RESPONDING

MEMORY BANKS: RESPONDING

NO DAMAGE DETECTED

READY TO REBOOT...

“Mmm…” He made a small sound as his blue starting screen closed. Hot Rod began opening his eyes and lazily scanning his surroundings.

The first thing that came into view was his own hand. It was on fire. Almost completely unbothered, he curled it into a fist and put it out. He blinked a few times before trying to see where he was.

WARNING!

UNIDENTIFIED ENTITY DETECTED! DANGER LEVELS: UNKNOWN!

Two warning screens suddenly popped up. The Autobot quickly closed them and tried to focus on what was happening. He was still laying on the dirty floor in the abandoned factory far, far away from Cybertron. It appeared that he was completely alone. That was, until something round, small and squeaky skimmed past him.

Hot Rod jolted awake, screaming. He saw a bunch of small shadows going under an old locker that was in the corner of the room. That reaction alerted Slash, who was stationed nearby. She stormed inside with little regard for privacy.

“What?! We’re under attack?!” She asked, looking around and readying her claws.

“Scraplets! Scraplets!” Hot Rod shouted, pointing at the locker. Slash snarled and locked her gaze with her new target. Wasting no time, she pounced on it. The golden and grey Cybertronian tore off its top and was ready to strike. Before she did so, however, she suddenly stopped.

Hot Rod didn’t understand why she lost her posture until she returned to him with the torn locker. Giving him a judgemental look, she made him look inside.

The Scraplets were nowhere to be seen, just a bunch of fuzzy grey raccoons. They stared at him with their shiny beady eyes, hissing defensively.

“Oh… ” Hot Rod managed in embarrassment.

“Shame. I was craving for something crunchy.” Slash said sadly. Hot Rod couldn’t help but glare at her with disgust.

After some time, the two journeyed through the old factory. They passed by Bulkhead’s ‘room’ and caught a glimpse of him onlining as well. Slash tried to stretch her back, visibly stiff and uncomfortable.

“The floor wasn’t that bad.” Hot Rod said.

“Sure, you vehicles are used to going numb all the time.” She groaned. Suddenly, Slash coughed out some dust, making him lean away in surprise. “I hate this planet…”

“No kidding. A few more days and I’ll feel like Megatron on an exi- aaaaaaaaaaaa-...!”

Once they reached the main area of the building, they noticed that they weren’t alone. Megatron was leaning by the nearest wall with a barrel in his hand. They only saw him once they got closer. The two young Cybertronians quickly fell silent, staring at the old Decepticon in shock.

“By all means, don’t let me stop you.” If anything, Megatron just seemed amused. “I wasn’t aware they made me into an expression.”

“I didn’t come up with that, I swear!” Hot Rod said.

“I’m sure you didn’t.” The Decepticon replied.

The red Autobot felt his entire body heating up. Slash, on the other hand, focused on something else.

“Where did you get that?” She asked suspiciously, pointing at the item in his hand.

“The humans came by earlier and left those fuel barrels. They called it ‘breakfast’, if I remember correctly.” Megatron said. After a second, he took a sip from the barrel. He made a small pleased hum upon tasting the fuel. Then, he raised it like a wine glass, and added with a wide grin: “It’s awful.”

Finally, the three of them heard two pairs of heavy footsteps nearing. They turned around and saw the final members joining them, Bulkhead and Optimus Prime.

“Welcome back, everyone!” The Prime greeted everyone with a bright smile. “I’m glad to see all of you present. There is a lot of work ahead of us, so be sure to properly prepare yourselves!”

Slash felt a growl bubbling up in her voice box and she couldn’t stop her eyes from rolling.

“There are four oil barrels by the entrance.” Megatron informed him.

“Ah, wonderful! Let us refuel before going out!” The Autobot leader said enthusiastically and headed for the doors of the abandoned building. Bulkhead and Slash joined him, with her murmuring about being stuck with crazy people under her breath. Megatron and Hot Rod were the only ones who stayed behind.

“How bad are those exactly?” The Autobot decided to ask.

“I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything worse and I’m from the Golden Age.” Megatron said, making him chuckle.

“Glad I won’t be needing it then.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I’m an outlier. I have to wait until my spark cools off before I can digest anything flammable…” He looked back at the Decepticon and saw him raising his eyebrows in confusion. “Oh, uh… It’s pretty hard to explain… Sorry, all of this still feels so surreal to me. With you being here and all.”

“I completely understand.” Megatron said. Hot Rod paused, suddenly feeling uneasy. There seemed to be something on his mind but he was afraid of speaking the words out loud.

“I know this is probably a bad time, but I’m really sorry about your fusion cannon. I tried to stop Starscream, but…” He trailed off before he truly began.

“Bah. That empty husk hasn't held any significance to me for millenia.” The Decepticon just said, circling the barrel and observing the swirling oil inside.

“It did for us. Still do, I hope. Fusion cannon without someone to wield it is a symbol of a rebellion that led to a better time. A real tangible proof of the end of battles and long-lasting peace on Cybertron.” The Autobot said proudly.

“An interesting way of looking at it.”

“Ye-”

“And by that I mean a lot of pretty words to justify the existence of a museum exhibit.” Hot Rod felt like the grey Decepticon just slapped him in the face.

“Don’t give me that look. For me it’s always been one thing: a tool that long served its purpose. Becoming an endearing ornament was the best that could’ve happened to it. I would’ve turned it into a pot or something.” Megatron mused and raised the barrel, before chugging the whole thing down.

Meanwhile, in a different state, there was a power plant.  A big facility built next to a single gigantic tower. Inside, all the employees were busy doing their usual jobs. Engineers, operators, janitors and many more.

A pair of specialists were checking one of the generators. They were just finishing their inspection, rendering the results satisfactory, and decided to leave.

Suddenly, one of them felt a strange wind behind him. He stopped and turned around, catching the other off guard. Despite everything, the man didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

After a second, his co-worker asked if he was alright. The man scratched his head, responding that he felt something strange that he couldn’t really explain. The other worker encouraged them to leave and they eventually did. Troubled, confused, but falling into the sense of security once again.

As soon as they left, a pair of red eyes lit up in the darkness. One of the shadows suddenly came to life and moved hastily around the room. It pinpointed where an electrical box was and, as it got nearer, slapped something on top of it. It was a disk with a Decepticon logo.

A fair distance away from the plant, Shockwave was standing on a hill. He watched carefully the empty holographic screen on his arm. After a few minutes, something finally changed. Multiple icons filled up the blank space, all of them represented a different area of the building.

Shockwave lowered his arm and faced the rest of the Decepticons behind him.

“It is done.” He told them.

“I appreciate your diligence, Shockwave.” Starscream said, looking out at the plant. “But this object seems small. Are you sure it will be enough to power our ship?”

“Alone, no. But those power stations are scattered all over the continent. If we take power from more of them, we will be able to recover from our damages.” Shockwave said.

“In that case, you have the permission to steal their lights.” Starscream said with a wave of his hand.

The power plant’s security guard was sitting in her office. She took a sip of her coffee, returning shortly to the monitors in front of her.

As she continued watching, she eventually spotted something unusual. Next to one of the generators, a strange long cable was sticking out of the darkness. It ended with something that resembled a trident, with its middle tip being light grey. The woman looked closer and without any warning the cable pulled back and was seen no more.

The security guard had no idea what this was about, but she immediately reached for her walkie-talkie.

“Something weird is happening at the generators.” She spoke through it, never taking her eyes off the footage. When her mind went to worry about the generator starting to malfunction, the screen suddenly went dark.

The security guard’s concerns only grew. She watched as the screens started turning off one by one, leaving her blind to what was happening inside the facility.

It wasn’t just the case for the security room. The controlling centre began losing signal in their phones, computers and so on.

“What’s happening?” A man by the desk asked.

Suddenly, all systems went offline. The computers shut down, but got rebooted almost immediately. The only thing they started displaying was a purple Decepticon symbol.

The cameras restarted as well.

Shockwave had access to the whole facility right behind his optic. As he was looking at the footage from inside, his hand was moving on the holographic panel right in front of him.

The fear started rising among the power plant workers. They were cut off from the rest of the world, all the machines were getting deactivated, and they couldn’t see what was the cause.

Without any warning, the control room started filling with hot steam from the machinery. Some of the workers screamed, all started leaving in order to get away. The same thing was happening in different areas in the power plant. Hot steam was escaping from the pipes, machines, and walls, forcing everybody out.

The workers, janitors and all humans that happened to be inside were led to the main room with the big turbines. They realised too late they were led like a flock by the shepherd.

Suddenly, other guests joined them in the chamber. The Decepticons teleported in. The humans screamed, beginning to run around and trying to scatter.

The Cybertronians immediately went after them. They made sure they wouldn't escape and grabbed as many as they could hold.

Some of the humans managed to slip into the secluded corridor and run for the emergency exit. Unfortunately, their efforts were immediately thwarted.

Just when they thought they found safety, a robot jumped out and blocked their way. It was much smaller than other Cybertronians, and instead of a humanoid, it resembled an Earth panther. However, it didn’t make it any less of a giant or a danger to the humans

The feline hissed at them, making them back off towards the rest.

While others were running around after the workers, Deadlock focused on the machinery. He walked over and kneeled before one. He could see four humans huddled together, shaking and fearing for their lives under it. They didn't notice him since they didn’t dare to look out.

The Deception’s gaze softened upon seeing that. He looked back and saw that Starscream was too busy capturing humans to glance in his direction. Deadlock looked at the humans for the last time, before standing back up and turning around.

Finally, all workers were captured and surrounded by the Decepticons.

“The facility is secured, Lord Starscream.” The panthera robot purred, walking up to Starscream and bowing.

“Excellent work, Ravage.” Starscream said, leaning down and picking her up.

“What do we do with humans?” Shatter asked. Ravage wrapped herself around the Decepticon’s neck. “Do you want me to dispose of them?”

Starscrem glanced at the humans thoughtfully. They were gathered closely, horrified of having their fate put in the Decepticon’s hands.

“... No.” The jetformer said after a moment of consideration. “I’ve got a better idea. Shockwave!”

Shockwave nodded. Without any warning, his body began glowing.

The personnel who remained hidden behind the machine could see the shining light just above them. They heard all of their co-workers shouting while some strange whirr was buzzing in the air. Suddenly, their hiding place started glowing too. They quickly stepped back from it.

After a few seconds, there was a blinding flash filling the room. Then, the whirr, and the screams went silent.

Once the light faded, they felt like they were dipped in the darkness. The whole facility went offline.

The workers looked back and to their horror everyone was gone. Everything was gone. All of the machines, robots and humans disappeared just like that.

Optimus and his group were in the middle of asphalting the road in Detroit that they had totalled a few days ago. The whole process was going incredibly slow and Slash in particular was having a hard time with the black substance sticking to her claws. After laying down the foundation, she pulled back and tried to shake it off. She ended up splattering all over herself, Hot Rod and Bulkhead who complained loudly about it.

Optimus was just across them. Seeing that, he tried his best to cover his grin. Miranda stood on the side and helped to supervise the whole thing. Suddenly, her phone rang.

“Miranda Dryder… What?” The agent immediately regretted picking it up. The Cybertronians noticed the grim look on her face after a second. Worried, they stopped what they were doing.

“Y… yes, of course. They will be there shortly.” She said, hanging up. Megatron glanced at Optimus knowingly. Their liaison walked up to them, trying to collect her thoughts. “There was an attack on the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in a neighbouring state. Most of the personnel are gone and many…  many houses are left without power.”

“Decepticons?” Hot Rod dared to ask.

“They wouldn't have called me if it weren’t for the giant alien robots.” She replied. “In my superiors’ words, this is a good chance for you to prove where you truly stand.”

“And we will prove it, by making sure those humans return home safely.” Optimus promised.

“As long as I don’t have to keep doing this!” Slash said, raising her blackened claws up.

“People are missing, Slash.” Bulkhead reminded.

“So are we, but I bet they’re still hosting parties on Cybertron!” She said, walking and trying to get the asphalt off of her. Bulkhead shook his head.

Shatter and Dropkick placed the power plant’s giant turbines in a secure distance away from generators and other machines.

After their escape, the Decepticons stopped at an old dock by the ocean that the Nemesis had sinked in. It was large, with abandoned buildings and containers all around. There was even an old crane nearby. The group decided to put the humans inside of the containers to avoid any escapees.

Deadlock, Shockwave and Starscream were sitting on the vessels and waiting for the partners to finish. Ravage was laying in their leader’s lap, letting him pet her in the meantime.

Finally, the two came up to them.

“We are ready to proceed.” Shatter said.

“About time.” Starscream commented and they all rose from their seats. Ravage was pushed back because of that and she took the cue to stand up as well. The Decepticons walked over to the two containers and looked inside at the humans.

“My congratulations!” The jetformer told them. “You were given an honour to contribute to the new order of the Decepticons! Doesn’t that fill your tiny, meaningless existence with a sense of importance?”

One of the older humans took off his helmet and threw it at him with an angry grunt. The Decepticon effortlessly caught it between his fingers.

“I will take that as an enthusiastic yes.” Starscream said, grinding it into dust. After a second, Shockwave stepped in.

“The sooner you grant us your services, the sooner we can get this over with.” He said. Without any warning, he reached inside. The humans cried and tried to get away from him. Unfortunately, one of them got caught and pulled out of their prison. After a second, he teleported away.

The Decepticon and the human appeared on the Nemesis. More specifically, the core room. It was filled with water and the main energy source was missing. The emergency lights were on.

Not longer than a few seconds later, his antenna suddenly straightened up as they picked up a small sound. Shockwave looked at the human in his grasp. He was holding onto his throat with his face puffed and slowly turning red.

The Decepticon immediately reacted. He teleported back onto the surface where he had been standing just a few seconds ago.

“What now?” Starscream asked, noticing his return.

“Something is very wrong.” Shockwave said, walking up to the other humans and dropping their gasping and coughing colleague among them. A man and a woman immediately came to his aid, helping him regain his breath as much as they could.

“Why is he wet? Were you trying to drown him?!” The man shouted at Shockwave.

“Define ‘drown’, human.” Shatter demanded.

“We can’t breathe under water, you dumb microwave! We need air to live!” He roared while the woman helped her co-worker sit down.

Starscream looked at Shockwave in question. The scientist pulled up his holographic screen.

“Oxygen.” He answered after a second. “Its access is restricted depending on the location on this planet.”

“Then find a way to make it unrestricted on the Nemesis! We can’t have them dying on their first day!” Starscream ordered.

“Yes, Lord Starscream.” Shockwave said quickly and teleported away.

“... Did he say on our first day?” A janitor in the other container asked in horror.

After almost three hours of driving, vehicles transporting Optimus and the rest finally arrived at their destination. The police, doctors and engineers of every kind were already on the scene. There were discussions going around until they saw the Cybertronians stepping out into the sunlight. The whole place quickly grew quiet.

Ignoring the weird glances and whispers, they all walked to the entrance. There were no damages in sight, but the doors were restricted with black and yellow tape. The police were there and so were the four witnesses. Miranda walked up to them.

“Department of Intergalactic Relations.” She introduced, showing them her license. “What happened here?”

“We were attacked by the giant robots!” A woman in a vest spoke. “They hacked us and then took everything and everyone!”

“One second they were here, the other they were all gone!” A young man joined her. “We know it sounds crazy, but that’s what happened!”

After a second, Bulkhead stepped in.

“How did they disappear?” He asked. The humans looked up at him, fear in their eyes ever present.

“They are on our side.” Miranda assured. “They might be able to help.”

“They just did.” The second man was brave enough to speak directly to the green Autobot. “Everything got so bright and next thing we knew, they were gone!”

Bulkhead hummed.

“Let me check something…” He said, opening his subspace and pulling out something out of it. It was a white scanner of some kind. Upon pressing a big red button on the top, it almost immediately started beeping. “Yep. They used a groundbridge.”

“I thought we destroyed that thing.” Slash said.

“Spacebridge, not a groundbridge. There’s a huge difference.” Bulkhead corrected, starting to type on the scanner. “The trail is already fading, but maybe I can still track them down.”

Tightening the grip on his cane, he started circling the building. While he was working, Hot Rod looked out at the blocked entrance.

“They did the same thing back at the Iaconian Museum…” He murmured.

“Hm?” Slash was the closest but she didn’t hear him entirely.

“That’s how they stole the fusion cannon.” Hot Rod said, a bit louder. Optimus and Megatron also managed to hear it this time. “I don’t know how, but they overwrote the security and got in.”

Hot Rod recalled the events that happened back on Cybertron. He was inside of a gigantic steel museum. It had everything to offer. From pictures and holograms to moving exhibits presenting major events in Cybertronian history. He remembered passing through the gate titled ‘the Great Quintesson War’.

When Hot Rod was about to reach his destination, he suddenly came to a halt. It took him a second to process what was happening, but once he did, it was too late.

