A/N: So here it is! Third installment. I'll admit it took a bit longer for me to get around to, simply because with the fact Robots In Disguise exists and I'm a canon stickler. I know it would be easier to try and ignore it, but even the stuff with the Dinobots had been taken sparingly from a comic set in the Transformers Prime universe. So despite my...complicated feelings about Robots In Disguise, there was still some interesting bits about it that make me hesitant to disregard it. I don't know how much of it I'll incorporate, so just a warning.
Jack wasn't quite sure how he got roped into this, but maybe it had been Cinder's giant blue optics pleading with him combined with Miko's various heckles that wore him down. Still, Jack couldn't resent doing it as much as he tried to appear like he was. Even when the game's life meter went to zero and his character died for the third time. "I swear, my digits are too small to work the controller." He grumbled.
Miko cackled as she high-fived Cinder's open palm, the other servo occupied by a controller, and the 'land shark' as Miko called her, was grinning. "You sure it's that? Not the fact your big sis keeps whooping your aft on Ninja Gladiators?"
"No one who didn't know what this game was until last week should be this good at it." Jack muttered, tail wrapping around his waist.
Miko snickered. "Why don't you go howl at the moon, I'm sure you'll be good at that at least."
Jack rolled his optics. "For the last time, I don't feel the urge to do that." he grumbled.
"You're based on a direwolf, Jack, and only you could manage to make that boring." Miko huffed, and turned back to the game as she reloaded it.
"I think I'm done now. Go bug Ratchet to play this." Jack said as he set the controller down. He knew he had just sent Ratchet a headache for the next hour before Miko wore him down, but he was in no mood for her quips about his form.
Dr. Keen had thought it would help if he were to try and learn more about the animal he was supposedly based on, just to get more comfortable about his situation. For obvious reasons, Jack was reluctant to ask for the notes about Predacons stored on the Nemesis' hard-drive knowing who wrote it. Jack thought this would just be an exercise to take his mind off things.
As it turned out, finding that his body was that of a direwolf- granted, of a much bigger size than any could be- made him more uneasy and questioning. Did it have something to do with the formation of Unicron being in the Earth, or did Jack's endomatter simply come from a Predacon who switched forms once on earth?
The latter was the less likely one, given the features he had were already engrained in his CNA than his T-cog, and it left questions about what else was there that bore similarities to a wolf. So far, he was the only 'normal' looking Predacon on base, but seeing his wolf form just seemed to make people more nervous than Cinder, Grimwing or Blackbeak's beast modes. Was it because their forms were more fantastical than his, and thus more acceptable to be odd than a giant wolf creature?
Jack wasn't really sure, and while he knew Dr. Keen was trying to help him, this one exercise had been a bit of a disaster for his emotional state. A year of progress, and he felt like knowing just that detail sent him a step back. Hopefully I can regain it soon, he thought. Shaking his head, Jack could at least be happy he got his EMP howl more under control. Though he did admit going out in the dead of night with a lot security to practice it seemed more trouble than it was worth.
Continuing down the hall, he caught sight of Raf in the mess hall, sitting by himself as he was typing away on his computer. "Hey, Raf."
The boy almost jumped, adjusting his glasses. "Hi, Jack." he hadn't hit a growth spurt yet, but his voice was just starting to crack with puberty so Jack figured it wasn't going to be long.
"What are you writing?" Jack asked curiously.
Raf shrugged, looking down at his laptop. "Just a message to Bumblebee. I know we can't speak for long when Ratchet and Ultra Magnus give their reports to Optimus, so I wanted to let 'Bee know how things have been lately."
Jack nodded, though admitted things must have been serious now on Cybertron during the restoration. During those first few weeks after the mess with the other Predacons happened, Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee would occasional be allowed to stop in and visit, and even Wheeljack came around to bug Ratchet and Ultra Magnus in person than on screen. The visits dwindled though when the Autobots picked up the first signs of returning bots, and Jack understood they had to deal with that as well as the neutral town underground, but Jack missed having them around.
"Maybe 'Bee can tell you what's been going on with the other bots that arrived." Last Jack heard, another ship had returned on planet, with smaller pockets of cruisers following.
"I guess so." Raf said, still looking down.
Jack wasn't quite sure what to say then, but tried anyway. "You know, I think Ratchet needs saving from Miko. She wants someone to play Ninja Gladiators against Cinder-I swear she just likes seeing me-um, anyone lose against her."
Raf caught the slip, and he cracked a smile. "I guess I'd better hurry up then." he said, and saved his message before getting up and making his way down the hall Jack came from.
Jack turned his head when he heard the squawking, and followed it to find Blackbeak hissing at several human soldiers. "Hey, what did Grimwing say about not terrorizing the populace?"
Blackbeak huffed. "Not to." he muttered. It had been a surprising development, to find that the small Predacon could speak after making nothing but growls, though this should have been less of a surprise, really. "They called me an animal though!"
"We said you were acting like an animal!" The soldier retorted, but Jack shook his head.
"Enough, all of you. Blackbeak, stop flying off the handle like that, and with all due respect, please don't call us animals in any sense of the word." Jack said, managing to keep his voice calm and controlled.
Blackbeak chuffed, stalking away, while the humans nodded and skulked in the other direction. Jack looked around, making sure neither were going to start something again, before he continued on. He walked down the hall, and paused when he turned around the corner, catching sight in one of the rooms to spy Ultra Magnus inside. He tilted his head, peering in to see what he was doing.
"I believe it is proper to state your presence and purpose, is it not?"
Jack almost jumped this time, flushing in embarrassment. He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling his fins twitch. "Yeah," he said and walked inside, "so, what are you doing?" he stopped when Ultra Magnus shifted, and saw the mech was cleaning his prosthetic servo. "Oh."
"I am also going to reprimand Blackbeak for not controlling his temper." Ultra Magnus said.
Jack glanced down. "You heard that?"
"It was hard not to." Ultra Magnus replied. "Although, you handled the situation well."
Jack couldn't help preening. "Thank you, sir." Miko would have wheedled him for calling the mech that, but Jack had been the only one to adhere to it during their training. "When will our next training session be?"
"The next scheduled report-in is for tomorrow morning. We shall have the session during the the afternoon." Ultra Magnus said decisively.
Jack nodded. "I'll tell Miko then. Have a pleasant day, sir." he said, and exited the room. Walking down the hall once again, Jack couldn't help believe that just to clear his head, talking actually helped. I'm sure Dr. Keen will be thrilled, he thought dryly.
Though, he couldn't deny that it would be an improvement, and regain his step back.