(Sometime after Nemesis Prime, but before Flying Mind.)
Author's Note: This was written sometime in January of 2015, and updated up until around March of 2016. I can't really guarantee that I'll ever edit this story, let alone finish it, but it felt like a shame to let this just sit on my computer. Hopefully you can still find some enjoyment out of this little bit, or perhaps take some inspiration from it yourself.
Raf decided he didn't like thunderstorms.
It wasn't that he was afraid of being struck by lightning - the odds of that were so low, it wasn't worth worrying about - but rather the suddenness and unpredictability of it. He felt a little silly, after dealing with Decepticons and everything, to be afraid of a few random sounds, but he couldn't help jumping at every loud CRACK of thunder.
Thankfully for him, thunderstorms didn't happen often in bone-dry Jasper, Nevada. He was equally grateful that this year when they did, he was with giant alien robots and nicely secluded within their base that muffled most of the thunder.
Jack and Miko were with him, too, which he was also thankful for. Well, maybe not Miko so much. He was a little high-strung trying to hide his fear of thunderstorms from her, because he knew that the moment she learned of it, she would relentlessly tease him about it. But so far the three of them were taking turns playing video games together, which helped keep his mind off of the distant rolling thunder.
As for the base's resident robots, only Ratchet was present; the others were off on different missions, dealing with Decepticons or something - Raf wasn't sure. They'd been gone when the three humans had arrived, and Ratchet had been too busy working to bother giving them more details. The three had shrugged and decided to wait for their 'Bot friends to return and give them the details first-hand and settled down to play some video games while they waited.
Whatever mission it was, it must have been a lengthy one, because for hours they never returned. While Jack and Miko played their fifth round in their racing game, Raf checked the time on his computer. 8:30. He screwed up his face and, as much as he didn't want to, said, "It's getting late, guys."
Jack paused the game, causing Miko to let out a groan of frustration, and checked his own phone. "It's that late already?" he asked incredulously.
Miko looked over his shoulder and frowned at the two boys. "8:30 is not late."
"It is when I'm not home," Raf argued. "9:00 curfew. That's the rule."
"Mom doesn't like it when I stay out too late, either," Jack admitted. "Especially on a school night."
Miko let out another groan. "You two are so lame."
Jack was already getting up while Raf quickly stashed away his computer, so Miko gave in and tossed her controller on the table. "I was so winning, too," Raf heard her grumble to herself as she turned off the T.V.
"Hey, Ratchet?" Jack called tentatively, trying to grab the medic's attention. Ratchet didn't look up, but made a noise that told them he was listening. "We need to get back home now, but since the rest of the 'Bots are out and you're busy, could you open a ground bridge for us?"
That caught Ratchet's attention. "You're leaving already?" he asked. Raf had to smile a little; it wasn't all too long ago that Ratchet would have leapt at the opportunity to send them back home.
Jack nodded. "It's getting late; our parents will start to worry."
Ratchet still seemed a little surprised - Raf figured it was hard to keep track of time here, without access to sunlight to tell the passage of time, and to someone who could live thousands of years, what were a few hours? But he nodded and moved over to the ground bridge's control panel, already entering coordinates. "I'll send you to Jack's house," he informed them.
That made sense. Raf and Miko didn't live especially close to Jack, but it was the closest place Ratchet could open a ground bridge without risking having it be seen by anyone who didn't already know about the Autobots. Although Raf wondered if Ms. Darby had ever since a ground bridge before. He couldn't remember if the Autobots had ever opened one while she'd been around. He hoped that if she was home, it wouldn't startle her too much.
With a whirr of energy, the ground bridge opened before them, and the three kids headed towards it. "Bye, Ratchet!" Raf called and twisted to wave at the Autobot medic. Ratchet inclined his head and gave Raf a small wave in return, and then he was swallowed up by the ground bridge and all Raf saw was the green tunnel around him.
They hadn't made it more than a few steps when Raf was suddenly reminded of why he was afraid of thunderstorms.
It wasn't that he was afraid of being struck by a lightning bolt.
He hated their unpredictability.
The suddenness of that -
CRACK!
Raf jumped violently, away from source of the booming noisethat had sounded behind them. Jack whirled around as Miko cried, "What was that?" Before they could think about going back to investigate, the green light of the tunnel began to fluctuate wildly; it dimmed down to near darkness before rapidly brightening to near blinding, and began to hum loudly, angrily.