The security guards were laying on the ground. Some had visible injuries on them. He saw Shatter and Dropkick on the scene, they were the ones who made them like this.

Then, he saw the third thief. He was standing by one of the exhibits, the statue of Megatron. There was always a forcefield under it guarding one of the exhibits. This time, the forcefield was down.

The thief turned around and then Hot Rod recognised Starscream. The fear and confusion were overwritten the second he saw what the jetformer was holding. He had the fusion cannon.

Seeing him, Starscream must’ve contacted someone because a groundbridge appeared behind them. Him, Dropkick and Shatter began retreating from the scene.

Hot Rod wouldn’t allow it. Not thinking much, he charged after them. Before the groundbridge closed, the Autobot jumped and disappeared along them. The rest was history.

The red Autobot couldn’t help but frown at the memory.

“I’m sorry this happened to you, Hot Rod.” Optimus said. “Nobody deserves to go through something like this.”

“I couldn’t let Starscream get away with it.” Hot Rod said. “Whatever he’s planning to do with the missing equipment, I’m planning to stop him. And then take everything he stole back.”

Suddenly, they all heard a ping in the distance.

“I’ve got them!” Bulkhead shouted, walking back to everyone. “A few more moments and the signal’d be gone forever.”

Optimus walked over to him and the green Autobot showed him the readings.

“We’ve got the location. Autobots! And others…” Optimus added, looking at Slash and Megatron for a second. “Roll Out!”

All humans had to step back as they began transforming. In mere seconds, the mass of limbs, cables and plates shifted from giant robots into their secondary forms. All of them looked fairly alien.

Optimus was a semi truck look-alike with a flat front and jetpacks on the sides. Hot Rod was a sports car, or at least what they assumed was a sports car. Its front was oval and flat and his spoiler was in the middle of the altmode. Megatron appeared to be an armed helicopter of some kind. As soon as he switched, he activated his rotors and rose from the ground.

Bulkhead was a bigger, bulkier car that looked like it was meant for transport of goods. While all of them were vehicles, Slash turned into something entirely different. As soon as she finished transforming, the humans saw a dinosaur-like creature. A velociraptor adjacent with a golden crest on its head. She seemed delighted to be in her form again.

Slash roared and started running. After a second, though, she realised nobody was following her. Bulkhead, Hot Rod and Optimus were standing in place, not really doing anything.

“Why aren’t you moving?” Miranda asked.

“We can’t!” Bulkhead replied.

Their liaison looked closer and her attention immediately shifted to their wheels. They looked like the tires similar to the Earth ones, but were entirely made of some shiny bright metal. Instead of protective rubber, they had something else she couldn’t recognise. Miranda dared to bring her pen closer and it was immediately yanked out of her hand. The item got stuck to Optimus’ tire.

“Are your tires made of magnets?” She asked, baffled.

“How else would we stick to the roads?...” Hot Rod asked.

“Seriously?!” Slash groaned in annoyance.

“We’ll have to deal with this later.” Miranda exhaled, pinching her nose. “We have transport. We can take you there.”

“Maybe it will be better if I go ahead.” Megatron offered.

“No.” Optimus said. “Better if we all stick together.”

The Decepticon sighed and landed back on the ground.

The Decepticons started analysing the power plant machines. Starscream was in the middle of inspecting a condenser when Shockwave appeared again.

“I’ve made calculations.” He told his leader. “In order to host humans underwater, we will have to drain the entire ship, including the sunken rooms. Then, we need to find oxygen generators which appear to be growing naturally on this planet-”

“Yes. Thank you, Shockwave.” Starscream suddenly raised his hand, making him go quiet. “You’ve convinced me with the first sentence that it’s all a big waste of time.” He said, then faced others. “Change of plans! We’re putting the humans to work now!”

At his command, the other Decepticons moved. Each one of them picked up two most qualified looking humans and brought them to the machines. Suddenly, Dropkick and Shatter transformed their arms into blasters and pointed them at the organics.

“Make that they are compatible with our ship.” Shatter instructed, dropping a bunch of tool belts under their feet.

“Or else!” Dropkick added, ready to shoot at any second.

The humans didn’t dare to question them. Two of them shakingly picked up the tool belts from the ground and pulled out whatever they needed.

They were led towards the machines and began working on them. After a few minutes, Optimus and the rest arrived at the scene. They hid behind the old buildings and crates and observed the humans trying to dismantle the giant turbines.

“All of you stay here.” The Prime whispered, pulling out and putting on a metal ring on his wrist. “We can handle this with Megatron.”

“Are you kidding? The blue one’s mine!” Slash whisper-growled back.

“No! I refuse to endanger the lives of civilians, be that human or Cybertronian ones.” Optimus argued.

“Wait a klick.” Bulkhead joined. “I’m not some defenseless civilian either. I fought for longer than you have!”

“I’m a fighter, too!” Slash added.

“I don’t question that.” The Prime replied.

“You literally just did!” She retorted.

“No, I-!... Megatron, help me out here!” Optimus turned to the Decepticon for help.

“Why are you dragging me into this?” Megatron shrugged. “You’re the Prime, command them to step down.”

“I dare you to try! You’re not my leader!” Slash threatened.

While they were arguing, Hot Rod, who found a hiding spot some distance away from them, kept observing the Decepticons. He saw them guarding the humans while they were working. They were so focused on them that they didn’t pay any attention to the containers with the rest of them.

Upon closer investigation, the Autobot noted that the vessel was standing between a rundown building and a mountain of other containers. Looking back at the rest, he saw them still arguing.

“So we’re just supposed to stand back and kick rocks?!” Slash wasn’t giving up.

“We’re not going to do anything until we make sure that the humans will come unharmed. That’s what we agreed upon with agent Dryder!” Optimus said.

Hot Rod took it as an order. Using an opportunity, he ducked and started sneaking away from the rest. The red Autobot managed to slip through and avoid detection, coming for the vessel. Finally, he was crouching right behind it.

Hot Rod inspected the container and determined how thick its metal was. After a second, he raised his hand and started snapping his fingers. Once. Twice. Thrice.

After the fifth time, he achieved the desired results. His fingers caught fire. Slowly, he pushed the two of them to the wall, making it melt upon his touch.

The humans saw what was happening and immediately got away from that wall. The two metal fingers moved, slowly and steadily, and soon managed to burn out a circular shape. Then, the piece on the inside began moving. It was eventually pulled out and Hot Rod peeked inside.

“It’s okay!... I’m here to get you out!” He whispered to them. They immediately started screaming.

Starscream, Ravage and other Decepticons unfortunately heard it.

Hot Rod tried to shush them, but it was too late. Without any warning, the containers he was hidden between were thrown to the sides. Dropkick was the one who pushed them. He stepped closer and grabbed the startled Autobot by the arm, making him cry out. The Decepticon effortlessly threw him across the dock, making him land right under Starscream’s feet.

Optimus and the rest quit squabbling and looked back, freezing in horror upon seeing what was happening.

“Well, well, well.” Starscream purred. Suddenly, he picked up Hot Rod by the back of his neck. He pulled him high off the ground with a smirk. The Autobot kicked his feet and tried to get his hand to loosen its dead grip on him. “If it isn’t the little bird who got caught by the worms!”

Suddenly, they heard a roar. Slash had climbed onto the containers and then jumped, transforming mid air. Before Dropkick reacted, the velociraptor-look alike tackled him to the ground.

The Decepticons were caught off guard. They tried to reach for their weapons, but Optimus and the rest were already charging at them. The humans took their chance. Dropping their tools, they ran away from the docks and deep into the abandoned buildings.

Starscream completely lost focus on Hot Rod. The Autobot used that opportunity. He closed his eyes, closed his ventilation system and after a second his whole body was set on fire. Starscream cried out, dropping him immediately. Then, quickly, the Autobot pulled out his bow and whacked him in the stomach with it.

“That’s for the museum! That’s for those guards! That’s for our planet!” He kept doing that, making Starscream block his attacks with his arm but progressively having him keep stepping back.

Putting on a battle mask, Optimus took it upon himself to take Shockwave on. The ring on his hand transformed and he took a hold of a proud battle axe which he immediately swung at his opponent. Shockwave teleported out of the way. He reappeared behind Optimus and quickly transformed into an alien cannon, firing a series of plasma beams at him.

The Prime whipped back and deflected the attacks with his axe. He got closer, avoiding more lasers, and when he was close enough, he flipped Shockwave on his back.

Dropkick held onto Slash’s jaws, struggling to keep her in place as she tried to bite him. Shatter tried running to him but she suddenly came to a halt and dodged as an explosion erupted where she was standing.

Bulkhead reloaded his blaster and aimed again in the distance. She transformed into a jet and flew around to avoid another shots fired her way.

Slash almost broke through Dropkick’s defences when suddenly he found a better grip on her. He pushed her off of him and grabbed her tail. He smacked her around the pavement before throwing her far. She hit the crane, denting its construction. The machine tilted slightly, threatening to come down.

Dropkick laughed in his delight, deploying his knuckle dusters. Slash growled as she stood back up. Without any warning, her crest and the marking on her body bristled dangerously, appearing to be as sharp as blades. As she charged back, she tried to slash him with her entire body. He used his knuckle dusters to fight off her blades.

Megatron was fighting Ravage and Deadlock at the same time. They tried everything they had to slash him with swords and claws, but he kept dodging and pushing them. Finally, he managed to get a hold of Ravage. Seconds after, he caught Deadlock as he tried to jump him.

“Some of my best soldiers falling for such a pointless escapade! Aren’t you ashamed of yourselves?!” He said bitterly as he lifted them up.

“I’m not getting lectured by a traitor!” Ravage snarled. Suddenly, Deadlock swung so hard he managed to kick Megatron in the face. That made him loosen his grip on them enough so both could set themselves free.

The smaller Decepticon immediately bit into his arm, making him grunt. Meanwhile, the armored Decepticon finally reached him with his swords and slashed him across his chest. Not that deep, but it left a mark. They kept attacking him fiercely together and all he could do was try and shield himself.

Starscream cried out and fell onto the molo. Hot Rod followed him close behind, his whole body burning like an angry star. The Decepticon looked up and his gaze rested on the ocean under them. His expression changed when he saw an opportunity. Hot Rod tried to jump on him with a battle roar.

The Decepticon blocked his bow by holding it by both sides, avoiding as much contact as possible. After a bit of a struggle that wore Hot Rod down more than himself, Starscream made his move. Without any warning, he wrapped his legs around him, hissing from the burning pain. Before Hot Rod could question it, he rolled to the side and sent both of them off the edge. The Autobot yelped as they hit the ocean.

The water was cold and unpleasant on his plating. It extinguished his flame in seconds. He tried to set himself ablaze again, but it was no use. His collar was suddenly yanked by Starscream. He activated his jetpack and dragged Hot Rod with him right out of the ocean.

The Decepticon flew around with him, holding him out and hitting everything that stood in their way. A stack of containers. An old street lamp. The crane, making it tilt on the opposite side. A building that was already halfway into demolition. Hot Rod wasn’t safe from any of them.

When he got bored, Starscream finally let him go. Hot Rod crash landed and rolled on the ground, wet, scratched and groaning in incredible pain. The jetformer landed before him.

“Let that be a lesson for you.” He said, stepping closer. Without any warning, he dug his heel in Hot Rod’s spoiler, causing him to scream in pain. “Don’t pick a fight you know you’ll lose!”

After a second, a laser beam flew past the Decepticon leader’s face which made him freeze. Optimus Prime was the one who shot it. Shockwave seemed to have retreated because he was nowhere to be seen.

Starscream snarled and shot from his null ray at him. Optimus moved to the side and avoided it. The assault wasn’t stopping and after a few seconds the Decepticon was forced to jump away from Hot Rod. As soon as he did, he was shot in the arm with a fire arrow. Starscream faced Hot Rod with an angry scowl. The red Autobot had his bow in his hands again, readying another two.

He had Optimus from one side to worry about and Hot Rod from the other. He was surrounded.

“Surrender now, Starscream!” Optimus said. “This planet has suffered enough from our presence!”

“Has it?...” Starscream asked, holding onto his supposedly hurt arm. His grip tightened on it after a second. “Because I’m just getting started!”

Before the two could react, Starscream raised his left arm which began transforming. He didn’t point at either of them, and instead, aimed behind Optimus. The shot was fired before they had a chance to see from which weapon it came from. Whatever it was, it released a devastating blow of energy. It flew past the Prime. The Autobot leader gasped in realisation, turning around.

“No!” He screamed as he saw the charge going for the containers with trapped humans.

Megatron managed to get the Decepticons off him and saw what was about to happen.

The blast of energy was about to hit the vessel when Megatron ran into its trajectory. He took the hit and took it hard. The explosion devoured him whole. The Decepticon was launched like a rocket across the dock, crashing on the crane, pushing its limit and completely totalling it. Its pieces of metal construction fell alongside him.

The fighting immediately stopped. Everyone faced the aftermath. Even Starscream couldn’t believe what had happened. Hot Rod took his eyes off the steaming pile in the distance after a second and focused on something closer. He could see very clearly the weapon the Decepticon had fired from now.

It was new, yet eerily familiar. Its crimson red and golden-accented surface was unscaved and untouched. Judging by the structure, it was a cannon. Its sharp and shiny edges gave the impression of being something entirely different. And yet, it stayed the same enough for Hot Rod to recognise.

“The fusion cannon?...” The Autobot half-whispered, voice full of raw emotion. Starscream managed to hear him and he turned his side to face him. “What did you do to it?! Why?!”

The Decepticon didn’t give him the luxury of a reply.

“Shockwave!” He turned and called out instead. “We’re done here!”

Even though he was nowhere to be seen, Shockwave heard the command. One by one, the Decepticons started disappearing. Slash tried to take her last chance to bite Dropkick, but she was too slow and he was gone at the last second.

Hot Rod tried to run and grab Starscream, get a hold of his arm, tear the fusion cannon from it, but he disappeared before he could reach him. He was gone. So was the beloved exhibit. The Autobot’s bow dropped out of his hand as he realised. This time, there would be no second chances.

“Megatron!” After finally getting over his shock, Optimus ran towards the place where Megatron had landed. Once he got close, he could hear a choir of heavy gasps and wet coughs.

The Prime finally saw him lying on the ground among the rubble. He grabbed the Decepticons by the shoulder and helped to pick him up.

“I’m fine, Prime. Really, I’m-...” As soon as the crane's remains fell off of him and he came to full view, the real damage was revealed. Half of Megatron’s upper body was missing. His right arm was completely torn-off and his spark was exposed. The thick smoke was still coming out of it. The Cybertronians stared in horror at the sight. “Oh…”

“Don’t move. We’ll get you help.”

“No need.” Before Optimus took a hold of him again, Megatron gently pushed him back with his remaining arm. “You know I’ve had worse.”

“At least let me lay you down.”

“That’s not a good idea right now.” Megatron said, but struggled to sigh. Optimus looked down and noticed that after a second the other Cybertronian’s chest started glowing green. Unexpectedly, the missing tissue gradually started rebuilding itself and knotting back together. It was not a pretty sight. “This is going to take a while. You don’t mind if I sit down and… recover?”

“No, of course not. Take as much as you need.” Optimus said, worry still present in his tone. Megatron hissed, holding onto his rebuilding chest as he staggered to the side. Everyone around grew exceptionally quiet after that.

A row of various vehicles came to the area to collect the machines and workers from the power plant. Trucks, ambulances, police and even some military ones.

“Hot Rod of Nyon, what were you thinking?!” Bulkhead shouted as he attended to Hot Rod’s injuries. The red Autobot was sitting on the ground and avoiding eye contact. “You didn’t just endanger yourself, those humans could’ve been seriously hurt!”

“I was trying to help!” Hot Rod retorted. After a second, Miranda joined them.

“There are a few injured, but everyone is alive. My higher-ups complained about the shambles, but I doubt they will hold a grudge over not defending a ghost town.” She told them. “... Has Megatron?...”

“He’s still healing. His… condition doesn’t let him stay hurt for long.” Optimus said, battle mask long put away.

“I’m going to need a rapport on that as well…” Miranda said, then paused. “Can all of you do that?”

“Absolutely not.” Bulkhead and Slash answered in unison.

After a second, they saw a group of humans walking close by. The medics and three workers led to one of the ambulances. They accidentally made eye contact with the Cybertronians.

“We are glad no harm has been done to you.” Optimus decided to say. His words only made one of the men red in the face.

“Freaks!” He lashed out on them, making the rest of the group tense up. “Go back where you came from and stop destroying our world!”

He was quickly pulled back by two men, but judging by their reaction, it was due to the fear of the Cybertronians rather than anything else. They quickly scurried away, leaving them to sit with his words.

“Don’t take it personally. They have been through a lot today.” Miranda said, looking up at them.