Then it started to disappear behind them.
"Run!" Jack shouted.
Raf didn't need to be told twice. He was hot on Jack's heels beside Miko as the three of them raced out of the rapidly vanishing ground bridge. As they approached the end, Jack made a flying leap out of the white exit, with Miko leaping right after him. With darkness pressing against his back, a strong and massive feeling of emptiness descending upon him, Raf jumped after them.
He landed flat on his stomach beside his two friends with enough force to send a painful jolt throughout his body. The loud humming noise from the ground bridge reached a fever pitch behind them and, with its lighting still wildly fluctuating, folded in on itself with a deafening CRACK.
The three of them laid there for a moment, trying to catch their breath. Miko was first to voice their thoughts: "What. Was. That."
"I have no idea," Jack replied, staring at the spot where the ground bridge had disappeared. "Maybe whatever Ratchet was working on exploded?"
Raf shook his head. "No, that was definitely thunder."
That caught the other two's attention. "You mean you think lightning hit the base and messed with the ground bridge?" Jack asked.
"Like, supercharged it or something?" Miko added. She grinned. "Sweet."
"Miko, whatever happened in there almost killed us," Jack said, frowning at her. She just shrugged.
Raf pushed himself up onto his knees and adjusted his glasses, which had nearly fallen off of his nose. "I guess it would be possible for lightning to overload the ground bridge's power if it was hit…why don't you call Ratchet and ask?"
Jack nodded. "He's probably worried, whatever happened." He pulled out his phone and called the special number that opened the communications radio Ratchet had installed in it.
As Jack put the phone to his ear, Raf rose to his feet and took a look around. They had managed to make it to Jack's garage, alright, though it was surprisingly empty. A few old, crumpled boxes sat in a corner and a broken table laid against one of the walls; the one window inside the garage was covered in so much dirt and grime it was impossible to see outside. Ms. Darby's car was absent, but that didn't surprise Raf much; for one, if she'd been home he'd expected her to have already burst into the garage by now, wondering what the loud crack of the ground bridge had been. Besides that, she often spent late nights at the hospital working - it was probably for the best that she hadn't been home unusually early to witness their near-death experience. What really surprised Raf, though, was the absence of Jack's bike. He knew his friend still kept it, for those occasions when Arcee couldn't take him somewhere, but for some reason Raf couldn't find it anywhere in the garage.
There was something else that was bothering Raf, too, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it.
"Huh." Raf turned to look at Jack as he lowered his phone and frowned at it in confusion. "There's no answer," he explained.
"Did the base lose power?" Miko wondered.
Jack shrugged. "If they did, there's not much we can do about it. I'll keep trying, but in the meantime, I guess we should just go home."
He walked over to the garage door and pulled at it. Jack let out a grunt as he slowly lifted it open, the door squeaking loudly in protest the whole time.
"Dude," Miko said, "you have got to oil that thing."
"It's not usually that difficult," Jack said, frowning once again in confusion.
Raf barely heard them. "Uh, guys?" His voice cracked. Jack and Miko turned and both gasped.
Raf realized what had been bothering him - the first thing that had clued him in that something was terribly wrong. It was the silence. It should have been raining or, at the very least, they should still have been able to hear the distant rumblings of thunder. Instead the sky was crystal clear, the ground bone-dry, and the silence was oppressive.
There was no thunderstorm. There had never been one. Because somehow, whatever the reason, the ground bridge hadn't dumped them in Jack's garage.
It had dumped them straight into a ghost town.
It looked like something straight out of a horror film. The sidewalks were cracked and uneven, and the pavement was chipped and covered in dirt. The houses were covered in grime and had broken windows and doors and faded paint. The air around them was stale and difficult to breathe; it felt oppressive, suffocating. The world had a orange tint to it from the dim streetlights and a hazy look that made the town seem unreal, adding to the surreal feeling.
"Wh-where are we?" Raf stammered.
"Definitely not Jasper," Miko replied.
"Actually," Jack said slowly, carefully surveying the scene before them, "I think it is."
"What?"
Raf had to agree - how could this place possibly Jasper? But as he examined the town more carefully, he did have to admit that the houses' designs bore a strong resemblance to the ones in Jasper. He hadn't been on this street too often, but they did look familiar to him. And if Raf could recognize them, he figured Jack - who had grown up on this street - must be right.
"But - how?" he asked.
Jack shook his head. "I have no idea."
"This isn't like that time when we got dumped in the Shadow Zone, is it?" Miko asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Because I don't want to deal with any more zombie cons."
"Let's take a look around," Jack suggested. "We're not going to get anywhere just standing around here."
Raf wanted to protest - he didn't want to wander around this town - but Jack was right. Without any way of contacting Ratchet, they were effectively alone. If they wanted answers, they would have to find them by themselves.
They hadn't gotten very far down the road before a familiar sound reached Raf's ears: blaster fire.
The three exchanged a quick glance, hesitating only slightly before racing towards the sound. It stopped abruptly before they could reach it, replaced by the sounds of squealing wheels against pavement and roaring engines. The three took a turn at a cross-section and finally saw them: two cars tearing down the road towards them.
It was difficult to make out who they were in the midst of all the dust they kicked up around them, but Raf could still discern their general shapes. The one on the left was a small, sleek car that struck a strong resemblance to Bumblebee, while the other was a larger, bulkier car that reminded Raf of Bulkhead, or perhaps even Ratchet, though Raf couldn't imagine why he'd be out of the base.
Either way, Raf felt relieved to finally see his Autobot friends - relief that was quickly replaced with confusion when he saw another pair of vehicles appear around the bend. The first looked like another sleek car similar to Bumblebee, which Raf could only assume was Knockout, while the other…was a motorcycle?
The only Cybertronian motorcycle he knew was Arcee - was this some sort of new Decepticon? Or had he gotten the first two cars mixed up? He didn't know of any bulky Decepticon vehicles besides Breakdown, who Raf knew was dead, so perhaps it was a new Decepticon? He turned to Jack and Miko and saw the same confusion he felt reflected on their faces.
Who was coming at them first? Autobots? Decepticons? Raf knew they should probably move out of the street to avoid them, whoever they were, but curiosity kept him rooted to the spot. Nothing was making sense, and he had to understand who these vehicles were.
As they grew closer, Raf got his answers. The two in the back were indeed Bumblebee and Arcee, while the two cars in front were Knockout and -
"Breakdown?" Miko cried.
Raf didn't know what to think anymore. How had Breakdown come back to life? Was it somehow related to why Jasper looked so terrible? Had something horrible happened in the few short hours they'd been at the base?
Nothing made sense, and it left Raf's head spinning with the impossibility of it all.
He felt a strong hand on his arm tugging him off the road, bringing him back to reality.
"We need to move," Jack said with a pointed glance at the two Decepticons racing towards them.
However Breakdown had managed to come back to life, that didn't change the fact that they were still Decepticons and wouldn't stop to shoot at the Autobots' human friends. "Right," Raf said weakly.
The three darted towards one of the houses to take shelter - it was too late to hide now. As they ran, Raf felt his heart pounding in his chest, waiting to hear the tell-tale clicking and sounds of shifting gears of transformation that would come right before the two Decepticons started shooting at them.
But the sounds never came. As the kids dove behind a rundown house, the two Decepticons flew by them, completely ignoring the three humans. Raf had no idea why - maybe they were too intent on trying to escape Arcee and Bumblebee - and he didn't have time to give it much thought as the Autobots were quickly approaching them now.
And then they completely passed them, too.
"Bee!" Raf shouted, running out from behind the house, with Jack and Miko close behind him. Normally he would have let them go, not wanting to get in the middle of a fight, but in this strange version of Jasper, he was desperate to see his friend and hopefully get some answers. Bumblebee and Arcee stopped dead in the tracks - and further down the road, so did Knockout and Breakdown.
"What's going on here?" Raf asked as he approached.
Before the two could reply, down the road Knockout shouted, "What are you doing!? Don't just stand there - run!"