“You don’t have to tell us, agent Dryder.” Optimus assured. “We still have a long way to go with the people of your planet. You have my word that we will make the best of it.”

Miranda nodded.

It was finally time to leave the place. As the Cybertronians walked towards their transport, Optimus noticed Hot Rod hugging himself tightly.

“Are your injuries more severe than we thought?” He asked in concern.

“I don’t know anymore. Starscream almost got these people killed and it was all my fault. And he used the fusion cannon…” Hot Rod sighed shakily. ”Somewhere in the future they're going to write a whole chapter on how much I screwed up. I let down two planets on the same slagging day!”

“You are putting a lot of pressure on yourself.” Optimus said.

“I couldn’t stop him the first time and the second time, too. And now he’s twisted one of the biggest symbols of what it means to be a Cybertronian into a weapon of mass destruction!” Hot Rod threw his hands. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“I meant it when I said that you shouldn't have gone through what you did.” Optimus said. “You’re not responsible for Starscream’s actions. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but what’s done is done. All we can do now is learn from our mistakes and make sure they won’t happen again. Isn’t that what history is for?”

Hot Rod didn’t reply.

“Symbols are important, yes, but we can’t let them overshadow any of this.” Optimus continued, gesturing around them. Humans walking around, recovering from the attack, helping each other, calling their families and loved ones and telling them that they’re okay. The red Autobot tried to see as much as possible.

“The spark of every planet is its people. They are the ones who create the chronicles and build monuments. Each one has its own unique story. The biggest victory of today is that they all get to live on and keep writing it the way they choose.”

“‘Freedom is the right of all sentient beings’...” Hot Rod murmured.

“It’s what makes us Autobots. Starscream made his intentions very clear ever since we got here. We have to stop him, but this time, people must come first.”

“I…” Hot Rod sighed again. This time, he took a second to collect his thoughts. Then, when he was ready, he faced Optimus again. “I won’t let you down.”

“I’m sure you won’t.” The Prime smiled.

As soon as they neared the transporting vehicles, they saw Megatron waiting for them. The damages he took from the cannon seemed to be completely gone. It was like nothing ever happened.

“How are you feeling?” Optimus asked as he stepped to him.

“Much better!” The Decepricon said, hitting himself in the chest. “It’s unbecoming for the weapon to defeat its master, after all!”

Optimus gave him a chuckle for that. He went in first.

Slash and Hot Rod entered a separate vehicle. The red Autobot didn’t dare to look at the Decepticon out of shame for what had happened. Bulkhead went into the third vehicle, alone.

Megatron was about to join Optimus, when he suddenly stopped. He argued with his own uncertainty for a second, before he took one last glance around the place. Most of the humans were already inside of the vehicles or had driven off, yet there was something in the air. Something unexplainable and unseeable. Something that kept driving him crazy.

The Decepticon couldn’t shake off that strange feeling. Then, he realised he was standing there for a long time. Unsatisfied, he kneeled and finally disappeared inside of the vehicle. 

Chapter Text

Everyone was called to Optimus’ room early in the morning. It was by far the largest secluded area at the end of the factory. Miranda Dryder was already there. She was standing on a higher level so she could face everyone properly.

“I apologise for the early intrusion.” Was the first thing the liaison said once everyone was present. “There has been a change of plans in your daily schedule.”

“How messy are we supposed to get?” Hot Rod asked, raising his hand. “I want to know if Slash’ll want me to set her on fire again.”

“I had black boogers in places I couldn’t reach!” Slash, who was standing behind him, retorted.

“First, I would like to show you something.” Miranda said, typing on her tablet. Then, she flipped its screen and raised it.

The Cybertronians leaned closer to see what this was about. It was the latest news broadcast. Two reporters were sitting in front of the cameras, a man in a blue suit and a woman in a red blouse. There was a headline glowing in front of them. It read: ‘War of the Worlds or Iron Giant?’.

“It seems our space visitors are once again the talk of the town! Or should I say, the entire country!” The woman spoke. “Just a week ago, the world knew them as dangerous machines with a track record for disaster.”

“Now, if you were to ask a random pedestrian what they think on the matter, you would get mixed results!” The man added. “Ever since their heroic rescue of the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station’s workers, the public opinion has drastically shifted!”

After a second, the image switched to the footage of a couple of interviews from random citizens all over the United States.

“All they do is try to save their face.” A woman in Los Angeles sneered.

“They can’t be that bad if they stand up for us, right?” A young man in Central Park shrugged.

“They’re dangerous and should be put out of commission! End of story!” An elderly man from Philadelphia shouted.

“I don’t know about all robots, but some of them saved my sweetheart’s brother.” A woman from Cleveland said, smiling. “We owe them a lot.”

The Cybertronians’ expressions softened at that last interview. Optimus’ especially. Meanwhile, the complete opposite was happening right next to him. Megatron was fighting off the urge to frown.

“Amazing how one act can change someone’s mind in just a couple of days, isn’t it, Paul?”

“It sure is, Kate.” The two reporters nodded to each other. “The story of our metalheads seems to be a never ending one! What is the next step in their plan? Do they even have a plan? And what about that othe-?”

Miranda suddenly stopped the recording and put the tablet down.

“Your newly found popularity is a good chance to soften your relations with our kind.” She said. “My superiors seem to think so, too. They are making arrangements with Detroit’s authorities as we speak.”

“What kind of arrangements exactly?” Bulkhead asked.

“They want you to reintroduce yourselves, so to speak. A small meeting between you and the locals.” Miranda explained. “We cannot change how your first appearance has gone, but maybe, you can leave a new lasting impression on their minds.”

“That would be wonderful, agent Dryder!” Optimus exclaimed. “When would it be?”

“Do not worry about time. All I ask of you is to prepare accordingly. Here.” The agent said and then pulled out something from her pocket. She extended her arm, holding a piece of cardboard. It was large enough for Optimus to catch between his smallest fingers and gently lift it up. “I was granted permission to give you access to some of our planet’s tools.”

Looking closely, the group noticed that the cardboard had some code written on it.

“We really appreciate it…” The Prime smiled, albeit visibly troubled. “Would it be rude to ask what it is, though?”

“It's the Wi-Fi password.” Miranda stated. “We established the Internet connection for you. You can use it to access information about humans and our world. Your activity will be dutifully monitored, of course. Don’t go too deep on the first day.”

“We don’t have to. I know exactly what we should do to appease the crowd.” Slash said, then stepped back and transformed.

“Battle royale!” She roared as soon as her claws landed on the floor. Hot Rod and Bulkhead were forced to back up when her spikes accidentally flared.

“We’ll give them a show of strength they’ve never seen before! I need some lights!-” She pointed her front claws at the red and green Autobots. “-A big arena!-” She rotated and pointed at a baffled Miranda. “-And most importantly, celebrity appearances!” She finally faced Optimus and Megatron. Despite appearing calm, the Decepticon's eyes were betraying his growing annoyance.

Miranda’s expression suddenly fell.

“That’s… certainly one of the ideas!” Optimus said, giving her a nervous smile. “But I think it’s a bit too much for now. We’ll keep it in mind for the future.”

“I’m afraid that's not an option. There is one last thing you need to know...” Miranda chimed in. Then, she pointed at Megatron. “He’s not invited.”

The Cybertronians were completely thrown off by that news. Megatron didn’t share that sentiment. For the first time that day, a smile appeared on his face.

“What… Do you mean by that?” Hot Rod asked after a second.

“My superiors believe it will be for the best if no Decepticons attend, given the recent events.” Miranda explained.

“Makes sense.” Slash nodded.

“No, it doesn’t.” Hot Rod protested. “We wouldn’t have saved these humans if it weren’t for him!”

“The humans kidnapped and almost shot by the Decepticons.” Miranda reminded. “I’m sorry, but this time, my hands are tied.”

“I’m sorry, too, but I’m with Hot Rod on this.” Optimus intruded, making Hot Rod’s whole face light up. “I won’t stand for this exclusion of my people. Either we’re all going to participate or nobody will.”

“Optimus.” Suddenly, Megatron spoke, swiftly diffusing the argument. “It’s alright. I wasn’t planning on attending anyway.”

Optimus faced him, failing to mask his surprise. The Decepticon continued.

“All of you are right. You are supposed to promote our kind to the inhabitants of this planet and having me around would only make it more difficult. It’s better if they see us at our best and not…” Megatron paused, then clasped his hand over his chest. ”This.”

“But-” Hot Rod wanted to argue but Bulkhead placed his free left hand on his shoulder.

“It’s his choice, kid.” He told him, glaring at Megatron. “You might disagree with it, but you’ve gotta respect it.”

The red Autobot couldn’t find his words after that, so he stepped down. Optimus, however, didn’t want to give up just like that.

As soon as Miranda left, the Cybertronians moved to the main area. Everyone found their own little corner and, outside of Megatron, worked on their arm screens. They were scrolling through the Internet and learning as much as they could.

Optimus was pacing around in a circle. He was working on multiple screens at once, murmuring to himself. He was writing a speech. Sometimes he helped himself with one of the pages around him, learning about human etiquette and customs. ‘Good evening, I love your tie…’ he whispered as he typed down a sentence on the main screen.

“Fascinating.” Bulkhead said, scrolling through various Wiki pages. “It seems simple, yet effective. Their data network is like a string connecting every device together into one super web.”

“I’ve seen insects do the same…” Megatron murmured from across the room, toying with an empty barrel in his hand. His voice was clear enough for Optimus to hear. The Prime huffed in annoyance, but tried to focus on his speech. Suddenly, he heard a loud clap. Hot Rod smashed his hands together.

“I have an idea!” He said after a second, standing up. The red Autobot stepped to the centre, pulling up his screen. He showed everyone a video of the night sky being lit up by a Christmas-themed drone light show.

“According to my research, humans like a good spectacle!” He said, showing them a firework show next, then a laser show during a concert, and other similar instances. Finally, his screen disappeared and he faced everyone.

“And?” Slash asked.

“Aaand, why don’t we use it?” Hot Rod continued. “Let’s combine our resources and put together a holo-presentation about Cybertron! Show the humans how we live while keeping things entertaining!”

Nobody dared to dispute that idea. Bulkhead started searching through his personal database.

“I have some videos from last cycle’s vacation.” He said. Hot Rod walked up to him and leaned against his arm to peek at the files. “Landscapes and what have yous. And I can modify my holo-projector to make bigger images.”

“Yes! Perfect!” Hot Rod exclaimed, patting him before pushing himself away.

“I have some videos, too.” Slash offered.

“And so do I.” Optimus said, raising his arm. “Do you think you’ll have enough time to work, Bulkhead?”

“If I start now, it should be done by the evening.” The green Autobot said.

“Okay!” Hot Rod said, raising his arm. “All in favour of the holo-presentation say-!”

Crunch!

The young Autobot was startled by the sudden commotion. Megatron squished the barrel, then dropped it and caused more noise.

“Very nice thought.” He said with a forced smile, joining his palms together. “Why don’t we give them the key to Vector Sigma while we’re at it?”

“I… I was just…” The red Autobot visibly shrinked.

“Got a problem, geezer?” Slash growled.

“No.” Megatron said, standing up. He circled his pointing finger at everyone present. “All of you have problems if you think giving away potential ammunition is a good idea.”

“Yes, because we don’t want to endanger anyone by showing the…” Bulkhead paused and looked closer at his screen. “Hydrax Canyon’s tourist trail.”

“I’m sure you find it hilarious now.” The Decepticon doubled down. “But for every Cybertron’s rock, there’s one new weapon. Every branch, house or scrap is under threat of being stolen and distorted in their grubby little hands.”

“I really don’t see why humans would do that.” Hot Rod managed meekly.

“You don’t know war the way I do, child. If you don’t keep things to yourself, your enemies will make you bleed with them.”

Suddenly, Optimus stopped and closed all of his pages.

“I really like your idea, Hot Rod.” He said, facing others. “Are you two onboard?”

Bulkhead and Slash nodded, much to Megatron’s annoyance.

“Excellent! You can go ahead and begin planning. I will be joining you shortly.”

“... We can do that.” Bulkhead took the hint. Hot Rod was staring at him for a second, just as awkwardly. The three of them left, with Slash giving Megatron one last growl before retreating.

Almost immediately after they were gone, the Autobot leader crossed his arms.

“What?” The Decepticon asked, squinting.

“The war, Megatron?” He sighed tiredly. “We’re not at war with the humans!”

“No, I suppose we’re not.” Megatron scoffed, grabbing his waist. “Being at war means both sides have some kind of potential to fight back. From what I’ve seen, we’re skipping straight to capitulation.”

“I understand that this is hard for you.” The Prime continued calmly. “You’ve barely seen what modern Cybertron looks like before being thrown head first into an organic planet. The most adaptable individual would need months to adjust and we weren’t given that luxury… But there is adjustment and there is being purposefully antagonistic. Make no mistake, you will have to confront your own biases sooner or later.”

“What biases?” Megatron grimaced. Optimus just side-eyed him in response. The Decepticon groaned. “I’m helping, aren’t I? I literally took the hit for the humans!”

“And did you do it because you cared to save their lives or because you knew I did?”

“I can hardly see how that’s relevant.”

“That’s the issue. Hot Rod’s idea was great and we’re going to use it. You, on the other hand, are not getting off the hook that easily. While we are away, I want you to do your own research on humans. Learn as much as you can about them and their planet.” The Prime conditioned. It only caused Megatron to laugh.

“You can’t be serious!...” He wheezed.

“I haven’t been this serious in a while.” Optimus said, opening his subspace and reaching inside. “And if you’re serious about our shared mission like you claimed you were, you’re going to put in the effort. You may start by establishing a connection to this world just like the rest of us did.”

Without a warning, the Autobot leader pushed the Wi-Fi password into Megatron’s gripped hand while giving him the most intense stare. To say that the Decepticon was furious was an understatement. He kept glaring at Optimus even as he stepped back and left the cardboard in his possession. The feeling kept lingering for the next hours.

Ultimately, they were given little time to prepare. In one second they were still getting ready, and in the other, they were leaving the transporting vehicles that drove them to somewhere in Detroit. They felt like they were on an island. There was a lot of green and they could see glass buildings in the distance.

They parked nearby a stone circle in the ground. When they stepped out of the vehicles, they saw a gathering of citizens of Detroit in a safe distance from them. Their number was greater than they had expected. Most of them brought items they could use to defend themselves in case of emergency. The soldiers were there as well, surrounding them and keeping a close watch on the Cybertronians.

Both the civilians and the military individuals were glaring warily at them.

“Before we begin.” Optimus said as others joined him. “We want to make the best impression. That means no showing off, no special abilities, and just to be sure, no transforming.”

“What?!” Slash shouted. “I had a bunch of alt-mode tricks prepared for the presentation! What the frag am I supposed to do now?!”

“I’m really sorry, Slash. I should’ve said something sooner.” The Prime apologised, realising his mistake.

“You should’ve! By Onyx, you’re the worst! Arg!” She groaned, walking away from him and behind Bulkhead, still fuming.

“Great, problems already and we didn’t even start.” Hot Rod said, dropping his spoiler.

“Everything will be alright. Slash will just have to improvise…” Optimus said regretfully.

Back at the factory, things were quiet as ever. The soldiers that stayed behind guarded the building.

Two of them switched posts. One left while the other took her position. He spent several minutes standing still and keeping a lookout. He was about to loosen up a bit when suddenly he felt a strange wind on his back.

The soldier instantly whipped back and aimed his weapon. However, nothing was behind him. The man started looking around but he still found no sign of suspicious activity.

Finally, he dropped his guard and faced forward. What he failed to notice was that nearby, one of the old factory windows had opened on its own.

Megatron was sitting by the wall in his room. He was scrolling through the Internet on his purple holographic screen. Despite his efforts, he couldn’t find anything of value. He went from random videos of humans doing reckless stunts, articles with the most bizarre headlines he’d ever read, or thousands upon thousands of advertisements.

Before he was about to move on to another page, he accidentally clicked on an old add for something called ‘the bikini carwash’. What he saw made him shudder and finally close the screen. He let out a heavy sigh, rubbing his eyes.

“Gigabytes upon gigabytes of pure unfiltered trash and not an ounce of anything helpful.” He said through gritted teeth. “He’s testing me. He must be! Even after everything, he still doubts my intentions. What more do I have to sacrifice to prove him wrong? Do I have to get my head blown up next time?!”

He was about to slam his fist against the wall. Right before he dealt the blow, he suddenly heard a commotion somewhere outside of his living space. The Decepticon stopped himself and listened in. The sound never came up again. Still, he was already getting suspicious.

Megatron stood up, and quietly, he left his room. Glancing around, he sweeped down the factory in search of what was happening. Everything was in order, just like Optimus and others had left it. The Decepticon searched the whole area but still nothing.