Raf glanced at the Decepticon in bewilderment, but returned his attention back to the Autobots when he noticed them transforming. Within seconds they towered over him in their robot modes, but rather than feeling relief at seeing his friend, Raf felt a shiver run down his spine. The two Autobots sported much darker paint jobs, and where the two were supposed to be yellow and pink, they were a dull silver instead. Their Autobot brands, now a rich purple, glared down at the children. But what scared Raf the most, what had sent the shiver down his spine, was their optics. In the strange, dim orange lighting, their red optics shone brightly down at them, clearly filled with the same cold malice he was so used to seeing in Decepticons.
"Bee?"
In response, Bumblebee raised an arm that quickly transformed into a canon, and cackled gleefully. "Look, 'Cee!" he cried. His voice sounded young and cheerful, like a teenager, but held an undercurrent of mischief. "Target practice!"
"Run!" Jack screamed, shoving Raf and Miko back behind the house as Bumblebee started shooting. The three fell in a heap as they barely avoided the blasts, which tore up the ground behind them and pelted them with bits of dirt.
"Aw, I missed," Bumblebee said, pausing momentarily in his firing.
"You talk too much," Arcee retorted, in a harsh voice Raf had never heard her use before.
Once again Raf felt Jack's hands on his arms, dragging him to his feet. Just as the three prepared to run away, however, Bumblebee's head popped up from around the side of the house, and a wide grin spread across his face. "Found you!"
He raised his arm again, preparing to fire, while Raf stood there, completely frozen with fear. How could this be real? This all had to be some horrible, horrible nightmare. He'd fallen asleep back at base, and all the thunder and lightning outside was causing him to have this terrible dream. Any minute now he'd wake up and everything would be normal - Bee would be yellow, not silver, he'd have bright, friendly blue optics, and he wouldn't be pointing his canon at his friend preparing to shoot him -
In a blurr of red, Bumblebee was roughly knocked to the ground, sending his shot wild. Raf turned as he heard tires squealing behind him and a sleek blue car came up to them, doors flying open. "Get in!" Knockout yelled.
The kids shared one brief glance before racing towards the car. The doors had hardly shut behind them before Knockout flew forward, shouting, "I've got 'em! Let's get out of here!"
Sitting in the passenger's seat, Raf had a clear view of who had knocked Bumblebee over as they came speeding towards the two fighting Cybertronians. There was no mistaking the bulky figure stepping away from the fallen Autobot; though he sported a red paint job instead of his usual blue, it was definitely Breakdown. As they approached, he swung his hammer once more at Bumblebee, sending the scout flying back, then transformed and sped after them.
They flew past Arcee, who was lying on the road, struggling to push herself to her feet. "Miserable Decepticons!" she spat, raising her arm canon at them and firing wildly. Knockout swerved to avoid the shots while Breakdown attempted to return fire.
"Hold on!" Without slowing down, Knockout turned sharply onto a lawn and darted between a pair of houses. Behind them Breakdown followed, still firing, as Arcee's shots peppered the street.
"You got a plan here, Knockout?" Breakdown's voice asked over the comm system.
Knockout grunted as he made another sharp turn, which slammed Raf against the door. "Working on it," he replied. They crashed through a backyard's rotting fence as more blaster shots appeared from behind them, accompanied by the roar of a motorcycle engine.
Knockout made another sharp turn and flew across another street onto another yard, slipping between a new pair of deteriorating houses and into their backyards. Though he drove sporadically and made enough sudden, jarring movements that were starting to make Raf want to hurl, he couldn't deny the Decepticon's expert driving skills as he executed each turn without slowing down at all.
"Crazy Bumblebee's following us now, too!" Miko warned.
Raf twisted around as Knockout cursed. Indeed, Bumblebee had finally joined his companion in her pursuit of the two Decepticons, paint scuffed and chassis dented, canons blasting away.
"Might want to work on your plan faster," Breakdown suggested.
Before Knockout could respond, Raf watched as the ground exploded in front of the two Autobots behind them, causing them to swerve wildly to avoid it.
"You two need a hand?" a voice asked over Knockout's comm system.
"Just in time, 'Screamer," Knockout replied, relief clearly evident in his voice.
Raf looked at Miko and Jack in shared disbelief. "Starscream?" Miko asked.
It was difficult to see from within Knockout, but Raf could still hear the roar of engines flying over them as Starscream looped around to let loose another barrage of blasts at the Autobots. Bumblebee and Arcee attempted to fire back, but it was clear that they were at a disadvantage. With one last shot, the two spun around and raced away, vanishing behind a house. The fading sound of engines told Raf that Starscream was pursuing them.
Knockout and Breakdown slowed down and pulled out onto the street before stopping. The kids stepped out and the two transformed. Up close now, Raf could see that they sported different paint jobs, just like Bumblebee and Arcee. The two seemed to have switched colors, with Knockout being a muted light blue while Breakdown was a stunning red, and their Decepticon brands were not only red, but somehow looked softer as well, instead of the usual menacing face. Both had the soft blue optics their Autobot friends should have had, ones that held concern and compassion - Autobot traits that these Decepticons now, for whatever reason, seemed to have instead.
"Well that was close," Breakdown said.
"What was all that!?" Miko exploded. "Why were they attacking us? I thought they were our friends! And why are you two being so nice?" She jabbed a finger in Knockout and Breakdown's direction. "Did you brainwash them? Is this is all some sort of - of evil Decepticon trick?"
"Whoa there," Breakdown held up his hands defensively. "We're not the enemy here. And the Autobots aren't anyone's friends, that's for sure."
"How did you three get here?" Knockout asked. "This town is deserted, and I've done enough recon missions to know that the nearest town is miles away."
"We're not sure," Jack replied. "We went through a ground bridge and something went wrong - "
"You went through a ground bridge?" Knockout interrupted, exchanging a surprised glance with Breakdown.
"Uh, yeah."
"Only the Autobots have access to a ground bridge," Knockout said, frowning. "How did you manage to use it?"
"We used the one at the Autobot base," Jack replied. "Ratchet opened it for us."
"I've got it!" Miko slammed a fist into the palm of her hand and declared, "The 'Bots were all out before we left to fight some 'Cons, right? I bet they all ran into a machine that went haywire and made our friends all evil and stuff, and the Decepticons good!"
Jack stared at her. "How is that even possible?"
She glared at him and snapped, "Well I don't see you coming up with any better ideas!"
"I'm not sure what kind of Autobots and Decepticons you've met," Knockout said, "but I've never met a good Autobot in my life. They're the reason Cybertron is dead and we were forced to come to this planet."
"What!?" Miko exclaimed. "That was totally the Decepticons' fault!"
"What was our fault?"
Raf whirled around, fighting against his natural instinct to turn and run at the sound of Starscream's voice. The air commander had landed behind them during the conversation and walked up to them now, a crooked, easy-going smile on his face. It was such a bizarre expression to see on the usually scheming and devious Decepticon. He seemed to have a casual air about him, and his more vibrant white-and-blue paint job with its red highlights created a livelier image. He stuck out clearly, unlike his dull gray counterpart.
"These kids think we're evil," Knockout replied, folding his arms.
Starscream's optics widened in surprise. "Us? Evil? I think you have us confused for someone else," he said. "I mean, Arachnid has her moments but - "
Breakdown cuffed Starscream on the head, but he only laughed. "Sorry, didn't mean to insult your girlfriend."
"Friend," Breakdown retorted and punched Starscream again.
"Right."
"I swear, Starscream - "
"Knock it off, both of you," Knockout snapped, stepping in between the two. "Now's really not the time for this."
Breakdown backed off, grumbling, while Starscream just let out another good-natured laugh. "Anyway." He turned back to the kids and continued, "Like I said. Not evil. Mostly."
"Well you're definitely nothing like the Starscream we know," Jack admitted, scratching his head. "Or Knockout or Breakdown - actually, we thought Breakdown was dead."
"Dead?" Breakdown echoed, raising an optic ridge. He looked at Knockout and said, "Why didn't you tell me I was dead, Knockout?"
He didn't even bother replying to that. "Clearly something's wrong here."
"No duh," Miko said.
"When we went through the ground bridge," Raf said, speaking up for the first time, "we heard a loud noise that sounded like thunder. I think it was lightning, and it messed with the bridge."
"The last time something like that happened, we got stuck in the Shadow Zone," Jack said.
"Right," Raf agreed. "We're obviously not there, but...I don't think we're in our world, either."
"You mean like an alternate dimension?" Miko asked, sounding far more eager than Raf would have liked. She turned to the Decepticons and added, "One where Decepticons are good and Autobots are bad?"
"That's what it looks like."