He was just finishing scanning the entrance and turning to return to his room when suddenly his senses reacted. It was back. That weird, unsettling feeling was back. This time, it felt stronger than ever before and it was coming from just around the corner.

The Decepticon stepped onto the other side of the building and looked around the hallway that connected all of their rooms together. Just like before, he was met with loud, audacious nothingness. The feeling remained the same, however.

Megatron decided to confront this once and for all. He reached his helm and tapped its side a few times. After a second his pupils shimmered as he changed settings.

The Cybertronian’s vision shifted to heat signatures. At first, everything was cold and unmoving… and then he turned his head. There was a small heat signature coming out of Optimus’ room. It was in the shape of some unseen silhouette.

Megatron furrowed his brow in confusion. The figure walked across the hallway when suddenly it stopped dead in its tracks. It began staring back at the Decepticon.

It felt like minutes passed, neither of them moving or saying anything, then the smaller presence stumbled. Without any warning, it started running away.

Megatron immediately threw himself into the chase. He leaned down and swooped his hand across the floor. As soon as he felt something tangible landing in his palm, he closed his grip on it.

The force let out a startled gasp. Suddenly, the invisible reflection began glitching and after a few seconds Megatron could see who he was dealing with. The figure was small and shaped like a human, but it had its whole body covered in mirrors and screens.

Before the Cybertronian had a chance to take a closer look, he noticed too late that he had captured the intruder in a way that still allowed them to move their upper limbs. Without any warning, the human(?) threw a metal box at him. It stuck to his forehead and then immediately jolted him with a paralysing sting.

Megatron cried out, dropping the intruder and making them fall onto the floor. While the Decepticon was holding onto his head in pain, they quickly collected themself from the ground and rushed into the closest room.

Megatron snarled, blinking rapidly. Whatever had zapped him distorted his vision for a while. It returned back to normal after a second but the figure was already out of sight. They weren’t lost for long because he heard the creaking of metal from Bulkhead’s room.

The Decepticon rushed inside and there was his culprit. They were clumsily climbing on the unstable platform, trying to reach the opened window of the building. After a bit of a struggle, they found themself just before it. Panting, the intruder leaped out of the frame and tried to jump out.

Megatron caught up. He managed to catch them, making them cry out in surprise. He pulled them back inside.

A few soldiers were alerted by that. They turned towards the building, seeing the Decepticon standing by the closed window. Seeing their eyes on him, he gave them a smirk and wriggled his fingers at them.

“Creep.” One of them murmured as the tensions began falling again.

The Decepticon stepped away from the window and turned around, looking down at the human in his hand. He brought them closer to his face, glaring dangerously.

“Wait!” The intruder suddenly shouted, wriggling in his grasp. “I’m unarmed! I’m not a danger to you!”

“My growing headache would like to differ.” The Decepticon said.

“I-it was just a safety precaution! Set to temporarily disarm! I’m not here to kill anyone!”

Megatron could finally see the little details in their, his, he assumed, suit. The mirrors, screens and also cables were attached to a black material. Or were they bandages? Whatever it was, it was preventing him from seeing the human’s body and face. All he could glance at were goggles though which he saw a pair of frightened dark eyes.

The Decepticon squinted at him, noting that the human started shaking harder than before. After a second, he decided to move. Megatron walked through the factory, trying to find somewhere without any windows. Slah’s room had no outlook to the outside world whatsoever and so he settled there.

He kneeled in the corner, finally putting his ‘guest’ down. The human managed to land on his feet but immediately threw himself at the wall. Gripping his chest, he started breathing heavily.

“Now we can talk.” Megatron said, getting comfortable on the ground. “I suppose it’s fair to assume Dryder didn’t send you.”

“...What is this? An interrogation?” The human faced him, finally calming down. “You’re programmed with those things?”

“That didn’t really answer my question.” The Cybertronian pointed out.

“... No.”

“So you’re a burglar, then.”

“Also no!” The man said, pointing at the Decepticon. “The only thing I’m interested in taking out of this place is scientific research.”

Megatron titled his head.

“I know how this all looks.” The human continued. “But I’m really not trying to cause any harm. I mean logically what would I even do? To someone like you, I must be like a mouse!”

“And yet that didn’t stop you from stalking us for several days now. Were you also the one I felt on the construction site?” Megatron asked.

The Decepticon recalled the incident from several days before. He had been inspecting the damage on the construction site before he sensed something weird in the distance. Being unable to find his target made him stare at one spot for a long time.

“Megatron!” Optimus had then called him, forcing him to snap back to reality.

“I thought I was just being paranoid…” The human clicked his tongue, massaging his covered neck.

“Grave mistake.” The Decepticon replied, leaning his upper body forward. “And now I would like to know who paid you and how much.”

“You think I’m here for the money?” His intruder dared to chuckle.

“I don’t see any other reasons why you would break into a heavily guarded facility dressed like that and risk being caught by ‘someone like me’.” Megatron said, air quoting. The human stared at his hands as he did so, fascination never leaving gaze.

“I can give you one.” He offered, finally looking away. He spread his arms, presenting his suit to the Cybertronian. “Since you’ve already noticed, this is my own design. Impractical, uncomfortable and a bit funny looking.”

Megatron decided to spare him a mean comment. This one time.

“That’s why I’m searching for ways to improve it. This and many more of my personal projects. You see, I’m an inventor. Those were very popular a couple centuries ago and since you arrived on this planet we’ve been heading for a brand new renaissance. Wow, that sounded pretentious…” The man looked down and muttered.

“In other words…” The Cybertronian tried to piece it together in his mind. “You’re here to copy our technology so you can enhance your own.”

“What? No, I’m not going to steal from you. The most I’m looking for is inspiration. I’ve seen what you can do and it’s incredible. The way you change shape, fight, heck, you regrew your entire upper half! There’s so much potential for things that might genuinely improve people’s lives!”

“Uh huh.” The Cybertronian raised a brow at him. After a second, the human’s posture faltered.

“You’re… not going to give me to these soldiers now, right?”

“By all accounts, I should-”

“Wait!” He shouted. “I don’t have anything, you found me before I took any notes. And previously I also got nothing! Can’t you just… let me go? I’ll do anything, I won’t tell anyone. I need to get out of here before tomorrow!”

That caught Megatron off guard. He could almost see the desperation radiating from the human.

All things considered, he shouldn’t feel pressured to fulfill his demand. He was the one who broke in and risked everything. And yet, the Decepticon couldn’t help but consider. If he told the humans about his intruder, he would be left alone with the Internet again. He would have to do all of his research on his own to prove Optimus wrong and he felt like never going back there again.

The Decepticon’s focused gaze began losing its edge. After a second, he decided to reply.

“Perhaps there is something you can do.” Megatron said, regaining the man’s attention. “I have a certain issue that you may be able to help with.”

“Really?” The human blinked. “I-I mean, yes! Whatever this is, I accept!”

The Decepticon moved back, allowing the human more space. He hesitantly stepped forward and neared his leg.

“I was supposed to participate in an event today. A human-Cybertronian get along if you will.” Megatron began, looking down sadly. “I was so thrilled to go. Unfortunately, humans feel frightened by my mere presence. I had to stay behind so others could properly represent our kind.”

“Oh…” The man said with a quieter tone. “That’s… unfortunate.”

“Yes… I had so much to share. It was a once in a lifetime chance to engage in a mutual conversation and now it’s gone… Or so it seemed.” His mournful tone suddenly changed into something a little darker. The intruder felt like getting away but he didn’t. “I would like to offer a trade. I will give you the information you need and let you walk away. In return, you will tell me everything I need to know about humanity.”

“You’d really do that?” The man asked in surprise.

“Indeed.” Megatron agreed. He was about to speak when suddenly the Cybertronian interrupted him again. “As long as you take that silly cover from your face. I can barely hear a word from your mouth.”

“Fair, I guess.” The human sighed. After a second, he reached for his head. He peeled off the goggles from his eyes and then began gradually removing the layers of material. The first thing Megatron saw was short black and slightly messy hair poking out.

The material was gone in seconds. Then, the Decepticon saw the human reaching for a hidden pocket on his arm. He pulled out a pair of square glasses which he opened with one quick wave of his hand before placing them on his nose. When he was done, the human faced Megatron.

“Better?” He asked, spreading his arms to his sides awkwardly.

“It’s a start.” The Cybertronian nodded, then placed his hand on his chest and gave the human a small bow. “My name is Megatron.”

“I’m Carl.” The man replied, then paused. He decided to give the Decepticon a deep bow in return. Megatron gave him a weird look, not really knowing if it was mockery or not. He dismissed it as soon as Carl looked back in his direction. “So… we can start?”

The final countdown was coming to an end. The Cybertronians with Optimus on the lead found their way to the stone ring and settled around it. There, they saw Miranda already waiting for them with a tall man in a fancy suit. He appeared to be nervous. The group stepped towards them.

“Listen ma’am. I really wanted to become an astronaut when I was a kid. We’ve all had that phase in our lives…” The man next to Miranda murmured. “But that doesn’t make me qualified for any of this!...”

“If they were a danger, I wouldn’t be standing here and helping organise this event.” Miranda whispered back. She tried to sound assuring, but the way she phrased it made it seem ominous more than anything. The man didn’t have time to reply because Optimus found himself right above him.

The man glanced at the agent for help. She just tilted her head, silently telling him to act. He let out a huff, murmuring ‘Everyone’s got their job…’, and then turned to face the Autobot leader.

“Greetings, visitors from space!” The man greeted. “My name is Damien Daverson, the mayor of this fine city! A pleasure to finally meet in less… compromised circumstances!”

The Prime moved and Daverson almost flinched. He saw the giant robot getting on one knee before him.

“Good evening, Mr. Daverson!” Optimus replied, offering the human his palm. He looked down and hesitantly placed his hand on top of it. “The pleasure is all ours! I love your tie!

“Hm?” The mayor withdrew after a second and grabbed onto a neat bow wrapped around his neck. “Oh, that’s not a tie. That’s a bowtie. I personally like them more.”

“My mistake.” Optimus bowed his head apologetically. After a second he stood back up and faced the distant crowd.

“Citizens of Detroit!” He began, making a bold step forward. The citizens stepped back while the soldiers readied their weapons. “Thank you all for giving us this opportunity to connect! We will make sure to make the best of it!”

A few murmurs rose among the humans, but the Autobot leader wouldn’t let that intimidate him.

“There have been a lot of assumptions being made about our kind! Some speculate what our intentions might be! Who we are as not just people but species itself! Today, we would like to, as I hope I’m not butchering your saying, clear the air!”

At that cue, Bulkhead came up to him. He stood behind the statue and grabbed with two hands onto his cane, digging it in the ground.

Suddenly, his eyes flickered. He turned them towards the sky and in seconds a beam of light shot through them. The scenery began changing rapidly.

Some of the humans in the audience panicked when they became surrounded with unfamiliar landscapes. The vibrant blue and purple rivers, huge shiny trees, mountains, patches of some grass-adjacent spikes and so on. The blue, golden and silver were by far the most domineering colours which hurt their eyes for a bit. They soon calmed down however when they realised it was all harmless.

The mayor and Miranda were looking around as well, in shock as well as intrigue.

“This is Cybertron!” Optimus began, gesturing all around the simulation. “By far the biggest planet in our solar system! Where technology and biology are deeply tangled with each other!”

Suddenly, the landscape around them began shifting. From the natural habitats they moved onto a rural area. Metal buildings of all shapes and sizes grew around them. Countless spiralling roads stretched as far as they could see.

There was even a park. There were thirteen gigantic statues standing around a beautiful fountain. Upon closer look, the humans could see that a statue of Optimus Prime himself was in the centre of it. He was holding up some circular object with a large handle. Water, or rather the glowing substance that served as water was pouring out of the circular device. Optimus spared it a quick glance before stepping back. Hot Rod came forward, replacing him on the front.

“This is Iacon!” The red Autobot began with a gesture. “One of the many cities we would like to show you today! It’s also known as the capital of the Autobots, the pinnacle of Cybertronian culture, and, my personal favourite, the birthplace of the largest racing event on whole Cybertron, Iacon 5000!-”

—--

“Kind of a dumb question but how were you able to see me?” Megatron and the intruder named Carl settled in the corner away from the prying eyes. The man had pulled out a notebook and a pen to write everything down.

“I did not.” The Cybertronian replied. “Your invention emits a strange energy that my scanners picked up. A very annoying one at that.”

“Really? Seemed to work with us perfectly…” Carl murmured, writing that down in his notebook while humming to himself. “So, anything particular in mind?”

“I would like to learn something about your planet.” Megatron said, leaning against the wall and getting comfortable. “I’m not picky. Culture. Geography. Biology. All of these are fine.”

Carl scratched his chin.

“I guess we should start with the basics.” He said, making a circle with his fingers in the air. “There are about eight billion people living here. The land is split on seven continents. Each region has a different climate, some can be really hot and some can be really cold. Most of our planet consists of water. Oceans, seas, everything in between.”

“That must be inconvenient for you.” Megatron interrupted. “With that high of a number, the land must feel so cramped.”

“Yeah, well, not everyone was lucky to be born as a mermaid.” The man couldn’t help but snort as his own comment. Megatron’s focused stare suddenly loosened.

“What is a mermaid?” He asked. Carl immediately lost his grin. He looked the Decepticon back in the optics. He determined that he was being serious.

“What?” Megatron was quickly annoyed with that.

“Nothing.” Carl said, coughing into his hand. “Sorry, I lost my brain train for a second. Mermaids are a type of human that lives under water. They have fish tails instead of legs like mine.”

“Humans live underwater, too?” The Decepticon grimaced.

“Yeah, you just don’t see them very often. They swim in deep seas and live in a city called…” Carl waved his hands for dramatic effect. “Atlantis!... They’re very isolated.”

“I see…” Megatron’s focused stare came back. He joined his hands together and waited for him to continue with anticipation. Carl couldn’t believe his own luck. He decided to carry on.

“-So if you ever wanted a nice warm spot to spend your day off, Kaon’s National Smelting Pools Park is just the place! Entry’s free on weekends and national holidays.” Hot Rod said, presenting to the audience a hellish looking landscape with rivers of molten lava pouring everywhere. In the corner, Hot Rod could be seen bathing in one as if it was a jacuzzi. Only the top of his head and his spoiler was visible.

“Thank you for your insight, Hot Rod.” Optimus nodded, then took over again. “The only thing more varied than our planet is its inhabitants themselves!”

After a second, the smelting pools disappeared and the scenery came back to the city. This time, it was brimming with life. There were robots, airplanes, jets and other flying machines soaring freely between the shiny metal buildings. Through the never ending roads, countless vehicles were speeding in all possible directions.

The image, despite being highly futuristic from Miranda’s perspective, presented a normal day in the city. Cybertronians were walking around, talking to each other or working. There was something disturbingly domestic to it all. It only gave her more questions than answers. Yet, with all of that, there was a certain charm to the scene that she couldn’t deny.

The humans’ heads almost fell from their places at how much they were spinning to take in the view. Some even tried reaching out and touch the driving Cybertronians.

“We are most known for our unique ability of changing shape.” Optimus said. Just then, the presentation showed a random Cybertronian rushing out of the store hurriedly, looking at the clock on their arm. In seconds, they transformed into a jet and took to the sky.

“It’s the right of every one of us to have at least one additional form that we personally chose for ourselves. It can be anything. Now you see various vehicles, but the selection goes beyond that. Some prefer everyday objects to make their and everyone around them’s lives easier. Some turn to other lifeforms instead.”

The focus of the presentation shifted to the pavement. The vehicles disappeared and instead another kind of Cybertronians appeared. The crowd saw metal animals casually strolling around. Metal birds, feelines, lizards, even bugs. Some of them were in their other form, they had some features such as animals heads, wings or claws, but they were also Cybertronians nonetheless.

Slash snarled discreetly, clenching her fists.

“Most of us belong to factions.” Optimus continued, putting out his arms. A bunch of symbols appeared on them. The humans recognised the Autobot and Decepticon symbols but there were at least six more.

“You are already aware of us, Autobots and Decepticons. We Autobots believe that every sentient being deserves to have the freedom to live how they please. Decepticons…”

A good part of the audience shifted at the mentioning of that name.

“Despite what might be believed, they are working to achieve peace by all means necessary. Within reason, of course. Then there are Maximals and Predacons.” Two badges grew slightly bigger. “Both of them believe in community and strength that comes from their animal alt-modes. Then we have Minicons who are-”

“Really?” Suddenly, they heard a voice chiming in, making Optimus lose his rhythm. Everyone turned towards Slash.

“That’s all you have to say? Not all of us are Maximals or Predacons!” She said, stomping towards the Prime. The audience held their breaths. The soldiers were on standby. Miranda gripped her tablet while Daverson looked like he was about to faint.

Slash turned towards the wide-eyed Optimus and looked down at the faction symbols.