"An alternate dimension?" Knockout echoed, scoffing. "Give me a break."
"I don't know, Knockout," Breakdown said, eyeing the kids curiously. "You're the scientist, aren't you? Aren't alternate dimensions a real science thing?"
The blue mech glared at him. "Theoretically. There are dozens of more realistic answers to this than 'alternate dimension.' You're starting to watch too many human sci-fi films."
Miko glanced at Jack and Raf and rolled her eyes. "And I thought Ratchet was grouchy."
"Grouchy?" Starscream said. "Try more like 'sadistic.' That mad scientist spends all of his time locked away in the Autobot base, concocting all sorts of horrible experiments, usually on Decepticon prisoners..."
Raf had to fight the urge to argue with him; even in this strange place, where everything was backwards, it was hard to ever imagine his friend doing anything so terrible. Then again, he would have said the same thing about Bumblebee, until he tried using him for target practice.
"Alternate dimensions or not," Starscream went on, "we shouldn't hang around here. We can continue this conversation back at base, where it's safer."
"You want to bring these kids into our base?" Knockout asked. "For all we know, they could be Autobot spies!"
"You mean the Autobots who just tried to kill them?" Breakdown replied.
"That could easily have been an act," Knockout retorted. "A trick so that we'd think they were enemies so we'd do exactly this."
Starscream placed a hand on Knockout's shoulder. "I understand your concerns, Knockout, and believe me, I understand the kinds of tricks Autobots can pull. But can you really imagine Prime ever lowering himself enough to rely on the help of humans?"
Knockout hesitated; it was clear he wanted to argue more, but even he couldn't disagree with Starscream's statement. Raf had no idea how terrible this world's Optimus Prime could be, but if everything in this world was completely the opposite, then the kind, gentle Autobot leader would likely have a duplicate here even worse than Megatron.
"Fine," Knockout relented. He jabbed a finger in the kids' direction and continued, "But I'm still not buying into this 'alternate dimension' scrap. There's a logical reason as to why you're familiar with us and why you're here, and I will find it."
Breakdown slapped Knockout on the back, nearly knocking him clear off his feet. "Lighten up! You think too much."
Grumbling, Knockout transformed and drove off.
"Don't mind him," Breakdown said, turning to the three humans. "He hates it when things don't make sense." Then he transformed as well and opened his doors. "Hop in; I don't bite."
"This is so weird," Miko muttered under her breath. Raf found he couldn't agree more.
As they entered Breakdown, Raf heard Starscream transform and take off after Knockout; then they were on their way as well.
"So, about this alternate dimension," Breakdown started. "You said I was dead?"
"And evil," Miko replied, leaning forward eagerly. "You're my buddy Bulkhead's arch nemesis."
"I guess not everything's different," Breakdown replied, his upbeat attitude fading a little. "We're not exactly friends here, either."
"What happened between you two, anyway?" she asked.
"Miko!" Jack hissed, glaring at her.
"It's...a long story," Breakdown said after a moment's hesitation. "And kinda complicated. Maybe some other time."
Miko leaned back in her seat with a loud sigh. "It's probably different in our universe anyway," she relented. Then she was quiet for all of two seconds before she leaned forward again and asked, "So where's this base of yours?"
"It's not a 'base' so much as our ship," Breakdown explained, sounding relieved at the change of subject. "It crashed when we first arrived on this planet, but thanks to Soundwave we've managed to cloak our location so far from the Autobots. It helps that they can't fly, so they can't easily sneak up on us to find it."
"And you guys crashed here in Nevada?" Jack asked.
"Yeah," Breakdown replied. "It caused...quite the stir. That town we were just in? It wasn't like that when we first came here."
"What?"
"We tried to keep the fighting away from the town, but..." Breakdown sighed. "The Autobots didn't care. From what I gathered, those who survived were evacuated, but it's put both us and the Autobots on your government's bad side."
"So now you've got both Autobots and the U.S. government attacking you?" Raf asked, frowning.
"We do have some friends, though," Breakdown replied. "A group called M.E.C.H., who don't agree with what their government is doing."
"M.E.C.H.?" the kids chorused.
"What?" Breakdown asked, sounding defensive. "Wait, let me guess. They're evil in your world, aren't they?"
"The evilest!" Miko agreed.
"What a strange world."