“Slash-!” He murmured to her.

“Should’ve let me do my act.” She murmured to him, then faced the audience.

“Hi! My name is Slash! I’m a Dinobot!” She said, throwing her arm up. Without any warning, her eyes flickered and a huge faction symbol lit up in the sky in literal flames. It caused the audience to shout and try to lean away.

The faction symbol had some similarities with the Autobot one, but it looked like a face of a sharp-toothed beast.

“We are the most powerful faction that there is! We fight the strongest battles and don’t let anyone tell us what to do!” She began, starting to pace around the stage.

In seconds, footage of Dinobots fighting appeared around the crowd. Slash was in company of a couple of dinosaurs that shared some similarities with Earth dinosaurs. The audience’s reception immediately warmed up and they became perhaps a bit too fascinated with what they were seeing. Dinobot against Dinobot in a brutal match of skill and might.

Slash heard Hot Rod murmuring behind her: “You’re not even an official faction…”

“Some nonbelievers say that we’re not an official faction!” She grinned, catching the red Autobot off guard. “And you know what? They’re right! But that’s only because we recognised we were too good for them and they were mad about it!”

Optimus suddenly cleared his throat. He dismissed the faction symbols and tried to get his word out.

“Yes, the Dinobots!... Their faction leader Grimlock and I go way back! They are our trusted allies in time of need! They have their own little kingdom where they train formidable and loyal warriors! They tend to be a little rigorous and dare I say prideful, but not everyone is cut out for what they’re doing! They know that better than anyone! To be a Dinobot, you have to undergo a trial!”

Optimus paused to glance at Slash.

“I assume you already went through one?”

“Yeah…” She said hesitantly. “Right before the accident.” After a second, the Dinobot faced the audience. “The trial is one on one combat. Alt-modes only. If you beat the assigned opponent, you’re in.” Suddenly, she smashed her claws against each other, making sparks fly around.

“Mine was huge as a house! She had two heads, one with laser eyes and one with electric breath!”

Suddenly, the holograms of the fighting Dinobots faded. A projection of one flying one swooped down and landed in front of the humans.

Appearance wise, it resembled a dragon with two heads and a nasty scowl. The audience gasped, less in fear and more in amazement at this point. Even Daverson seemed intrigued. Miranda discreetly observed his reaction with hope.

“Don’t remember what her name was, but she was a beast! She almost took my head off at the start!-” Slash started gesticulating frantically as she told the story. The humans listened.

Hot Rod couldn’t help but discreetly glance at Optimus. He caught the Prime looking at him back. The red Autobot gave him a troubled expression, not sure what was happening. Optimus just shrugged at him. Despite himself, he felt a huge grin forming on his face.

“You have three fuel pumps?” Megatron asked, baffled.

“We call them hearts.” Carl stated, putting his hands all over his chest and intentionally making a few deep breaths.

“Why would you need that many?”

“We’ve got a lot of liquid in our bodies. About sixty or seventy percent.”

“That would explain the soft exterior.” The Decepticon mused, pointing at Carl’s stomach. “So if any of us are not careful enough and we squeeze you too hard…”

“There will be a big mess. Please don’t try to see it for yourself.” The man said and Megatron withdrew.

“I suppose that’ll do for now.” The Decepticon said. “You may ask your questions now-”

“Who made you?”

“I’m sorry?” The Cybertronian was completely thrown off by that immediate question. The very first he received, no less.

“Who made you?” Carl repeated, tapping his pen against the notebook. “You were created by someone, right? It’s only logical that the first question of business would be to ask about that.”

“I suppose… All of us are created, aren’t we?” Megatron said, attempting to dodge the question. “Each in a different way.”

“And how were you specifically created?” Carl insisted. “The military?”

“Uh… no…”

“You’re a computer that gained sentience?”

“No-”

“Alien in a metal suit?”

“I have no idea what that means-”

“Remotely controlled?”

Megatron felt his whole body tensing. He was fighting his thoughts, not to let even a bit of frustration slip. His eyes darted around quickly to find a way to respond.

His hand ran down his arm…

That’s it. Megatron calmed himself and collected his thoughts.

“No.” He said after a second. “Are you familiar with the concept of links?”

“What… kind of links?” Carl rose his brow.

“Existential links.” Megatron clarified, raising two fingers up. “Imagine a web that connects all minds together.”

“A hivemind?”

“Perhaps. It is what connects us Cybertronians with our creators.”

“Fascinating…” The man quickly wrote it down. “Is this why you started fighting each other? The connection with your creators became limited here on Earth?”

It was a good thing that the inventor was facing the notebook. Megatron’s expression overcame burning anger.

“No, actually.” He said after a second, masking his emotions with an unnerving calmness. “The connection is still there. They can see you.”

Carl’s hand suddenly slipped and he made an unwanted line across the page. His whole body shut down and he kept staring at it with wide eyes.

After a few long seconds, he looked back at the Cybertronian, mouth agape. Megatron couldn’t help but relish in the fact that he got him so speechless.

“You seem troubled.” He added salt to the injury by pointing it out.

“I…” Carl stumbled with his own words. “T-they can see me? Right now?”

“That is what I just said.” The Decepticon said casually. “They’re not angry with you breaking in, if that’s what you’re worried about. If they didn’t want me to talk to you, you would be gone by now.”

“O-oh…” Carl blurted out, his mind still racing. He hesitantly raised his hand and gave Megatron a weak wave. “Thanks?...”

“I hope that doesn’t change your mind about anything.”

“I was just caught off guard. Give me some time and I’ll… get used to it.”

“If that’s what you wish.” Megatron said. He couldn’t help but keep grinning proudly from that point on.

Nobody really could blame Miranda for getting lost in the virtual world the Cybertronians had provided. Every picture and every story was a brand new experience. That one moment of tension had long passed and all that was left was to enjoy the rest of the show.

At the end of their presentation, Optimus, Hot Rod, Slash and even Bulkhead rounded up.

“We may be away from our home, but our principles remain stronger than ever. Now, they extend to your kind as well.” The Prime’s voice boomed.

“The fact that you spared us a moment of your time gives us hope that we will reach a mutual understanding. It may not come today. Or tomorrow. Or maybe even a week. But your presence, your hearing components, that’s more than enough now. My name is Optimus Prime and this is a message to your entire planet. We will continue our efforts and protect you when an emergency arises. We will listen and learn about your customs so we can work together better. I know a lot of you don’t trust us, and we can’t blame you for it, but we can still work towards a brighter future. And with all my spark, we will do everything in our power to help that vision come true!”

Bulkhead tapped onto his head and his eyes dimmed. In seconds, the holograms began fading and eventually disappearing.

Miranda felt like she was snapped out of a dream. Just like that she was back on Earth, with Daverson and other humans.

The Cybertronians stood still, waiting for the final verdict. The more it was dragging out, the more anxious they were becoming.

They started suspecting the crowd would start yelling. Throwing things at them and calling for their leave. Hot Rod even felt like stepping back but Bulkhead’s cane discreetly blocked him from doing so.

And then, when it all seemed to go downhill…

Their audials reached a sound of small, slow claps.

Miranda was the one who gave them their first applause. Daverson noticed it. Quickly making up his mind, he joined her.

The group heard the sound intensifying. Two hands turned into five. Five into twenty. The soldiers kept a hold of their weapons, but the civilians gave them a big round of applause.

The Cybertronians felt tension leaving their bodies. Slash and Hot Rod even had it in themselves to smile at each other. Optimus and Bulkhead nodded to themselves before the entire group gave the people a deep bow.

And the crowd went crazy.

In just a few hours, everything was over. Optimus and the rest were getting ready to get inside of the vehicles and be transported back to the factory. The Prime just went inside his transport when suddenly he heard a commotion behind him.

“Ma’am! You’re not supposed to go inside!” A soldier said to Miranda as she was climbing inside of the trailer.

“I’ll be fine!” She said, showing him her wrist with the glowing watch. She didn’t wait for him to reply and jumped inside.

“Agent Dryder.” Optimus said in surprise. “Is there a problem?”

“Far from it, I am afraid.” She replied, sitting some distance away from him. After a few minutes, they felt the vehicle finally moving.

“I decided to personally congratulate you.” Miranda began. “People of Detroit will certainly remember today for a long time.”

“You don’t know how much those words mean to us.” Optimus smiled at her. The woman looked forward.

“Your planet seems like quite the marvel.” She stated. “I’ve got to confess that I used to doubt your statement that we were alike, but now…”

“Amazing how one act can change someone’s mind?” The Prime chuckled, making her huff in amusement.

“Exactly.”

“Funny. I’ve been living on Cybertron all my life, yet I don't remember the last time I felt so appreciative of it as much as during that presentation. And seeing the way the younglings talked about what they love about their home filled me with joy. Call me sentimental, sappy even, but this is the type of thing we used to fight for.”

Miranda’s head rose at his words.

“Fight?” She repeated.

“You heard right.” The Prime nodded. “Things weren’t always the way they are now. Cybertron used to be different back when Megatron, I and Bulkhead were younger.”

“I understand if this is a sensitive topic.”

“No, not at all. We are very connected with our history. I’ll be more than glad to tell you that story.” After a second he paused and faced her. “Would you like me to tell you?”

Miranda considered it for a moment.

“Since we’re on the topic of your creators, mind telling me something about them?” Carl finally asked. “Or better yet, do you have a connection to these hostile robots?”

“I suppose I should. Before I begin, however, I need to ask you a question…” The Decepticon leaned closer, expression becoming deadly serious.

“Are you trustworthy, Carl?” He asked.

“... Sure.” The human responded after a moment of thinking.

“In that case, I will share with you knowledge only you will have access to. Take that as a token of my gratitude.” The Decepticon claimed.

Carl was about to start writing, but then he stopped himself. He put the notebook away and focused all of his attention on Megatron.

“The group that attacked are outcasts. They broke free from the collective and went insane from it. Our mission is to bring them back to face proper punishment. We arrived on Earth by accident. Hurting your people was never an objective in my masters’ design.”

“‘Masters’?”

“We come from a distant planet called Cybertron.” Megatron began. “We are machines generously brought to life by our creators, Quintessons.”

“We were created by Primus, the core and life of our home planet.” Optimus said. “However, for generations, we were led to believe that we were made by another alien race, the Quintessons.”

“Quintessons are a peaceful species. Benevolent and kind benefactors who seek to expand prosperity across the universe.”

“They were perhaps the most despicable and evil kind the universe has ever seen. They enslaved us for generations.”

“Thanks to them, our planet thrives. They gave us opportunities we would never even dream of.”

“They created a caste system where we had only two outcomes: Become labourers and subject ourselves to slave work in the factories or mines. Or become battle frames, get our bodies ‘modified’ to fit the ruthless life in the arena and fight to death for the amusement of the Quintessons.”

“They filled us with purpose.”

“They almost destroyed our culture and distorted our history.”

“They made us powerful.”

“They made us tools in their hands.”

“I’m sorry, but that sounds absolutely disturbing.” Carl said, grimacing.

“None of us sees it that way.” Megatron replied. “We are machines, nevermind advanced ones. We are happy with our way of life.”

“The time came when we’d had enough of the oppression. I left the factory I was assigned to with a group of my closest friends and joined the rebellion. With time, we split into two factions. Most of the battle frames became the first Decepticons. It was their leader who began the resistance long before any of us. Some say that if it weren’t for his efforts, Cybertron would’ve still most likely been under the rule of the Quintessons. Someone I thought I lost a very long time ago…”

Miranda took in the story. After a second, she pieced something together in her mind.

“Megatron?” She asked.

“Yes.” Optimus confirmed. “A part of me wished he would’ve been present today and see what he helped to create. He didn’t have that opportunity before.”

“He couldn’t because of us…” Miranda faced the ground.

“Please don’t beat yourself up, agent.” Optimus said. “I’m sure you’ve done everything you could. We will never stop being grateful that you’re in this with us.”

That was the end of their conversation because the agent didn’t find any words of response. They spent the rest of the ride in silence, both deeply in thought.

The Cybertronians and Miranda finally entered the factory. As soon as they crossed the main entrance, they suddenly halted.

“Anyone else get that weird feeling?” Hot Rod asked.

“What feeling?” Miranda asked.

“I don’t know. Something feels off.” Slash confirmed, looking around.

“I don’t feel anything.” The agent claimed.

“Me neither.” They finally noticed Megatron approaching. “Perhaps you are tired after a long day.”

The group looked among themselves.

“I suppose it was an electrifying experience.” Optimus said. Meanwhile, Megatron had one of his optics in a different setting. He saw a small silhouette sneaking past them before running out of the building undetected.

“So how did self-isolation go for you?” Slash asked cockily.

“Wonderful, thank you for asking.” The Decepticon retorted.

“Our holo-presentation went well, too!” Hot Rod said proudly. Meanwhile, Miranda excused herself out of the building. “There have been some complications on the way, but it looks like the audience warmed up to us a bit!”

“Ah. That’s good, then.” The Decepticon said, gaining their surprised glances.

“Weren’t you against it before?” Bulkhead asked.

“What do I know about social relations?” He shrugged. “Besides, I’ve done my research. I’m sure that even if humans tried anything, we will be able to defend ourselves with ease.”

“That’s…” Optimus forced a smile. “Not really what I wanted you to take from this, but I’m glad you tried to challenge yourself.”

“Believe me, it was a challenge.” Megatron said, grabbing onto his helm. “The things I’ve learned about this species. Would you believe that they have three meaty fuel pumps?”

“Ew, what?”

“Cool!” Hot Rod and Slash said, in disgust and in morbid fascination.

“Oh, that is not all!” The Decepticon continued. “The little freaks live underwater and build cities there! They don’t seem to realise that the pressure on that level would tear them apart! And yet they still try!-”

He continued talking out his spark. Everyone except Slash listened to him, utterly horrified.

Chapter Text

The sound of glasses hitting against each other echoed through the dampened walls. The Decepticons gathered around on the bridge, lining up their rations of Energon in a row. In total, they collected six full cubes with bright purple substance inside, placing them in front of the captain seat.

When they were finished, Starscream stepped before them, giving each a quick glance. After a second, they saw his nose scrunching.

“Are you sure this is all we have?” He asked, raising his head to face the group.

“I’m afraid so, my Lord.” Shatter said, bowing her head. Deadlock was standing right next to her. He looked away and tried to hide his look of irritation caused by her formalities. Shockwave was standing behind Starscream, making calculations on his holographic screen.

“They will last only for a couple of days.” He concluded eventually. “The forcefield’s fuel will have to be refilled soon.”

“If the Energon is what you need, Lord Starscream…” Ravage said, placing her paw on her chest. “I can donate some of my own. For the cause.”

“Wonderful. We’ve stepped so low, we’re one moment away from cannibalism.” Deadlock commented. “This seems like a far cry from the glorious army you’ve promised.”

Starscream shot him a quick glare.

“I suppose there is no other option.” Their leader began. “If we can’t find more fuel, we make it. This will be your task, Shockwave. Take one of the cubes and find a way to make more Energon.”

“Hold on!” Dropkick erupted suddenly. “Why are you giving him our Energon to waste?!”

“Remember who you’re talking to, Dropkick.” Starscream warned. “If Shockwave succeeds, the crisis will be averted. You do want that to happen, don’t you?”

Dropkick was about to lose control of himself when he was suddenly pulled back. Shatter shook her head at him. Surprisingly, although sourly, he stepped down.

“Deadlock.” The Decepticon leader turned towards the swordsman momentarily. “Since you were so concerned about the Energon shortage, I will give you a chance to do something about it.”

Deadlock couldn’t help but eye him suspiciously.

“You, Dropkick and Shatter will report to Shockwave’s lab for some, let’s call them readjustments. Then, you will make sure he has everything he needs to do his job. I trust that despite your differences, you can work together to avert the impending crisis. After all, the fate of all Cybertron may very well rest upon your shoulders. ”

The light grey Decepticon turned towards Dropkick and Shatter. He was giving him a glare while she seemed indifferent. Deadlock couldn’t help but stare back.

After the meeting, they all scattered around the ship. Deadlock and the Decepticon partners followed Shockwave as they were instructed. The scientist led them towards his laboratory while they were walking in the back.

Deadlock was dragging himself behind the two. His mind was buried deep in his thoughts.

“Hey!” He was suddenly called. The light grey Decepticon looked up and saw that Dropkick had turned towards him as they were walking. “You’re praying back there? Keep up the pace or I’ll start dragging you again!”

“I’m not that old to have a need for caretakers.” Deadlock retorted.

“Lord Starscream believes it’s necessary to monitor you at all times." Shatter claimed, arms folded behind her back.

“It’s your own fault really.” Dropkick added. “You wouldn’t be stuck with us if you didn’t mingle with the Autobots the first time.”

Deadlock couldn’t help but frown at him. After a second, Dropkick gave him a mocking laugh.

“You and that ‘bot. What’s the story? Some very touchy one, I imagine.” He continued.

“Dropkick.” Shatter chimed in.

“What? You can’t tell me you’re not curious yourself!” He shrugged at her.

“We have business to attend to.” She claimed, stopping before the entrance to the laboratory. She finally faced them. “After that, you can get that information out of him… by force if you so desire.” She finished before stepping in.

Deadlock felt his whole body tensing. He raised his guard when Dropkick looked back at him and gave him a nasty smirk. Thankfully, it was brief and the blue Decepticon followed Shatter shortly after.

Deadlock was reluctant to join. His eyes wandered around. He could try to run, but by now he understood that it would do no good. Having no other choice, he pushed all doubts inside and disappeared onto the other side as well.

The transporting vehicles took Optimus and his group to some unknown location. Wherever they had ended up, the constant bumps and shaking of the trailers already painted a certain picture in their minds and not much of a flattering one.

After Primus knew how many hours of their roadtrip, they finally felt the trucks stopping. The doors of all three vehicles opened and the blinding light came through, forcing them to cover their eyes. When their vision adjusted and it was time to come out, the Cybertronians noticed that the scenery around them had completely changed.

They were in the middle of nowhere. No civilization wherever they looked. Moreover, there were no plants or greens anywhere to be found, except for the yellowish stick bushes they had never seen before. It was just an empty area with red sand, a single highway and a bunch of high cliffs on the horizon.

Optimus looked around. When his head turned behind himself, he finally saw a few buildings. They had parked right next to a bunch of hangars surrounded by tall metal fences. Immediately, they were reminded of their first ‘accommodation’.

Before he had a chance to analyse them further, he saw Miranda stepping out of one of the trucks.

“Agent Dryder.” Optimus called when she hopped off and landed on the ground. “What is happening?”

“You will see for yourselves.” She said, then headed for the hangars.

Hesitantly, the Cybertronians began following her. Hot Rod and Slash both observed the humans who were in the area. They were wearing green uniforms that made them uneasy, especially with the looks they were giving them. Hot Rod felt nervous while she was tense and ready for battle.

Miranda stopped by the entrance to one of the hangars and waited for them to join. She was in the company of another human. Much like the other soldiers, he was wearing a green uniform. His eyes were covered by sunglasses.

“This is Colonel Attwood. He is in charge of this base.” Dryder explained. The man didn’t react at the introduction and instead stayed fixated on the Cybertronians. “I talked with my superiors about your mobility issues. They finally gave permission to do something about it.”

“Meaning?” Slash asked. Before Miranda replied, the Colonel cut her off.

“It means you can say goodbye to those fancy metal suits. You will be rocking Earth style from now on.” He said, making her stare at him in surprise.

“Wait…” Hot Rod looked down at his hands. “We’re getting new alt-modes?”

“Finally!” Bulkhead said. “I thought we’d all start rusting before that happened.”

“It will certainly be a pleasant change.” Optimus said, then turned towards Miranda and gave her a smile. “We appreciate it.”

“After those four long hours I will never get back, I hope so. ” She told him.

Two different humans opened the doors of the hangar shortly after. The group stepped in hurriedly. Once they were inside, they were met with what they were looking for.

They didn’t expect much, but they got even less than that. In the entirety of the hangar of a considerable size, there were only a handful vehicles. A couple of sportscars, a few big ones and a couple of flying ones, both civilian and military.

“Don’t all of you cheer at once.” The Colonel said with a smirk, seeing the mixed feelings on their faces.

“No, no. This will do.” Miranda said, then looked up at Optimus. “Won’t it?”

“Of course!” The Prime confirmed. “All we need is just the schematic code.”

“They look old.” Hot Rod leaned towards others, then pointed. “I think that one has rust.”

“We’re not giving away our best stock just like that.” Attwood barked. “Pick one and get back to Detroit on your own wheels.”

His very tone of voice sounded like a command. Hot Rod decided to stop being picky and finally stepped towards the vehicles. The rest followed him.

The group began walking around like during a fair and inspecting the worn out machines. Optimus passed by the sports cars as he was too big to fit into any of them. That was, until a flat nose truck on the back finally caught his eye. It looked similar to his current alt-mode, but also distinct enough for his liking.

Hot Rod practically gave up on the idea that he wouldn’t have to settle for something. This is why it came as a pleasant surprise when he stopped in front of a red car with a spoiler. Looking down, he saw that it had a name tag in front of it which read: 2000 Ford Mustang STV Cobra. The name alone convinced him that he wanted it.

The red Autobot turned to the vehicle, deciding to be the first to scan his new form. Blinking, he released a blue laser from his optics. The beam fell onto the car, moving up and down. Then, when Hot Rod was done, he stepped back.

Suddenly, his optics sparkled. Something inside of his head pinged, and soon, he was transforming.

Optimus followed his lead shortly after. The scanning process repeated with him, and soon, he turned into the chosen Earth truck. The humans around them stared in awe, some not even holding in gasps. Both Autobots transformed back after a second.

“Whoah!...” Hot Rod said in amazement, looking at himself. His body changed according to the new alt-mode. It lost the magnetic wheels in favour of the rubber tires, his spoiler became sharper somehow, more lean. The flames on his hood were bright as ever.

Optimus, on the other hand, was admiring the new plating that was forming his new body. He was curious about the patterns which seemed simplified compared to what he usually looked at. He didn’t seem to mind that change.

While the Autobots were busy inspecting themselves, Slash and Megatron stood on the side. One of the soldiers came up to them after a second.

“What about you two?” She asked.

“I’m a Dinobot and I’m not looking for a rebrand.” Slash said, then side-eyed Megatron. “Don’t know what his excuse is.”

“My alt-mode is perfectly fine as it is.” Megatron claimed with crossed arms.

“You can at least save it in case you change your mind later.” Optimus insisted, walking up to him. The grey Cybertronian rolled his eyes, but met Optimus’ by accident.

“Fine.” He grumbled, turning towards what options he had. An old jet, an rusty tank, a decent looking tiltrotor aircraft-

Jackpot.

Without thinking much, he scanned something that looked the least damaged by the wings of time. The Decepticon blinked at it and released a purple laser of his own. However, instead of transforming like the previous pair, he just raised his arm. He opened his holographic screen and saw that he had the schematics in his database.

With that, Bulkhead was the only one left. He took the longest to analyse what options he had. Unfortunately, there seemed to be only one vehicle which would fit his size.

“What’s that supposed to be?” Bulkhead asked with a grimace, pointing his cane at his vehicle. He was standing in front of a green truck which seemed like a typical military machine. There was a plate in front of it: Rába H18.

“You can read our alphabet by now, can't you?” The Colonel asked. Miranda shot him a glare before facing the Autobot.

“Is something the matter, Bulkhead?”

“I’m not transforming into that thing. Let me find something else.” The green Autobot requested.

“You don’t get to be picky. It’s either that or you’re stuck motionless!” The Colonel snapped.

“Mr. Attwood-”

“Then take your ugly van and quit wasting my time!” Before Miranda had a chance to speak, Bulkhead snarled, turning around to leave. When he headed back to the outside, it immediately caused the humans to begin whispering among themselves.

“Mr. Attwood.” Miranda tried again. “I appreciate your cooperation thus far, but is there really nothing else you can offer him?”

“I wasn’t the one who picked those vehicles. I’m just doing my job.” He told her. “If it were for me, I wouldn’t give them as much as a Hot Wheels toy.”

“Well, I’m doing my job as well.” She began losing her patience with him. “It’s within their rights to have a secondary form that fits their personal needs.”

“‘Rights?’ They almost obliterated the entire reactor staff! The only thing they gain from this is further advantage over us!” Attwood said, swinging his arm in gesture at the Cybertronians.

“They’re not the enemies!” Miranda really tried not to yell. While she and the Colonel were having their “conversation”, the Cybertronians witnessed Bulkhead leaving the hangar. Optimus wanted to go after him, but saw that Hot Rod already beat him to it. He decided to let him handle it.

“Oh, but he doesn’t have to scan the vehicle.”

“Megatron, please not now.” Optimus said tiredly at the Decepticon’s complaint.

It didn’t take long for the young Autobot to catch up with his friend.

“Bulk-”

“I’m not changing my mind!” Bulkhead immediately said.

“I don’t want to change your mind. I’m just worried you’ll keep being grounded.” The red Autobot stated.

“So be it.” The bigger Autobot said.

“This isn’t fair, I know it isn’t. But maybe we could remove all the ugly aspects and-”

“Kid.” Bulkhead finally said, looking over his shoulder at him. “I can be anything, even a garbage truck, but not this. Got it?”

“... Yeah.” Hot Rod murmured, hanging his head.

There was a brief uncomfortable silence between them. Then, Bulkhead heard an unexpected beeping and jumped at it. Hot Rod looked back up and noticed the green Autobot reaching inside of his subspace and pulling out his scanner.

There was a frequency on its screen. Bulkhead typed on it and the picture farthered. It was showing three dots on the west of the country, the area of their current whereabouts.

“Get Optimus.” Bulkhead said urgently. His tone made Hot Rod feel growing dread. He stepped back before finally turning around and running inside of the hangar.

Three cars sped through the desert-like landscape - a red 1971 Plymouth GTX, a dark blue AMC Javelin and a grey 2013 Bugatti Veyron. The road seemed to be never ending, with an occasional local on the way. Just now, they were passing some run-down diner with motorcycles parked outside. The humans were going in and out of it, in groups or alone.

“So many fleshies. They’re just begging to be used as target practice.” Dropkick mused on the passing.

“Focus on the task.” Shatter told him.

“Would’ve been much easier if we flew there. Or better yet, teleported.” Dropkick said.

“Our groundbridge doesn't have that big of a range.” Shatter reminded. “Not to mention we would be using too much energy.”

“But making us drive across the whole continent is a much preferable choice?”

“It is.” Shatter confirmed, making Dropkick grumble.

Deadlock was driving on the front. Hearing the Decepticon’s complaints was beginning to tick him off to the point when he started zoning out. And so, when he finally grew tired of the other’s voice, he let his mind take him.

The voices muffled as he pictured himself in a far better place. Pink and blue scenery, a big Energon pond right by his shiny metal road, and a familiar crystal forest just up ahead. It was a little paradise and he couldn’t stop his modified voice from giving a longing sigh…

“What the frag is that?!”

Only for it all to end and him being yanked right back. Deadlock snapped out of his trance by Dropkick who was looking through his side mirrors. The light grey Decepticon decided to do the same.

In the distance behind them, something appeared on the road. Something moving in their direction. Focusing hard enough, the Decepticons recognised the object as a truck. It was constantly gaining speed. However, that was not the only revelation of that phenomenon.

The dust cloud was making it a bit hard to see around the truck, but after some time for adjusting, the Decepticons finally saw something.

Something green.

Behind the truck, right on his tail was standing a big green Cybertronian. He was holding onto the truck’s roof and his cane, trying not to fall off.

Bulkhead was driving on Optimus’ back, grimacing dangerously at the Decepticons. After a second, the dust settled to the sides, revealing a red Ford and a metal dinosaur by the truck’s sides. They seemed to have their clear targets.

“Bulkhead…” Deadlock groaned softly as if in disappointment. Without any warning, he felt a strong impact made with his bumper. Dropkick had sped up and collided his front with his back.

“Remember, Deadlock. We’re watching you.” The blue Decepticon warned with a low tone.

The group was so fixated on the Autobots behind them that they completely ignored the danger from the sky. Without any warning, a huge shadow fell upon them, forcing them to stop ignoring the sound of Cybertronian rotors. A huge helicopter emerged from the clouds like a bullet and dived straight at them.

The Decepticons took their chances and drove into all directions to avoid him. Megatron transformed and landed with a big thud on the road. Reaching out, he managed to grab Deadlock by his spoiler.

“Megatron, be careful! We want minimal damage!” Optimus commed the grey Cybertronian. His landing had caused a big hole forming in the road.

Without any warning, the Decepticon’s spoiler shifted. Its edges became very sharp like the ones of double swords. Megatron gasped and took his hand away, making Deadlock put the pedal to the metal. He caught up with Dropkick and Shatter momentarily and the three began speeding down the road.

Optimus, Hot Rod and Slash maneuvered around Megatron and sped up as well. The Decepticon’s palm healed in a second and he transformed, taking to the sky again.

Their chase took them to the large cliffs where the road began curling and twisting. Dropkick and Shatter sped up, forcing Deadlock to trail behind them as they drove into a particularly sharp zig-zag.

Optimus and Hot Rod formed a similar chain. Slash tried to stop in time, but she instead slipped and hit one of the tall rocks. She quickly shook off her dizziness and continued running. Megatron couldn’t fit in there so he flew up and observed them from the sky.

Meanwhile, a single white coach was driving through the road some distance away. The teenagers inside were chatting among each other, eating their lunches, listening to music through headphones or blasting it through mini speakers. All of them were wearing white and black sports hoodies or t-shirts.

The children seemed accompanied for, if not with their peers then with their six adult caretakers. Everyone, except for a girl in a grey hoodie and short ponytail sitting in the far back of the bus. Her chin was resting on a soccer ball in her hold as she watched the road from the other side of the window disappear from her view.

Her melancholy was short-lived when she heard a strange noise just outside. Blinking, the girl looked back, and to her surprise, the empty road behind them was no longer empty.

Dropkick and Deadlock saw that Optimus and his group were closing in. They were already at their speed limit and it wasn’t nearly enough to make them lose their tail. Then, the blue car saw the coach ahead. Their velocity didn’t allow him to outpace their pursuers, but it did bring them closer to the bus. He decided to abuse that observation.

“What are you- Wait, no!” Deadlock shouted when Dropkick finally reached the bus. At first, it looked like he tried to drive in front of it, until he put his whole body into colliding with the coach’s side.

The vehicle shook violently, alarming every human inside. The driver tried to gain control back, but the coach fell off the road. The Autobots saw it. Bulkhead, trying to prevent Optimus from slowing down, jumped off him. He rolled and tried to catch the coach. He didn’t grab it in time.

The children screamed as they were heading straight for one of the big rocks. They were seconds from hitting it before the coach jerked sharply, making everyone fall forward.

Bulkhead used his cane to get a hold of the vehicle instead. He had switched settings on it, turning its top into a strong magnet.

Seeing that the situation was under control, Optimus, Slash and Megatron didn’t interrupt their pursuit. Unlike them, Hot Rod stopped by the road where Bulkhead was holding the bus.

“Go!” Bulkhead shouted to him. “I’ll make sure they’re alright!”

With that claim, Hot Rod restarted his engine and followed the other Cybertronians shortly after.

Bulkhead sighed, turning back to the coach. He saw that its doors opened and the humans began spilling out. A lot of smaller ones and a few bigger ones. Some of the smaller ones fell to the ground, sat down, some were crying. The bigger ones began checking on every one of them and comforting them if needed.

“Everyone alive?” Bulkhead decided to speak. Suddenly, all eyes snapped at him. They didn't reply, instead just stared in shock and fear.

“Alright, alright, I get it! Everyone’s scared of the big robot.” He rolled his eyes at them, transforming his cane back to normal. The green Autobot wanted to take a step back, when suddenly, he sensed something that made him look down.

There was a small puddle of bright purple substance under his foot. It was coming from the dents of his leg.

“Ah, scrap.” He murmured, trying to cover the leak with his fingers. It was rather unsuccessful. Looking around, he found some rocks nearby which were pretty low to the ground compared to others.

“I need to take care of this.” He glanced back at the humans. “After that, we can try to figure out how to get out of here. Try not to run off anywhere.” He said, gripping his cane and staggering towards the rock.

The lone girl, still holding her ball, was the next to leave the coach. As soon as her feet landed on the ground, she scanned her surroundings. Momentarily, she saw Bulkhead sitting at a rock. He put his cane behind him and then pulled out a few things from his subspace. The girl hugged her ball close, wondering something.

Dropkick, Shatter and Deadlock managed to get ahead a bit. Optimus and his group were still chasing them, but they realised they were beginning to lose them. Slash was beginning to pant, her steady steps losing rhythm and getting slower.

“What do we do now?” Hot Rod asked.

“Where are they even going?!” Slash asked out of breath.

Dropkick, Shatter and Deadlock kept driving. Suddenly, Shatter’s front window flickered. A screen appeared on its surface, showing a map of some kind.

“Brace yourselves!” She warned the two. “We are arriving at our destination!”

In the distance, they could already see their target. It was an old run-down gas station.

“I loathe this planet with the power of a white star.” Dropkick groaned.

When they were close, they jumped, transformed, and then landed heavily on the ground. Immediately, they bolted towards the building. They gave it no chance and immediately started wrecking the place.

Shatter pulled out two old oil dispensers from the ground, making a black substance pour out of the hole left behind. Dropkick shot the dirt with a missile, creating a small explosion and revealing a bunch of old cables underneath. He grabbed onto them, and then with one strong pull, ripped them out.

The rest finally caught up with them. At once, everyone except Slash transformed. With Optimus’ axe, Hot Rod’s bow and Slash’s spikes, they rushed at them.

Slash charged at Dropkick who rolled out of the way and avoided her. She was trying to bite into the cables he had ripped off, but he threw them across the station and then punched her in the snout.

Shatter caught them, while dodging Optimus’ swinging axe. When Megatron dropped from the sky and joined him, she rolled out of the way and threw them back at Dropkick along with the oil dispencers. Her partner pushed Slash away and then aimed his gun at the cables. He fired at each one of them, but instead of his usual bullets, he shot out a couple of flat disks.

Without any warning, the cables and the dispensers disappeared into thin air, right before they fell onto the ground. Optimus’ group witnessed that.

“What just happened?!” Slash shouted, baffled.

“It appears they have modified their groundbridge!” Optimus guessed, standing in front of her.

“They can do that?!” She asked.

“Bulkhead would know!” Hot Rod said regretfully. Suddenly, he yelped when he was jumped by Deadlock and his bow collided with the two swords.

Meanwhile, the cables and the gas dispensers finally reappeared in a different location. They blinked into existence and fell onto a table in a dimly-lit laboratory. After a second, Shockwave walked by, scanning them, before taking some of the cables.

He spent a few minutes attaching the delivered materials onto his gun which he replaced his usual arm-weapon with. Then, he opened one of the dispensers and extracted whatever fuel samples he found inside. The scientist filled a cube with the gasoline and placed it in the slot on top of the gun.

When he was finished, he walked across the room towards another table. In the middle of it, there was standing a rectangular vial with the Energon he had poured in earlier.

Shockwave stepped closer, holding another vial with some black liquid inside. Slowly, he rose it towards the Energon sample and then poured a couple of droplets inside. The scientist waited. Nothing happened.

Finally, he switched to his arm-gun. Pointing at the vial, he released a laser that began warming up the liquid. The Energon bubbled for a few minutes, so did the fuel in the gun. It seemed to be going well when it suddenly changed from purple to white.

Without any warning, the Energon vial exploded. Shockwave covered himself with his arm, pieces of fluorescent metal hitting him. He looked back and saw that the only thing left after the Energon was a burn mark on the table.

“Unfortunate.” He said before pulling out his holo screen. There was a list of formulas opened. The Decepticon crossed out one, right under a dozen others he had excluded already.

The things mostly settled down with the humans. Once the initial emotions fell, there was not much left to do except try to find a solution to their unexpected problem.

The boys and girls sat down on the rocks along with their caretakers. They observed their driver inspecting the coach and trying to see what damage it took. Many of them were becoming impatient with the wait by now.

Meanwhile, Bulkhead was almost done with repairing his leg. The leak was no longer a problem and the only thing left to do was to make sure it wouldn’t happen again.

Despite the rather heavy tension in the air, there was some resemblance of peace between them. Bulkhead was just finishing screwing a particularly troublesome nut at his heel. When he was done with it, he suddenly heard a soft ‘psst!’ nearby.

The Autobot looked up, scanning the place and seeing where the sound came from. He glanced over at humans, but they were occupied with themselves. After a second, he heard it again.

Glancing down, he finally found the source. Between the rocks, away from everyone’s view, the ponytailed girl was kneeling. Holding her ball, she was peeking at him with big curious eyes.

“What’s that?” She asked, pointing at the tool the Autobot was holding.

“Who wants to know?” Bulkhead asked suspiciously. His tone was a bit loud, making her shush him aggressively.

“I want to know. Is this some weird alien wrench?” The girl continued.

“No. It’s a normal alien wrench. I use it to fix up my leg.” He decided to go with it and whispered. Then, he added: “I don’t think you’re supposed to be here.”

“Why? You’re gonna pancake me after all?” She asked.

“If that word means what I think it does then no. But your caretakers will be worried.” He whispered back.

“I’ll be back before they notice.” She claimed. “Just pretend I’m not here.”

“Mhm…” The Autobot raised a brow at her. Soon, however, he returned his attention to his leg. He picked up a pair of pincers and began connecting the loose cables. The silence didn’t last for long.

“I’m Kannika, by the way.” The girl spoke again, introducing herself.

“Mhm.” Bulkhead murmured, not getting distracted for a second.

“... This is usually the part where you introduce yourself back.”

“Really? Earthlings and your highly demanding etiquette.”

Kannika narrowed her eyes in annoyance. After a second, she shifted her attention at him tinkering with his own leg.

“Does it hurt a lot?” She asked. “My mom is a mechanic, maybe I can help somehow?”

Bulkhead huffed in amusement.

“I’m afraid there’s nothing you can do.” He told her. “I’m fine. That thing barely functions anyway.”

“Then why did you jump in to help us?” Kannika asked. “N-not that I’m not grateful, just that… you risked yourself to help us. That was…”

“Pretty dumb?”

“Pretty brave.”

His hands continued working, but he paused.

“Maybe.” He said after a second. “Don’t get me wrong, the softness of your ground was a big factor. I definitely wouldn’t risk it back on Cybertron… But I guess I’m glad someone is grateful.”

They both fell silent after a second. Kannika shifted her position. She supported her back against one of the bigger rocks and sat cross legged on the ground. Bulkhead thought for some time.

“... It’s Bulkhead.” He replied eventually.

“Cool name.” She replied.

“I know.”

Deadlock swung his swords, making Megatron jump back. The elder Decepticon pulled back, letting Optimus spin into the picture and reciprocate with his battle axe. Deadlock swiftly avoided him one, then twice, and then thrice. Each swing was unsuccessful.

Slash decided to take on Shatter all by herself. The Decepticon shot at her, but she kept running away from her lasers. Finally, she sharpehened her blades.

Slash jumped in her direction, but as soon as she landed on the ground, she slipped on the oil puddle spilled from the dispensers which had gotten significantly bigger. She squawked in startlement and slid to the right. Right at Hot Rod who was just taking aim at Dropkick. Tackling him to the ground, she made his arrow disintegrate.

Dropkick and Shatter joined each other’s sides. They were almost immediately separated because Optimus had found his way to them and tried to reach them with his axe. They both flew out of the way. Shatter landed near the metal roof of the gas station which she tore out of its place. She saw that Optimus was distracted, so she used the piece and whacked him with it.

Dropkick took over. He spun and kicked the Prime, making him fall right onto the building. It collapsed immediately upon contact, shattering glass and crushing foundations until there was a big crater in its front.

Optimus groaned in pain, covered in dust and empty aisles of what he assumed was an abandoned convenience store.

“Optimus!” Megatron and Hot Rod both shouted.

“Only I can beat him up!” Slash claimed.

The three of them tried to help the Prime at the same time. Unbestknown to them, they tried to jump the Decepticons at the same time from three different angles.

Shatter was pulled out of the way by Dropkick and the three Decepticons rejoined. They quickly averted their gazes, hearing what could best be described as a very spectacular car crash.

The group of Cybertronians was laying in a pile right next to Optimus. Slash and Hot Rod almost looked like they were knocked out cold, but Megatron was already looking for ways to free himself.

“Quickly, while they’re distracted!” Shatter called. Deadlock rushed towards the other side of the gas station while Shatter and Dropkick were shooting the flat disks at everything that looked remotely useful for Shockwave.

Megatron was the first to collect himself from the ground, growling. With a battle cry, he charged at them with full force.

Bulkhead grabbed onto his leg, checking if everything was in place. When he confirmed, he pocketed his tools back into his subspace.

“Kannika!” Suddenly, he heard a panicked voice of one of the adults. It was a skinny middle-aged man in a sports hoodie and a cap on his head. He was desperately looking around the place, calling the name of the missing girl.

“The caretakers found out.” Bulkhead whispered to his little companion.

“Yeah, I can hear that. I’ll go in a second.” She replied, but without the energy she had during her first introduction. The Autobot noticed that she was rolling a black and white ball on the ground.

“What’s this?” He asked in turn.

“Oh, this?” Kannika said, picking it up. “It’s my lucky soccer ball. It’s a sport. You’ve got those where you come from?”

“Would be really boring if we didn’t. What’s it about?”

“You have two teams and you score goals by throwing this into the opposite gates.” She pointed at the ball. “If you use your hands, you’re disqualified.”

“Sounds easy enough.”

“Oh yeah, it’s sooo easy…” Kannika retorted, looking away. That surprised Bulkhead.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” He explained calmly.

“I know you didn’t…” She said, reluctantly looking back at him. He saw that her expression shifted into something sadder. “I used to think it was easy, too.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“Before you guys showed up, we were getting back from the championship…” She twitched in her sitting position uncomfortably. “We, uh… we lost. And it was my fault.”

“Couldn’t have been that bad.”

“No, it was that bad! I kicked the ball but it flew above the gate and hit a water boy!”

“Ah…” Bulkhead acknowledged, ignoring the fact that he had no idea what a water boy was.

“Most of my kicks are too high.” Kannika said, resting on her ball. “I tried telling them that, but they still passed me the ball and now everyone’s mad at me. I still love soccer, but… Maybe I’m just… bringing the whole team down…”

She murmured, but he caught the last part. Those words stirred something in him, making him frown.

“Don’t let anyone tell you you’re bringing them down.” He said. Caught off guard, she finally faced him. He pointed at her. “Do you want to keep playing?”

“Yeah, but-”

“Then keep playing. Don’t throw away something you love because of one failure.”

“But it was a really big one!” She argued.

“And it stings. Trust me, I know the feeling. But laying down and accepting defeat won’t solve anything. Nobody wants to see you succeed more than your team, if they really are your team.”

Kannika went quiet for a second, staring at her ball.

“... What am I supposed to do then?”

“I don’t know, I just learned about this soccer thing.” Bulkhead put his cane down onto the ground, holding onto it with both hands. “I just know that a road to improvement is a long and twisty one. Bumps over here, unexpected blockroad there… but once you reach that goal, once you make yourself into the best version of yourself...”

Unexpectedly, he sighed and then smiled. “You will look fondly on that journey and realise it’s all been worth it.”

Kannika wasn’t expecting any of these words from Bulkhead. Nevertheless, he gave her something to think about.

“Kannika!” The voice of her trainer was getting louder. It made her jump.

“Your caretaker.” Bulkhead reminded, grinning.

“Okay! Okay! I’m going!” She picked herself from the ground and tried to sneak from the back. Bulkhead couldn’t help but let out a rumbling chuckle.

Meanwhile, the bus’s maintenance came to an end as well. It was all fixed up and ready to go. The driver sat on his chair and turned the keys in their slot. Seconds later, the engine made a sound. Another try. Finally, the bus started working. The man grabbed the wheel and stirred the vehicle. The wheels responded when he turned it both left and right.

“Steady?” One the mothers asked, waiting with children outside. Kannika had already rejoined them.

“Steady!” The driver gave everyone thumbs up.

The bus started driving backwards, trying to return to the road. As it was on its way, the driver didn't notice that the puddle of purple substance was on his way.

“Watch out for the-!” Before someone’s father warned him, the coach’s tires came into contact with the substance and splashed it all over.

The purple liquid fell into the underside of the bus, right between its many subsystems. It didn’t seem like a big deal at first, but then, unexpectedly, the coach began soaking up the Energon. In seconds, the whole underside began glowing.

Back at the bus seat, the driver was about to start turning the wheel. After a second, however, he noticed that the systems around him began glowing purple.

“What the-”

Without any warning, he felt an powerful quake.

Bulkhead didn’t enjoy his alone time for long, because after a few minutes, he heard screaming. Alarmed, he immediately looked up to see what was going on.

There was something terribly wrong with the coach. Its shaking grew more violent with each second. The glow that was shining from underneath it spread through the rest of the machine. The teenagers tried to get away as soon as possible, but their caretakers urged them to stay calm. Kannika herself was too scared to move from her spot.

Bulkhead didn’t know what was happening, but he guessed it was not a usual occurrence. When he stood up and began moving towards them, things got only worse.

Without any warning, the bus began falling apart. Its pieces were coming out, but instead of dropping onto the ground, they began swinging around on their hinges. What was once a coach’s left side whipped back and collided with a cliff, making the stones fall. The humans screamed and ran away from there just in time.

The vehicle began getting long, its metal stretching and shrieking beyond its capabilities. Finally, something began emerging from the inside. Something alien.

The coach’s front split apart and something oval came out of it. It split again diagonally, revealing two rows of razor sharp metal edges that resembled crooked teeth. They were followed by four unevenly placed eyes emerging. The driver fell out of the vehicle from one of the cavities. He scurried away, dragging himself back onto his feet before running off into the rocks.

Bulkhead stared in horror at the shadow growing before him. The humans, disoriented and terrified, had no choice but to run behind him.

Finally, the coach rose up to its full proportions. Its appearance changed drastically, now looking like a deformed mess of metal flesh with tendrils on its ‘shell’. The machine was moving on its own.

Without any warning, it shrieked, a dull metallic sound that hurt everyone’s ears.

Shockwave was pouring in a black substance into a blue Energon mix. Before he finished, he suddenly heard an alarm. He snapped his head behind himself, and because of that, he poured in too much of the substance. He realised it a little too late and the Energon glass began hissing. The two liquids created a mixture that burned through its containment and started melting his metal table.

Shockwave ignored the acid he had accidentally created and instead turned to his console. He couldn’t understand it, but he was receiving coordinates.

“Shatter. Dropkick.-”

“-There has been a spike of Energon somewhere in your area.”

Shockwave called when Shatter and Dropkick were fighting off Megatron.

“How is that possible?” Shatter asked. Dropkick saved her from being hit and punched the swinging arm away.

“By all accounts, this is an illogical development.” Shockwave replied. “Nevertheless, I want you to investigate it.”

Deadlock dodged Megatron’s hit by jumping over him with a somersault. However, his eyes suddenly flickered as he received the map. He froze when he saw the place of the coordinates.

Megatron used his opportunity and cut his legs, making him lose balance. In retaliation, Deadlock cut his knee with his sword, forcing him to back off. Instead of continuing the fight, he transformed, drove around his former leader, and avoiding being captured by him, headed for the road.

“I’ll investigate the readings!” He claimed, passing by Dropkick who noticed him leaving.

“Don’t you dare!” Dropkick shouted after him. “You hear me, Deadlock?! Come back here right this instant!-”

Before the blue Decepticon chased after him, he was suddenly grabbed by the back of his head. Without any warning, Megatron threw him on the ground. Dropkick tried to shoot him, but Megatron put his arm in a lock, making him fire at the air.

It allowed Deadlock to sneak out and return to the road, free to follow the coordinates on his own.

Bulkhead and the humans were staring eye to eye with the coach, or at least what used to be a coach. Its mangled body was short circuiting at times, trying to adjust its plates into the right slots that didn’t exist. The four purple eyes were darting around the place, disturbingly looking at every rock in the area. It took it a second, but finally, it gained control of them as they all snapped their attention at the group. There was nothing but a bunch of heat signatures.

The monster unclenched its jaw widely, letting out a gurgled sound. It slumped towards Bulkhead, almost tripping a few times, but began picking up pace.

The Autobot stood his ground. When the monster was close, he swung and punched it in the maw. It spurred a fountain of purple liquid out of its mouth before its neck swung around and hit him back with so much more force. The Cybertronian was sent flying with a cry.

The only thing that separated the humans from the monster was gone. The kids screamed, huddling together with their caretakers. The coach’s jaw split so far it almost fell out of its barely functioning joints.

Without any warning, it was shot on the back. It tilted its head to the side and saw Bulkhead from a distance. He was aiming at it with his shotgun, tightly gritting his teeth from stress.

The coach moved forward with its whole outstretched body. It roared, abandoning the humans, before charging at him.

Bulkhead took another shot. Then another. Its frantically swinging tendrils blocked its body by accident, with one even being shot right off. It didn’t stop.

Bulkhead waited for the right moment… chose his aim carefully and…

He turned his head away at the last second.

Blast!

Before the creature jumped him, his next shot avoided its limbs and blew its head out. The effects were imminent. Its body stumbled and finally tripped, falling right in front of the Autobot’s feet. The horror twitched, making a couple of pained noises, before finally going still.

The humans could finally take a breather. Kannika was gripping her ball tightly until she felt one of the caretakers’ hand on her shoulder. She didn’t look back at her, but instead, glanced in the direction of Bulkhead.

The Cybertronian’s cane returned back to normal and he supported himself with it. He was using his free hand to avoid looking at the fallen monstrosity as much as possible. He could see a huge Energon puddle forming from between his fingers, but as long as the mangled body was out of sight, it was fine.

Kannika and other humans finally got the courage to get closer.

“Bulkhead?” She called out. The girl tried to get closer to the Autobot, but she was stopped by her trainer.

“Did it stop moving already?” He asked them, still covering himself.

“I-I think so…” The trainer said hesitantly, looking the coach over. Bulkhead risked looking, and thankfully, the monster’s eyes were dim.

“Our bus was one of you robots this whole time?!” One of the boys shouted.

“No. That… thing was far from normal.” Bulkhead said. “As long as I live, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

And it made a lot of mess. Bulkhead analysed the remains, trying to pinpoint what caused the sudden transformation. The construction was all wrong, but everything, from the seats to its metal, remained the same.

The only thing that was amiss was the Energon. It was still pouring out of it. In such amounts, no less. The Autobot thought. Could it have been that it was responsible?...

His pondering didn’t last long because he heard a car engine approaching. He expected Hot Rod, but when he turned around, his whole body stiffened.

He saw a light grey Bugatti stopping by the road. Then, it began transforming into a familiar armored Decepticon. Deadlock looked around and his eyes widened upon seeing the coach, then the humans, and then Bulkhead.

“Everyone take cover.” The Autobot told the group. “Don’t come out until I say it’s safe.”

They didn’t have to be told twice. The caretakers took the teenagers and moved out to a safe distance. Kannika was reluctant to leave. The driver firmly grasped her arm and quickly led her after the crowd. The humans cleared off and Bulkhead faced the approaching Decepticon.

“What is that thing?” Deadlock asked, voice becoming strangely soft. “Did it attack you? Are you hurt?-”

“Take another step and see what happens.” Bulkhead warned with a low growl. Deadlock immediately halted, raising his hands in defence.

“I’m not looking for a fight.”

“Then what do you want?”

“We don’t have much time, so I’m going to speak plainly. We’re here for the Energon, not the humans. It’s in everyone’s best interest that you let me take that...” The Decepticon glanced behind the Autobot. “Whatever that is.”

“If I did that, it wouldn’t be much of everyone’s best interest, would it?” Bulkhead replied.

“Bulkhead, please…” Deadlock begged. “Our Energon rations are running low, so is Starscream’s patience. He won’t be asking for it.”

“Somehow, I don’t think this will end in just rationing.” Bulkhead said, gesturing at the bus. “Look at it, Deadlock. Do you really think your boss won’t try to make more of those mutants if he finds out?”

“And what do you want me to do about it? This is completely outside of my control.”

Stomp! Down came the cane.

“Leave.” Bulkhead demanded.

“I can’t-”

“Leave before I’ll make you leave! I’m not letting you hurt this planet because you fell into the wrong crowd again!” The Autobot barked, making Deadlock finally curl his hand into a fist.

“If they’re so good to you, where’s your new alt-mode?!” He retorted, slashing the air with his arm. “The Prime and that Nyonian got it, why didn’t you? The humans are denying you our sacred right of a second form and you choose to protect them?!”

“See, that’s the difference between us. I’m not giving up the fight. I’ll find a new alt-mode all on my own if I have to.” Bulkhead made a step forward in front of the mutant. Then, he cracked his head from side to side. “But for now, I don’t need it to peg you down a few levels.”

Deadlock’s arms slumped to his sides in defeat. A quiet metallic vent could be heard from behind his mask.

Seeing no other option, the Decepticon reached for both of his blades. The swords slowly came into view as their owner took his time to pull them out. Finally, their full metal surface reflected the sun right into the Autobot’s eyes. The humans didn’t dare to step in.

“I don’t want to fight you.” Deadlock admitted. Bulkhead hesitated, but then said:

“Since when did it matter if we wanted to or not?” His eyes suddenly hardened. Deadlock gripped his weapons. Without any warning, he charged at Bulkhead. The Autobot put all of his pressure onto his good leg and then raised his cane. The swords clashed with it. Bulkhead quickly pushed him away, then began counterattacking like his life depended on it.

Optimus opened his eyes back and immediately felt hands on him. In seconds, he was lifted off the ground, seeing that Hot Rod and Slash were the ones who picked him up. He could hear a fight in the background.

“What happened?” The Prime asked.

“This blockroad and that relic ran into me!” Slash accused.

“I wasn’t complaining when you ruined my shot first!” Hot Rod retorted.

“Oh, I’ll ruin more than that!” She threatened. Optimus looked around the place. He could see both Dropkick and Shatter being occupied by Megatron, Shatter trying to free her partner, but someone seemed to be missing.

“Where’s Deadlock?" Optimus asked. That made the two young Cybertronians shut up. They looked around and after a second came to the same conclusion.

Megatron landed a hit on Shatter, but caved when Dropkick kicked the back of his knee. He tried to whip back and punch him, but Shatter threw a hit at him which he shielded with his arm. He didn’t have as much luck when Dropkick rolled from under him and his knuckle dusters collided with the back of his head.

Without any warning, they heard a feral screech. Slash was charging at them, trying to tackle Shatter but she flew out of the way. Suddenly, her leg was caught by Megatron. With one strong throw, he sent her flying towards Dropkick who didn’t catch her in time and they both tumbled down.

Optimus and Hot Rod joined soon after, surrounding Megatron and protecting him.

Dropkick crushed his knuckle dusters together.

“Dropkick.” Shatter said suddenly, gaining his attention. “We need a distraction.”

Optimus’ group charged at them again. This time, Shatter took them on while Dropkick jumped over them. He slid on the floor before going some distance and pointing his gun at the group. He waited for the right moment.

Shatter was down before she knew it. When she was open, her partner took the shot. It flew past everyone and then the flat disk immediately attached itself to her chest. Suddenly, she was bridged out of her tight spot. Once she was gone, they all turned back at her partner.

Terrifyingly, he was holding a smoking bullet. He gave them a grin before he attached one of the disks to himself. As he was disappearing, he dropped the bullet from his hand. Optimus’ face turned grim.

“Run!” He called, transforming. The rest followed his suit. Slash jumped on top of him as they all drove and flew away as fast as they could.

The bullet finally collided with the puddle of gasoline. The reaction was eminent. It lit up all the way to its source, causing an impact.

Abruptly, the whole place was devoured by an aggressive eruption of flames. Optimus and the rest felt safe only at a considerable distance away. The Prime stopped, letting Slash jump off him. The rest joined them momentarily and they transformed back. They faced the burning pile that once was the old gas station.

“At least no humans were involved this time.” Optimus commented.

“We need to return to Bulkhead!” Hot Rod insisted.

“What about those new disk thingies?” Slash reminded. “Seems like a pretty big concern if you ask me.”

“It’s a shame the place was destroyed, maybe we could’ve found some remains to analyse-” Optimus spoke but Megatron suddenly started walking towards him. He stopped before the leader and showed him something he was holding between his two fingers. It was one of the flat disks.

“You are welcome.” He said dryly, forcefully shoving the coin into Optimus’ palm before walking away. The Prime stared down at it, looking a bit awkward, before nodding to himself.

“Alright.” He said, opening his chest and storing it inside. “In that case, let’s Roll Out!”

Bulkhead was doing fairly well against Deadlock. The Decepticon was fast and agile, not holding anything back while fighting. The Autobot wasn’t holding back either. He often incorporated his cane in his battle.

When Deadlock was trying to hit him in the weak spot, he’d use it to block him. When he tried to make him lose his balance, he’d dig it deep in the ground and use his fist, arm or shoulder to counter attack. One time, he managed to trap one of Deadlock’s swords, forcing it out of his hand. The Decepticon quickly evaded his next punch and picked it back up.

“Deadlock! Did you find that signal?” Suddenly, Deadlock’s comm link activated. It was Shatter.

“Yes! I-!” Deadlock jumped out of the way, avoiding a knuckle sandwich. “I found it!”

“We are approaching your position!”

“No!” He shouted desperately. “I almost secured it!”

But his pleas fell on deaf ears when he heard two more engines. The red and blue cars were already visible. Dropkick and Shatter were coming in fast.

Bulkhead pushed Deadlock away, but before he hit him, he was jumped by the two other Decepticons.

“No, stop! Please!” Deadlock shouted.

Shatter and Dropkick immediately ganged up on Bulkhead. They didn’t give him a single opportunity to lay a hit on them, when the Autobot attacked him, she immediately replaced him and so on. Bulkhead barely managed to keep up with the cane to stabilise himself.

Finally, the Autobot tripped and Dropkick kicked him onto the ground. When he was down, Shatter stepped on his wrist, crushing it and making him cry out.

The red Decepticon took her eyes off him after a second and then glanced at the coach in the near distance. The sight made her eyes widen as well. There were probably a thousand questions spawning in her brain, but she decided to focus on one thing.

“Energon...” She murmured.

“And look what’s here, too.” Dropkick said, looking at the humans concerningly. They were all hidden in a small cave they found under one of the cliffs. When they saw that he was staring at them, they immediately hid back.

Finally, Shatter stepped off Bulkhead, allowing him to roll on his stomach. Before she left, she felt a strong grip on her arm. She looked down, seeing Bulkhead holding her with a grimace. Deadlock almost got a spark attack from that.

“If you want to get to the humans, you have to go through me first!” The Autobot hissed at them. Shatter just tilted her head in response. Suddenly, she waved her arm and gave Bulkhead a powerful whack across the face, making him let her go.

“I like this arrangement.” Dropkick chuckled. He stepped around Bulkhead and then grabbed onto his head. He lifted his upper body, caging him in his arm hold.

“Bulkhead!” Kannika shouted, horrified. The adults quickly grabbed her, preventing her from leaving their safe corner.

Bulkhead continued struggling in his grip. Shatter came in and punched him in his gut, making him cry out. Once. Twice. Thrice. Deadlock cringed with every scream of agony and shriek of bended metal.

“Deadlock! Come over here and help me hold him!” Dropkick called. The light grey Decepticon felt a knot in his stomach building.

“Deadlock!” He repeated louder. Deadlock was still for a second, but then, his body moved on itself towards him. He could see a number of dents on Bulkhead’s entire front and even some purple stains here and there. Deadlock tried locking eye contact with him, but the other was just glaring at the ground.

Shatter grabbed onto one of Bulkhead’s arms and Deadlock the other. Both were restraining him, allowing Dropkick to move freely.

“I’m sorry… For everything.” Deadlock muttered, looking away. Despite his situation, Bulkhead finally glanced at him. He seemed very surprised at these words. Suddenly, Dropkick activated his gun.

The second she saw it, Kannika couldn’t take it anymore. She bit the trainer’s hand, making him cry out and drop her.

“Kannika, no!” The other adults tried to grab the girl, but she slipped away. She ran out of the cave.

“Let’s see if you live up to your name.” Dropkick sneered, putting his barrel against Bulkhead’s face.

“Hey!” Kannika shouted, placing her ball on the ground. She didn’t think this through at all, but it was too late now. The girl aimed and then used all her might to kick the ball. It flew fast and hard across the field.

Dropkick didn’t take his eyes off Bulkhead for a second. The Autobot squinted, grinding his teeth together and facing the light that was beginning to build inside. It was getting hotter, but miraculously, the finishing blow never came.

Without any warning, the ball crashed like a rocket against Dropkick’s right eye and was immediately followed by a loud breaking sound. The blue Decepticon wailed, grabbing onto his face. He got distracted and the gun turned away from Bulkhead. The Autobot used the opportunity to butthead him. With a cry, he thrashed on all sides, freeing his limbs from Deadlock and Shatter.

The Decepticons tried to restrict him again, but he overpowered them. Quickly, he grabbed onto his cane and switched its mode back into a magnet. However, he reverted its settings and its tip sparkled dangerously.

Turning the magnet at his enemies, their metal bodies immediately reacted to the pull or rather the push. Deadlock and Shatter were launched back, landing on the foot of a big cliff.

Dropkick finally took his hand away. His right optic was cracked and its red light was significantly dimmer. He saw that Kannika was standing nearby. After a second, one of the mothers ran by and forced her to back off into the safe distance, yelling at her for having a death wish.

“Audacious flesh-goblin!...” He growled, readying his weapon again. Without any warning, they heard honking from a distance followed by rotors.

“We’re done here! Our priority is the Energon!” Shatter said, picking herself from the wall with Deadlock closely behind. Dropkick groaned, but knew she was right.

Bulkhead realised too late that he was moved away from the mutant’s body. The Decepticons were already running towards it. Switching back into a shotgun, he fired everything he had at them. They avoided his frantic blasts and almost reached their goal.

Bulkhead could see that he lost this battle. However, he couldn’t let them go without giving the last word. At the very last second, his eyes flickered and shot a green laser from his eyes. It reached the coach’s front, less than a faint gleam from that distance, before the Decepticons got a hold of it. In just a second, they disappeared in a flash and everything was over.

Optimus and others arrived just in time to hear a transformation sound. They reverted back to their robot forms and rushed to the coach that… seemed to change its colours. They remembered it having white paintjob, but this one was green. Moreover, it had a proud Autobot insignia on its front.

“Bulk?...” Hot Rod asked. In response, the vehicle began transforming back. Bulkhead straightened up and faced them. His body changed to fit his current alt-mode: a coach front on his chest, smooth plating, and two front mirrors on the sides of his arms. He gave himself a brief look before he faced others.

“We have a big problem.” He immediately said.

“They just keep piling up lately, don’t they?” Megatron shrugged. Others assumed it was his attempt at humour.

“One situation at a time, please.” Optimus said with a raised hand. “The humans. Where are they?”

Bulkhead glanced at the cave. The humans were hesitant to do so, but after a second, they began stepping out of their hiding place. The adults first, then the teenagers. Now that everything was over, Kannika immediately ran up to him.

“Are you okay?!” She asked. “That was terrifying!”

“Primus, Bulkhead!” Hot Rod grabbed onto his head when he finally saw the damage to his friend’s front. “What happened?!”

“That blue jerk almost blew his brains out, that’s what happened!” The child claimed.

“What?!” The red Cybertronian shouted in horror. After a second, he felt Bulkhead placing his hand on his arm.

“I’m fine, kid.” Bulkhead assured, then glanced at Kannika with a smile. “Nice shot.”

“T-thanks…” She looked down shyly, but after a second added: “If my soccer career doesn’t kick off, maybe I can join your anti-evil robot department.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” Bulkhead grinned at her.

“What?...” Hot Rod was completely confused by everything.

The sun was already beginning to set. Optimus finally returned from talking to the humans and back to other Cybertronians.

“Agent Miranda has been informed about everything.” He told them. “We’re going to discuss the recent developments back at Detroit. Now, only one matter remains.”

The Cybertronians turned towards the humans. They were staring back, still standing away but with some more trust.

“Do you have a long way to go home?” Optimus asked them.

“We’re going to California.” The driver stated. “I know I’m probably never seeing that coach again, but the least you could do is give us a lift.”

Optimus was about to speak, when suddenly, Bulkhead stepped out.

“Lucky for you, we’ve got everything we need.” He said, then transformed. The green coach opened its doors and flickered the front lights. The humans looked among themselves. Initially, they were unsure how to react. Moving slowly, they stepped towards him.

The adults chose to go in first, and when they saw that it was safe, they invited the children in. Kannika was the last to enter. She smiled at Bulkhead, before going in. When the doors closed, suddenly, the underside of the green coach hissed, letting out some steam.

“It seems it’s not a perfect fit.” Optimus commented.

“It’s still leagues better than that junk the humans tried to pin on me.” Bulkhead said. “I’ll try getting used to it, and if not, I’ll just find something else later.”

Hot Rod gave Optimus a discreet concerned look. It made the Prime feel a ping of guilt in his spark.

Despite some minor trouble, Bulkhead managed to turn on the engine. He drove back onto the road and others followed him. The rest of the Cybertronians transformed again and followed the coach, letting the humans inside lead them.

Starscream was sitting on his captain chair, tapping his claws against its handle. His wait finally came to an end when Shockwave entered the bridge.

“Lord Starscream.” He bowed. Starscream straightened up.

“Did you create the Energon?” He asked.

“No. However, there is no more need for that.” The scientist said. The flier raised a brow at him. Seconds later, three more Decepticons came in. They were carrying a platform of sorts.

Starscream observed the situation with curiosity, which soon turned into something else. Then, whatever that emotion was turned into pure shock. Dropkick, Shatter and Deadlock brought in the diseased mutant whose body was still dripping with Energon.

Their leader stood up. Step by step, he walked towards them.

“What is this?” He asked.

“I’ve run some tests. It originates from Earth.” Shockwave continued. Starscream ducked and ran his hand across the remaining quarter of its head.

“It was already dead when we found it.” Dropkick said. His right eye was closed which Starscream didn’t care to ask about.

“The Energon is almost entirely harvested from it.” Shatter added. “We can get rid of it if you wish.”

“Get rid of it?” Starscream snorted, standing back up. “No.”

Deadlock closed his eyes shut, feeling bitter that Bulkhead was right. Starscream faced everyone with a disturbingly delighted smirk.

“This… changes everything!”